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His face looks weird, and he seems as though he’s breathing kind of funny. Without a word, he stands and pushes past me, running out of the room.
I stand there dumbfounded until the music cuts out and someone comes over and takes the microphone from my hand.
Something is wrong with him. I’d better go see what.
I find him waiting at the elevator.
“Why did you run off?” I stand beside him and place my hand on his shoulder.
He brushes it off, and that’s when I realize he might be mad at me.
“Andrew, what’s wrong?”
He whips around to face me. “What’s wrong? You really have to ask?”
I blink, not sure what to say and unprepared for his anger.
“You practically just gave me a striptease in front of all my coworkers and my bosses. I’m trying to make partner. What the hell were you thinking?” His voice is raised and there’s so much venom in it that it takes me a minute to respond.
“I was thinking it would be a fun way to show you I love you.”
He stills at my words then, similar to the night I first met him, all the emotion on his face is shuttered away. “If that were true, you wouldn’t have done what you just did. You would’ve thought about how I’d feel about it.”
“Well, I’m sorry. I’m pretty tipsy right now!” I throw my hands out to my sides and almost lose my balance but reach out for the wall to keep myself upright.
“Why the hell were you drinking? Can’t you be a professional? Jesus.”
The elevator dings and he walks straight in, not even bothering to check if I follow. Which I do, because screw him. He’s being a jerk.
He hits the button for the lobby and doesn’t bother to look in my direction.
“I’m sorry if I embarrassed you,” I say meekly.
That causes him to look at me but not the way he normally does. “Embarrassed me? I’m fucking mortified. Not only do I not want my coworkers to know my business, but you basically just handed them a juicy story to gossip about by singing and dancing around me like a lunatic. Did you see everyone filming? That’s gonna be online by the end of the night. Use your head, Kenzie.”
Tears spring to my eyes. Maybe I made a mistake, but I don’t deserve to be made to feel this way. It’s too familiar. Andrew’s words rip open the scab I’ve been trying to heal since childhood.
“Bethaney gave me some drinks and told me there wasn’t alcohol in them, but there was. By the time I knew, it was too late. And when she suggested…” What does it matter what I say? His mind is made up. “I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, well, sorry doesn’t fix it. I thought you really cared about me, but as usual, I was wrong. If you did, you would’ve never pulled a stunt like that. Fucking Christmas.”
The elevator dings and the doors open. He steps out, but I stay put, watching as he makes his way through the hotel lobby without once glancing back.
His words ring through my head over and over, and each one feels like a stab to the chest. I watch as the elevator doors close on any future the two of us could have had.
ChapterThirty-Three
Andrew
Ihaven’t slept. Not even for a minute, though my body feels completely fatigued and a little like it got run over by a truck.
I don’t know what happened last night. One minute I was in the present at the firm’s party, and the next thing I know, I was back in London on the night I proposed, a hundred cameras bearing witness to my utter humiliation. My chest grew tight, and I felt as though I couldn’t breathe. All I knew was that I needed to get out of there and away from Kenzie. Away from anyone.
But in the light of day, I can see that I overreacted. Sure, Kenzie was drunk and will probably be mortified about her behavior, but I shouldn’t have left her there. I have no idea how she got home and whether she made it safely. What kind of boyfriend does that?
I push my hand through my hair while I sip my second cup of coffee, wondering how I’m going to fix this. I’m not too worried about work. I mean, it’s not against company policy to run out of the Christmas party, albeit embarrassing. And I’ll certainly have some explaining to do about exactly why Kenzie was attempting to do a striptease for me in the middle of the party.
But I am worried about Kenzie and what she’ll have to say about what happened, the words I spit at her.
