AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What’s wrong, Angel?”
I walked around my desk and leaned against it next to Jerry.
“You’ll be happy to hear this, but I’m not going through with my revenge plan.” Jeremiah released a vocal breath of relief. “No matter how dumb Nova’s actions were, first by cheating and then telling me in front of the people we love, I love him. I care about him. I can’t… do something to intentionally hurt him. My heart is too pure for that.”
“And what about Tiffany?”
“She’s a decent stager. She had a lot of potential, that’s why I brought her under my wing. That’s dead though. I don’t want to fire her without a good enough reason, but her options are limited here under me.”
With his hands on my waist, Jeremiah repositioned me so that I was directly in front of him. I wasn’t sure if I was glad I didn’t have on a dress or not since he was right between my legs. All I could think about was how good his lips felt on the ones on my face, and how good they’d feel on the ones between my legs.
He had on his glasses today, which meant he was reading over contracts. I loved how they made the bad boy look good. Only Jeremiah could have tattoos, a gold grill, and glasses, and the combination looked like he was made for a runway.
“First, I’m proud of you. I know it took a lot of inner dialogue for you to come to this conclusion. That’s a sign of growth and healing. You’ve moved from wanting to seek your own revenge to allow life to unfold however God sees fit—that’s a sign of forgiveness.” Jerry took my hands into his and kissed both. “Second, you’re right about Tiffany. If you fired her now, that could potentially open up legal issues. What I recommend you do is take advantage of these new policies and craft them in a way that will make you comfortable with her working here until she does something that you can get rid of her for.”
“Is there a chance you and Nova can be friends again?”
Jeremiah released my hands and sat back in his seat with a hard breath. “The fuck you just ask me?”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. He looked like my question had completely knocked him off his square, and I could understand that.
“Pooh…”
“Hehurtyou, Chapel.”
“Yes, he did, but if I can let it go, I want you to let it go too.” His eyes rolled toward the ceiling, head shaking as he refused to even consider my request. “I know we’ll probably never be as close as we were, but you told me to focus on my healing and my happiness. If we can try to get to a place where we can at least be in the same room and talk to each other without it being filled with tension, that will really make me happy.”
Since he remained silent, I sat in his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Please, Jeremiah. You have your values, and I won’t ask you to be close friends with a man whose actions go against them. What I can say is, I don’t want you to lose a forever friend because he and I took things to a level we shouldn’t have. Will you at least consider it? For me?”
Maybe I was the one being selfish now. Jeremiah’s past had caused him pain and forced certain boundaries for self-preservation too. He didn’t want to hurt women like his father, but he also didn’t want to be hurt like his mother. I can’t imagine how triggering what happened between Nova and me was for him. And it probably didn’t help that I dropped off the face of the earth and made it impossible for him to find me. If he genuinely wanted nothing to do with Nova on a personal level, I would respect that, but I was hoping with time, as he saw Nova and I heal our friendship, he would work to heal theirs, too.
“I’ll consider it, but I can’t make any promises.”
“Good, because Nova asked me to hang out and he told me to bring a friend, and I pick you.”
I tried to get the statement out quickly and get off his lap, but Jeremiah’s hold on my arm prevented that. With his arm wrapped around my waist to keep me in place, Jerry gave me the smile that had been lighting up my life for years now.
“Run that back for me, slower this time.”
My chin was almost to my chest as I hid from him in plain view.
“I said Nova asked me to hang out and he told me to bring a friend so I would be comfortable.”
“And who did you say you were taking?”
“You?” came out more like a question than an answer.
The low chuckle he gave me wasn’t one of amusement. “No.”
“No?”
“Yeah.”
“So yes?”
His chin jutted as he glared at me, making me laugh. “Chapel.”
“Why not?” I whined with a pout.
