AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He wipes away my tears, and when I can finally see him again, he’s smiling with concern.
Inhaling deeply, I try to compose myself, smoothing my shirt, wrinkled from the hug, but I still don’t pull back from him just yet.
“I’ll do my best to never let this happen again!” I say, now able to smile a little.
Mr. Bardin then kisses me without warning, and my knees, which were just starting to recover, start to melt again.
My heart races so fast it aches. I can’t breathe, and my eyes are cloudy. Feeling torn, I pull away, staggering towards the door.
“Why?” he asks, sounding sad.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Bardin.” I’m still dizzy, and he looks at me as if I punched him in the gut. “I’m not the right woman for you.”
He frowns, his eyes going dark, and looks at me, offended. “Why? Because you’re the nanny? Because you don’t have a bank account as big as mine? I don’t care.”
Mr. Bardin comes over to hold me again, but I turn my back to him and open the door.
“You will find the right woman for you, Mr. Bardin,” I say as I close the door behind me.
What am I doing?
I had my wish come true, and now I’m trying to force it back into the realm of dreams.
There’s a voice inside of me yelling that I’ll never be good enough for him, and another one saying that this is better, for the sake of my job, my friendship with Jane, and my family.
I grab my coat and my purse in the foyer, and head outside where my car is parked.
I’m so distracted I just hope I can pay attention in class tonight.
Chapter Twelve
LOGAN
It’sFridayandIwant to be home early, so I’m finishing all I can now in hopes work won’t drag into the weekend.
I’m divided between a pile of folders with property specs, and a file on the computer about another neighborhood in New Mexico going up for sale at crazy cheap.
Not even a knock on the door breaks me from my concentration. “Come in!” I say, energetic. With a sideways glance to check who it is, I continue, “Oh, I thought it was someone important…”
Jake slaps his thigh at my joke, but I know most of it is just him trying to make the boss happy. He brings another set of folders in his hand, and I know it’s just more work for me.
“Give it to Jefferson,” I say, pointing at the folders.
“But it’s the latest sales report!”
“Like I said, give it to Jefferson,” I repeat.
Albert Jefferson is my regional sales director and although I normally want to see each and every sales report as soon as they are ready, I’ve been starting to delegate more to others.
Lately I’ve been realizing not only do I spend way too much time in the office, but that I can also do something about it.
It seems like Joyce is affecting me in more ways than one.
He’s about to turn his back on me and leave, but he stays when I call, “Jake, wait!”
“What?” he turns back and walks to my desk, sitting down across me.
“Ow, man,” I sigh heavily, unsure if I should talk to him or not. He is the closest thing to a best friend I have. I sigh, “Remember that girl I told you about?”
