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Everly’s stomach clenched. James was a talker. He’d want to hash this out. But Everly didn’t want to remember their kiss, much less talk about it. She didn’t want to explain that his nomination had been selfish, and that he’d embarrassed her. She wanted to return to the days of pointless chatter, to meaningless finger guns and silly nicknames, only this time without the pressure of her feelings for him.
She wanted to undo their kiss without messing with Logan’s.
But they were so fully intertwined that breaking one would destroy the other. If she hadn’t kissed James, she wouldn’t have had to recognize that what she felt for him wasn’t real. And without that, she would have never considered kissing Logan.
Everly ran her shoe along the carpet below her, secretly wishing to find the ruts of a trapdoor to climb through.
As James drew closer, she pinned her eyes to her screen and concentrated on the last few details she needed to input into the spreadsheet.
“V.”
Her shoulders bunched to her ears at the sound of his voice. She felt like a grenade with a pulled pin, ready to go off at any second. “Hi.”
“Uh, hey.” He sounded sheepish, and when she finally looked over at him, he was scrubbing nervously at the back of his neck.
She sighed. She was a fool for kissing him. No matter how many drinks she’d had or how confident she’d felt, she should never have opened that box.
But part of her, one that had grown increasingly louder over these past few weeks, reminded her that it wasn’t all her fault. James knew how she’d felt about him. He’d thought those feelings were so strong she needed a TV show and an entire life makeover to move on from him. So where did he get off dancing so close? Flirting with her? Shouldn’t he have to take some responsibility for that? Being nice and leading someone on were not the same thing.
The office was not the place to hash that out, though. Not if she wanted a future here. And especially not with Logan and his camera watching. The best thing James and Everly could do right now was put the other night behind them.
She forced herself to meet his gaze. “Could we not dwell on what happened at Harry’s? It’s over. It was a mistake, and I want to forget it.”
His face lit up. “Yeah?”
She shrugged. She couldn’t bring herself to say it again when she knew she was letting him off so easily.
“Thank god.” He slapped on one of those charismatic grins. “Because I seriously need your help.” He draped himself across the reception counter, like he was so put out he could barely keep upright.
Already, he was invading her personal space again. Everly crossed her arms and leaned back, reclaiming some distance. “On what?”
“That cookies account. They want the print ad to suggest healthy and delicious at the same time, and nothing I’ve put together is working.”
She frowned. Usually she liked helping him, but was that why he’d come over here? Not to make sure everything was okay?
Thatshewas okay?
“Dude, are you serious?” Logan’s voice held an angry edge. He strode forward so he was almost between them. His knuckles had gone white from his grasp on the camera’s strap.
“Oh, hey, man. I didn’t see you over there.” James retreated two steps from the desk.
“Yeah, you were too busy making Everly do your work.”
“Nah, she’s just a great brainstorming partner.” James’s eyes flicked to her. They were wide, expectant, as if he was waiting for her to agree.
Everly gazed back in silence. She’d always thought of their collaborations as practice for her, but Logan wasn’t wrong that James seemed to take advantage of that.
And that she let him.
The old Everlyneverwould have put up with that.
She shouldn’t be putting up with it now.
Logan’s frown tugged at the ends of his beard. “Funny, ’cause I haven’t seen you offer any ideas. Just take hers.” He was standing at the reception counter now, his camera resting on top.
“She’s really good.”
“Maybe she should have your job then.”
