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"Where have you been?" Ava fumes beside me as I scoot in and reach for my drink.
Whoops. I forgot all about her.
Chapter 9
Ava still hasn't forgiven me for "ditching her to make googly eyes at Brady all night." Her words, not mine.
I've apologized a dozen times even though I didn't acknowledge Brady or speak to him after his whole, "That's too bad, Iz. I really like touching you," comment.
How dare he?
But also,how dare he not?
Wait, no.
I need to rein it in.
Brady strung me along for far too long while engaged to someone else. He chose her. He left me. He also came back for me when it all fell apart, but that last part is a moot point. I will never be anyone's second choice.Never.
My heart and I have been over this. We'll keep going over it if we must.
You are my biggest regret. The reason I threw myself into work and never got married.
Ugh. Why did he admit that to me? What if it's all just some ploy to sleep with me? To make me miserable?
He's shelling out $65k a year with insurance and perks if that's the case.
Either way, Brady cannot be trusted, and he should most definitely not touch me. In any capacity.Ever.
Now that that's settled, I adjust Mom's skirt (that's way too short for my long legs) and knock on Brady's office door.
He says, "Come in," and I take a deep breath before pushing open the heavy oak door.
"I have your coffee," I announce in case Angie is in the room. She's not.
"Thank you," Brady takes the hot mug from me, our fingers barely grazing in the process. I ignore the heat that lingers between us as he points to the chair in front of his desk and says, "We need to talk."
Oh, great, he's firing me.
"What did I do?" I ask as I awkwardly sit and cross my legs, hoping Brady doesn't notice how uncomfortable I am.
"Why do you think you did something?" he cocks an amused eyebrow the same way he used to when he'd slide his hand up my dress and finger me in his car on a back road.
I swallow the thought before answering, "Why else would you need to talk to me?"
He leans back in his chair and I bite my lip to keep a moan from escaping as he stretches his arms above his head and his shirt rides up, a tanned sliver of rock-hard stomach muscle showing.
It's not fair that he's still sexy and I'm...a mess.
Brady clicks his tongue. "I have a business associate who arrives tomorrow and will be in town the rest of the week. Charlie is, uh, difficult. Things have to be a certain way. We have to present ourselves a certain way."
"OK," I nod, not understanding what he's getting at.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Iz, but you need clothes that fit."
I lick my lips. "I've been borrowing my mom's until I can afford to buy my own. I never meant to appear unprofessional. I'm so sorry. I will, um, make sure I get some new clothes before tomorrow."
Oh. My. Gawd.This is so embarrassing. I'm going to have to borrow Dad's credit card, which he's already offered me multiple times for new clothes. I should have taken it the last time he shoved it into my hand.
