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“You don’t know me very well. I can be moody and dismissive.”
Austin knitted his eyebrows together. “Geez Samantha, are you trying to chase me away? It won’t work because I’m hooked. I want to be your friend, more if you let me.”
“I can’t let you. I have too much going on right now to get involved in a full-blown relationship.” I pushed out of his grasp, swimming to the stairs and climbing up to the deck. I plopped down, and Austin sat on the chaise facing me, cupping my face.
“It’s not going to work between us, is it?”
I closed my eyes, hoping to avoid the disappointment on his face. “Probably not. I don’t want to give you false hope for anything more than friends.”
“We could’ve been good together.”
He tenderly kissed me and let my face go.
Chapter 3
Austin and I spent the rest of our vacation together. We explored the island, shared meals, each other’s beds, snorkeling, and had plenty of sex. He couldn’t change his flight without a major expense, so we flew home separately. I hate to say I was relieved. Vacation was one thing, but I couldn’t have him distracting me when I was back at work…and he was a distraction.
Austin was handsome and oozed sexuality. When he said that he couldn’t believe I wasn’t attached, I felt the same way about him. There was something he wasn’t telling me, perhaps a heartbreak of some sort. Stuff like that doesn’t leave you even if it happens years before. My breakup with my last boyfriend, Ivan still grated on my nerves.
I would see him occasionally with a young starlet on his arm. I got the message. I was too old, even though when we broke up; I was barely twenty-eight. He was forty-four, which made it even worse when he dumped me for a twenty-one-year-old. From then on, I kept my head down and worked hard. A few months later, Spotlight came calling to clean up Wilmer’s mess.
My first day back, I was in a chipper mood. Nothing came across my desk that needed my attention while I was away, but I had stacks of messages to go through. I greeted Marina warmly as I stopped by her desk. It made me smile to see the shocked look on her face.
She tried to hide her surprise. “Did you have a nice vacation, Miss Stone?”
“Very nice. I enjoyed myself immensely; thank you.”
“You got a nice tan, even better than the one last year.”
“You know me; I like to stay at my villa and relax. A lot to do in the Maldives, but I usually don’t partake in much.”
I went into my office, leaving her gaping after me. You can thank Austin Doyle for this good mood. I went through my emails and returned calls all morning. When I came out three hours later to use the restroom, I was in a very good mood. I was finishing up when I heard three women talking about me. They neglected to look under the stalls to see if anyone was in the bathroom with them.
“Stone is out of bitch mode. I overheard her talking to Marina.”
“Really? Did some of the ice melt while she was away?”
“Maybe she got laid. You know that’s what she needs. I suspect she might be gay. You never see her with a man.”
“What does it matter? As long as she’s not on our asses. I’m sick of walking around with anxiety when she’s here. The past two weeks have been heaven. I loved having pictures of my boyfriend on my desk.”
I banned any personal items from my employee’s desks a year ago. The place was beginning to look like a hoarder’s paradise with pictures, small mementos, and flowers all over the place. Maybe I would rethink the policy now that my head was in a better place.
“I find it hard to believe a woman that pretty couldn’t attract a man.”
“She’s pretty, but maybe her body is a mess. She always wears those frumpy business suits. You can’t even tell if she’s hot underneath.”
“We better get back to work because you never know when she’s going to flip the script and return to her old ways.”
Anger was bubbling in my chest as I waited for them to leave and flush the toilet. When I came out, I stood back and looked at myself in the mirror. My suits were frumpy and non-descript. I did it for a reason. I wanted to be taken seriously without displaying myself. Now that I achieved that, maybe it was time for a change.
I left the bathroom and scanned the office to see if I could figure out which of my employees were talking about me. Everyone was hard at work. I felt my phone buzz in my pocket, and I fished it out to look at the screen.
Coffee tonight? Or maybe a big juicy burger at my place?
Austin, I have so much to do on my first day back. I won’t get out of here until seven or eight. Don’t you have papers to grade?
School just started. I’m not one of those wicked assholes that gives a ton of homework. I’m a cool professor.
