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It’s admittedly convoluted, revenge and attraction melting into one potent Molotov cocktail, but I’ve never been one to play things safe. With risk comes reward. Without risk, you have nothing. I will simply need to monitor and adjust throughout the evening accordingly, ensuring maximum impact for Raven’s benefit, Evan’s destruction, and my enjoyment of both.
“I already made the invitation, but I’ll keep that in mind,” I tell Austin. “In the meantime, I’ve got halfa dozen meetings on my schedule and three politicians to pay off before the end of the day,” I joke, “So if you’ll excuse me.”
He laughs and tells me he’ll see me at the event before letting me go.
I hang up, knowing that what I’m about to do might not be the smartest thing in the world. I should be focused on work the way I always am.
Instead, I pick up my phone again, texting a reply to Raven before I change my mind.I’ll pick you up at 6.Send me your address.
Austin’s warning resonates with me, though. I’m not sure what to make of Raven or my instant and powerful fascination with her. She’s somehow gotten under my skin in the most intoxicating way possible, and a feeling like that to a man like me… is dangerous.
CHAPTER 5
RAVEN
“You know,” I tell Maggie as I set my hairbrush aside, “This could be a huge mistake.” Decisions based on emotion are typically not the best, and I’d be a fool to ignore how emotional I am.
For three days, I’ve buried myself in work, resumes, and applications from sunup to sundown, focusing on my increasingly desperate job search, only to barely keep from crying myself to sleep at night. The blindside of this breakup and the betrayal of his cheating have been worse on me than I’m trying to show. The amount of concealer I need under my eyes is a testament to that.
“I keep thinking about how Evan is going to be there and how I hope he regrets it all when he sees me.” I tilt my head, running my hands through my hair. “But it’s a business event, and I’ve already missed one opportunity because of him. I don’t want to burn the whole house of cards down over one Joker.” I turn to face her fully, ignoring the turmoil rolling around in the pit ofmy stomach as I look her dead in the eyes. “I shouldn’t be going to spite him. I don’t want to make a mistake I can’t take back.”
“You'd better not be talking about backing out tonight,” Maggie says from her perch on the bed. “Dylan’s picking you up in forty-five minutes. If you back out now, you'd better be bleeding from some major body part.” When I don’t automatically agree, she adds, “Blowing him off would be the worst mistake of all.”
Shit. I try to tell myself it’s no big deal. Just business. Focus on the logical and the fact that networking at this level really is a golden ticket I won’t get a second chance at grabbing.
I head for the closet, feeling sick to my stomach, and she follows me.
“I know. It’s just…” I reply as I take a dress out and hold it up for Maggie’s inspection. She shakes her head, and I put it back. “I don’t want this to be like my internship.”
I’d been desperate then too, needing something I could put on my resume to show I worked in a legit firm. That I’ve spent the past year as a low-level business researcher at a small firm hasn’t helped as much as I’d hoped, ironically, because of Evan’s name, which is why I didn’t want to use it to help me find a more permanent job placement. “Do you think Evan helped me with that to keep me pigeon-holed? Or to, you know, keep me out of his hair?”
“I didn’t think so at the time. You two seemed to be doing pretty well then. But now?” She shrugs. “Yeah, I wouldn’t put anything past him.”
“The red one.” I go back two dresses and have another look at the scarlet red number while Maggie continues her pep talk. “Regardless of how you got that internship, you’ve done a great job and you’ll get a stellar reference from it. And maybe Dylan Sharpe and this event tonight can help you land something new. Worst case scenario, you’ll know you tried everything when youfill out an application at Starbucks. And being a barista would give you more time to work on your day trading portfolio.”
I gawk. She’s got it all figured out. I mean, it sucks as far as a plan goes. But at least she’s got one for my life. I certainly don’t. Not anymore, when everything I’ve been working for seems to have vanished into smoke.
Maggie stands, bringing the black dress I was considering with her and holding it up in front of me. When she moves, I hold the red dress in its place and she nods.
I look in the mirror, contemplating the red dress. “You’re sure?”
“It’s more confident. Says you’re a sexy bitch… which you are, but also confident and coming to shake things up. Which you’re going to do in more ways than one.”
She’s right. Or at least I can fake that she is and make it so.
I do a little twirl with my finger so she turns around, and Maggie obliges, focusing on her phone so she can’t see as I undress. Picking up the red dress, I shrug off my bathrobe and hang it back up.
“Hey, forgot to mention,” Maggie says as I pick out my sexiest, most confidence boosting lingerie, “your mom called while you were in the shower.”
As if my stomach couldn’t sink any lower.
Mom’s been worried about my job hunt too. Not because she doesn’t have faith in me, but because she knows how much I want this. If there were a way for Dianne Hill to make my dream job appear, she’d do it in a heartbeat.
“What’d she say?” I ask, fastening my bra and turning it around. It’s strapless, so it’s a little tight around the chest, but it makes the girls look perky as hell.
If Maggie didn’t have an amazing mom of her own, my mom would’ve adopted her years ago. Since that’s not happening, they’ve instead become friends, and often, Maggie will have spoken with my mom as recently as I have.Plus, Mom basically becomes besties with people everywhere she goes. She knows all about the lady at the bank whose dog is having cataract surgery, and the man at the post office who is definitely going to win the sweepstakes this time, and on and on. She’ll tell you her business, listen to yours, share her snacks, and be your biggest cheerleader. And that’s all before you reach the checkout cashier at the grocery store. She’s pretty great.
“Well, she seemed to think your interview went well… and that you’re still with Evan?”
