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And I didn’t like being way out of my depth. I was the CEO of Loomis Industries. A company Shane and I had built from the ground up. We had shops and offices in nearly every industry and every market, in every major city in the States. I had everything I had ever wanted, and I called the shots. I was in charge, and the public revered me, and my employees respected or feared me. I was in charge, and I liked it that way.
Except with Erica, it was different. She didn’t fear me. She respected me as her boss, and she had been attracted to me for sure. But she didn’t worship me the way everyone else did. It made her attractive because she treated me like a human being.
And it was infuriating.
She wanted nothing from me, but I wanted her to want it. The only thing worse than being known as the guy who dished out rejections left and right was being rejected.
What the fuck was that all about?
But Shane was right. I shouldn’t have cared. I should carry on with my life, accept what we had shared, and be glad she didn’t give me shit or worse, report me. Because she could have done that if she were a little psycho like some of the others I had fucked.
Instead, Erica was a normal person, and I had to accept it and move on. That was what I was going to do.
Chapter 8
Erica
“Are you sure about this place?” I asked Katie when the cab dropped us off in front of the building. It was our usual Thursday night meetup, but I hadn’t wanted to go all out.
“Yeah, Hermie said it’s awesome. We have to try it out, E. We always do the same old thing.”
I nodded, and we walked into the building and stepped into the elevator. Bar 54 was on the fifty-fourth floor, the highest rooftop bar in New York, and they offered cocktails from a famous mixologist.
“It looks expensive,” I said when we walked into the bar. It had a great atmosphere, but I wasn’t earning nearly as much as before, and I tried to be financially smart.
“It’s just once,” Katie said.
We looked around and found two open seats. We were lucky, the place was filling up fast despite it being a Thursday night.
We ordered cocktails that I hadn’t heard of before with enough vodka in it to make my head spin after the first drink.
“What did I tell you? This place is amazing.”
I laughed. “I thought you said you’ve never been here.”
“I trust Hermie,” Katie said.
I chuckled and sipped my cocktail. The alcohol was slowly loosening me up, and we chatted about trivial things until my tongue was loose enough to talk about what was on my mind.
“So, I slept with Brett,” I said.
Katie froze, blinking at me.
“You’re shitting me,” she finally said.
I shook my head. “No, I really did.”
Katie looked at me like she was trying to figure out if I was lying. A moment later, her eyes widened. “Holy shit. You did, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, that’s what I said.”
Katie squealed. “I can’t believe it! The great, responsible Erica did something reckless.”
I blushed, feeling silly now that she was putting me on the spot like this.
“So? How do you feel about it?” Katie asked. “I mean, I think it’s great.”
“You do?”
“Yeah, you need to let loose. Especially with your mom always on your case.”
I groaned. “Don’t remind me.”
My mom was a handful. She’d had me at a very young age, and my dad had ditched her before I was born. She was adamant that I didn’t make the same mistakes. At least that was how it had been at first. Now she didn’t want me to make any mistakes at all. It was a hell of a lot of pressure to be perfect.
“So?” Katie looked at me expectantly.
I thought about it for a moment. How did I feel about it? Since we had been together, I had thought about Brett a lot. I had done everything in my power to act normal around him, even though he made me tingle and butterflies erupt in my stomach. But I knew what was at stake, and I wasn’t going to let what we had ruin his career in any way.
“It was just a one-time thing,” I said with a shrug.
“Is that what you want?”
“It’s not about what I want. It’s about his reputation. We can’t do anything more, because if it gets out, it will cause shit for the company.”
