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“You sure?”
“Positive.”
“Okay. Call me if you need to talk, and we’ll see you Saturday night.”
My expression slipped the instant I disconnected. Anne was busy with work. Her shorter hours meant no weekend work, not that she had unlimited time.
Why was her time with me so much easier to surrender than her time with her guys?
Probably not a fair question—that wasn’t why Anne made the request.
Was I sure?
****
IWAS PRACTICED ATbottling my hurt and redirecting it into work. I didn’t quite have the same willpower when it came to other things, and the next morning, my order from my dairy distributor included a tub of cherry-chunk, brownie batter delight ice cream. Which I spent the next two nights making an unhealthy dent in, as a dinner replacement.
By Friday night, I’d eaten way more than I intended to, but that didn’t stop me from serving up another big bowl. I put a banana in there—that made it healthy, right?
I was binge-watching Project Runway, waiting for the inevitable moment when the token Plus Size model would be eliminated, when an unknown number rang through on my cell phone.
Not unusual, since I used the phone for business. I summoned my inner customer service persona, and swiped to answer. “This is Jaelyn.”
“Don’t hang up, please.”
All the ice cream in the world couldn’t suffocate the hurt Owen’s voice summoned. I was too frozen to speak or disconnect. If I said anything, I wouldn’t be able to hide how I felt, and he wasn’t worth the tirade that wanted to push past my lips.
“Lyn?”
“My friends call me Lyn, you don’t.” I kept my voice steel. “I’m not signing your contract.”
“That’s not why I’m calling. I want to apologize.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for. We all know what happened. I would have preferred to know up front I was part of the business transaction, so I’d know I was a whore.” I winced at the emotion that leaked into my words.
“Technically we were the ones exchanging sex for what we wanted. But we weren’t—”
My fury spiked. “Are you actually mansplainingmy own feelingsto me?”
“I’m sorry. That wasn’t my intent.” Owen sounded sincere. Then again, he had yet to sound otherwise. “And sex plus a business proposition wasn’t either. I didn’t go into that thinkingIf we fuck, that’ll make negotiations easier.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Neither did Kingston. He’s a good guy.”
Why hadn’t I hung up yet? Because he didn’t get to see how pissed off I was. “He is your business partner.” Friend? Lover? I’d never actually clarified that, but it didn’t matter. “It might not be a great relationship if you didn’t think highly of him.” I bit back my thoughts about Kingston trying too hard, in order to hide his insecurities. “Let me guess, he just has a hard time separating business and pleasure. Did you know who I was at the coffee shop?”
“No.”
“Really.” My tone was back to flat.
“I swear to you.”
A clipped laugh slipped out. “Your word doesn’t mean anything to me.”
“That’s fair.” Owen let out a long exhale. “Listen, forget the pitch. Come up to the reservoir with us this weekend.”
Seriously? My disbelief and distrust couldn’t crank any higher. “Why?”
