Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 59395 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59395 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
“I’m going to stay with you tonight,” he announces, as if the decision is made. “We’ll talk and figure this out.”
My heart skips a beat but I manage a solid, “No. No, you are not. It’s done. I’m not good at this kind of thing, as we’ve discussed, so just let me go lick my wounds and I’ll see you at work tomorrow.”
“Damn it, Bella. It doesn’t have to be like this.”
“On some level, you know better, and you’ll get that when we’re apart. Exit the plane, Tyler, before I get emotional and make a fool of myself in front of everyone and my boss.”
His jaw tics and seconds crawl by before he says, “Have it your way.” He turns away from me and waits for the aisle to clear.
We walk to the baggage claim in silence and he insists on getting my bag for me. “I have a car waiting for us.”
“I’ll catch a cab.”
“Don’t be silly, Bella. I’ll give you a ride.”
“No,” I say. “I don’t need a ride.”
“I’m walking you to your cab then.”
“I’ve got it.” I turn and start walking.
He catches up to me, stubbornly keeping pace.
Once I’m in the cab line, he’s in the cab line with me. When it’s my turn to load into a car, he pulls me into his arms, cups my face, and says, “I have to do this.”
“Someone could see us, Tyler. What if—”
His mouth slants over mine, and he kisses me like he will never kiss me again. Because he won’t. When he releases me, he says, “I’ll see you soon,” and then strides away.
Watching him leave creates a biting ache in my belly. I have too many feelings for that man for my own good. Because the only place it got me was alone again.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Bella
I don’t even think about going to the office. It’s nearly five anyway, and I walk into my lonely home and wish again for a dog. I really need a furry friend. That’s not in the cards right now, not when my career feels up in the air. I make a pot of coffee, sit down at my island and start checking in with clients. I feel like I’m days behind on everything.
By seven, I’m in the bathtub with a pint of ice cream next to me. The idea of going to work tomorrow kills me, but I did this to myself. I hate what I’ve done to my work life. I will never go to the office and not worry about how what happened between me and Tyler affects my career. If that kiss was seen by anyone, I’d be ruined. Not that I think it was. But so would Tyler. He can’t afford an employee-boss scandal right now.
All things lessen with time, I tell myself, but I still take a huge bite of ice cream.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Tyler
I stand at the window of Gavin’s office, staring out at the city and listening to him talk without really seeing what is before me or hearing what he’s saying. “Are you listening to me, Tyler?”
I rotate to find him leaning on the edge of his desk. Gavin is my age, early thirties, a smooth-talking ladies’ man, with sandy brown hair, soaring ambition, and skills to match.
“The contract is fine. I read it. It protects me, and the money is high enough that no one is going to want to run their mouth and lose it.”
“I need the list of women you want to be considered.”
I laugh without humor and eye the ceiling. “That’s not so simple.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Do you know Bella Bailey?”
“Of course, I know Bella. She’s gorgeous and successful. What man wouldn’t know her? Oh, fuck. You’re in bed with her. Holy hell, Tyler. After Allison—”
“It’s not the same. I have feelings for her.” I speak those words effortlessly, and that says a lot about where I stand right now.
“I think the ground just shook. Since when do you have feelings for anyone?”
“Now,” I say. “And if I do this fake fiancée thing, I will lose her.”
“If you don’t, you lose a shit ton of money and the company. The company being the big one here, because everyone attached to the company, me included, could end up screwed over if leadership flies south. We’re talking a lot of lives here, Tyler. Hundreds of employees.”
“What if I talked to Bella? Her mother was Alice, from Alice Shopping Network. Her father is Victor Bailey.”
“The NASCAR driver?”
“Yes. She’s swimming in money. She doesn’t need mine. And I trust her.”
“She’s perfect, except for one thing. She obviously values creating a life and a career for herself because no one here knows about her mother. And I sure didn’t know about her father. The minute it’s discovered that you two are together, she’s ruined. It will be assumed she slept her way to the top. If you have feelings for her, convince her the rest of this shit is as fake as it is, and don’t fuck the other chick. But you cannot be caught with Bella. There’s small print you need to know about.”