Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 115833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
And Giselle . . . well, I knew why she’d text me, but I didn’t give a damn about her feelings at the moment.
The only person I was worried about was a state away. I grabbed my bag and hustled out of the building to call Davina.
FORTY
DAVINA
Tish was my best friend for many reasons, and one of them was her thoughtfulness.
This girl bought me a foot-massage machine to go beneath my desk. She said she’d been shopping and was thinking about me when she bought it. When I saw it on my desk with a pink ribbon, I hugged her so hard I was surprised she didn’t pop.
I sat at my desk, deep in my cushioned leather chair, sipping my lavender-honey tea with one hand while scrolling through ad designs with the other.
The view outside was perfect, a clear blue sky and trees in the distance, gradually transitioning into warm fall colors. Just past them, the Charlotte skyline towered. It was a good day . . . or maybe I just felt that way after my brunch with Deke.
I felt good, and I couldn’t quite explain this bubble of heat building in my chest, but it grew day by day. One day it would pop, and I’d be full of those hot, gushy feelings he’d created, and I wouldn’t be able to stop them no matter how hard I tried.
As if I’d thought him up, my phone buzzed on the desk, and Deke’s name appeared on the screen.
I set my tea mug on the coaster and swiped to answer. “Hi, Deke.”
“Hey, D. You got a minute?” He sounded breathless and not his usual self.
I sat up taller in my chair as the knobs of the foot massager rolled toward my heels. “Uh, sure. What’s going on? Everything okay?”
“I just left the gym. EJ was showing me some . . .” I lost Deke’s voice as I heard commotion outside my office and then someone yelling, “Where the hell is she?!”
What the hell?
“. . . and now there are pictures that have been leaked. I didn’t think anyone would bother taking any, let alone share them. I—I mean, I tried to be discreet about it with you, but fuck, D . . .”
My office door swung open, and a woman I did not want to see appeared in the frame. Gloria stormed in, with a raging fire in her eyes, her lips pinched tight, and her nostrils flared. Her face was scarlet.
“How could you?” she shouted.
“Davina?” Deke called, but I lowered the phone from my ear and placed it on the desktop as I stared at my former mother-in-law.
Tish stood behind Gloria, her eyes wide with shock. “I tried to stop her, Vina! She went right through me.”
“No, it’s okay. Tish. Don’t worry about it.” I kept my eyes locked on Gloria as I took my feet off the massager and stood up. “Gloria, it’s one thing to show up at my house, but to barge in to my office like this? Are you serious right now? What are you doing here?”
“Oh, you want to act like you don’t know?” she spit, her face reddening even more.
“What the hell are you talking about?” I snapped.
“This!” She stormed across the room in her flats and shoved her phone in my face.
I snatched it away from her, and when I caught an image of me and Deke leaving Manhattan Rose, my heart plummeted.
“What?” I breathed. “What is . . .”
“You just couldn’t wait to spread your legs for another man when Lew died, could you?”
I snapped my head up, pinning her with my eyes. “Tish,” I said as calmly as I could. “Close the door.”
Tish closed it without hesitation, and I tossed Gloria’s phone onto a pile of papers on the desk before folding my arms. “First of all, what I do with my life is no business of yours,” I retorted as she snatched up her phone. The calm was wearing off me now. My heart was pounding, fury simmering in my veins. “Secondly, how dare you come to my office shouting at me about my life!”
I mean, who the fuck did she think she was, coming in like this? She could show up at my house all she wanted, but coming to my job was crossing the line.
“Are you sleeping with the guy in these pictures?” she asked in a hiss. “You’re so pathetic, Davina. You were a terrible match for Lew. God, I don’t even know why he chose you!”
“Oh, fuck you, Gloria!” I shouted, and damn, did it feel good. Out of respect for Lew, I always kept my mouth shut. I always kept it respectful, and if I couldn’t contain it, I’d walk away so I wouldn’t go off on her.
Not this time, though. This time she’d pushed every single one of my buttons, and there was no patience left within me for her.