Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 358(@300wpm)
And word will surely spread. Evan will make certain of that. The finance world is smaller than a dime.
It feels like the entire night was not only a waste, but the active destruction of everything I’ve worked for.
“Hey, babe,” Maggie says as I slip off my heels and jacket, still not quite able to process everything right. As I bend over, my thighs clench and I feel him… again. I have to hide my expression before turning back around to face her.
She sits upright and cross-legged on the couch, looking quite comfy in her sleepy time shorts and cutoff T-shirt that make her look like a homebody single guy’s wet dream. Her tablet is on her lap, where I see she’s been doing some binge watching.
“How did it go?” She’s smiling, looking hopeful that all my problems were solved in the last few hours since I walked out the door.
Unfortunately, it’s quite the opposite.
"It was… a mess," I finally reply when I can sum it up in one word, letting out a shaky breath as my emotions threaten to fully bubble up. Her face falls, concern appearing in her eyes. I hold up a finger. “Let me get comfy first. Unzip me?” I undid it on my own when my only desperate thought was of sex with Dylan. Now, I don’t have the strength to pull the contortionist act it takes.
Maggie unzips me, and I head to my bedroom, changing into some flannel matching pants and button-down pajamas before going back out to find her brewing tea. “Figure if you’re going to spill it, I should offer it,” she explains as I settle onto the couch. “Sugar?”
“Please,” I reply as my mind wanders back to the events of the night.
I find myself staring at my hands as those unsettling feelings resurface. I can’t stop thinking about the way Dylan held my hand as he led me to the conference room. It felt like it was supposed to happen. Like it wasn’t at all a forbidden romp that could end my career. Like whatever was happening between me and Dylan wasn’t exactly what Evan had assumed.
But it was.
I can feel the regret slowly consume me as I sit there on the sofa.
It’s all my fault. I was the one who practically begged him to take me somewhere, anywhere. I was the one who shushed the voice in my head saying this was exactly what I shouldn’t do. I was the one who answered all too quickly when Dylan told me to 'say it.’
“So, did you get to meet people?” Maggie asks me, shaking me out of my reverie, but before I can answer, my phone buzzes. Nervously, I pick it up, half-expecting it to be Evan gloating or an automated message that says, ‘don’t call us, we’ll call you’ or some professional version of that from one of the people I did talk to tonight.
But it’s not. It's Dylan.
I would have taken you home.
Heat flows over my body as I stare at my phone, ignoring Maggie’s gaze that’s boring into me. I hit Reply, but then my thumbs pause. I don’t know how to respond.
He gave me everything I wanted and needed, pleasure and satisfaction. But I’ve never traded sex to get ahead, and it definitely feels like that’s what I did tonight. I’m disappointed in myself and unsure what Dylan thinks of me and about what we did.
I wish I could go back to the moment Dylan walked up to me after Evan spewed his toxicity into my mind. I wish I would’ve told him what Evan said and let him reassure me that it was completely off-base. We could’ve finished the night with a little more networking, a polite drive home, and a hint of acknowledgement of the sexual tension between us.
That would’ve been infinitely better than this.
Fuck, my head is a mess, and I shove my phone away before snatching it right back up. I glance up for just one second, and Maggie’s wide eyes are matched with an arched brow as she stares at me from our tiny kitchenette.
Finally, I simply text back, Thank you for tonight, and shove my phone under the couch cushion so I don’t say more. Maggie’s eyes seemingly haven’t left me, and I realize she’s still waiting for me to answer. “I did meet people. I got some interviews, and some good leads… I hope.” I sound bitter even to my own ears.
I sink back into the sofa and pull my knees into my chest. My phone buzzes again, but I make no move to grab it.
“You hope?” Maggie asks with her tone prying. She stalks into the room, no doubt wondering what the hell is going on before handing me my tea. I accept the warm mug with both hands, needing every bit of comfort. Without asking, she’s put milk in it, just how I like it at night.