“Signing with him as my manager and to his record label was the stupidest thing I ever did.”
“You were young and in love.”
I let out a harsh grunt. “Yeah, and look where the hell that got me.”
Jodi leaned back and sat in a cross-legged position. “Then this means you told Gabe in no uncertain terms that you’re done with him?” A sly grin crossed her face.
“Not exactly,” I said, staring at the television screen. The show we were supposed to be watching continued to play, although it was on mute. A particularly gruesome scene of a group of zombies tearing and biting at the flesh of a horse flashed on the screen.
I turned away from the TV.
“We’re going to New York together.”
Jodi’s lips twitched. “How did this happen?”
“I have to go into the City to do a shoot and a commercial for DeLuxe Makeup. He has to go to New York for work, too. It so happens that our dates coincide. And since I still haven’t told anyone aside from you and Rayven where I am, I didn’t want Demetria to make my travel arrangements. Gabe said it’d be easier to make all the arrangements under his name.”
“I bet he did.” She grinned. “They are convincing when they want to be. The whole family is like that, from what I’ve heard.”
“Who’ve you heard it from?”
“They have some cousins up in Williamsport. You met a few of them at the wedding.”
I nodded but couldn’t remember who was who. All I remembered was seeing Gabe when I first walked in, followed by us dancing to Alicia Keys. It was like his entire presence took over all of my recollection from that night.
“Patience officiated our wedding. She’s Aaron Townsend’s wife. He has three other brothers, and they’re all cousins with Micah and his brothers. A handful. Every single one of them.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” I murmured. I didn’t need to take Jodi’s word for it. If they were anything like Gabriel, I knew they were a lot to handle. I’d gone into his office intending to set a firm boundary on what I deemed our non-relationship, yet somehow, ended up agreeing to go with him across the country.
“So much for not getting into a relationship with him.” Jodi laughed, but my stomach muscles tensed.
I couldn’t let Gabe have all of me. I just couldn’t let that happen. I’d proven myself as unstable in relationships. Jodi might see it as a joke—she was living in her happily ever after with Micah—but she and I were different people.
Jodi wasn’t the one who’d gotten caught on video going crazy and lighting her fiancé’s belongings on fire. She didn’t get so tied up in her emotions with her partner that she spent hours chasing him around, arguing with him, or losing friendships over him.
That was my history, and I refused to relive it. Gabe might think he wanted all of me, but he didn’t know the real me.
“I see that mind of yours working. What are you thinking?” Jodi asked.
“I’m going to seduce him,” I said flatly.
Jodi gave me the craziest side-eye.
“We both want to be intimate with one another. I mean, the physical chemistry between us is insane.”
Excitement filled me as another plan formed with each word I spoke.
“I’ll flirt a little more, spice things up, and we’ll both get what we truly want. And I won’t have to give Gabe all of me. I mean, he’s a man, right?”
I didn’t wait for Jodi to answer.
“Men can’t turn down sex when it’s thrown in their face. No matter how much they want something else.” I snorted. All the past men in my life taught me that. “We’ll get to the sex part, and Gabe will forget all about the wholeI want all of youstuff he said.”
Jodi just stared at me.
“What?”
She blinked. “Did you not hear anything I just said? I doubt that plan will go as you expect it to.”
