Her eyes flashed with fury. “It will be best for both of us if you just keep your distance, Lincoln.”
The sliver of pain that flashed in her eyes threw me off guard. I was sure she didn’t want me to see it, but I did. I backed off immediately because I felt guilty about my past sin.
I watched her go, hating that I was making things worse between us. But just as she had a job to do, so did I.
5
AVA
I shut my room door, leaned against it, and just stood there. I wasn’t sure how long I stared into space, trying to collect myself mentally and emotionally. Lincoln? Seriously? Of all the NFL stars in the land, I had to end up with his client?
Unbelievable.
A part of me wanted to quit, to run back to Springfield and tell my boss I wasn’t fit for the job. My logical self surfaced and shoved my emotional self out of the way. Of course, I couldn’t do that. I’d be stuck writing fluff pieces for the rest of my days.
Shoulders dropping, I heaved a long-sigh. I had to see this through, no matter how disturbed I was by my reunion with Lincoln. I unceremoniously tossed my handbag onto a chair. My one big break and my ex-boyfriend, the one who viciously broke my heart and left me in emotional pieces, was placed right in my path. Fate clearly hated me.
I took off my shoes and wobbled to the bed, drained from having to suppress all my emotions at that party. I then plopped onto it face down, arms out, and screamed into the linen. The muffled sound rang with irritation, disbelief, and old hurt… well,the current hurt because one look at Lincoln and the past came rushing back.
I didn’t even feel that much when I broke things off with the man I was supposed to marry months ago. What did that mean? Did I still love…No. No!Absolutely not. That would make me the dumbass of the century. After what he did to me?
Now he had the nerve to be a dick to me about my job. The man attacked me as if my title of journalist made me scum under his expensive shoes. I rolled over to stare at the ceiling and scoffed loudly.
“That asshole.”
When I thought about how he behaved at the party, I wanted nothing more than to slap him. He’d deserve it because I hadn’t done it years ago.
“That’s right, Lincoln Ford, I owe you a slap and a knee to the gonads.” I sighed again. “Perfect. He has me talk to myself.”
I really needed to get my shit together.
Just as I sat up to try doing that, my phone rang. I thought it was Allan calling to lecture me some more about not messing up. It irked me to the core that the miserable man had no faith in me. I’d show him.
However, when I scrambled off the bed to get my phone from my bag, the number on the screen wasn’t familiar. I figured it was Sienna. I still wasn’t clear on who she was exactly, but I figured since she called me to confirm my meeting with Jaden, she was his assistant or something. From our two conversations, she seemed nice enough to check on me.
“Hello?”
There was a beat of silence that made me frown.
“Hello?” I repeated hesitantly.
“Ava.”
Every muscle in my body tensed. I had to fight through a wave of discomfort to speak. “Derek? W-what do you want?”
My fingers tightened around the phone, and I looked over my shoulder as if I weren't thousands of miles away from Springfield.
“Where did you run off to?” He did that faux-gentle thing with his voice that he swore was sexy but was just plain creepy. “I haven’t seen you at home since last night.”
A chill raced up my spine. I sucked in a breath and willed my voice not to quiver. “I told you to stop coming to my apartment. We’ve been over for months, Derek,” I bit out.
This had to stop. Things with my ex-fiancé from hell were progressively getting scarier. At first, I wasn’t too worried about running into him in the hallway of my building or seeing him parked outside. I thought it was harmless pestering to get me to give him another chance. But after weeks passed with him showing up more often, even at work, and constantly calling my parents, I became concerned.
Derek Shaw had become the bane of my existence.
“If you’d just talk to me?—”
“I did. I heard you out. What more do you want?”
