“Then who’s going to these parties with me?”
What the hell…?
Did he really think my desire to schedule up his social calendar was part of some ploy to trick him into being my boyfriend?
Jeez. The ego on this guy.
Your client. Be polite.
But not too polite.
“Whoever you want to go to these parties with you,” I answered him carefully. “And I recommend someone who’s actually single.”
He gave me an unamused look. “Tread carefully, Angeline. I didn’t hire you to be my good conscience.”
Do you have one?I wanted to ask, but I bit my tongue.
You wanted him to give you a chance. He’s giving you a chance. Suck it up.
“Look, if you want to talk about Elle,” I said, “I can tell you, she got her start by getting out there. Brody was relentless too, getting Zane and Jesse out to every party and show they could in the early days. Before they even had a solid band. Before they found Elle and Dylan and formed Dirty. That washowthey found Elle and Dylan.”
“So?”
“So, the way I see it, this is a rebirth, Johnny O. You need to start over. At least in terms of how you relate to your peers.”
“I am never apologizing to JC. In case that’s where you’re going with this.”
I could see it in his eyes. He meant that.
“Whatever has gone down between you and JC,” I told him, “is water under the bridge. And I’m sure that’s a two-way river. But it’s done. Let it go and move on. Some people aren’t meant to stay friends, and that’s okay. Just don’t let it eat you.”
“Who says it’s eating me?”
I didn’t answer that. I could tell it was eating him. I could feel it.
It was the way he tensed up whenever JC’s name came up.
He was staring at me, and I tried to finish my stir fry. It really was good. “You never answered the question,” he said.
“What question?”
“Why did you and the bodyguard break up?”
I sighed quietly. “He has a name. It’s Flynn. You can start using it.”
“Okay. Why did you and Flynn—”
“Actually, don’t. Let’s not talk about him.”
“Why? You’ve got something to hide?”
I eyed him. Why was he being so nosey about this?
As if he even cared about my breakup?
“Flynn and I broke up,” I told him evenly, “because he told me he doesn’t want to have kids.”
He said nothing to that. He didn’t ask any more questions.
