Page 8 of The Longest Wait

In admission, he was never agreeable with her either. It was likeafter everything they shared ten years ago, the only rule they had inplace was to not cause a scene in front of other people, especiallyLucy. When it was only them, which hardly ever happened, allbets were off.

“I know your shirt says otherwise, but maybe you could makethe resolution to be nice to me this year.”

“More wishful thinking?”

“Perhaps, since I’m not going anywhere.”

“I was nice to you once.” Sofia crossed her arms in the minimalspace between them. “And I wasn’t impressed with the outcome.”

Her comment was like cold water thrown in his face. Withoutreferencing it, they both knew what she meant.

“Maybe if you told me the truth, you would’ve had a betterexperience,” he shot back.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have been such a—”

Jack walked into the kitchen. “The ball drops in five minutes.Get your asses in the living room.”

They jumped away from each other as soon as they heard hisvoice. Once he walked away, Alex moved back into her space. Hebrushed her hair over her shoulder, whispering in her ear, “Youcan’t run from me forever.”

Chapter 2

DESPITE ALEX’S OMINOUS comment, Sofia was able to runfrom him for three weeks. If only luck was on her side, she’d beable to do it forever. Anything was better than having to be in thesame room with him. She did what she could to avoid him at allcosts. Even if it meant skipping the last brunch date all her friendswere attending.

That’s right.

Skipping approved champagne on a Sunday morning to avoidclose proximity to Alex.

This Sunday though, Sofia wasn’t missing time with her friends.Part of her debated texting Alex and asking him to not show up,but that would only add fuel to the fire. He would show up andsit next to her to prove a point.

That was the last thing that would help her decompress. Sheneeded some laughter.

It was required after working until four in the morning for thepast three nights. One of the perks from being a consultant in thetech industry was the flexible hours; she only needed to get thejob done. This time around though, her assignment required moretime than usual. Her latest project was a bit more difficult with thecloud migration, and with her deadline approaching, she spent allweekend completing access control for her client. A deadline was a

The Longest Wait

deadline, and she was required to finish the work. She was satisfiedthough. Another assignment done prior to the Monday agreement.It was the reputation she built for herself.

Clients knew when they worked with Sofia, errors were minimal, she documented everything, and she always finished ahead ofschedule. Another added bonus: She always created a quick guidefor new users on what she did on her project, in case they neededit for future reference.

Dragging herself from bed, Sofia checked her phone; it wasalmost noon. It gave her thirty minutes to get ready, head to therestaurant her friends were meeting, and have a mimosa in herhand. Doing the expert job of fixing the bags under her eyes withmakeup, she threw her hair into a sloppy bun high on her headand walked out the door.

By the time she made it to Iron and Stone, their favoritebrunch spot, the whole group was there. Including Alex.

Which was fine.

Really.

She was prepared he would rudely be in attendance with herfriends. The plan was to not acknowledge him, per usual, andspend time with her friends. She was sure Dominic had some storyof his weekend that would have them all in stiches. He was amagnet for not only women, but funny stories as well.

“Look who showed up!” Lucy was surprised to see her.

Sofia winced because her friend had a reason to be shocked.If only Lucy’s brother wasn’t such a turd, then she wouldn’t haveto bail on brunch dates. There was no other way around it; shewould have to talk to the devil himself about this. She was inPhildelphia first. He should be the one skipping morning drinks,not her. While his common decency was lacking, it wouldn’t takea rocket scientist to figure out he needed to scale back on takingover Sunday brunch.

Not that he cared in the slightest.

25

He shot her a smug smiled at her, and had the nerve to pullthe chair out next to him. Lifting an eyebrow, he patted the seatfor her to sit. If she made a big deal about it, everyone would rolltheir eyes and continue on because they were used to the combativenature between them.