Page 17
He laughs and it sounds more deep and husky than I remember. I’m unable to stop the smile that spreads across my face. I always loved his laugh. Being here with him feels surprisingly normal, which makes me feel silly that we’ve tiptoed around each other all these years.
“Do you enjoy your job? The congressman seems nice, Madden is his name?” West asks before sliding his jacket off and hanging it on the back of his chair.
“I love my job.” I smile and remove my jacket as well; he’s already seen my One Direction shirt, and the tea is making me hot. That, and the incessant blush that takes residence on my face anytime I’m near West. “Working for Madden has given me a lot of experience in assisting, and his wife is super sweet too. If he doesn’t run for Congress again, I hope to find another similar position.”
West nods. “You always were great at organization. Pretty sure It’s thanks to you Harrison and I made it on time to practice most days. And remembered all of our gear.”
I take another sip of my tea. “Uh, yeah. You guys really owe me. I even used to unload your bags after hockey practices to let your gear air out so you wouldn’t smell putrid.”
He’s taking a drink of coffee but huffs a laugh out through his nose. “You’re not wrong. I should probably send my next paycheck straight to you.”
“Just hire me as your live-in assistant if anything happens to my current job,” I say before clamping my mouth shut. I meant it sarcastically, but it sounded more like flirting.
A slow grin spreads across his face. “That could be arranged.”
He slowly brings his mug to his lips and takes a long sip, his eyes gazing into mine the whole time. The hairs on my neck raise just by the look he’s giving me. When we were teenagers, I felt like there was an attraction between us, but he’s never looked at me quite like this. His heated gaze gives me the impression he wants to devour me. It’s hard to think when he looks at me like that.
“Weston!” A woman’s voice comes from behind me, her voice is heavily accented making Weston sound more like Veston.
West’s eyes fly wide open. I turn in my seat and look at the woman. She’s stunning. Probably six feet tall, long legs that were made for walking a runway, and dark hair that falls down to her waist. She’s beautiful, angry, and also a little terrifying.
“Who is this?!” She yells, pointing to me indignantly.
My head whips back and forth between West and the angry lady.
West finally comes out of his stunned silence. “Katarina? What are you doing here?”
Her lips twist in annoyance. “You said we couldn’t be together because you were moving to the capital city.” Her arm bends and she places a fist on her slender hip. “So I moved too.”
West’s elbows are resting on the table in front of us and he brings his hands up to cradle his face before dragging them through his hair. “You didn’t seriously move here, did you?”
“Of course!” She whips her long hair over her shoulder, drawing attention to her defined collar bones and long neck. “We belong together, Weston.”
I have to pay close attention when she’s speaking because her accent is so strong, I’m guessing it’s Russian, or Ukrainian? I feel very uncomfortable being here in the middle of what should be a private conversation. I was such a moron to think West was sitting here flirting with me when these are the type of women he dates.
Don’t get me wrong; I don’t think I’m ugly. I’m cute, I have great curves, I like the way I look. But I’m no Katarina. I rise from my seat and pull out a few dollars to leave for a tip and set it on the table.
“I’ll give you two some privacy.”
West shoots up from his chair. “Melanie, please stay.” He looks at Katarina. “You need to leave, Kat. Can’t we talk about this later?”
When he calls her Kat, an unwanted pang of jealousy shoots through me. That little endearment tells me they meant something to each other at one point.
Katarina looks down at me. “Actually, you may leave, tiny person.”
She smirks before walking over to West’s side and grabbing onto his hand, he tries to pull away but her other hand goes to his bicep and she sinks her claws into him, literally. Her fingernails are long and pointy. I seriously hope she doesn’t puncture his skin with those things.
West turns to face her. “No, you’re leaving. She’s staying.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
WEST
I quickly remove Kat’s hand from my arm and take a step away from her so I’m side by side with Mel. We’re so close, our arms brush briefly, sending a jolt of warmth and awareness through me. Melanie stills and looks up at me, two pink dots color her cheeks, making me think she felt the same rush of heat that I did.
Kat huffs a snide laugh and we both snap our heads to look at her. She gestures toward Melanie with one perfectly manicured hand. “Don’t tell me you’re on a date with this… what’s the English word… peasant?” She spits the word peasant like it’s a curse.
Before my brain registers what my body is doing, my arm wraps around Mel’s waist, pulling her into my side. “Actually, this stunning and intelligent woman is, in fact, my girlfriend.”
