Page 29 of Words We Didn't Say

“Told you we should’ve taken out the TV.”

I laughed.

“The offer’s still there to torch his place,” Andie said. “I’d do time for you.”

I bumped my shoulder against hers. “Right back at ya.”

Yvette waved us over to reception, the phone cradled in the crook of her neck.

“Zach, I swear I’ll pass on your messages the second Eden gets here,” she said. “Uh-huh. Sweetie, I’mtotallywriting this down.” She quirked an eyebrow at me, not writing a word. “Mmhmm. Okay, so you’ll be in a meeting for the next two hours, but you’re going to call Deenie the second you’re back. Got it. Toodles!” Yvette hit the button to end the call and propped her hip against the desk. “He sounds like shit, by the way.”

“Good,” barked Andie. “He’ll sound a lot worse if I get my hands on him.”

“Should we arrange a catch-up?” Yvette smirked. “A special lunchtime delivery of Andie’s right hook?”

Andie chuckled low. “Ed?”

I stood bolted to the spot. My mood was bouncing somewhere between murderous rage and complete devastation.

How had I lived with that man? Didn’t he know me at all? And what the hell was that note?I miss your smile.Generic. No thought. No explanation about why he’d hidden the truth of his preciousMacfrom me. No apology. Our six months together hadn’t even been worth a simple sorry.

I fought the tears stinging my eyes. My friends deserved better than seeing me crumble like a soggy old cookie, and I’d never give Zach the satisfaction of making me cry. Voom was my domain. My second home. He didn’t get to destroy me at work, too.

A diabolical smile twisted my lips.

A new scheme started spinning in my mind. I was channelling evil genius with a petty revenge side plot.

Zach was about to find out exactly who he was dealing with.

8

He didn’t say, “I’m sorry.”

Zach

The boardroom echoed withthe restless drum of Chris’s fingers.

“Zach, I’m not angry,” he said. “I suppose I’m…well, disappointed.”

My jaw clenched. The air in the room was claustrophobic, stale from the scattered coffee cups and untouched pastries, and the tension that sucked the walls closer. But if Chris was waiting for me to offer an apology, he was about to be even more disappointed.

He’d seduced the clients through the door with his movie star smile, a firm handshake, and a fairytale timeframe to deliver what they wanted. I’d served up a heavy dose of reality by telling them how long it’dreallytake to settle their bullshit deal. No amount of free coffee and movie star smiles undid that kind of damage.

Had Chris expected me to give an obliging nod? Agree to work impossible hours when my universe was collapsing? Probably. There was precedent. I’d done that before, hadn’t I? I’d always worked my arse off to make the firm—him—look good. I’d delivered.

Not today.

Chris’s incessant tapping stopped. “Maybe it’s my fault. Maybe I expected too much of you.” He shook his head, a blonde hair spilling across his forehead until he tucked it neatly back into place. “I fooled myself into believing you were ready to step up this time.”

My attention snapped away from the wall. I met Chris’s gaze head-on, even though his words had torpedoed in my gut. “I’m ready.”

“Is that why you just embarrassed me? Yourself? Because you’re ready?”

“I—”

“You’re distracted.”

I couldn’t deny it. I was. I needed to speak to Eden. She’d been dodging my calls all morning. Had she received the flowers? We’d left so much unsaid—

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