Page 15 of The Boss Situation

“Even work with you?”

“Abso-fucking-lutely,” I say confidently. “Or I’ll make her regret it.”

4

BILLIE

TWO DAYS LATER

“Hey, sis,” Weston says, pulling me into a side hug outside the restaurant.

“Gucci,” I say, running my hand across the lapel of the three-piece suit, feeling the smooth silk on the inside. “Looks very nice.”

“Thanks.Youpicked it out,” he tells me.

He had a meeting at the office—yes, even on a Saturday—and offered to meet me for lunch so we could catch up.

“Proof I have good taste. I assume Easton is dressed the same?”

He laughs. “Yep. Now that Lexi, Easton’s lovely and pregnant wife, is in on the prank, he’sveryconfused.”

Weston likes to wear the same thing as Easton to drive him nuts. Even though they’re forty, Weston enjoys a nice twin joke. Easton, not so much.

I snicker. “That’s so wrong.”

“Lexi gives me a heads-up if he randomly changes his mind to throw me off. Easton thinks I have sensors hidden in his closet or on his hangers.”

“Sometimes, the simplest answer is the best,” I tell him. “But Easton will complicate anything.”

“Kinda like you,” he says, leading the way to our regular table at our favorite Italian restaurant.

Our grandfather—may he rest in peace—loved this place. He said it was the only Italian food that tasted exactly how it had in Italy the first time he visited. This is also where Weston and Easton decided to go their separate ways for college. I was barely nine when they moved away, but they visited me often. They’re the best big brothers a girl could have.

Gretchen—one of the servers who’s worked here since I was a kid—approaches us with a smile as she sets breadsticks and glasses of ice water before us. “Your usual?” She glances between us.

“Yes, please,” Weston and I say in unison.

“Of course,” she says before walking away.

“How’s being married this time around?” I ask Weston, ripping the paper from my straw and blowing it toward him. It darts into his cheek, and he laughs it off.

He’s been on top of the world since he married his secret best friend, Carlee.

My head is still spinning from the revelations I learned about their past. I’m thrilled for him and only a tad jealous that he found the love of his life so quickly after his dirty divorce. Even Easton, who I thought wouldneverget married, found his queen. And then there’s me, single and still trying to bury my breakup with Josh Lustre.

I ended things with him nearly fifteen months ago. In the fashion world, we were the equivalent of Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber. Everyone said we were a fairy-tale couple, and many still won’t accept that Josh and I are over. Forever. We willneverget back together.

“Part of me never believed life could be like this,” Weston admits, pulling me from my thoughts. “Loveactuallyexists. Who would’ve fucking known?”

I give him a smirk. “I’ll take your word for it.”

There was a time when I believed in love, but not anymore. I trusted Josh. I would’ve married him. Still, to this day, I don’t know how I could’ve been so stupid when the signs were there. Heneverloved me. Heusedme. He’s still using me.

“At your age, I was an unbeliever too. But when you meetthe one, you’ll immediately know. When I looked at Carlee for the very first time, I felt an awakening. Still, to this day, she stirs every emotion inside me, and she’s all I can think about. Even right now, she is front and center in my mind. I didn’t know what it was like until I had it. Forty-year-old me realizes I’ve never really experienced love until now. Finally,” he whispers, lost in his thoughts, grinning ear to ear.

“Insightful.” I give him an exaggerated yawn.

He chuckles. “Don’t be a hater.”

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