Page 180 of Tormented Billionaire Romance Series

Irestrained a yawn for what must have been the tenth time that morning. I had taken Suzie’s interruption last night as a sign that I had gotten all I was going to get out of the party and had best head home before the situation worsened. I’d gone out by Maggie’s car, planning to call her, but she’d joined me on her own a few minutes after with the same idea in mind. Luckily for her, her sign was a better one. She’d met Brian Holt and acquired his number. She’d had no other reason to stay beyond that.

And I didn’t tell her why I had wanted to leave, not the whole of it anyway. I just told her that I didn’t want to be exhausted from staying up so late, especially when I had to work the next day. Maggie accepted that. So did I. It was a good plan.

The only problem was when the manager called early in the morning, asking me to come in several hours earlier because the girl who normally opened the shop had called in sick. That left me with no choice but to go in. It was extra hours and I couldn’t let the opportunity go while I had it, or else I might be skipped over in the future.

Therefore, I was tired, dead-tired, even though I’d tried so hard not to be. Making the whole thing worse was having to deal with Suzie when she came in. We were too busy to talk for a while, which was fine with me, but after the morning rush died down, she started jabbering.

“I hadsomuch fun at that party last night. I’m so glad I got to go.”

I bet you are.

Suzie flicked a look at me to see if she’d managed to rile me up yet. I busied myself with cleaning the counter for the second time, swiping a rag a little too aggressively over the polished surface.

Suzie didn’t take the hint that I was ignoring her. She said, as casually as she could manage, “Actually, I think I would have gone even if the party wasn’t open to the public.”

“You would have snuck in?”

“No way. That’s for people like you.” She smirked. “I think Carter would have invited me.”

“Why?”

“Um, what do you thinkwhy? Because he’d want to see if I’m wife material.” Suzie shook her head at me, like I was a child who didn’t know much of anything.

“Well, that’s not what happened.” I scrubbed harder at the already-clean counter, working at the same spot. My shoulders felt tense. I couldn’t believe I was getting drawn into this. At the same time, it wasn’t like I should let her get away with thinking like this, talking like this. I hardly knew Carter, but I was pretty sure I knew him better than she did. “The whole point of the party was for him to be anonymous.”

“And I found him anyway,” Suzie retorted.

I dropped the rag, jealousy pounding hard inside me. “He found me first. He was dancing with me.”

“And then he wasn’t, and I snuck in.” She shrugged. “Your loss, Megyn.”

“So, how did it go, then? Did you get his number? Is he going to marry you?” I challenged.

Suzie laughed and gave another shrug, deflecting me like she thought that would make me give up. Maybe a few days ago, it would have. I was kind of mad at her right now, though.

I pressed, “Did you get his number?”

“No.” Suzie grimaced at me. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and scowled. “He seemed a little mad that I replaced you, even though I was doing him a favor. You’re not his type. You’re not right for him. I am. And I’m going to show him that I’m not going to give upon this. Marriage doesn’t just, like, happen. It’s a commitment and I’m going to show him how committed to him I am until he sees that I’m right for him.”

Her words stung me, thrust poison into my heart. “Why wouldn’t I be right for him? It’s not like I went there because I’m desperate like you. He picked me out. He found me. Doesn’t that mean something?”

“Desperate?” Suzie’s voice grew shrill. She laughed right in my face, flecks of her spit landing on my cheeks. “Um, you’re the desperate one. Desperately in need of help. You’ve got bad vision, bad clothes, bad finances, bad blood.”

I flinched as she sank her barbs in deeper and deeper.

“Meanwhile, I’ve got everything I could ever need or want. My parents are rich. This whole coffee shop thing is just for pocket money.” Suzie put her back to me, ending the discussion, if it could even be called that.

“I wasn’t there to see Carter. I was there for Maggie!”

“Yeah, okay. You’re getting pretty mad for someone who doesn’t care.” Suzie sighed, like she felt sorry for me, like I was being defensive.

Maybe I was, but she had started it. Was I not supposed to defend myself?

“I think you were there hoping you’d meet him and he could solve all your problems with his money.”

“Shut up,” I snapped, finally losing control of my anger. “You’re insufferable!”

I hated to be mean, but damn. I had never done a single thing to her to deserve to be talked to like this. All I wanted to do was make money. She couldn’t understand that. She didn’t need to work for money. This was all just a game to her.

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