Page 223 of Tormented Billionaire Romance Series

Carter ate his surf and turf mechanically, watching the aquarium with a far-off stare, which he kept even at the end of the night, wishing me good dreams.

Because I could never keep anything good in my life, I had bad dreams.

CHAPTER23

CARTER

Icouldn’t have messed up in a worse fashion than if I’d been trying to. My mistake haunted me through everything I did. I couldn’t focus on anything. Anguish suffused every moment. Even in the few days since the disastrous night at the restaurant, I had fallen behind on my work. I kept blanking out, having near out-of-body moments where I relived every agonizing second of what I had done wrong.

My work lapses may not have been so bad if it wasn’t for the whole thing with funding being cut next year. This month being November, that left little time to do all the things I needed to. Even less time, when I sat in my office, staring at my dark, sleeping laptop screen.

I just felt so bad.

Even worse, Megyn wouldn’t return my calls or texts. I probably should have expected as such, but it worried me anyway. She could be doing anything. She could be making mistakes, bad judgment calls thanks to my own errors.

A knock came on my office door.

I jolted out of yet another series of bad daydreams and sat upright. “Come in,” I said. I skimmed my finger over the laptop touchpad to wake it up.

Brian entered, glancing at my laptop. “So, no work again today, huh?”

“Just restarting after a system update,” I lied.

Brian flopped in the chair on the other side of the desk and frowned, rubbing his chin. “That’s weird, since I haven’t had to update yet.”

“Maybe it hasn’t gotten to you.”

“I’m sure that’s not how computers work. I could be wrong, though. I am, after all, just a former lawyer.” Brian jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Want me to contact Jeff from IT and ask?”

“As much as I adore Jeff, that won’t really be necessary.” I sighed and rested my head on my hand. “You caught me. Happy?”

“No, actually. I’m worried.”

“It’ll be nice to deal with someone else’s worries for a bit. What’s up?”

“Unfortunately, I think we have the same concerns. Carter,” he said, “you can’t go on like this. Not only is it bad for you right now, but you will hate yourself next year if you don’t accomplish what you’re working on now. This needs to come to an end.”

“What do you suggest? Because I’m sure I will probably have already considered it.”

“Talk to Megyn. Do it. Get this resolved, one way or another.”

“She hasn’t been replying to me.”

“I predicted that.” Brian reached into his pocket. “Luckily, I am nothing if not prepared. It’s always been my job to anticipate these unfortunate developments.”

He pushed a scrap of paper across the desk.

I picked it up. A phone number. “This is?”

“Maggie’s number.” Brian stood. “Ask her if she’s heard from Megyn. Go from there. Get this fixed, Carter. It’ll ruin us if you don’t.”

I put the number into my phone before he even made it out of the office.

Maggie picked up on the first ring, like she had been expecting me. She probably had been, would have had Brian prepare her for my call. “Hello?”

“Maggie, it’s Carter.” I got right to the point. “Have you seen or heard from Megyn?”

“I haven’t.” She sighed. I heard rustling, knew she had to be pacing. “I think she’s probably keeping busy.”

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