Page 32 of Hard To Love

Duly convicted in my head, I glared at him intensely, “I think you know.” And here I thought he was a smart man. Was he really that stupid or did he think he could pull one over on me? I would like to think he was just lacking in the common sense department, but he was too good of a lawyer to be this incompetent.

Then all of a sudden, he must have realized how the situation looked. “Oh,” he exclaimed as he clamped his mouth shut. He looked down at the ground and shifted on his feet like he was uncomfortable. He snapped his gaze to mine “Are you upset about Megan?”

Over the past week, I have really come to dislike the name Megan. I hated feeling jealous and petty, but what did he expect? Any reasonable woman would be assuming the same thing.

“Why would seeing you with Megan make me upset? After all, we’ve only slept together one time, so it’s not like I have any say in what you do. Just like I can do whatever the hell I want, including accepting a drink from a HOT bartender!” Fuck him and fuck her.

Zach returned gently placing the drink in front of me as I leaned in and lightly touched his hand. “Thank you for the drink. I loved the Mind Eraser, but next time maybe you can whip up a Slow Screw, it’s my favorite.”

I felt bad that I had inserted Zach in the middle, but I needed to make a point here. By the way Chase’s face darkened, it was clear that he got my point.

Zach coughed into his hand, “Let me know if you need anything else, boss,” he said, before he quickly escaped to go serve another customer at the opposite end of the bar. I picked up my wine and took a sip, wondering why alcohol always seemed to taste better when I was angry.

Chase’s hands were balled into fists at his side, “Are you finished?” I could see a small twitch where his jaw line tightened; his angry eyes glared back at me.Really? He was mad at me?

Frustrated, I narrowed my eyes on him. ”How much longer do you think I planned on waiting down here at the bar while you finished with your ‘business’ upstairs?”

Inhaling sharply, he barked, “First off, let’s start with your recollection of events, shall we? You and I have slept together twice, not once. I will try to not be insulted that you don’t remember round two. Secondly, the business you saw upstairs was just me consoling a friend and nothing more. And finally, just so we are clear,” he inhaled as his eyes drilled into mine. “You will not be flirting with my staff or anyone else as long as we are together. I’m a very jealous man, Emily, and I don’t share with anyone.”

His words shocked me. His direct reply was disarming, and had me searching for the reason why I was so worked up in the first place. I wasn’t sure what the situation was between him and his so-called employee, but I needed to dial things back a notch and give him the benefit of the doubt.

Biting my bottom lip, I put my arms around his neck and apologized. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to sound so jealous and insecure. I just wasn’t expecting to walk into your office and find you in the arms of another woman.” He started to talk, but I stopped him. “Now that I’ve had time to cool down, I realize I may have overreacted. I was just caught off guard. Do you think we can just forget about this and start over?”

Relaxing his shoulders, he leaned in slanting his mouth over mine and held it there. His kiss was soft and slow, but it was enough to pull me out of my funk and boost my mood.

“Apology accepted. I’m sorry if I upset you. I can understand why you would jump to the wrong conclusion.” He tilted his head, “Let’s get out of here.” Grabbing my purse off the bar with one hand, he laced our fingers together, pulling me towards the exit.

As we started to leave, I noticed Megan standing at the bottom of the stairs, watching ushead to the exit. It was clear by her expression that seeing us together pissed her off. I squeezed Chase’s hand as he pulled me closer and planted a tender kiss on my lips. Regardless of the frosty stare that was aimed towards me, it was all the reassurance I needed.

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