Page 7 of You Rock My World
I look at Josie again. It’s weird how a stranger feels easier to be around than the person I promised forever to.
Josie lets out a soft cheer and places a stainless-steel water bottle between us, yanking me out of the mind spiral. “Behold, the elixir of life.” She unscrews the cap. “I refilled it right before leaving the office, so we won’t perish from dehydration.”
“You work here?”
“Yeah, same firm that does your PR, but a different division; I’m in tech.” She takes a sip of water, then offers me the bottle like it’s the most natural thing.
I drink, hoping divisions don’t share info. I suddenly feel more ashamed than ever of my behavior from last night.
“Thanks for the water.” I pass it back. “Any other life-saving choices to report today?”
“Never been happier I didn’t wait to pee until I got home.”
I chuckle. Her knack for saying the first thing that pops into her head no matter how shocking, inappropriate, or perfectly disarming, knocks the rest of the darkness from my brain.
Next, she pulls out a stash of snacks—protein bars, crackers, dried fruit, and a packet of almonds.
“Is that a bag or a vending machine? Do I need exact change?”
She pops a piece of dried mango into her mouth. “When work gets crazy, I don’t have time for lunch. This is how I survive.”
I nod solemnly. “Ah, the balanced diet of a corporate warrior—stress and pocket pretzels.”
“Instead of the healthy rockstar diet of drugs and rock ’n’ roll?”
“You forgot sex.”
Josie blushes and looks away. Instantly, I feel like a total creep. “I’m not hitting on you. It’s a joke about you calling me a cursed sex god earlier.”
She meets my gaze head-on. “Don’t worry, even if youweremaking a pass at me, I’d never date you or sleep with you.”
“Ouch.” I mock-wince. “Please, don’t sugarcoat it. Be as direct as you can.”
Josie smiles, tossing me a protein bar. “Dinner’s served.”
I catch it, unwrapping the snack as a nagging question loops in my head. I should drop the topic. Not push. But I need to know. “May I ask why you’d never date me?”
I search her mesmerizing eyes, bracing for an answer that’s surely going to sting.
5
JOSIE
September—Present Time
In my car, the GPS chirps instructions like this is just another drive—not a slow march into enemy territory.
Having Dorian’s home address feels invasive. Not for him, for me. I didn’t choose this.
I’m about to lift the curtain on his private life, and it seemswrong. Not that I expect piles of laundry in the corner or a fridge covered in takeout menus.
But anything involving Billie Rae might crush me.
My mind races with unwelcome images of Dorian and Billie Rae’s picture-perfect life from back in the days when I could still follow it on social media without feeling like my heart was being carved out of my chest with a spoon.
I hope she’s out of town. I didn’t even check. If I knew for sure, maybe I could stop freaking out. But if she’s there, I won’t survive seeing them all over each other. Or maybe the sight will cure me of my unhealthy obsession—burn the fantasies in my head and release my heart from the hold Dorian has on it.
The GPS instructs me to keep in the left lane, and I entertain the idea of taking a wrong turn, of getting myself lost in the Hollywood Hills. But that would only delay the inevitable.
