Page 39 of Some Like It Scandalous
Anna
In her room,Anna had to fight against opening the door to slam it again. She settled for kicking the edge of her bed and tears sparked in her eyes at the punishment to her toes.Of all the arrogant…pigheaded…overbearing…
She let out another little scream and clenched her fists. How the hell could he dismiss her—order her out of a room—and then act like he’d done nothing wrong? Fuming, she slammed into her bathroom, showered. He’d dismissed her—effectively told her to get out.
Bastard.
Bracing her hands against the tile, she bent her head under the spray and ignored the tears running down her cheeks.Why?He’d been angry with his brother. Of course he’d been angry. Sebastian told the press they were together. The burning in her eyes doubled and she swallowed a sob.“You two were good together. I do not believe he’s ever gotten over you.”
Could have fooled her. She washed her hair twice and then leaned against the tile, letting the hot steamy water drown out her tears. Charlie never got angry. In all their years together, she’d never seen him behave…
Like what? A prince? A man who expects his orders to be obeyed?When they were together, he’d been her Charlie. Her best friend. Her soul mate.God, I am so stupid.How could she continue to think of him that way? Hadn’t that little episode demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that he wasn’t Charlie?
So why then did he come to see me? He didn’t know Sebastian was there—I saw the shock on his face.Nikole’sridiculous statement to the press had been the first thing he’d brought up.So why throw me out…?
Because Charlie didn’t lose his temper and he’d been furious. Anna straightened and shut off the water. Controlled. Everything about him was so controlled. Every word deliberate, every action—every reaction—he moderated them. He behaved in all things…
“Like a prince. Like he’s on display and he is very aware of the impressions he makes.” Even to her. He’d been furious with his brother and he wanted to yell at him. That said, he also hadn’t wanted to yell in front of her. After climbing out of the shower she toweled off swiftly, pausing only to finger comb her hair.
Grabbing the first thing she found in the dresser, she dragged on an old sweatshirt and a pair of shorts. She had to talk to him—clear all of it up. Her courage flagged at the door, and she hesitated.
What if he didn’t want to talk to her?
Indecision rippled through her. Pacing over to the bed, she picked up the phone and dialed her sister.
“Hello, Blocked Number, you have reached the residence of ‘what the hell do you want?’ You have three seconds to answer or I hang up…”
“Good evening to you too.” Laughter escaped, she forgot that the private penthouse wouldn’t have caller ID. She should have used her cell phone.
“Well, hello, stranger. You sound suspiciously like my sister, but that can’t be. She’s been too preoccupied with recapturing the past to call and let me know she’s still alive.” The snarky tone belied the real concern echoing beneath the words.
The horrible rocks settling on her chest dislodged at Penny’s voice. “I have been busy and I am sorry, I would say you could’ve called me?—”
“Oh, I did, but calling you requires your cell phone to be on and since I ring straight through to your very full voicemail, I’m guessing it hasn’t been.” Water echoed behind Penny’s words followed by a metallic thud. “Okay, teakettle is on. I’ve got a soothing blend of chamomile waiting for me—give me the deets. What’s going on?”
“We’ve set up the fourteenth floor for the scholarship fund.” She grasped on to the relative normalcy of it all. She needed it. “Kate—she’s the new assistant is a Godsend—she’s more organized than I am. Becca’s got some great design plans for the brochure. I have some more numbers to crunch and it could take a while to make a real impact, but I think we have a lot of potential.”
She rolled onto her back and stared at the texture of the ceiling. Penny was silent for a long moment. “And?”
“And what?” Anna fidgeted, sitting up and balancing the phone between her ear and shoulder. She’d hoped a shower would help the too-tight feeling of her skin.
“Helloooo—hot ex-boyfriend—hot,royalex-boyfriend. What’s up with you and Charlie?” The kettle whistled in the background.
Shrugging, she scrambled to catch the phone when it fell and grimaced as her foot impacted the edge of the bed. “Dammit.”
“Hey, you called me,” Penny pointed out.
“No, I hit my foot on the bed.” Again.
“Oh, are you in bed with him right now? Wait—if you’re in bed with him, why the hell are you calling me?” Her sister’s tease didn’t help the cramp twisting her insides up.
Scrubbing a hand against her face again, Anna sighed. “We’re not in bed together.”
“Bummer. Why not?” She slurped her tea noisily and Anna stared up at the ceiling.
“Penny, I didn’t call you to talk about Charlie.”Liar.“How’s school going?”
“It’s fine and boring. You did too call me to talk about Charlie—I can hear the tension in your voice. I bet your nostrils are flaring and your mouth has that pinched, sucked-on-a-lemon look to it. So, what did he do?” Blithe, carefree Penny didn’t stand on ceremony with anyone and certainly had no concepts of privacy.
