Page 51 of The One
I kissed her. “I loved it.”
“I know.”
“And I love you.”
“Same.” She pecked me. “Now, let’s go to dinner.”
THIRTEEN
Rhett
Present Day
My cell rang as it sat on top of my desk in my office at the headquarters of Cole and Spade Hotels, Ridge’s name appearing on the screen.
What the fuck? Why won’t everyone just leave me alone?
I held the phone to my ear and barked, “What do you want?”
It was seven thirty in the morning. The last thing I wanted was fucking chatter.
I couldn’t believe I’d even answered.
“I’ve been texting you since you left the strip club on Friday night,” he said. “Since you didn’t write me back, I wanted to make sure you were still alive.”
That felt like a hundred years ago.
My life, since then, had done a one-eighty, leaving me dangling on the edge of a cliff.
“It’s only Monday,” I replied.
He knew the one-week rule when it came to this time every year. Why the fuck had he even expected me to pick up, never mind reply to his text?
“Which is too long to go without hearing from you. Are you doing all right?”
Am I all right? Is he serious?
Even if I hadn’t run into Lainey, my fucking brother knows better than to ask me that.
I wanted to laugh, but the sound wouldn’t generate in my throat.
I no longer found anything funny.
“How about I ask this instead: do you need anything?”
I pounded my fist against my desk. “I need a lot of fucking things.”
“Rhett—”
“Unless you’re a magician, then don’t fucking ask.”
The air from his exhale hit the speaker and caused my ear to tingle.
“How about we meet up for a drink later?—”
“Are you on your way to the office?” I asked, interrupting him.
It would be easy for him to come into my office and shut the door and ask to talk. But at least I wouldn’t have a couple of drinks in me, like he was wanting, where my walls could fall and I’d tell him everything that had recently happened.
