Page 35 of Besties
I had to have heard him wrong. “A few years? And neither one of you thought to talk to me?”
“She swore she wouldn’t betray my confidence, and like I said, I was worried about how things would change if you knew the truth. I mean, I’m not exactly as good-looking as Jesse.”
Ugh. Just the fact that Richie had mentioned Jesse had my stomach churning. Especially if he couldn’t see how much more he was than that loser.
“First off, I know you’re fishing for compliments, and if that’s what you need, I’m more than happy to give them to you.”
His eyes went wide. “What? No, I—”
“Second, you are so much more attractive than Jesse ever was.” Now it was my turn to come clean. “The reason I was with him is because I thought no one would ever want me. I’m short, bad-tempered, and…”
“Desperate to be loved?” He stroked a hand over my face. “That was me too. I think we’re both idiots.”
I stuck out my tongue. “I know you are, but what am I?”
He chuckled, and then his gaze drifted down. “I’ve been trying to lose weight again.”
“I don’t want you to change for me. If your doctor says your health is good, then I want you to be exactly how you are.” I put both hands on his stomach. “This has never bothered me in the least.” I bent over and kissed it. “To me it’s always been one of your best features.”
His phone rang again, and he groaned. “I really have to take this.”
I handed him his phone. “That’s fine, but just so you know, you’re going to be coming back to the apartment with me tonight.”
“Okay.” His voice was husky. “Why?”
“Because I want to fall asleep in your arms.”
“That’s all you want?”
I shrugged. “We can play the rest by ear.”
“Okay.” He bit his lip again. “I’ve never been with a man.”
“That’s okay. I’ve never been with you.”
He gave me a shy smile. “You know this might be a monumentally bad idea.”
I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his chin. “I think it’s going to be the best worst idea ever.”
His phone rang again.
“Thought you were going to get that?” I smirked.
“Stop distracting me and I can.” He tapped the screen and held it up to his ear. “What’s up, Allyssa?”
I stood and watched him once again become the master of his world. He listened as his assistant spoke, then gave her the marching orders she needed. The whole while he never took his eyes off me, and I basked in the warm glow growing within me.
I was distractedwhile Rebecca tried to grill me on the polynomial software. Okay, I didn’t hear a word she said. I kept watching the clock, a throwback to the old-school ones with the second hand that took forever to make a rotation that marked a minute, then the minute hand that took even longer to mark an hour.
“If you’re going to sit there and ignore me, I’m just going to go use my valuable time on someone more important.”
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry.” And I was, but the thought of getting back to the apartment with Richie occupied every corner of my mind. I kept seeing him stripping down, allowing me to touch him where I’d only ever dreamed about.
She chuckled and touched my shoulder. “And I’m teasing. I heard what you did today, and I have to say your approach was inspired. Most people would point a finger at the guy who screwed everything up, but you stood up and accepted responsibility for it.”
Turning away from the clock, I met her cool blue gaze. “In my last job, we were told that if there was a way to deny a person’s claim on their broken item, we were to do that. I got in so much trouble when I refused, because if a product is defective, it’s not the customer’s fault. And there are only so many times you can say ‘user error’ before your company starts to look like crap.”
“You’re right. And now you have a meeting to try and fix the whole mess.”
