Addicted (The Addicted Series, #1)(48)

I still couldn't believe that she'd let me run her office for a day. Me, the girl she'd practically tortured since coming to work for her. Me, the girl who thought she was doomed to be a slave for Christine for most of her adult life, only to be tossed to the wayside when she wasn't needed.

But things were beginning to change. Christine started treating me with at least a hint of respect, and she obviously had enough faith in me to give me this opportunity.

All in all, I thought I did a good job if not for the disaster in the audition room, even if I was practically an answering machine.

"C'mon, Gabe, where are you?" I muttered, glancing at Christine's antique clock on the wall. I was already here later than normal. The sun had sunk behind the horizon, leaving a darkened skyline twinkling with lights.

Sighing in frustration, I sat down at Christine's desk and called Gabe's extension. I didn't know why he was taking so damn long. He worked several floors below me, but he still should've been burning wheels to get that book back to me. He was usually the first one out the door every day.

The phone rang several times before his answering machine picked up. "This is Gabriel, your fashion divanista. I'll get back to you guys whenever I feel like it . . . BITCHES!"

Beep.

I swear to God, he only had that message somehow specifically for me. There’s no way he’d survived working for Christine that long with a voicemail like that. “Gabe, what the hell are you doing?" I demanded. "I'm ready to go home. Why aren't you here yet? You know who’s going to be killed when Christine comes back in tomorrow morning looking for . . .”

"This?" asked a deep voice at the doorway.

I looked up and my heart jumped in my chest.

Tyler.

Again.

He was standing in the doorway, this time with clothes on, a tux, no less, holding Christine's White Book in his hands. Five o’clock shadow shaded his jaw as he grinned at me with his enigmatic eyes.

I swear on my life, he never looked more hot and sexy than in that moment. What the hell did he do between now and the last time I saw him? I wondered, awed that he would show up looking so formal just for me.

"What—" I began.

"Am I doing here?" Tyler finished for me.

It felt like the cat had my tongue. I nodded.

"I've come to see you, what else?” He said, as if it was plainly obvious. "And to bring you this book." Keeping his eyes on me, he swaggered over to Christine's desk and set the book down before me.

April must have known about this . . . that’s why she was acting so differently.

"At your service, Madame," Tyler said dutifully, treating me to a majestic bow. His charm was powerful; it always had been.

Don’t fall for his antics and let him prey on your emotions, that annoying voice urged. Get him out of here.

Gathering all the mental strength that I had at my command, I shot to my feet, stabbing a finger at the door. "Get out!" I shouted. Though I tried to sound as threatening as possible, I actually sounded frightened.

Tyler didn't budge, his eyes still twinkling, unfazed by my barely-there wrath. "You sure about that?"

“I’m positive!” I hissed, trembling all over. "You're a cheating scumbag and you don’t deserve me!”

Tyler's grin evaporated and he looked at me with surprising anger. "I never cheated on you," he growled. "I swear on my life."

“You may not have, because I happened to catch you, but you were about to!”

"What you saw was one moment," Tyler said calmly. "You have no idea what happened before that."

Why am I even listening to this? I wondered.

"Will you calm down and let me explain without freaking out?" Tyler pleaded, a gentle tone in his voice that made me feel like mush inside. "I promise you’ll understand better once I'm done. And if you still don't want to talk to me when it's over, I'll leave and you'll never have to hear from me again."

For some reason, the thought of never hearing from him again really bothered me, even though I'd spent the last several months avoiding him at all costs.

Maybe I should just listen, I thought, if only to see how ridiculous his lie is going to be.

I bit my lower lip, deep in thought while Tyler gazed at me with an earnestness that I found surprising.

Screw it. Just give him a chance to explain himself and be done with it.

"Go ahead then," I said finally, crossing my arms across my chest and sticking my nose up at the ceiling in a snobby manner. "For all the good it will do you."

Tyler let out a relieved sigh. "Thank you, Vicky."

It was the first time he'd called me Vicky. I had to admit, it sounded good to my ears.

Then he began telling me about what happened after I left him. How his ex-girlfriend suddenly showed up and demanded re-entry to his life and how she'd forced herself on him after he demanded that she leave.

"And you walked into the room right as she grabbed me," Tyler said as he finished his tale. "I was about to forcefully remove her, but then I thought better of it. I didn't want her to accuse me of something, she’s the biggest gold digger I’ve ever known, after all. I was in thought about how to handle the situation, and she took advantage of it. That’s the God’s honest truth.”