Wrong for You (Before You #3)(34)
“Not my finest moment, that’s for sure.”
“Do you want something to drink?”
“No.”
“Are you sure? From the look on your face, I think you could use a margarita. I still have some mix and tequila left over from our girls’ night out a couple months ago.”
“It’s ten in the morning. I think I’ll pass.” She gnawed on her lower lip and then she shook her head. “Well, not until twelve. My conscience won’t let me have a drink earlier than that. Ask me again then. I might change my mind.”
“Deal. So tell me what happened?”
Violet released a deep breath and pushed her hair away from her face. “There’s a new volunteer at the Foundation. He took over fundraising for me. I didn’t think he’d do much of anything because I have knocked on every door of every person living in this city asking for money and I couldn’t raise more than a few dollars and I needed a break. He couldn’t do any worse than me, right?”
“Probably not. How’d it go?”
Violet nodded. “He raised a lot of money, and when I say a lot, I mean enough to sustain the Foundation for a year.”
“That’s great.” Annette shook her head. “But I’m confused. What does that have to do with you having bad judgment?”
“Last night, he cooked me a celebratory dinner and we hooked up, but I stopped it before it went too far because I don’t know much about him except for what he wrote on his volunteer application, and he’s only in town for a couple more weeks before he goes back to California.”
Annette leaned back in her chair and crossed her ankles. “That doesn’t sound like an epic judgment failure to me.”
“That’s not the bad part. As he left, his mom stopped by and things got pretty heated between the two of them.”
“Wait.” Annette held up her hand. “I don’t get it. Why did his mom go to your house?”
“Because I rented the basement apartment to him for a month.”
“Oh. Hm. That’s interesting. I thought you were done renting that place. Never again, I believe were the words you muttered after you evicted the last renter.”
Violet sucked her lower lip into her mouth, contemplating what she did last night or really since the first moment her eyes met Alec’s. Now that she reflected on the way she practically chased him into his apartment and fell into his bed five minutes later, she was having difficulty understanding why she forgot who she was around him. “I was, but with the financial situation at the Foundation, I needed the money and he was planning to stay in a hotel for a month. It seemed like a good alternative for both of us.”
Annette’s eyes narrowed. “What’s this guy’s name and what does he look like?”
“Why?”
“Because he must be something special to twist you into knots and cause you to bend your rules. Once you make a decision, you never change your mind.”
“Alec.” Violet tapped her fingers on her knee. “Tall, dark hair, tattoos, very attractive in a dark, dangerous ‘I wouldn’t want my mom to know anything about him’ type of way.” She shrugged and stared absently at Annette’s mossy rock fireplace. “Basically, he’s nothing like the normal guys I date or even associate with, but there’s something about him that draws me in, and even though I know I should walk away from him, I seem to be drawn closer and closer to him.”
Laughter exploded from Annette’s mouth. “Holy shit, Vi, I wish you could see your face right now.”
Violet’s eyebrows drew together, leaving two little indentions between her eyes. “What’s wrong with my face?”
“It’s doing this dreamy, glazed over, ‘I need you’ thing.”
Her heart lurched against her ribs. “No!” She shook her head feverishly, like someone just accused her of a crime, and getting a dreamy look on her face after what Alec did to her this morning was a crime against self-respecting women everywhere. “You’re out of your mind.”
Annette’s lips twisted as she slanted them to the side. “Sure, go ahead and believe that, but you’re right, your mom would die if she knew you ever touched him. I can practically hear her lecturing you about bad boys with bad tattoos and bad intentions.”
“Ah…yeah, and that’s not even the worst part. After his mom left, I went down to the basement apartment, and when he didn’t answer, I opened the door and went in.”
“Why?”
“Because it sounded like a real shit show down there. Loud music, profanity, banging…I don’t know.” She tried to mind her own business, but every fiber in her being pleaded with her brain to check on him and in the end, her brain lost. She was dangerously and hopelessly attracted to him.
“Hm,” Annette said, raising one of her perfectly arched eyebrows.
“Basically, one thing led to another and we…” Violet’s eyes darted around the room as heat flooded her face. She lowered her voice to a faint whisper, “…had sex.”
Annette’s foot tapped against the floor, and Violet thought she’d die if she waited one more second for Annette’s judgment.
“So. What’s the problem? This isn’t high school. You’re twenty-five years old. You can date and do what you want with whoever, whenever. You act like one questionable decision is a stain on your life. Get over it.”