Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3)(19)

“Of course I did! Shall I just assume you want to know the deets?”

“Uh…”

“I’ll take that as a straight-man’s yes. A week after she got back from San Francisco she had dinner with him and broke it off. As far as I know, he was the first to know. She didn’t discuss it with anyone. Not that she had to. He was a bit dopey. Hot, yes, but you couldn’t listen to him. Double dates were painful!”

“And she’s not seeing anyone else?”

“Ban on dating. She’s been asked out constantly, and I mean constantly, but so far she’s always said no. Although, she hasn’t had sex in forever. She’ll probably bend, soon. She’s getting bitchy.”

“A week after she got back?”

“Tit-for-tat. Did you two do the nasty while she was there? Judy thinks you must have or else Krista wouldn’t have broken it off right away. Ben says no way, though. Apparently Krista doesn’t like cheaters—her giant ex-boyfriend is the reason behind that, of course. Kate and Jasmine agree with Ben.”

“No, we didn’t. I didn’t touch her. I didn’t see much of her for fear I would touch her.”

“Really? You still like her, then? Kate thinks you don’t because of how you pushed her away. Also how you acted in San Fran. Jasmine thinks you—“

“Yes, I still love her.”

Marcus took a noisy breath. “Well, then. You’ve got quite a hole to dig yourself out of. It’s been a long time.”

“Yeah, listen Marcus, I gotta go. Keep it under wraps that I talked to you, will ya? I don’t want Krista thinking I am gossiping about her.”

“Then how did you find out? Kate and Jasmine decided to keep it from Cassie.”

That explained why Cassie wasn’t on his butt about it, but he wasn’t sure it was good news. Krista took real stock in what her friends thought. She listened to them. If they were against Sean, he wouldn’t have a chance to get her back. And he had to get her back. His life didn’t make sense without her.

“Tory called. Listen, I have to go. I’ll talk to you soon.”

Sean paced around his office for a minute and thought. He took stock of his life, of his choices, and now of a path reopened to him. He called Cassie next, needing to be sure.

“Hey,” she said when she picked up.

“Krista is single. She broke up with her boyfriend a week after getting back to L.A..”

The other end was silent. Sean looked at his cell phone to make sure it was still on, then into the live call said, “Hello?”

“You promised.”

Sean let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding and half laughed. “Yes.”

“So now what?”

“Want to move to L.A. with me?”

~*~*~*~

Six months had gone by since Krista’s San Francisco visit. They hadn’t taken Sean’s account, and Krista hadn’t seen him since that night on the beach. She heard he quit Dexico, sold his house—apparently to Cassie--and moved away. No one knew what company he moved to, or even what location. He was a ghost.

Dexico was in the midst of crumbling from the inside out. Apparently John was shocked Sean moved on; he hadn’t seen it coming. In fact, no one had. When Sean gave his notice, John did everything he could to entice Sean to stay. Marcus said the salary and perks being thrown at him were staggering. Not only that, but the President offered him a VP title. He would share the role with John. Nothing would keep him, though. He worked hard for his last month, gave his stuff to the other salesmen, and closed another book in San Francisco. Ray had left shortly thereafter.

The good news was, Kate and Jasmine decided to go to L.A. They said they had nothing better to do, and needed a change of scenery. Judy had gotten another job, too. Everyone from their old team evaporated. The company wasn’t nearly as loyal as she first believed, and it showed in their turnover.

Even Cassie agreed to move, eventually. Eventually being the key word. She was with a great company in a great job, so she had to transfer within the company, and right now there weren’t any openings in L.A. in her field. But the rain check was good enough for Krista and friends. She was a solid, though distant, member of their group.

Although, Krista would be lying if she said she was the one that kept her in the circle. Kate and Jasmine took up that mantle. Cassie was Krista’s only link left to Sean, and his rejection hurt so much, she couldn’t face Cassie without the pain of it consuming her. And it seemed like Cassie knew it, too, because they’d talked once on the phone—Cassie had called for a friendly chat—and Krista broke down in tears ten minutes in. It was slightly embarrassing. Especially since Cassie didn’t have any excuses for her brother’s behavior.

Cassie had ended the call saying to call her when Krista could stomach her humor. Krista laughed through her pain, but hadn’t dialed her number since. If only her humor was the problem.

Kate was hired on in Krista’s department. She was better qualified, so Jasmine got to lounge around at Krista’s house and look for work. That lasted a couple months until she found employment in another part of Kate and Krista’s company. A word from Krista, and a whirlwind of chat from Marcus, and she was in before she even interviewed.

It helped that Tory heard the girls were the back-up researchers when Krista was with Dexico. He’d asked how well they worked together. Krista had answered that they were her dream team before she’d even met Marcus and Ben. He nodded once and then changed the subject, which meant he planned to think it over.