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

“Does he—do you know if he ever…asks about me?” she stammered.

Marcus looked at her softly. “He’s never asked Judy directly, but a couple times she was telling others how you were and he stopped to listen.”

She nodded again, a tear overflowing.

“Geegee, you know I love you, right?”

She held back a sob, tears now making black streamers down her face.

“Well, honey, you gotta move on. It’s been two years. If he hasn’t come for you yet, he ain’t gonna, you know? And you have that hot little number looking after you, with another dozen on the hold list. Pick one. Get married. Give Gay Uncle Marcus fat babies. You know?”

She cried harder. It was going to be one of those nights. Marcus came around the desk and hugged her as she cried into his shirt. It had been two long years and the break still seemed fresh. The hurt was so sharp, she wondered if she would bleed out before it healed.

That night she cried herself to sleep with the windows open, listening to the sound of the ocean. She’d be a liar if she said she wasn’t thinking of Sean the whole time.

~*~*~*~

Sean sat at his desk looking out the window. She was coming to San Francisco. She would be here tomorrow. She would be in the same room, breathing the same air, in less than twenty-four hours. Sean’s chest was nearly exploding. He wasn’t quite sure how he felt about it. She had someone else now. She’d had someone else for a whole year. Someone constant. A man that treated her well and bought her things. Sean had seen a picture—the man was attractive.

She had moved on.

“Daydreaming?” Ray asked as he walked in.

Sean startled and looked at Ray. “Just thinking.”

“Are we ready for tomorrow?”

Ray had barely aged in the last two years. Unlike Sean, Ray refused to work crazy hours. He refused to give his free time to an employer. He had a family to get back to at the end of the day. And while Sean had Cassie, she had friends and occasional boyfriends and a life, she was often elsewhere when Sean got home. All that awaited him was an empty house and an occasional unfulfilling lover.

Sean rubbed his eyes. He was tired, on a great many levels. “As ready as we’ll ever be. I doubt they will use us.”

“Then why the meeting?”

Sean looked out the window again. “You know why. Tory is trying to moonlight me.”

“More money?”

“Yes.”

“Better title?”

Sean nodded.

“Then take the job and stay in San Francisco. You won’t need to see her that way.”

Sean’s heart fell. Ray had been increasingly worried about him since Krista left. When Sean started working like a fiend, Ray tried to slow him down. Ray invited him over often, trying to get Cassie to prod him into accepting. It hadn’t worked. Especially since Cassie was still mad at him for letting Krista go. One would think Cassie was the one going through the breakup.

When they heard Krista had a new boyfriend, Cassie had thrown a plate at Sean’s head. She narrowly missed. Then, she’d started crying. She didn’t blame Krista—she saved all the blame for Sean,and reminded him of it whenever she thought to.

After a beat, Ray asked, “Why is Tory shoving Krista in your face, I wonder? Why fly her up here? Why not let the San Francisco offices handle it?”

“Because she’s the best in the company at what she does.” Sean couldn’t help the surge of pride, followed by the familiar pain. “Tory probably wants her to judge me. Judge what I’ve done. If anyone can poke holes in my work, Krista can.”

Ray nodded. “Are you sure you don’t want me in the meeting?”

Sean shook his head. “If what I hear is true, she will rip us apart. There’s nothing you can do to help.”

“It won’t be out of cruelty, Sean,” Ray said quietly. “She was never that kind of girl.”

Sean felt like crying. If there had been no witnesses he might’ve. “I know, Ray. She’ll just be doing her job. I just wish they were sending someone else.”

Chapter Two

It was ten in the morning and Krista had a death grip on her lucky mug. She was sitting in the conference room in the San Francisco office waiting for Tory. A small team was sitting with her, including Marcus and Ben, going over the preliminary information from their old company. Krista knew the numbers backward and forward, could see the gaping holes as if they had neon arrows pointed at them, and couldn’t help but highlight all the discrepancies (of which there were a million) for all the team to exploit.

In short, doing her job. And doing it well, just like Tory taught her.

Aside from that, which was second nature at this stage in the game, she was trying desperately to control the raging butterflies in her stomach. It felt like the little suckers were battering up against her ribs, punching her heart and other organs, and ultimately making her feel like she had to throw up constantly.

“Who is giving the presentation?” Ben asked stiffly, interrupting the thumping in Krista’s chest. He and Marcus were wondering if Krista would make it through the day without throwing a tirade or breaking down in tears.

For herself, she put her money on both. Tirade first. Tears later.

“Guess,” Marcus said with a smile in his voice. “There are five people.”