Echo (Bleeding Hearts #1)(9)

He didn’t say a word as he did it, and neither did I. Truthfully, I was a little shocked by his inappropriateness. Why he would risk such behavior in the workplace was beyond me. He acted as though he couldn’t help himself, and yet he pulled away a moment later, leaving me more confused than ever.

“You’re finished for the evening, Miss Valentine.”

His voice cut through me like butter, and when I glanced up into those blue eyes, a jolt of longing hit me hard and swift. He looked like he could use a good massage himself, and for a moment, I wanted to be the one to give it to him. It was crazy, but I had all sorts of hormones surging through my body. A product of my inexperience? I hoped so. God help me if it was like this with all men who showed a slight interest in me.

I gathered up my things and scurried from the building before I could do something stupid.



***



“Will you please come with me?” I begged Nicole. “A bunch of the other employees are going.”

Nicole was so engrossed in whoever she was texting I doubted she’d even heard me. But I continued on anyway.

“Matt will be there,” I added, hoping this might entice her. “And he asked me if you were coming.”

This earned me her attention, and something weird passed over her features as she shook her head minimally.

“Then I’m definitely not going.”

“C’mon, why not?” I pushed. “I can tell there’s something going on between you two. I think he really likes you.”

“Well, I’m not interested,” she huffed.

I knew that wasn’t true, so I kept at it.

“Well, if you went tonight, maybe you two could talk and get to know each other,” I suggested. “No pressure or anything. But I’ve seen the way you look at him, Nicole…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she snapped. “I said I wasn’t interested.”

I flinched at the harshness of her tone and held up my hands in a gesture of defeat. She was always so happy and easy going, I’d never expected to hit a nerve like I just had.

She sighed, turning away from me as she walked to the window. We had one of the best views in the city from this apartment. The floor to ceiling glass and extended balcony framed the entire bay area. I was sure it came with a hefty price tag, but according to Nicole the Bennett Corporation was footing the bill.

Again, it didn’t make much sense to me, given that Nicole was a program coordinator and not upper management. But when I started to ask questions she got a little funny about the whole thing, so I dropped it.

The place was nicer than anything I ever could have expected to live in. It had a loft style feel and three huge bedrooms. The walls were all pristine white, and the floors cherry hardwood. It was bright and airy, and yet empty somehow. Nicole flitted around the place like a ghost, coming and going without a sound most of the time. I had only lived with her for a couple of weeks, but it seemed like she was becoming increasingly distant. I wasn’t sure why, but I wanted to fix it.

“Look, I’m sorry,” she said softly. “But there are some things I haven’t told you. I’m still trying to recover from my last relationship and I’m not ready to date yet.”

“Oh.” I slid from the barstool I was propped on. “I’m sorry Nicole, I didn’t realize. But you know I’m here if you ever want to talk about it.”

She gave me a tight smile before turning her attention back to the city below.

“And I understand if you don’t want to go tonight,” I added. “It was silly of me to keep pushing the issue.”

“Thanks.”

Her phone rang, and she frowned at the screen before glancing back at me. “I have to take this.”

She walked out of the room, talking in hushed whispers, and I tried to ignore the weird feeling in my gut. Nicole had been taking a lot of private phone calls since I moved in, and she was never too happy about them. I wanted to ask her who was on the other line, but again it felt like an invasion of privacy.

So instead, I dragged myself to my room to get ready. I didn’t have a large selection of clothes, so I settled on the one pair of cute jeans I owned and a simple black tank top. The benefit of hanging out with Matt was I didn’t feel the need to impress him. We were friends, and that was it.

When I walked back out to the entryway fifteen minutes later, Nicole was waiting for me. She was dressed in designer jeans and a cute little sparkly top, and she had her purse slung over her shoulder.

“I changed my mind,” she announced. “I decided I want to go after all.”

I nodded and bit my lip, deciding not to say anything as we stepped into the hallway together. Because even though she was dressed to go out, Nicole looked like she’d rather do anything else.





Chapter Four



We met at a bar that was supposed to be an ironic trailer trash theme. The irony wasn’t lost on me as we stepped inside. My life in a trailer park was never this glamorous.

It was at this point I realized I was now living in an alternate universe. Since I’d moved to San Francisco, I’d somehow ended up living in a luxury apartment and working for a billion dollar corporation. I’d hardly had time to blink, and yet everything was changing before me. Now here I was, socializing with people who thought it was fun to venture to the low class for entertainment.