Once Upon a Dare (Risky Business)(52)

Maybe he should go to her? Try one last time to talk some sense into her? She was packing up her office. It could very well be his last chance to plead his case. If he could just explain himself, maybe she’d understand. No, he’d make her understand. He was just trying to help. To make things right. To give her back what he’d unwittingly taken. What she deserved.

But would she even listen? It was unlikely. Given their history, odds were they’d just end up in another knock-down, drag-out fight, and he was already feeling shitty enough without making a spectacle of himself in front of the entire office.

He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. As much as he wanted to go to her, to beg for her forgiveness, now wasn’t the time. He needed to be patient, give her some time to cool off, and let the dust settle. Then maybe they could try again, because no way was he just going to accept that they were over.

At least now they’d be on equal ground. She wouldn’t have to worry about gossip and he wouldn’t have to worry about getting nailed for screwing around in the office. As much as he hated to see her go, perhaps Olivia’s leaving was for the best. She’d learn a lot, working with Natalia, and there would be no political baggage. It would be a fresh start, something she clearly needed.

His gaze jerked to the hall. Olivia. She was heading his way, looking as beautiful as ever with her honey-blond hair fanned out over her shoulders. She stood tall, back straight as she made her way down the corridor. He waited with bated breath, hopeful she was coming to see him. When she reached his office, she hooked a right without so much as glancing his way.

Cole’s gut twisted. If that wasn’t a big “f*ck you”, he didn’t know what was. They were over. He was completely, totally, one hundred percent certain of it. Olivia had meant it when she said she was done with him. She wouldn’t be coming back, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.





Chapter Twenty-One


“Love sucks,” Olivia muttered, talking to herself as she tried, and failed miserably, to weed through resumes for her new team. She was doing her best to throw herself into her work as she’d always done, but it was a struggle. She couldn’t stop thinking about Cole.

It wasn’t fair. She’d turned in her notice at PBA and stalked proudly past Cole’s office, not giving him a single glance. She loved her new job as Vice President of Marketing and Consumer Insights at Vixen Enterprises. She was working for a boss who respected her, who wouldn’t try to seduce her or interfere in her career.

So then why did she feel like shit?

Cole’s actions had been beyond the pale, certainly. How many times had she told him that she just wanted to make it on her own, without somebody else swooping in to mistakenly save the day? And yet he’d refused to listen every time, convinced that he knew her needs better than she did.

Except, when it came to the needs that spiraled through her body every freaking time she thought about Cole, he kind of did know her needs better than she did.

But that was the problem, she reasoned. Sure, they were good in bed together. Scratch that—they were great. She couldn’t deny the immense pleasure he was capable of giving her with even a flick of his fingertip. But he couldn’t seem to understand her point of view about the really important things. Didn’t even seem to want to. She’d been a fool to think they could have had anything other than an insanely intense physical connection. Of course, she’d miss that. She missed his strong arms wrapping around her, pulling her close to him. She missed his kisses. She even missed their playful bickering.

But he’d ruined everything.

Every time she thought about how casually he’d talked about getting her the partnership at PBA, her blood boiled. He’d lied to her. How could she trust him when he’d purposefully gone behind her back and manipulated her career? How could he not have understood what that would do to her reputation at the agency? If he’d truly been looking out for her best interests, he never would have interfered. He would have respected her independence instead of using their relationship to give her a hand up.

She had to remind herself of that, or she’d go and do something stupid like forgive him.

Her assistant Greer came to her door holding a binder. Olivia cursed again under her breath, and Greer turned on her stiletto heel and left without a word. Leaning back in her chair, Olivia closed her eyes. What she just needed was a few minutes to collect herself. She sat like that for a while, unaware of how much time had passed until her phone vibrated.

Glancing at the screen, she saw a text from Chloe. Guilt tore through her like white hot lightning. She’d been avoiding Chloe, unable to give voice to her pain and talk about Cole. It was just too much.

Curiosity finally got the best of her and she reached for the phone. She swiped the screen and read the message: Cole hasn’t been to work in two days!

Good! she typed without hesitation. At least she wasn’t the only one feeling like utter shit.

Her phone buzzed again almost immediately. She read Chloe’s newest message and sighed. What’s going on?!? CALL ME.

She’d call Chloe later, but first she had to get through these resumes. With renewed focus, she plowed through the stack, sorting them into potential candidates and file 13. Despite the large applicant pool, there were only a half-dozen or so who were truly qualified and warranted interviews.

She scribbled a note to Greer with instructions for scheduling the interviews with potentials and took the rest to the shredder. As the machine whirred the pages into oblivion, her thoughts drifted back to Cole. Those sterling silver eyes. That dark hair that always dropped into his eyes. The way he’d smiled at her across her breakfast bar in her lonely little apartment.