Once Upon a Dare (Risky Business)(54)

Anna held up a hand in surprise. “Hold on. You did what?”

Cole shrugged. “I talked to Pritchard about making Olivia partner. It made sense. She’d done such great work with the campaign, and it was my fault she didn’t get it in the first place. And then after all that she just ditched me for a job at Vixen.”

Anna shook her head. “So this Olivia repeatedly tells you how important it is to her that she succeed on her own, and you go behind her back to pull strings? Good lord, big brother, I’d have bailed too. What were you thinking?”

“That’s not fair,” Cole retorted. “I tried to talk to her. I tried to explain I was just doing this because I wanted her to be happy, and she wouldn’t listen. She just kept insisting that I was only doing it to get her back in the sack.”

“And do you think the reason Olivia got the wrong impression about your motivations is because you weren’t man enough to tell her the honest truth, which is that you’re clearly in love with her?”

Damn. Anna never had been one to mince words, but she’d morphed into a tiny drill sergeant perched on his coffee table.

“I never said I was in love with her,” he said, scowling.

“You didn’t have to.” Anna gestured to the empty liquor bottles strewn across the room. “The only time I’ve ever known you to try and drink yourself half to death is when your heart’s been broken.”

“It wouldn’t have mattered anyway.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, and buried his face in his hands. “Just like it didn’t matter the last time.”

“This isn’t a Jacqueline situation,” Anna stated, unfazed. “Jacqueline didn’t leave you for another job because you were a controlling dick who went behind her back and pulled strings she explicitly told you not to pull. Jacqueline left because she wasn’t in love with you and didn’t want what you wanted. I’m sorry, I know that hurts to hear, but it’s true. And you have never wanted to own up to your emotions since then, and that is what’s gotten you in this mess.”

Cole scrubbed his face with his hands. Anna was right. He hadn’t been the same since London. He’d put up walls to defend himself from ever again feeling the kind of pain he’d felt then. And now those walls were responsible for driving Olivia away. He couldn’t forget how she’d looked at him that last night, like he was something foul that needed to be scraped off the bottom of her shoe. Then, it had hurt his pride. Now, it just hurt.

“So, you’ve screwed up big time,” Anna stated matter-of-factly. “What are you planning to do about it?”

“Do about it?” Cole felt like a kid learning to read, repeating things he didn’t seem to understand. “I don’t think ‘better late than never’ really applies here, Anna. I don’t know if there’s anything I can do.”

“Well, sitting here feeling sorry for yourself is definitely not going to fix anything,” she pointed out, crossing her arms across her chest. “I’m not letting you give up on this girl, Cole.” She crossed her legs and bounced her foot mindlessly, seemingly lost in thought. “You’re gonna need to make a grand gesture.”

“I don’t even know what that means.”

“Of course you don’t,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “That’s why you’re in this situation. Haven’t you seen any movies? You need to man up, admit you were a total asshat, and tell this woman you’re crazy about her and you can’t live without her.”

He cringed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“In public,” she added. “You embarrassed her publicly. It’s only fair. And, Cole? It’ll have to be big. A dozen roses isn’t going to fix this mess.”

If he didn’t know better, he’d have thought she was enjoying putting him in his place. After all, wasn’t she the one who’d wished true love and happiness on him in the first place?

…

Olivia stared at the fashion show passes, trying to decide what to do with the second one. Natalia’s suggestion was hardly subliminal, but that didn’t mean she had to take it. She could do whatever she wanted with the pass, and while it was easy for an outsider to suggest she should forgive and forget, it just wasn’t that simple. It would never be that simple. Not with Cole.

Steeling her resolve, Olivia grabbed her phone and dialed. It was time to stop living in her head with worry and regret. She’d spent too much time there lately. It was time to get back to the real world.

Thankfully, Chloe answered on the first ring.

“It’s about time,” she barked. “What the hell is going on with you? You just left your job and didn’t even tell me what happened.”

“I’m sorry,” Olivia said, shifting uncomfortably in her chair. She deserved the tongue-lashing Chloe was likely to give her, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. “I should have called sooner. I just… I just wasn’t ready to talk about it yet.”

“Cole?” Chloe asked, her words softer and swathed in empathy. If anyone could sympathize with heartbreak, it would be Chloe. She’d had more than her fair share. The difference was, she hadn’t given up on finding true love.

“Cole,” she admitted, her broken heart aching at the mention of his name. She’d have to work on that.