Ten Days of Perfect (November Blue #1)(32)

“You just told me that I shocked your soul to life and you’re accusing me of intensity of emotion?” His firmness road-blocked me.

“But I told you, Bowan. You told Josh, and he used it as an excuse to break up with my best friend!” Bo stared out at the ocean unapologetically.

“Ember, I’m really sorry about what happened with your friends. I’m sorry that Josh freaked after we talked. Look at me - that has nothing to do with us.” He grabbed my shoulders, forcing my eyes on his. “I have never felt this way about anyone in my entire life. And the other night, at your place, when we-”

“Had sex?” I interrupted.

“That’s not the phrase I would use, but, yea. That was the single-most mind, soul, and earth shattering experience of my life.” His eyes searched mine in a panic.

“Bo, I haven’t ever felt this way about anyone either, and it scares me.” I looked just past him to avoid being consumed by the intensity of his now nearly black eyes.

“Even about Adrian?” He dropped his hands from my shoulders and backed up a step to gage my reaction.

“Excuse me?” My brow furrowed in sardonic consternation. “You’re seriously bringing up Adrian f*cking Turner? I told you it was ancient hist- wait . . . Did you see him today when you went back to Concord?”

The question suspended in the space between our bodies.

“He is a member of our legal team and was briefed on today’s meeting.” Oh, that’s it? You’re going to leave it at that?

“You couldn’t have briefed him over the phone?”

It occurred to me that my reaction to Adrian’s name during the meeting did not sit as well with Bo as he had led me to believe. It appeared Mr. Y-chromosome drove 2.5 hours to size up my ex-boyfriend with fresh eyes.

“Wait a minute, Bo, you didn’t tell him . . .”

“I didn’t tell Turner about us. I needed to sign some contracts for some other things, and I told him the meeting went well. I told him that you and Monica both spoke fondly of his abilities, and that the two of you would be arriving with your boss early next week.” Oh shit.

“Hm.” Ember, get a damn grip. Hm?

“He seemed quite pleased about you ladies coming to Concord.” Bo’s face fell, as if he was trying to work out the history between Adrian and me.

“Look,” I took a deep breath at the realization that this night was not going as envisioned. “I know that you said I didn’t owe you an explanation about Adrian-”

“You don’t.”

“Bo, just shut up and sit down for a minute,” I instructed as delicately as possible.

I told Bo about my relationship with Adrian, and that we intended it to be mainly sexual; no strings attached. Bo looked up at me rather sympathetically when I shrugged and told him that when I thought I wanted more, and he wasn’t ready for that, we called it a day - no hard feelings.

That was the Disney version of our breakup, it was all Bo needed. The only thing lacking resolution at this point, I told him, was me giving him a piece of my mind for this business deal.

“Ha, well, I’d like to be there for that, if you don’t mind.” Bo’s ego seemed intact, and his disposition relaxed at the thought of me verbally assaulting Adrian. “He’s a smug bastard, but he’s damn good at what he does,” Bo lauded.

“Yea, I was afraid of that.” With an eye roll I checked my phone and saw it was approaching 1:00am. “Can we get going? It’s late.”

“Of course, let’s go.” He grabbed my hand as we headed back down the beach to his car.

When we reached the parking lot, a truck drove past, startling me away from the enchantment of the ocean with a jump. My hair stood on end and I reflexively tightened my grip on Bo’s hand as a very familiar pickup truck drove into the distance.

“What?” Bo returned my tight grip.

“Nothing, can we go please?” My heart was in my throat. I knew there were a lot of trucks in the world, but not a lot of rusty blue ones that held Bill and Max over a week ago. Shit, you didn’t even forget their names.

Bo’s eyes darted around, and he ran his hands fiercely through his hair as he got in his car and shut the door. My heart raced the entire way back to the safety of my apartment. And, like the drive to the beach, on the way to my place we didn’t say a word.

When we got to my door, I fumbled with my keys, dropping them on the floor. Bo swept them up gracefully and opened my door. He came in behind me and I took a concentrated breath before facing him.

“Thank you for driving me home.” I smiled while grabbing his hand.

“You’re shaking, Ember, are you really OK? What the hell happened?” He led me to the couch.

“Nothing. It’s just . . . remember the night we first met, when Monica said I saw someone get beat up?” I can’t believe you’re about to tell him this nothing of a story.

“I remember.” His eyes widened slightly as he furrowed his brow.

“Well, aside from the fight, I did see the truck that two of the guys were driving.” I paused to study his reaction. He didn’t seem to have one; he was waiting for more.

“It looked exactly like that truck that drove past us in the parking lot tonight, that’s all. It startled me. I know, it’s silly.”