Once the laughs settled, Alex sighed and looked at me with a thoughtful expression. “On a serious note, I was just telling Chloe that I’m leaving tonight for a business trip. I’ll be gone about a month negotiating some covers and the purchase of a new stallion. She’ll be alone at the house, which I don’t like, but I told her that if she needs anything she can count on you—not as a boss, but as a friend.”
I took a deep breath through my nose and stole a quick glance at Chloe. She had a wicked smirk on her pink, glossy lips that just moments ago, would have made my cock nearly explode but now filled me with nothing but dread.
Considering I couldn’t deny my friend’s request without raising suspicions, I widened my smile and nodded. “Of course, Chloe knows I’m always here for her.”
“That I do,” she muttered in a voice that was somewhere between playful and provocative.
Instantly, my eyes narrowed and drifted to her with a warning which she just ignored. I ran a hand through my hair and thanked God when Alex spoke again in a voice that proved he was completely oblivious to the situation.
“Good, then. I’ll leave you two to your business.” With that, Alex said goodbye to both of us, kissed his daughter on the forehead, and left the room.
As soon as he was completely out of sight and we were alone, Chloe leaned against the edge of her desk and looked at me with those hungry, glimmering green eyes. “So, you’re done with the texts, hmm? Does that mean I passed the written exams and can move on to the practical lessons?”
My body quickly responded to her words, as it usually did, but this time, I was determined to shut it down. With a blunt shake of my head, I replied, “No, it doesn’t.”
Chloe’s eyes widened Bambi style at my words proving, once more, how incredibly fucking adorable she was. “Did I do something wrong?”
I wanted to say yes. I wanted to break her and whatever it was we had so she would never even consider coming close to me again, but I couldn’t. For the first time since Quinn’s passing I cared about a woman’s feelings.
With a long breath to control my temper, I took a step in her direction and gently touched her cheek. “You didn’t do anything wrong, but whatever this was between us, it’s over. I’m begging you to find a nice boy your own age, because I’m out.”
Confusion filled Chloe’s eyes, but I didn’t stick around to see it turn into hurt. I couldn’t. Despite what my actions said, I cared about her way too much. The only thing to do was to turn around and leave the room feeling like the piece of shit I was.
CHAPTER NINE— CHLOE
“Champagne, Chloe?” Timmy’s voice broke through my reverie. I was so sick and tired of my stubborn mind always returning to Conner and his inexplicable dismissal of me whenever it was idle that I almost thanked the waiter for the interruption. While drinking wasn’t permitted at work, I was good and ready to break that rule today.
It had been ten days of me pouring myself into work just so I wouldn’t think about him and ten nights of me obsessing over the subject when I got home from work, but I was still as confused and angry about the whole thing as I had been on the day it happened.
The fact that from the corner of my eye, I could see an unbelievably sexy Conner in a pair of dark jeans, gray shirt, and a suit jacket staring intently at me from across the tent, made those feelings even more prominent in my heart.
Since he was still my boss I couldn’t just walk up to him and call him an asshole. So, I did the next best thing. I allowed my anger to turn into defiance and smiled at the boy as I reached for a glass, clearly breaking Conner’s ‘no drinking in the job’ rule. “Thanks, Timmy. You’re a life saver.”
The boy chuckled and winked as he walked away. I took a deep breath and a sip of the sweet liquid as I bluntly ignored Conner’s stare and looked around at the culmination of my hard work. The rose garden where the wedding was finally taking place looked like a magical wonderland filled with twinkle lights, stark white llinens, and glimmering crystals. Although the concept hadn’t been mine, the execution and how smooth things were going was, and that was still a lot to be proud of.
“My sister tells me you’re the Wonder Woman who pulled this off in two weeks,” a deep voice sounded beside me.
Peeling my gaze from the beautiful setting, I turned to look at the source of the voice, and my lips instantly curled up into a smile. The man standing beside me was gorgeous in a way that was completely different from Conner.
Where Conner was all scruff, muscles, and rugged good looks, this guy was lean, clean-shaven, and handsome in a refined way. Although I had never been attracted to men like him, I had to admit that the flirty way he looked at me made me feel a little giddy this evening.
“Wonder Woman might a bit extreme, but since this was a lot of work, I’ll take it,” I said and smiled widely at the man.
“As you should,” he said with a laugh as he extended his hand in my direction, “I’m Phil, by the way.”
I smiled at him and placed my palm against his. The softness of his hand was surprising and another stark contrast to Conner’s callused ones. “Chloe, nice to meet you.”
“The pleasure is all mine.” The honesty in Phil’s voice made me blush a little and pull my hand away. My reaction didn’t go unnoticed by him, and though he stuffed his hands into his pockets, a soft smile formed on his mouth. “So tell me, how did you pull it off?”
My brows pulled together. “What do you mean?”
“How did you get all of this—the band, the flowers, the freaking butterflies—to work on the new schedule?”
I tilted my head and raised a brow at him. “I asked for favors and begged a little. When that didn’t work, I offered them money—a whole lot of it.”
Phil laughed. “That never fails, right?”
“No, it doesn’t,” I replied playfully. “So, why did you want to know? Are you planning a party with a ridiculously small timeframe?”