Casual Affair

“What exactly do you mean?”

Felicity swiped her hand across her forehead and sighed. “I see how you guys butt heads at work. And I also see that you don’t always seem to mind it. I think you kind of like fighting with Zane.”

Bea’s head reared back as those words hit her.

That was so completely…not true. Wasn’t it?

“Are you high?” Bea asked incredulously. “What in the world makes you think I actually enjoy how crazy that man drives me?”

Felicity narrowed her eyes. “Because it presents a challenge. It makes things interesting, which you like. All I’m saying is that I’ve seen how excited you can get over a guy’s personality, and you totally miss out on some of the red flags. You get caught up in the whirlwind and you…lose yourself.”

Bea frowned, her heart sinking. Felicity’d had to go and remind her of him. The one person in Bea’s past she wished like hell she could forget.

“You think I don’t know that?” she said in a harsh tone. “I experienced the backlash of that whirlwind firsthand. I know the costs of ignoring red flags. It’s not like I’m going to repeat the same mistakes I made when I was a naive teenager.”

Felicity’s eyes softened. “I know you won’t,” she said quietly. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

Bea had to swallow down her emotions. Long-forgotten memories were threatening to climb to the surface and ruin her night. “I’m not going to get hurt, because Zane and I are not getting involved with each other. We’ve already put the sex behind us and moved on. It’s back to business as usual.”

It took her a second, but Felicity eventually nodded. “Okay.”

“Are we done being sentimental now?” Bea needed to lighten the mood immediately. Her heart couldn’t handle more heavy at the moment.

Felicity rolled her eyes. “Yes.” She waved her hand in Bea’s direction. “Go fight with our seriously sexy boss. But nothing more.”

Bea winked and headed for her bedroom. “I’ll go slip on my chastity belt now,” she called over her shoulder.

The whole conversation had brought into sharp realization the biggest reason she could not get involved with Zane, even if it was just sex. She didn’t want or need any future complications because of a horny decision. No matter how talented he was with that mouth—and he was very, very talented—she could not sleep with him again. The stakes were too high.

Both professionally and personally.

She didn’t want the future of their business resting on her vagina.

Not to mention what putting her faith in the wrong man again could do to her heart.

Chapter Nine

Since when did it take her so freaking long to choose an outfit? Bea blamed a certain six-foot-five slice of blond hair and blue eyes for her sudden indecision.

Whatever. The flower-print romper with a triangle cut-out in the back paired with gladiator sandals would be dressy enough without being over the top. Thanks to her conversation with Felicity, she didn’t have time to do much with her hair, so she left it down. She just hoped the light makeup and casual jewelry she’d put on would all add up to something that Zane appreciated.

Not that she wanted him to appreciate her, or anything about her.

Because she was not going to sleep with him again. Under any circumstances.

But dammit, she was actually feeling giddy to see him. Almost jittery with anticipation. Not a great sign. She hadn’t allowed herself to feel anything for any man in a long time.

Not since him.

Evan.

He had been her high school-slash-college boyfriend of over two years. He’d been the cute older lacrosse player in high school who came from a well-to-do family in DC—like her—whom she had been crushing on since eighth grade. Needless to say, when he came sniffing around her as a college sophomore while she was still a junior in high school, she’d been so smitten she hadn’t cared about his reasons for finally approaching her. It also hadn’t hurt that his daddy was a prominent DC businessman and her own father had been eager to give his blessing to the relationship.

It had taken her two whole years to figure out something was wrong.