Chapter 17: Chapter 17

“It won’t be boring to me.” I smile and he laughs. “I may not want to leave this place,” I add.

“Me either,” he admits.

“Same,” Kim says.

Mr. Vance shakes his head. “That could be arranged, love.” He puts his hand on her back and I look away from the intimate gesture.

“We should just bring the main office here and all move!” Kimberly jokes. At least I think she’s joking.

“Smith would love Seattle.” Mr. Vance says.

“Smith?” I ask, then I remember his son from the wedding and blush. “Sorry, your son, of course.”

“It’s okay—it’s an odd name, I know.” He laughs and leans into Kimberly. It must be so nice to be in a loving, trusting relationship. I envy Kimberly this, a shameful envy, but envy nonetheless. She has a man in her life who obviously cares for her and would do anything to make her happy. She’s so lucky.

I smile. “It’s a lovely name.”

After eating, we head downstairs, and I’m thrown into a large conference room full of people who love books. It’s heaven.

“Network. Network. Network,” Mr. Vance says. “It’s all about networking.” And for the next three hours he introduces me to almost every single person in the room. The best part is that he doesn’t introduce me as his intern and he treats me like an adult. They all do.

Chapter twelve

HARDIN

Well well well, look who it is,” Molly says and rolls her eyes when Jace and I walk into Zed’s apartment.

“Drunk and pregnant already?” I say to her.

“So? It’s past five,” she says with an evil grin. I shake my head at her right as she says, “Have a shot with me, Hardin,” and grabs a bottle of brown liquor and two shot glasses off the counter.

“Fine. One,” I say, and she smiles before filling up the small glasses.

Ten minutes later, I find myself looking through the photo gallery on my phone. I wish I’d have let Tessa take more pictures of us together so I would have more to look at now. God, I do have it bad, like Jace said. I feel like I’m slowly losing my mind, and the most fucked up part is, I don’t care how crazy I’m being as long as it helps me get closer to her again.

I will be happy, she said. I know I didn’t make her happy, but I could. At the same time, it isn’t fair for me to keep bothering her. I got her car fixed because I didn’t want her to have to worry about doing it herself. I’m glad that I did, because I wouldn’t have known she was going to Seattle if I hadn’t called Vance to make sure she’d have a ride to work.

Why wouldn’t she tell me? That prick Trevor is with her right now when I should be. I know he likes her, and I could see her falling for him. He’s exactly what she needs, and they’re a lot alike. Unlike her and I. He could make her happy. The thought pisses me off and makes me want to slam his head through a window . . .

But maybe I need to give her space and give her a chance to be happy. She made it clear yesterday that she can’t forgive me.

“Molly!” I call from the couch.

“What?”

“Bring me another shot.” And even without looking at her, I can feel her victorious smile fill the room.

Chapter thirteen

TESSA

That was so amazing! Thank you so much for bringing me along.” I’m practically gushing at Mr. Vance as we all step into the elevator.

“It was my pleasure really, you’re one of my best employees. Intern or not, you’re very bright. And please, for the love of God, call me Christian, like I told you already,” he says with a fake gruffness.

“Yes, okay. This was beyond incredible, Mister . . . Christian. It was great hearing everybody talk about their thoughts on digital publishing, especially since it will only continue to grow and is so convenient and easy for readers. This is huge, and the market just keeps expanding . . .” I ramble.

“True, true. And tonight we helped Vance Publishing grow a little more—imagine how many new customers we’ll get when we’ve fully optimized our operations,” he agrees.

“Okay, are you two done?” Kimberly teases and wraps her arm through Christian’s. “Let’s get changed and hit the town! This is the first weekend in months that we’ve had a sitter.” She pouts playfully.

He smiles down at her. “Yes, ma’am.”

I’m glad that after his wife passed away Mr. Vance—I mean Christian—got a second chance at happiness. I look over at Trevor and he gives me a small smile.

“I need a drink,” Kimberly says.

“Me, too,” Christian says. “Okay, so everyone meet in the lobby in thirty minutes, and the driver will pick us up out front. Dinner’s on me!”

When I get back to my room, I plug in my curling iron so I can touch up my hair. I brush dark powder over my eyelids and look in the mirror. The powder looks heavy for me, but not too heavy. I line my eyes with black liner and add some blush to my cheeks before fixing my hair. The navy dress I wore this morning looks even better now, with my darker makeup and fuller hair. I wish Hardin . . .

No, I don’t. I don’t, I repeat to myself and slip on my black heels. I grab my cell phone and purse before leaving the room to meet my friends . . . are they my friends?

I don’t know, but I feel like Kimberly is, and Trevor is very kind. Christian’s my boss, so that’s a little different.

In the elevator, I text Landon to tell him that I’m having a great time in Seattle. I miss him, and I hope we can still remain close even if Hardin and I aren’t together anymore.