Page 32 of Baby Bombshell for the Boss

Cassidy raised her eyebrows. “You broke up with a woman you’re still in love with?”

“Who said I was in love with her?”

“I mean, please. You’re drinking alone in a bar, and I’m not trying to say that no one ever turns me down or anything, but…” She shrugged. “There’s usually a reason for it when they do. You’re in love with someone else. You can admit it.”

Was he? He wondered. That would explain why he hadn’t been able to get her off his mind. But he couldn’t be in love with her. That was too much. He just wasn’t the kind of person who fell in love. That wasn’t something that happened to him.

Of course, none of this was something that happened to him.

“You should call her,” Cassidy said. She was bouncing on her seat a little, her eyes bright, as if she was watching something very interesting on television. “You should tell her you’re still into her and ask her if the two of you can try again.”

“I’m not still into her,” Elliot said automatically, but it didn’t even feel true.

“Oh, come on,” Cassidy said. “You don’t have to lie to me. I’m a total stranger. We’re never going to see each other again after we leave here tonight, so you might as well be honest.”

Elliot groaned.

“You love her,” Cassidy said. “What’s her name?”

“Ivy.”

“You’re in love with Ivy.”

“I might have feelings, but I’m not in love with her,” he countered.

Cassidy raised an eyebrow.

“Even if I were, the situation is too complicated,” he said. “There’s no way the two of us could ever work it out.”

Cassidy shook her head. “That’s not true.”

“How can you say that when you don’t even know what our situation is?”

“Nothing is ever so complicated that it can’t be worked out if you really love each other,” Cassidy informed him.

It was such a naive sentiment, he thought. It was almost childish. He wanted to laugh and tell her that she didn’t know what she was talking about.

And then he thought — what if she does?

What if I’m the one who’s wrong?

He had to admit that he didn’t know what he was doing. He was in over his head with all of this. He had always told himself that love wasn’t real, not the way people talked about it. It was a story people told themselves to justify their choices, that was all.

But how could he be sure?

Maybe it had been real the whole time. Maybe it just hadn’t happened to him.

Until now.

He didn’t think he was in love with Ivy. But pulling away from her the way he had been was very painful and difficult. He had to admit that maybe he did feel something.

Cassidy was looking at him with sympathy. “I think you should call her,” she said. “I guess you’ll do what you want. But I think you’ll be sorry if you don’t call her. There’s a part of you that really wants to. And if you don’t do it, you’ll never know what might have happened.”

“It’s complicated,” Elliot said again, but he was no longer at all sure that his excuse carried any weight.

“Think about it,” Cassidy said. “That’s all I’m saying. Just think about it.”

She finished her drink, smiled at him, and got to her feet. “Have a good night,” she said, and grabbed her purse, heading toward the door.

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