Page 26 of Should Have Been Me

“Anyway, that’s all beside the point.” He paused, reaching up to tug at the collar of his dress shirt. This one was the palest blue that really made that rim of copper on the outside of his irises stand out. The man really did have a hard-on for his suits, but I had to admit, he could wear the hell out of them, that was for damn sure. He cleared his throat, almost seeming nervous. “We should probably talk about the... you know.”

I swiveled my chair from side to side as I scrutinized the man sitting in front of me, looking ridiculous in a chair that was two sizes too small for him. My brows rose toward my hairline. “You mean how you dropped a bomb on my life by kissing me in front of half the town and told my ex we were dating?”

Those notches between his brows deepened with his frown. “Excuse me for doing you a favor.”

I let out a bark of exasperated laughter, my eyes widening. “I never asked you to do that! I’m perfectly capable of handling my ex on my own, thank you very much.”

He tucked his tongue into the inside of his cheek, giving me a dubious look that prodded at my insides. “Really? Because you looked like you were two seconds away from running out of that building like your ass was on fire.” He let out a scoffing laugh. “That would have shown him, wouldn’t it?”

I tried my hardest to mask the wince his words caused, but I must not have been fast enough, because instead of looking like he’d just scored a point, his expression fell like he’d just accidentally kicked one of those adorable puppies that are tiny enough to fit into a tea cup.

“I’m—” The muscle in his jaw ticked as his nostrils flared on a sharp exhale. “Sorry,” he gritted out like that one word left a bitter taste in his mouth. “I shouldn’t have said that. It was unnecessarily rude.”

“Is that supposed to mean all the other times you’ve been an asshole to me have been necessary?”

He reached up to massage at the center of his forehead like I was the most vexing person he’d ever met, and I would have been lying if I said I didn’t get a little thrill out of that. “Look, I’m not... very comfortable with apologies.”

I snorted. “Really? You hide it so well.”

The hard look he shot me probably would have sent most other people running. But for some strange reason, I found it thrilling. “Why did you do it?” I asked. That question had needled at me for days now. “It’s clear you don’t like me, so why bother trying to help me out?”

“I don’t... not like you,” he said, his voice low and rusty, and that admission rendered me momentarily speechless. “I can acknowledge that our first couple of encounters weren’t ideal, but I don’t dislike you. I do, however dislike your ex.” His expression turned to granite. “Very much.”

“What? Don’t like the thought of him with your precious little sister?” I hadn’t meant to say that, but I especially hadn’t meant for my snide tone to give away my true feelings of Leighton Cavanagh.

I’d expected Vaughn to get offended, expected that he was another person in her life that spoiled her and turned her into the vapid little brat she had become, so it shocked the hell out of me when he scoffed, shaking his head on an emotionless laugh. “Please. I wouldn’t exactly call us close. And as far as I can tell, the two of them were made for each other.”

It was a wonder the bottom of my jaw didn’t slam into the top of my desk from falling open so fast. Catching the surprise on my face, one corner of Vaughn’s mouth curled upward ever so slightly in a cocky smirk. It was the closest I’d seen him come to smiling—probably the closest the stoic man would ever get. For crying out loud, he was so emotionally stunted that his attempt at apologizing had been cringe-inducing. He looked like he would have preferred to gargle glass than force those words out.

“Caught you off guard with that, didn’t I?”

I wiped the surprise off of my face and replaced it with a flat, bored expression. “If it’s not because you’re worried about your sister, why don’t you like Barrett?” I probably should have let it go, but my curiosity was well and truly piqued, and the question would bug me until I finally caved and asked anyway.

“Because from what little I know about the man, he’s a spinless, sacless doormat who is all too happy to lay down at my half-sister’s feet so she can step all over him,” he answered with raw honesty. I also didn’t miss the way he stressed the word half while describing his connection with Leighton, like it was important to him that I understood the distinction.

“He won’t admit it, but I’m almost positive he ended our engagement and broke up with me for her.” My eyes widened and my hand came up to cover my mouth as soon as the last word of that sentence escaped, like I could possibly pull them back, unsay them somehow. I wasn’t sure what the hell had possessed me to reveal something so personal to this man. That was the first time I’d spoken the words out loud. I hadn’t even been able to bring myself to admit that ugly truth to Tarryn or Ryan. I’d been sitting on it for the past year, letting the shame that belief caused fester inside me.

I shook my head, suddenly feeling far too vulnerable. “I-I don’t know why the hell I told you that. Please, just forget I said anything.”

Vaughn’s ticking jaw and furrowed brow were the only outward signs the man felt something besides boredom. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to forget it, Calamity. Knowing that makes me glad I acted so impulsively that day at the café.” My throat went dry and the air in the room grew thick and humid all of a sudden. “And you should know, I don’t act impulsively. Ever.”

Uh-oh. I did not want to like this guy.

Just like that, his big dick energy returned and he didn’t look so ridiculous in that little chair any longer.

“That’s the second time you’ve called me that.” His head canted to the side in confusion. “Calamity,” I explained. “Gotta say, city slicker, I’m not sure if I should be flattered to rate high enough that you’d bestow a nickname on me, or insulted at the meaning behind it.”

“Don’t be insulted.” Those words came out as an order in that gruff voice of his, sending sparks of electricity through most of my body’s erogenous zones. What the hell was that all about? I shook off the odd, unexpected attraction suddenly trying to stir at my insides, stomping it out like I would a spider that crossed my path.

I wasn’t sure how to feel or respond, so I decided to go with my default setting: snarky. “You can’t order me to not be insulted.”

Challenge sparkled in those eyes of his, lighting a fire deep in my belly. “I can when the name isn’t meant to be an insult. And I’m pretty sure you already knew that.”

I sat back in my chair, staring across at him inquisitively and, dare I say, with more interest than I should feel toward the brother of my enemy. “I had a feeling, but you know what they say when you assume.”

“It makes you an asshole.”

I let out a bubble of astonished laughter at his unexpected joke. If you had asked me a week ago if this man had a sense of humor, I would have bet money the answer was no. But I saw it right then, and I actually appreciated the dry, detached way in which he delivered it more than if he’d added a smile or a laugh of his own to the end of it.

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