Page 65 of Finding Emotion

Damon’s eyes traced her. He was glad to see her breathing had evened out. “You good?” he asked when the doors opened.

“Yeah.” Skylar nodded. “Yeah, I think I am.”

Damon put his hand on the door when it started to shut. “With the girls’ night tonight, I might not see you later. Would you be willing to be my date for some charity thing tomorrow?”

She smiled. “More than willing. I can be some sexy arm candy. You’ll see.”

“I can’t wait.” He didn’t kiss her before entering the elevator, but he smiled back, finding the real one she was wearing to be more than enough of a sendoff.

Chapter 25

Skylar finished her smoothie as she tried to get her head on straight. Words were repeating in her head, but not the ones she tried to avoid. No, she kept hearing Damon’s surprisingly tough voice saying he didn’t share.

She fucking loved that. It made her feel safe.

Which was stupid. She didn’t need a man to feel safe. She controlled what did or didn’t happen to her.

Still, the possessive side of Damon Lynch was sexy as hell.

The elevator dinged, and she scrambled up from the couch to glare at her manager.

“Took you long enough,” Skylar said, stomping over.

“Indeed.” Mandy clutched at her bag. “Being fired is less than an efficient process.”

Skylar froze. “What?” Her mind couldn’t make sense of the words.

Mandy smiled at her. “I expected it, Skylar. It’s not a concern.”

“Fuck that.” Skylar’s lips went numb. “I told you to fucking let me come to the meeting. I’ll call Casemore.”

“You can, but I refuse to receive a paycheck from him or his company ever again.” Mandy’s eyes were dead serious behind those glasses of hers.

“Wait, did you quit?” The idea of it sapped Skylar’s anger. Mandy didn’t want to be her manager anymore. Skylar’s throat tightened. She should have expected it. Mandy had had her suspicions before, but what Jack had said had probably clenched it.

“Don’t worry about me, Skylar.” Mandy’s tone had turned soothing. “We should talk, though.”

“Why bother? I get it. I’m not your problem anymore.”

Mandy shook her head. “You’ve never been a problem, Skylar.”

She snorted. “Sure. I’m a mess. You’re more than aware of that.”

Mandy crossed her arms. “You’re a creative and beautiful person who’s often shit on. That’s what I’m aware of.”

Skylar blinked. “You said shit.” Her manager rarely cursed. Or ex-manager.

“Just sit the hell down,” Mandy snapped, pointing at the couch.

Skylar sat.

Mandy perched on the cushion across from her. “I needed to cut ties with the label in order to offer you the advice I’ve been wanting to. For a while now, actually.” She took a breath. “Skylar, you need to tell Casemore and his label to go fuck themselves.” Her smile returned. “Just like I did.”

“You did not say that to them.” Skylar wondered if she’d ever understand the suddenly less-than-professional woman in front of her.

“Well, not in those words. I’ve been reviewing your contract, and—”

“It’s not that simple.” The words dripped out of her numb lips.

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