Page 12 of By His Rule

“I’m not letting you get involved. Nor am I letting Warner Group, or Callahan Enterprises, for that matter, pay for a legal battle on my behalf.I hated that job. I wanted to leave. And now, I don’t have to go back.”

“You can’t leave it at this. What if they report it?”

I swallow as the weight of that possibility sits heavily on my shoulders.

But so what if they do report it? I didn’t steal anything, so they don’t have a case. It’ll be dropped, and I’ll be free to get another job.

Right?

I stare at Tate, silently begging her to let this go.

I just want it all to go away.

The cheating boyfriend, the asshole boss. All of it needs to just get out of my life.

I deserve more than this.

3

LORELEI

“Ican’t,” I whine. I sound like a little bitch, and I hate it.

“Of course you can. Maybe this was all meant to be,” she says, sounding a hell of a lot more hopeful than I feel right now.

“I can’t apply for this, Tate. I just can’t.”

My heart races as I stare at a job advertisement for the opportunity of my life.

But I can’t apply.

My best friend is married to the freaking CEO of the company, and I refuse to let anyone think that I only got the job because of my connections to the boss and his wife. And if that wasn’t bad enough, now I’m unemployed. My ex-boss is hardly going to write me a glowing reference after firing me for stealing.

If—and I really mean if—I got the job, it would be a pity job. And I refuse to go anywhere near that.

“Lori, this job was made for you. It’s perfect.”

“No. It’s a disaster waiting to happen. Even if I might have considered it a few weeks ago.” Big fat lie. I wouldn’t. I couldn’t.

My best friend narrows her eyes at me, but I’m not going to budge on this.

“But working for Callahan Enterprises is your dream, Lori. Remember that teenage girl who wanted this?”

“Tate,” I warn.

I remember all too well.

The old Callahan building and the images of the glitz and glamor inside were what my teenage dreams were made of.

I wanted it so badly.

Hell, I still do. But I’m not about to tell her that.

The time has passed for me to have a career at Callahan Enterprises. From the moment Tate and I became friends, that dream died. I just didn’t know it until I discovered how close her family and the Callahans were. I knew then and there that it wasn’t my destiny.

That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt, though.

Callahan Enterprises has since moved to new, even swankier offices. Ones that I gaze at dreamily every time I’m lucky enough to pass by.

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