Page 82 of Beauty and the Boss Man

Chapter Thirty-six

Romy

“Go away!” I groan from my couch.

The pounding on my door continues, and Veronica shouts, “You have exactly ten seconds to open this door, or I’m going to call the super and tell him I smell a gas leak, so he’ll let me in.”

When I don’t get up, she starts counting, “Ten! Nine!”

Sighing and rolling my eyes, I get up to unlock the door. Veronica has a key, but I had the deadbolt and the chain locked.

“What?” I say, swinging the door open.

“Don’t ‘what’ me, Romy Sinclair! You quit your job after your vacation with your boss and won’t give me any details. Romy, you love that job. What the hell happened on that trip?”

I leave the door open and walk back to the couch.

“Everything,” I mumble.

She shuts the door behind her and follows me to the couch. I’ve already flopped down, taking up the length of it, so she lifts my feet, setting them in her lap as she sits.

“Talk to me, sweets,” she says. “Tell me what happened.”

Without warning, a tear streaks down my cheek. I cried that day I left Aiden the note, but I’ve just felt numb since then. All I do is order takeout, watch TV, and sleep.

But right now, all my emotion comes bubbling to the surface.

“I kissed him,” I begin.

She doesn’t utter a word but waits for me to continue.

“We were drunk, and I kissed him, which led to other stuff— all the other stuff. We had this agreement that we would spend the week with no strings attached, and it was perfect. It was like I’d been waiting all my life for a man like him.”

Now, she speaks. “Let me guess; at the end of the week, he was ready to call it quits, and you weren’t?”

I shake my head. “Just the opposite. I think he was ready to have a go at a real relationship, but I was the one who said no.”

“You’re going to have to give me more here, Romy, because it sounds like you had a great thing going.”

“I got that news about my dad, and I started freaking out—worrying I shouldn’t do anything to jeopardize my job since I’d probably have to pay for a lawyer.”

She nods because I did text her to tell her about the outcome of my meeting with the FBI. “So, you jumped the gun?”

I rub my eyes. “Pretty much. So, then, I thought I’d go to work and talk to him—maybe tell him what had happened and why I did what I did. But he was so cold and distant. It was like he hated me or something. I just couldn’t stay there, V.”

“I get it, and I don’t blame you. I’ve just never seen you like this. Romy, you didn’t even act like this when that shit went down with your parents when we were in college.”

Maybe because Aiden means more to me than my shitty parents.

When I don’t say anything, she asks, “Have you tried talking to him since? Maybe it was all just a misunderstanding.”

“No, V. I think I understood just fine, and I don’t want to be put through that again.”

The tone in my voice tells her not to push the issue.

She instead decides to change the subject. “Okay, Romy. Time for some tough love. You look like shit, and you smell even worse. You need to get up and go take a shower.”

“Later,” I mutter.

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