Page 37 of One Wild Ride

FIFTEEN

Aria

“That was delicious.” I smiled as I wiped my mouth with a napkin.

“Yeah, I’ve been craving sausage lately. It’s too bad Drake is in New York missing all the good sausage,” Evaleen said leaning back in her wooden chair.

“Maybe Morgana isn’t.” I wiggled my eyebrows.

We both laughed.

“I miss Drake but being in the office for the past two weeks has been a dream come true since Payne isn’t there.” Evaleen’s smile widened so far that I wondered if her cheeks would crack.

I wish I could be that happy. Since my fight two weeks ago with Alex, the joy had seemed to disappear from my life. I even went back to my job at the bar and picked up a couple of shifts just to keep busy. But that didn’t last long. Word had gotten out that A. Hawthorne bought my paintings. It seemed everyone who ordered a drink from me at the bar happened to own a gallery that would love to show my work.

Eventually, Sally, the manager, had to sneak me out the back to avoid the art groupies.

“I’m sorry, Dixon, I didn’t mean to rub my delight of a Payne-less life in your face. You seem down,” Evaleen said.

“It’s times like these I wish I had Morgana to talk to. Her parents are going to visit her in New York next week, maybe I’ll tag along.”

“You can always talk to me. I’m your friend, too.” She reached over and placed her hand over mine.

Would Evaleen even understand? It’s not like she’s the one-night stand type. But, maybe she could understand Alex’s point of view.

“It involves sex with a wealthy man, Evaleen. Are you sure you want to discuss that?”

She rolled her eyes. “I told you I was a—”

I waved my hand at her. “Yeah, yeah, so you say. Okay, let’s pretend this is a book. The hero is locked away in a tower on top of a high mountain by his evil mother.”

“Stepmother,” Evaleen said.

“No, his mother. Why does it have to be a stepmother?”

“That’s usually how it goes in books; I don’t know why. Especially in fairy tales—like Cinderella or Snow White—it is always the evil stepmother.”

I groaned. “Okay, fine, stepmother. So, the heroine of the story makes it up the mountain and into the tower. But when she gets there to kiss the hero and save him, he insults her. Oh, he knew that she would never take money for sex but he assumed it anyway.”

Evaleen’s blue eyes wandered around the room before she narrowed them at me. “I’m a little lost. Are we still talking about the fairy tale or something else? Why would the heroine take money for sex?”

I slammed my hand on the square wooden table. “My point exactly!”

Evaleen stared at me for a moment in silence before she said, “Maybe you do need to speak with Drake about this. I’m so lost.”

Why was I so angry? It made sense that Alex would assume his mother had paid me based on his entire history with women. Yet, I was so angry that he would think that of me.

Because you care for him more than you should, Aria.

It wasn’t Alex I was angry at, it was me. More importantly, my heart. My silly heart and its need to have feelings for a big, sexy man who was born into a crazy family.

“I see him,” Evaleen said through gritted teeth.

“What?”

“That hoodie guy from a month and a half ago. He’s doing a piss poor job of trying to hide behind a plant. What’s he like, six foot three and that plant is five foot at best?”

I turned to see what she was staring at. Evaleen was right. Alex was huddling behind a green potted plant that stood near the hallway to the restrooms.

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