Page 46 of Gross Misconduct

He tilted his head at me, his mouth hanging open just a little. “I don’t know that. And why would that be true? We’ll still hang out. You’re in my circle of friends now. That’s not going to change.”

He was being sweet, and maybe he thought he was being sincere. “I should go to bed,” I said, dismissing everything he was saying. It was nice of him to try to make me feel better, but it wasn’t working.

He grabbed my hand before I could make my escape. “Nope. You don’t get to leave like this. You’re upset.”

“I’ll be fine. I’ll sleep on it.”

But he didn’t let go. “Sit down.”

I dutifully did but still sulked. I didn’t normally feel sorry for myself for long, and usually got over it by either shutting the world out or having a good cry alone. But Jeremy wasn’t going to let me do either.

“First, can we agree that Nadia was a bozo? Here is my take. She got really comfortable with you and thought she could ask a totally shitty question. That’s on her, but you know what? I think she likes you. Unfortunately, now you can’t trust her, and that’s okay. She’s not the right friend for you. You move on. No big deal.”

I pursed my lips and let the words sink in. “I guess so.”

“Second, when this whole fake engagement is over, I still want to be friends and hang out with you, because you’re awesome. And we share a dog. We have a link to each other. I’m not going anywhere. Don’t even try to get rid of me.”

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from crying. “You’re right. I know that.”

“Good.”

He leaned in to kiss me, surprising us both, but I loved his kisses, not that I’d ever admit it to him.

“I have to stop doing that,” he said, after breaking the kiss.

“I really don’t mind,” I said, the words coming out before I had time to process them.

He looked into my eyes and it was electric. My heart picked up beats and he kissed me again. I leaned into it more, and he pulled me close. Did I want to do this? Was I ready for it? My brain was screaming no, but my body wanted him. It felt so good to be so close to someone again.

“Nope,” he said, pulling away again. “You’re upset. This isn’t right.” He jumped to his feet. “I’m going to bed.”

And that’s how he left me. Sitting there on the sofa with an equally confused Chloe.

I had to admit that having Chloe sleep with me was the best sleeping pill, because after what had happened with Jeremy, my brain was a mess. After getting up the next morning fully rested, I took Chloe for a walk to clear my head, get some exercise, and enjoy the fresh rain-free air. We got back and Jeremy’s door was still closed. I figured he’d be getting up soon, and I really didn’t want to have to discuss the night before, or worse, be awkward about it, so I quickly fed Chloe, took a shower, and got ready, leaving him a note that I’d walked and fed the dog.

Luckily, I was gone before he got up. I decided to walk to work. I had my sneakers on, and took in several deep breaths as I made my way there. Back home it had already snowed, but here, in November, while there was a definite chill in the air, I wasn’t going to need winter boots anytime soon. Maybe never. I couldn’t wrap my head around only needing sneakers.

I got to the office and saw the staff putting up Christmas decorations. Right. It was less than six weeks away. Where had the time gone? I guess I’d been too busy to notice it flying by. I’d barely entered the office and was putting on my black pumps when Whitney came in, her face more gaunt than normal. The woman needed to see the sun, but then again, the sun came out so rarely.

“Andy Michaels from theTribunecalled. He wants you to call him back. I tried to get out of him what he wanted, you know, to put out a fire if I could. He was reluctant at first, but I pushed.”

“Am I going to need a lot of coffee to deal with this?”

“Maybe. He said it was about Orla Donnelly.”

Shit. “Okay. I’ll call him now.”

“I’ll get the coffee.”

She left, closing the door behind her. I grabbed the phone and dialed Andy’s number. He’d been one of the first reporters to come through for me when the whole debacle with Lex being suspended broke. We had a good relationship, so if he was calling, I had a feeling it wasn’t with good news.

“Hey, Andy. Jill Bowman here.”

“Jill, thanks for calling me back. How are you doing?”

“Good. And you?” He sounded pleasant, so that was a good sign.

“I’m good too, but I have some news.”

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