Page 35 of Everything I Need

“I think you’re the first woman who's ever turned him down. Most fall for that white coat and title before his bullshit can even come to light.”

“Ugh. Some women, I swear. Is Colton here yet? I haven't seen him walk in.” She gestures to my phone.

“I don’t know, let me text him and see. I need to find him before my father finds me. We try to only see him together. Power in numbers, right?” I shrug.

Me:Hey, you at the hotel yet?

Colton:Parking garage. Waiting for the lipstick to be perfect. Five minutes.

“They will be here in five minutes. They’re in the parking garage. Apparently, Elizabeth can’t get her lipstick perfect enough.” I roll my eyes at her.

“Oh, right. Most important. Let’s grab a drink first?” She leans into me whispering in my ear as Caleb watches.

“Sure thing.” I tug her toward the bar.

So far I am lucking out, my father and Eleanor are sticking to their fashionably late routine. Which means I have plenty of time to get a drink and find my brother.

“Oh shit.” I hear Scarlett say as she stiffens in my arms. But before I have the chance to ask her what is wrong there was a tiny redhead barreling towards us.

“SCAR! Oh. My. God. What are you doing here? I thought you, like, moved to Canada or something.” The tiny redhead yells, much too loud considering we are within inches of her at this point.

“Hey, Lexis. No, just New Hampshire. My hometown. How are you?” Scarlett looks pained to even be talking to whoever this is.

“Oh my god, you’ll never believe who I’m here with, Scar!”

Scarlett looks beyond the tiny redhead as a man in a stupidly expensive suit walks toward us. Seriously. Who needs to spend that much money on something you wear once or twice?

“Niles.” She grits out a greeting.

“Good to see you, Scarlett. Who’s this you’re here with? I know you didn’t score an invite yourself.” God, this is her pompous ex-boss.

“I’m here with Preston West. I am working with him, consulting on his new general practice.” She reaches for me.

Niles has the nerve to laugh. Like it was absolutely ridiculous I’d hire her. Who the hell does this guy think he is?

“Hi, I’m Preston West. You are?” Sure I sounded more snarky than was actually needed, but no one gets to treat Scarlett this way. I’ll be damned if I give him the satisfaction that I know who he is.

“Niles. Scarlett used to work for me before we fired her. I sure hope you’re getting your money's worth with this one.” He smirks as he looks her way, almost challenging her to go against him.

“Actually, Scarlett is doing wonderfully. I’d pay any price she asked for. And as I hear it, she quit because you’re a sexist asshole who didn’t appreciate her talents.” Well. There goes pretending I didn’t know who he was.

Scarlett stifles a laugh and Niles’ face grows redder with each passing moment of silence. It was then his little girlfriend seems to get interested in the story.

“Scar here just wasn’t up to Niles’ standards and when he denied her advances she threw a little temper tantrum and left the city.” She looks up at Niles, waiting for approval that she did the right thing.

“You’re kidding me, right?” Scarlett looks genuinely hurt by this Lexis woman. My fists are balled at my side, and I can now feel my nails digging into my palms. Great.

She places her hand gently on Scarlett’s arm, “Listen, Scar, it’s okay. Not everyone can be up to Niles’ standards. No reason to be upset. Give me a call and I’d be happy to give you some tips on how to score men of his caliber.”

“I can’t. . . “ Scarlett was fuming mad.

Colton:At the entrance. Did you get sucked in by Dad or is he fashionably late?

Saved by my brother again. “Colton is here, babe, let’s go meet him.” I look at Niles, “I’d say it was a pleasure, but I just can’t lie that well. I also suggest you stop lying on my woman as my name holds a lot more weight around this room than yours. So it’s in your best interest to keep her name out of your mouth.” I walk away with Scarlett before they can respond, pausing to place a kiss on her cherry lips.

This is the first time I have been proud to hold the West name. And probably the last. It feels good to call someone out, no wonder Scarlett likes to call out Caleb.

Who the hell does that asshole think he is? I’ll have to remember to ask Scarlett more about him later. I know she was passed over for promotions multiple times in favor of the men she works with but I am thinking there is more between her and Niles.

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