Page 19 of The Forever Rule

I tripped over my own two feet, and she raised a brow at me, and I shook my head. “I’m sureaCage will be there. His family does own one of the largest corporations in the city.”

“I don’t know too much about them, to be honest.”

“Well they run in my circles. Or at least, in my boss’s circles. And he hates them.”

“Really?”

“I don’t know why. But he always gets annoyingly growly about them, and he wants to beat them.”

“So I take it you’re not going to do lunch with him when he asks officially? Or dinner?”

“My boss or Aston?”

Isabella snorted. “Yes, Aston.”

“I don’t know. He’s only texted a hello, but we’ve been busy. Nothing more.”

“Well that’s not fun.”

“We have lives.” I tried not to let the disappointment pepper my tone. He had said that he was busy all weekend, and so was I. Hence this event. It wasn’t like I wanted to continue to flirt over texts with him. I didn’t even know if I was going to go out with him. Although it had already come up as something we were going to do. A week from now.

“Well, just have fun. And what will you do if he isthere though?” she asked, her voice soft as I stripped and got into the shower. I let the hot water run over my body as I thought about what I would do, and I didn’t have an answer. That should have worried me more than anything.

“I’ll say hello and be cordial. But this is a work event.”

“So socializing with the Cages isn’t in your repertoire?”

I washed my hair quickly, looking for more answers. “He probably won’t even be there.”

“If he was, would he bring a date?”

I nearly slipped in the shower, and glared at her as I looked around my shower curtain. “Really?”

She winced. “Sorry. I’m in a weird mood.”

“Are you okay?” I asked, worried.

She waved me off and smiled. “I’m just fine. Promise. We were talking about you. If he’s there, you should dance. You said there was a spark.”

“And my boss would absolutely hate it.”

“So a win-win,” she teased.

I shook my head. “Not so much if I want to keep my job.”

“He can’t fire you for flirting with a Cage.”

“I’m sure he’d find a way about competing interests, or just any other way. He’s not a nice man.” My contract was year by year and though I was one of his best employees, I also outshone some of his “Yes Men” on occasion. I stood up to him, but there were always company politics. Therefore we had a dance and charity gala this evening. None of the others on staff wererequired to go. But the boss wanted to show off his employee in a dress so he could show the world how modern he was. Oh, he’d never say that, and no one would never outright point it out—but we all knew it was the case.

“Then why do you work for him?”

That was the question. And I wish I had better answers. “Because it’s the best job I can get. And I’m sure a Cage will be there, but it’s not going to be him. It’s going to be one of his countless brothers.”

“Okay, let’s hope it’s that way so you don’t have to make a choice. At least in front of everyone.”

I rinsed the conditioner out of my hair. “Nothing’s ever easy.”

“No. But that’s life. Unending pain and suffering until you die.”

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