Page 13 of Stuck Together

“Yeah, that one. I saw her today.” I tossed back my beer and finished half of it in one gulp. Without saying a word, Derek turned toward the bar and waved at the bartender to send over two more beers.

When he turned back around, he let out a long, slow breath. “Damn, how’d that go?”

I shifted my eyes to the table, still struggling to process this news. “My grandmother hired her.”

His hand fell to the table with a thud. “Say again.”

“You heard me right. Grandmother hired her to replace an ad executive that left recently. Madison will be working underneath me.”

“Well, if I recall, you did say you enjoyed it the one time she was beneath you.” I swatted at Derek from across the table, but he scooted out of reach and laughed.

“It’s not funny, asshole.”

“Yeah, it kinda is.”

Before I had a chance to make a counter argument, one of the waitress delivered our food and the second round of beers Derek ordered.

I waited until the waitress left before I continued. “Grandmother hiring her isn’t even the worst part.”

“Oh, yeah? Do tell.”

I picked up my sandwich and took a bite, not ready to say these words out loud. My mind was in such a negative space, I couldn’t even taste my pastrami sandwich. Tossing the remaining sandwich down, I picked up my beer and sat back in my seat with the bottle clenched in my hand.

There was a part of me that was holding out that this was some mistake and Madison wasn’t actually going to be working for me. But that was wishful thinking. Grandmother made her decision, and she wasn’t taking it back.

I avoided looking at Derek, but I could feel his eyes watching me closely. “You can eat and drink all you want, but you’re still gonna tell me what’s up, so you might as well spit it out.”

“Man, this has disaster written all over it.” I rubbed my eyes and leaned forward. Time to rip off the Band-Aid and get it over with. “I’m going to be out of town for three days this week for a meeting up in Vermont. Guess who’s going with me?”

Derek’s eyes widened. “No.”

“Yep.” I drank the last of my beer.

Derek pointed at my empty mug. “You want another?”

“Nah, I gotta work early tomorrow.” My stomach gave a light rumble. Despite my troubled taste buds, I was hungry. I took another bite of my sandwich and swallowed it with hardly a chew.

“So, alone with Madison for three days.”

“At a romantic resort in the snowcapped mountains of Vermont. I am so not prepared for this.” Determined to keep my hands busy, I ate more of my sandwich. Grandmother had done some pretty crazy things to meddle in my love life, but this one had to be the worst. Sending me off alone with Madison to resort was beyond acceptable. “It’s bad enough that this client sector is not my forte, now I have to deal with the awkwardness of a past lover.”

“Damn,” he chuckled. “Glad I’m not in your shoes.”

“Yeah, thanks.” I groaned. “And I have no doubt Grandmother did all this deliberately. I don’t think I ever told how my grandmother and Madison’s grandma spent most of our childhoods playing matchmaker.”

“You mean, tryin’ to get you and Madison to date?”

I nodded. “This went on for years. Started before Madison and me were old enough to date. We were friends and appeased our grandmother’s by hanging out every summer and on breaks. We went to different schools, so we didn’t see each other except for summer and most Christmases.

“The thing was nothing ever happened between us until that night. I think we both knew how we felt about the other, but we denied the truth to ourselves, each other, and our grandmothers until the very end. After we slept together, I kinda freak out about it.”

“Kinda?” Derek raised a single brow and looked at me over the edge of his sandwich. “You bailed on her.”

“She bailed on me too.” I argued.

“But you left first. What did you expect her to do?”

“I don’t know. I guess I thought she’d still be there when I came to my senses.”

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