Page 17 of Unbossly Manners

He waved his hand, dismissing the request. “She won’t accept it. She loves to give. She’s going halfway across the world to help children in need.”

“Will Evie stay with you while Kat’s away? Do you share custody?”

“We share. It’s not official or anything. We agreed to it as soon as it was clear Kat… er, when it was over. But Evie’s going with her mom to India. Kat thought it would be good for her.”

I cocked my head. “Do you disagree?”

“I think it’s great.” He glanced down. “I’ll just miss her.”

He was so sincere I wanted to reach out and hug him, but his tensed muscles screamed keep your distance.

There were parts of me that were bruised because I had an absent father, but my mother had loved me enough for two parents. I’d never known any different, so it wasn’t a gaping wound. It only ached in moments like these, when I witnessed a father who loved his daughter.

Suddenly curious, I asked, “What’s your love language, Jackson?”

Jackson circled behind his desk, sat, and typed rapidly on his keyboard, ignoring the inquiry. I groaned inwardly, wishing I could retract the question.

I was almost out the door when his low voice called out to my retreating back.

“Physical touch.”

eight

“I’ll punch him in the fucking nuts.”

Selena, all five-foot-one of her, with her dark purple hair in a high ponytail, sat on the velvet pink sofa in the break lounge looking amazingly refreshed for someone who’d been halfway across the world sixteen hours ago.

It was almost nine, most of my colleagues were gone for the night. She’d come to my office bearing gifts—greasy chips, salsa, cheap tacos, and margaritas from our favorite dive, Tequila Tekillya.

We were sucking the drinks down even though the lounge came with a fully stocked wet bar—craft beer and wine on tap, a selection of liquor and mixers—because we were broke, and in our twenties; god forbid we let a drop of alcohol we’d spent our meager salaries on go to waste.

I’d just filled her in on my horrible, terrible, awful date with Chip, and she was apocalyptic.

“I handled it,” I told her.

Selena’s face was pinched in fury as she sipped from her Styrofoam cup.

“And you’re staying at your boss's ex-wife’s place?”

“He’s not exactly my boss.”

“But he’s hot, right?”

“He’s in love with his ex-wife. And I’ve put the kibosh on dating. So his hotness is a moot point.”

Selena studied me through her thick false lashes, all humor gone from her features.

“Don’t let that diseased dick take your power,” she said, referring to Chip.

I wrapped my lips around my straw and took a long gulp. Everyone kept telling me that. I kept telling me that, but that little self-loathing monster inside my head kept hammering Chip’s words at me.

“She’s right.”

I jumped at the voice in the doorway. Kat’s short dark hair was pulled into a top knot, pieces of it sprouting out of the hair tie. She wore ripped jeans and a camouflage-print top.

“Oh.” I stood up, glancing around as if I’d been caught doing something wrong. “What are you doing here?”

“I had some things to drop off with Jackson for Evie. She’s staying with him tonight, but she forgot her favorite stuffy.” Kat’s eyes glazed with endearment. “She’s fourteen and she still can’t sleep without her torn and tattered cat lovey.”

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