Page 5 of Never the Best

"Is there anything else?" I asked sweetly, then looked at my phone, which beeped and saved me from telling him I wanted to rip him a new one. "Layla needs me for a minute before we meet."

Rhett shook his head, looking shocked. I loved seeing that look on his face because he didn't know what was up or down.

I walked out of my office and called out for Rachel, Nina's EA, and Savannah Lace's receptionist. "Rachel, can you takeMr. Vanderbilt to the Jasmine Conference Room?" I smiled at Rhett. "See you in fifteen."

Now, Rhett looked at me speculatively, still unsure about what to make of me. I was an enigma to him. Aunt Hattie had said that I had surprised everyone in Savannah with my arrival. Since returning, I know I was seen with curiosity. I'd heard all the snarky remarks.

"She's the one who used to be overweight."

"Rhett Vanderbilt slept withher?"

"It was a bet, and she gave it away to him. She was a virgin."

"She's gorgeous, so why wouldn't Rhett want to go with her?"

"She used to be fat."

I hated how people felt that I was now acceptable, including my mother, because I'd lost a few pounds at the expense of my health, mental and physical. The truth was that I hadn't been obese, not even in the least. I had been a size fourteen, which was the average size for women in the United States of America—but in Savannah society, where all the Belles worked hard to fit into designer sample sizes their Mama picked up during Paris and Milan fashion weeks, I stuck out like abigsore thumb.

I cringed when people said, "You're so lucky to be so thin."

That wasn't why I was lucky; I was lucky because I was alive.

When I was twenty, I nearly died. I didn’t like to think about it, much less talk about it, but the memory had a wayof creeping up on me when I least expected it—like now, while I watched Rhett.

I lost so much that day by his pool—but the most insidious thing his words and actions had done was change my identity from being a chubby girl to being…well, someone who fed herself the bare minimum while running on caffeine and self-hate.

I’d gotten so good at hiding it, so good at smiling and insisting I was just “too busy to eat.”

I believed I was fine, even as my clothes hung loose on my shrinking frame, even though my reflection continued to look the same to me—fat, ugly, hideous.

Then, one day, my body finally gave out.

"What do you think, Pearl?" Nina asked me, making me snap out of the past and into the present.

I had been listening with one ear, a skill I’d picked up as a kid who didn’t want to hear what people were saying about her but couldn’t help herself, and listened to them all the same, breaking her tender heart.

"I think that we need a strategy that combines new hardware with the implementation of new policies—if we do one without the other, we're going to be playing catch-up."

Rhett nodded and took a document from his colleague, whose name I didn't catch. "That's exactly our recommendation as well.” He smiled at me. “We've done quite a few such projects, and trying to implement new regulations without the right IT systems will create more issues and lead to policy violations. Here is a list of companies we’ve worked with inthe past who have agreed to speak with you, if you want more insight.”

He slid the document in front of Layla and me. I picked it up and scanned it.

He was good at what he did, I had to give him that. I had worked with several consultants in my years as a finance professional, and he was one of the best—as was his team. They were en pointe and weren't trying to fleece the client or push projects to increase their billable hours. Well, even though, as a teenager, he had the morals of a worm, in business, he seemed to have integrity.

After the meeting was over, Rhett walked with me to my office. I wish he hadn't. I needed to tighten the chain links on my armor as they had come loose at the impact of seeing him again, up close and personal.

"Aunt Hattie is very grateful that you're staying close to her," he said casually as I stepped into my office and glanced back at him, my gaze making it clear I was wondering:What the fuck do you want?

"I'm the one who's grateful."

"Cash said you didn't want to live on the Beaumont Estate."

"Are we making small talk, Rhett?" I went around my desk and sat down on my leather office chair. I swiveled, my ponytail swishing on my back as I did. At work, I tied my shoulder-length hair into a ponytail. When I was younger, I used to leave it loose as a way to hide my face. I forced myself not to do that anymore.

"I just wanted to say thank you for being there with Aunt Hattie."

"I don't need you to thank me."

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