Page 10 of For The Record

Right. I used to drink these all the time when we were dating.

“The lady will have a vodka soda,” Leo says, resting his empty glass on the bar and picking up my tequila sunrise. Ryder watches as Leo takes a sip. Maybe, just maybe, my plan is coming to fruition. Only in all the worst possible ways.

“How do you know Skye?” Ryder says, a hard edge coming into his tone.

“We just met,” he says easily. Leo drinks the tequila sunrise like it’s another triumph, this time over my ex-boyfriend. I can’t say I mind seeing his expression. It’s not smug, just pleased. Satisfied.But what does that matter when it’s on the face of your boss, Skye?

“Really? You guys looked… close,” Ryder says, leaning a hip against the bar.

“I was just helping her untangle her necklace from her hair,” he lies smoothly.

My heart sinks at the deception, even though my head knows it’s only necessary. “Yep. It was really… Stuck.” Thankfully, I am wearing a necklace, a gold sunburst pendant with tiny diamonds. And even Ryder Black knows better than to question his higher-ups.

“Right. Well, good to see the two of you. I’ll catch you around the office.” We both know he won’t. Or at least, better not. But the look in his eyes, when he went, was far from sad. He didn’t even look resigned to letting each other go.

I’m pretty sure it was nothing short of angry. Jealous.

The minute he leaves, I fight the urge to collapse onto the bar. All the tension abandons my body like a puppet whose strings snap. “I apologize for… him.”

“You’re not responsible for your ex’s behaviour.” Leo shrugs. “I’m avoiding mine, too.”

Interest piqued, curiosity shoves past my shame. “Who are they?”

“A terrible trophy wife.” He cracks a smile, but it looks less triumphant this time. Almost sad. I only have more questions.

“I saidwho, not what.”

Leo sighs. “Alina Rostova.”

She has three Billboard top 10 singles, and she looks like a supermodel. I try to summon some confidence. “Well, no wonder you didn’t want to kiss me. You’d be at risk of moving on from her immediately.”

“You’re mistaken.” Leo’s green eyes are full of mischief. “It’s the unimportant detail of you being my subordinate that separates your lips from mine.”

I smile back, his mood infectious. “It looks an awful lot more like the few feet between us that are keeping us apart.”

“Very astute of you,” he says. Then his next words paralyze me. “Do you want to get out of here?”

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@SkyeHolland1: So many great people at @TheRyderBlack’s party tonight! <3 @RyderBlackSource: Turns out Ryder’s ex, Skye Holland, is WORKING for Volume Records??

Chapter 6: Leo Perez

“Ryder Black here to see you,” Annabelle says bright and early on a Monday morning. I nurse an iced coffee, staring into its milky depths. “Should I send him in?”

“Go ahead,” I say. I’ll have to see him sooner or later, and better sooner rather than later, right?

Minutes later, a guy in his mid-twenties lopes into my office, wearing a Lexington Legends baseball cap over his dark hair. I stand up. “Morning, Ryder. Take a seat.”

He sits in the plastic armchair across from my glass desk. “How are you doing… Mr. Perez?”

“Leo is fine. And I’m well, thanks. How about you? How are you fitting in at Volume? Hopefully, no one’s mistreating you?”

“Is bullying a common occurrence in this workplace?” he says, half-joking as he flips his cap in his hands.

“Don’t ask me, ask HR. You wouldn’t believe the number of complaints I’ve gotten.”

“Nice.” His hands clutch the brim of the Lexington Legends cap. “You are joking, right, Leo?”

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