Page 5 of Bending The Rules

The future of my career was a large part of it.

Toni was… equally distracting.

Even though she’d spent the last seven years traveling, her lack of contact over that period should have made it clear to me that she wasn’t interested in making up. She didn’twantto resolve the tension between us, so we could go back to being what we were. That was a hard, bitter ass pill to swallow.

So I hadn’t.

Iwouldn’t.

Especially now that she was actually in my space again.

I wasn’t accepting the end of seventeen years of friendship without walking away feeling like I’d done everything I could. And unless I was way off base, the fact that she was still pissed meant she still cared… which meant there was still something.

Somewhere.

I flipped the laptop closed, and stood up. As I did, my phone chimed to remind me I had a lunch meeting with the primary object of my thoughts.

The first date for the signing at her parent’s bookstore, Tones & Tomes, hadn’t worked out. Between the book release being late, the changes to my travel schedule, and life in general, we’d had to push it back. But moving the date meant more time to plan. And for Marjorie and Greg, it meant the ability to recruit help:

Toni.

Now that she was here, we were supposed to be working directly together to make this signing happen. I didn’t want my agent or anyone from the publisher handling it. This was my hometown event, in a bookstore where I’d basically grown up, hosted by owners I considered family. I didn’t want the “corporation” that was Lion Literary anywhere near an event that meant so much.

But, that meant working with Toni.

I was 99.9% certain it was a burden toher,but me?

I considered it an opportunity to finally set things right.

Two.

I let out a deep, heavy sigh as hot water sprayed over me, working out the knots in my aching limbs. I closed my eyes as I turned my back to the spray, briefly considering the consequences of just staying in there forever.

I was tired.

Tired as hell.

The phone call from last night had gotten pushed back even later, which meant I was up in the middle of the night doing business, only to wake up early to help my parents pack up the house. I’d spent the morning there, then rushed back to the hotel to get cleaned up for my meeting with Justin – a meeting I wished I could cancel, because I didn’twantto talk to him.

But this signing was one of the biggest reasons my parents had asked me to come home. And when your aging parents asked for help, you made it happen – no matter that you were in serious dislike with the person they wanted you to deal with.

I sighed again, then shut off the water. Once I’d dried off, and wrapped myself in a robe, I sat on the edge of the bed to rub lotion on as I looked over my dress for the meeting – it was sort of amazing, which fit right in withRule #28 – Never look less than your best when going into a hostile situation.

Not that I thought Justin was hostile.

No, all the hostility in our situation came straight from me – with good reason. His selfish actions – and asshole tendencies – had ruined our friendship, and I was still pissed about it.

Highly.

So even though we’d never been romantic, and as far as I was concerned would never be, the rule still applied. I planned to lookgood.

Unexpected check in the mail good.

Fresh from the oven buttermilk biscuits good.

First sex with your man after a long trip good.

On principal.

---