Page 81 of How to Get Even

‘Yeah, you need it. Boss’s orders.’

Oh God.

Was it normal to feel so… turned on in the middle of a hangover? Like the worst ever hangover? Was a horny hangover even a thing? Not that he was turning her on. Not really. It was just the book. She couldn’t be attracted to a lying cheating…

Only he wasn’t. He hadn’t lied. He hadn’t cheated. Not really.

Oh God, it was such a mess. She gave in and leaned her forehead on the table.

‘So, this is what’s going to happen,’ Chase said. ‘We’re going to eat this incredibly delicious food, as slow as you like, but you’re going to eat it. And then you’re going to look at the messages that have been blowing up your phone since last night. Then you’re going to walk back to the apartment?—’

‘Cab,’ she interrupted.

‘Walk,’ he stressed. ‘And then you’re going to curl up on the sofa and finish the book you screamed at me for reading.’

Oh.

My.

God.

‘Just kill me,’ she begged. ‘Get it over with and kill me,’ she groaned, her forehead still attached to the table.

The sound of his laughter rolled over her in warm waves and she didn’t hate it. Not really. It felt kind of nice to joke with someone.

‘It’s not bad actually,’ he offered. ‘I especially liked the bit when she put one knee the table and said, “Daddy, can you?—”’

‘Chase,’ she exclaimed, cutting him off as the server placed plates loaded with food on the table.

‘Oh, you got that far already?’ he asked with a knowing grin, popping a fry into his mouth.

Bella grabbed her milkshake hoping to cool herself down – not from the memory of that particular scene in the book (which she had read, by the way,twice) but from the thought ofChasereading that scene.

She whimpered again, but stopped the moment that she saw Chase tense. She swallowed a mouthful of thick, sweet milkshake as if she could ignore the moment as easily.

‘So, your friends are worried about you. Should I be?’ he asked, after clearing his throat.

Bella took a shuddering breath. ‘No. It’s fine. I’m fine.’

‘You know how some people have a swear jar?’ Chase asked, drawing her gaze back to him with the about-turn in the conversation.

She nodded.

‘I want to have aBella’s finejar. Five dollars for every time you say you’re fine.’ She rolled her eyes at him, but he held her gaze. ‘Was it one of them that did the bad thing? Is that why they’re worried about you?’

Bella nodded again.

‘Does it still hurt? The bad thing?’ he asked.

Bella considered his question. Because from the moment Paige had told her she’d been upset with the wrong thing. Or at least, probably not what everyone expected her to be upset by. It wasn’t Olly.

Because she’d begun to suspect that Olly might have been right to leave. They should never have got as far as a church aisle, let alone a marriage. He’d been grieving and she’d wanted someone to love her. That wasn’t a foundation for a future.

‘Not in the way that it should,’ Bella admitted.

He raised an eyebrow and nodded as if impressed.

She opened her mouth to explain and he held a hand up. ‘It’s okay. I don’t need to know. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.’

---