Page 42 of Love Redesigned
I tossed a pillow at his face. “Why didn’t you warn me?”
He dodged the pillow with a chuckle. “I thought you might like her.”
“I hate you.” I threw another pillow, this one hitting him square in the face. “Where’s everyone else?”
“Went to see a movie,” Isaac said.
“And you didn’t go?”
“Naw. Didn’t feel like dealing with people. Sorry the date sucked. I kinda hoped she’d like you enough to stop talking about me. I mean, she’s not bad to look at.”
“No, but she’s not...” My words trailed off. Because finishing the sentence meant admitting to something I didn’t want to say out loud.
“She’s not Dani?” Isaac finished for me.
I sighed. So much for ignoringthattruth. “Nobody is.”
I leaned back into the cushions. The first time I’d kissed Dani, it had been all her. I’d taken her to seeHamiltonon Broadway and right there in the theater, minutes before opening curtain, she’d turned to me, taken my face in her hands, and kissed me. “Thank you for bringing me here,” she’d whispered.
It had surprised me in the moment, but the longer I got to know her, the more I’d realized that’s simply the way she was. She lived passionately. Intentionally. She valued experience, learned from and embraced the world around her, and never hesitated to fight for what she wanted.
“Hey, you busy in the morning?” Isaac asked.
“You tell me, boss.”
“Nah, this isn’t work-related. I have to go to my parent’s house and let in the guy who’s fixing the roof. I thought you might want to tag along and see the place.”
A surge of desire swelled in my chest. I likely would have agreed to go anywhere with Isaac just to keep him company. He was a good friend and he’d earned my loyalty. But seeing the house where Dani had grown up intrigued me in a way that surprised me. We’d dated close to a year; it was weird that we’d never traveled to Charleston together. But Dani had been so determined to make it in New York and to do it on her own. She didn’t make enough to afford the travel or the time off work, and she would have never let me fund the trip. It was hard enough to buy her dinner.
To get an inside glimpse into Dani’s life, even after our breakup, felt like an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I tried not to sound too eager. “Sure,” I said to Isaac, with a dismissive shrug. “I’ll come. I don’t have anything else to do.”
Isaac gave me a knowing look and I grimaced. My feigned indifference must not have been too convincing.
“You could call her, you know,” Isaac said, his eyes focused back on the video game screen. “Tell her you’re thinking about her.”
I stood. “It’s not that easy. She still works for my stepfather. And that’s not a world I want to be in, even if she’s in it.”
Chapter Fifteen
Dani
Chase fell in step beside me as I hurried to the elevator. “That was the bravest thing I’ve ever heard you say,” he whispered.
I bit my lip, determined to keep the tears at bay. Not for Chase’s benefit. He knew me well enough to handle tears, no matter their reason for falling. But I had too much pride for anyone else at LeFranc to see me skulk away with my tail between my legs. I leaned against the wall of the elevator while Chase pushed the button for the third floor. I almost stopped him. It felt so much easier to stop in the lobby and walk away without a backward glance. But my phone and my purse were both at my desk.
“You okay?” Chase asked.
I shrugged. “No. But I think I will be. Eventually.”
“We can still find a way to make this right, Dani. You can’t stop fighting.”
I shook my head. Icouldstop fighting. And that’s precisely what I was going to do. Because Sasha was right. I would never be cutthroat enough to make it in fashion. Especially not if cutthroat meant lying and cheating and stealing. “I can’t do this anymore, Chase. I’m so tired of her. I’m tired of pouring so much energy and time andhopeinto a job that has literally given me nothing in return.”
“Don’t say that. It gave you me.”
I managed a half-smile, then reached up and cupped my hand around his cheek. “That’s true. And I wouldn’t trade that for anything. But...”
“Enough is enough?” he finished for me.
