Page 94 of Hard Rock Heat
"You don't get to tell me what todo."
Damon narrowed his eyes at me. "You always say someone needs to act like an adult, but you're the one being childish rightnow."
I gaped at him before firming mylips.
"You want childish?" I unbuckled my seat belt with sharp movements. I yanked on the interior handle and flung the door open. I swung my legs around and set my feet on the ground with a stomp. "Fine. Here's childish foryou."
"Faith!" Damon struggled with his seatbelt as he leaned across the passenger seat. "Wait."
I turned to him, radiating fury with every molecule of mybody.
"You ever experience the silent treatment?" I fumed. "Because if you tell Hope, I am never speaking to youagain."
I slammed the car shut and ran into thebuilding.
Chapter Thirty
It wasthe day of the sleep out. Maybe one of the most important events of my career. If everything went off without a hitch, I'd impress my boss and be in the running for a promotion. If something went wrong, if this whole thing turned into adisaster…
I shook my head. No. I wasn't going to have a defeatist attitude. This was going to be the event of the year. I would make sure of it. Katherine and I had worked hard for months on this project. We'd thought of every possible issue, every possible snag that might pop up. We had contingency plans for our contingencyplans.
The only problemwas…
"Damon keeps asking about you," Katherinesaid.
I paused, a stack of folders in myhand.
"I keep telling him you're busy and you'll call him back, just like you said," shecontinued.
"Thanks,Kat."
Katherine side-eyed me. We were going over folders of itineraries, compete with everyone's schedule, emergency contact information, detailed maps of the stadium with every important area highlighted, and more. Every person helping to run the event would get one. I'd found early on in my career that putting together these packets were a necessity. I didn't need to spend half the night answering the same dozenquestions.
"He's been pretty persistent," Katherinenoted.
I avoided her eyes. "I don't think he knows how to be any other way," I said, pretending to go over the list of important phone numbers one moretime.
"It's going to be hard running this event if you're not speaking tohim."
"I'm not—" I put down the papers. I rubbed at my tired eyes. It was only just past noon, but I'd already been up since five. The event didn't officially start until six atnight.
It was going to be a longday.
"I know I shouldn't pry," Katherinebegan.
"But that's not going to stop you from doing itanyway?"
"You've been miserable this last week," she continued. "Everyone has noticed. And I can't help but think it has to do something to do withhim."
"Has the whole office been gossiping about my lovelife?"
"No," Katherine said. "Everyone assumes it's the stress of the event. I'm the only one who answers your phone. I haven't told anyone else how many times a certain sexy rock star keeps calling. And how many times I've had to make excuses because you refuse to talk tohim."
"I'm not refusing to talk tohim."
Katherine raised an eyebrow skeptically. I firmed my lips and went back to the folders, not responding to her silentquestion.
She wasright.
