Page 34 of My Grumpy Sweetheart
Letting out a small sigh, I said goodbye to Parker, ended the call, and stared at my phone, trying to come up with a message for Dakota that didn’t sound too needy and clingy but wasn’t complete bullshit, either.
It was harder than I’d expected.
I wanted to ask what happened. I wanted to tell him he was an ass for not even managing to reply with a fucking emoji. Most of all, I just wanted him to tell me everything was okay.
Bailey: Are you currently doing a job for the government or chopping some poor virgin up in your garden shed? Because those are about the only excuses for disappearing on me for several days *wink wink* In complete honesty: I’d love to hear back from you because I’m still hoping I’ll get that second date we talked about.
Taking a deep breath, I hit send, then put the phone on airplane mode. The ball was in his court. The only problem? I was pretty sure it was going to stay there forever.
* * *
Friday rolled around and with it the five-day mark since I’d last talked to Dakota, as well as the seven-day mark since I’d first met him.
Honestly? Being so messed up because of a guy I’d met a week ago was kind of ridiculous.
Yet, here I was, sitting at my desk in my office, staring at my computer monitor without really seeing anything. I should be working on a reel for a historical romance novel. I should edit another TikTok video. Hell, there were more than fifty emails in my inbox just waiting for me to pull my head out of my ass. But alas, I seemed unable to.
My head was constantly spinning, a thousand thoughts running through my mind at the same time. Possible explanations of what’d happened that prevented him from answering even though he was seeing my fucking texts —yes, you moron, I can see you read them. Things I wanted to say — or do — to him. And my emotions? Yeah, I didn’t even want to start with them. They went from hurt to angry to desperate to… all of the above.
“Bailey?” That was Joaquín. My boss. And if his voice was any indication, this wasn’t the first time he’d said my name.
“I apologize,” I said, looking up at my boss who was standing in the middle of my office, the door closed behind him.
Yeah. I should definitely have heard him come in.
He was looking good, sharp as always in a dark blue suit that highlighted the silver strands in his hair. A hot fucking silver fox, but he didn’t hold a dime compared to Dakota with his strawberry blond hair, his resting frownyface, and the flannels… fuck. Theflannels.
I might’ve found a new kink of mine.
“Are you okay?” he asked, voice full of compassion as he lowered himself to the leather chair on his side of my desk.
“Yes, of course,” I said, trying to force a smile on my face.
“Excuse me, Bailey, but you look like you’re in pain. Also, to be quite frank, I’ve had three separate people in my office telling me off for letting you work while you’re sick.”Oh fuck. “And while I appreciate your team and friends throughout the company trying to protect you from being taken advantage of, I really don’t appreciate them accusing me of forcing you to work when you should be taking sick leave.”
Now was the right time for me to find out how to make the ground swallow me up whole. Pulling my shoulders up to my ears, I hid as much of me inside my hoodie as I could.
“I am so, so sorry, Joaquín.”
He sighed, shaking his head. “I know. And I also know that you didn’t sic people on me. But I get where they’re coming from. If I didn’t know for a fact that I’m not blackmailing you or forcing your hand or anything like that, I’d probably think the same. Which is why I’m here. I’m worried about you.”
“I’m fine,” I tried telling him, but the words sounded insincere to my own ears. Sighing, I shook my head. “No, that’s not the truth. This week sucks for a few personal reasons, but I promise I’ll deal with it this weekend. Come Monday, I’ll be back to normal.”
Joaquín laughed. “I hope so; otherwise, your friends will probably skin me alive — and the problem is thateveryonehere is your friend. I’m outnumbered. So, I’m doing the responsible thing: I’m sending you home. And before you say anything. Yes, I’m aware that you already had last Friday off. No, I’m not making you officially take half a day off. We both know you put in a lot of hours during the last couple of months. You deserve a little time for yourself.”
Swallowing around the lump in my throat, I nodded. “Thank you, Joaquín.”
He waved at me. “Ah, it’s nothing. I’m just saving my own skin. Have a good weekend, Bailey.”
Sure I will, I thought sarcastically. But I didn’t say it out loud. Instead, I gave him my first smile of the day. “You, too. Joaquín. Don’t forget the TikTok video we have scheduled to film on Monday.”
“I wish I could, but I made the mistake of telling my sisters about it. Now I’m constantly getting links to videos they want me to recreate. And I don’t understand even half of it.” Shaking his hand, he waved at me one last time before leaving his office.
I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against my office chair. I needed to get Dakota out of my head. It was obvious he wasn’t going to call. Hell, he wasn’t even going to text. As much as I hated it, I needed to look forward.
It was only one weekend. It wasn’t like we’d been in a relationship for months or anything. One weekend. Two amazing fucks and a spectacular blowjob. No biggie…
If only I could believe myself.
