Page 3 of Boss Unyielding (Boss 1)

Farren sighed. “I just can’t believe he didn’t even give me a chance.” She knew that life wasn’t always fair, but it still hurt, all the same.

When she heard the door open, Farren looked up to see Paul coming in from the rain. She immediately felt a rush of excitement run through her at the sight of him, having not seen him for several days. She raised her free hand that wasn’t holding her Blue Moon to get his attention and waved him over.

Paul approached the table with an indiscernible expression, and when he reached them, he looked at Shea, gave her a disinterested nod, and then turned his attention to Farren.

“Can I talk to you outside?”

Not even a hello? Farren broke eye contact with him to steal a glance out the window, seeing the rain still pounding the sidewalks outside. She looked back up at Paul who stood with this body angled toward the door as though he were in a hurry.

“Seriously? Paul, it’s pouring out there. Why don’t you sit down with us and have a drink?” She motioned to the chair on her left that he stood next to.

Paul didn’t move, but put a hand on Farren’s shoulder, motioning for her to get up. “Come on, Far. I really need to talk to you. The door is covered outside.”

Farren looked over to Shea, whose forehead was crinkled and nostrils were flared, but whose lips remained uncharacteristically pressed tightly together.

“I’ll be right back,” Farren said to Shea as she stood and followed Paul out the front door.

THREE

Farren and Paul stood beneath the awning of the building that covered the sidewalk. It only helped a little, since the wind blew the rain at an angle, casting a light spray against Farren’s back as she waited to hear what Paul needed to talk about.

“What’s wrong, Paul? Is everything okay?”

“Everything is fine, it’s just…” He paused, taking in a deep breath and letting it out. “Look, I don’t know how to say this, but I think we should take a break.”

Farren could feel her stomach turn, and she felt like a rug had been yanked out from under her.

“A break? But… why?”

“I just need some time to figure things out,” he answered, looking at her hairline instead of in her eyes.

“Figure what out, Paul? I don’t get it.” She could feel the hot tears filling her eyes again, threatening to spill over at any moment.

“Just things, okay? I just need time to think about what I want.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“You’re breaking up with me?” she said, but it only came out as a whisper.

“It’s not forever. Just for a while. You understand, right?” He unfolded his arms to place them on the sides of her shoulders, giving them a squeeze before he let them go and started inching himself away to leave.

“So that’s just it? You’re just going to dump me and leave? No legitimate explanation or anything?” The tears began falling freely now for the second time in as many hours.

“I’m sorry, Far. I’ve really got to go. Please don’t be upset,” he said, but it was no comfort to her. He was already walking off toward his car parked down the block in the opposite direction from hers. She wondered what he was in such a damn hurry to get to that he just left her standing out in the rain, but she had a feeling she didn’t want to know.

She stood there outside Charlie’s for several minutes, trying to pull herself together before she went back inside to rejoin Shea. She was completely blindsided by the whirlwind breakup she had just experienced, and she needed a moment to regroup so that she wasn’t a blithering mess when Shea saw her again. She knew her best friend would never rub it in her face, but she could just imagine the cold satisfaction Shea would probably get when she found out Paul was finally out of the picture like she’d always wanted.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been standing there when a voice calling her name caught her attention and caught her off guard.

“Miss Fields?” A deep, masculine voice pulled her out of her trance. It was a voice she immediately recognized, because she had heard it just a couple hours earlier. She looked up in the direction it had come from, a short distance down the sidewalk.

She looked up to see Rogan Rayner standing beneath the awning of the restaurant she had parked in front of. A beautiful, blonde woman had a delicate hand resting in the crook of his arm, and Farren noticed her icy, blue eyes seemed to jump right out at her they were so prominent in her stunning face.

Soft waves, unaffected by the rain, cascaded around her shoulders, the highlights in stark contrast against the rich, blue dress that hung just right off of her tight curves.

Mr. Rayner looked perfectly in place with the beautiful woman draped on his arm. Farren couldn’t help but notice the difference his surroundings made in bringing out his rugged good looks, with muscles in his chest, arms, and legs, filling out his clothes in a way that made a woman take notice.

Even behind the black-rimmed glasses, she could feel his eyes piercing into her, and even through the pain that weighed on her chest in that moment, she couldn’t deny the effect this man seemed to have on her.

He was seriously hot.

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