Page 51 of The Anti-Bachelorette (The Anti-Bachelorette 1)

I don’t look back at him. “And yet here you are.”

I hear him sigh. “We need to talk, Emory."

I glance over my shoulder at him. “I don’t have anything I need to talk to you about.”

He sighs again. “C’mon you’re being ridiculous.”

I whip back around and place my hand on my hip. “Look Alaric. We’re not friends. Whatever weird thing we were doing is done now. The only reason I ever need to see you is when you have a work issue.” I stare right into his eyes. “Do you have something work related you need help with? Otherwise, please feel free to leave.”

Alaric clenches his jaw and looks down at the ground. “What do you want me to do here? What was I supposed to say to him?” He asks, talking about my dad.

I feel my heart clench. I wanted him to tell him that he cared about me. I wanted him to fight for me. “I don’t want you to do anything.” I turn back to the printer. “Do you need anything else?”

He is just silent for a moment. Then I hear him blow out a breath. “Yeah, can you confirm the electricians are going to be here on Thursday?”

I nod my head. “You got it boss.” Then I go back to my desk and get back to my emails without looking at him. I can feel him just staring at me for a few moments, and then he turns and walks out the door.

When I get home from work, my dad is sitting on my porch steps. I get out of my car and walk up to him. “You know, this feels a lot like stalking to me.”

He just smiles at me. “I’m your dad. I can stalk you all I want.”

I roll my eyes, and he follows me into the house. “I’m sorry for the way I acted.”

I smile at him. “I’m not the one you should be apologizing to.” I reach into my fridge for some wine. My dad just winks at me. “Nah. He deserved everything he got.”

I just laugh. “If I’d known you were going to beat him up, I would have told you sooner. The asshole could use it.” I pour a glass and sip my wine.

My dad is just looking at me with a funny look on his face. “What?” I ask.

He closes his eyes and sighs. “Shit.”

Now I look at him funny. He looks back up at me. “You care about him.” He says it as a statement. He doesn’t ask.

I laugh. “Ha! Pretty hard to care about someone without a soul.” I take a bigger gulp of my wine.

My dad leans down on the counter across from me. “Have you told him?”

I raise an eyebrow at him. “Told him what?”

My dad gives me a small smile. “That you love him.”

I choke on my wine and go into a coughing attack. “Why on earth would I tell him that?”

My dad doesn’t smile back and instead looks at me seriously. “Because you mean it.”

I narrow my eyes at my dad. “Even if I did, which I don’t, it wouldn't matter anyway.”

My dad sits down on the bar stool. “Alaric is a complicated man. He doesn’t know how to do relationships well. His family really messed him up when he was younger. He didn’t trust me for the longest time.”

I just stare back at my dad. “I don’t see what point you are trying to make.”

My dad smiles. “He asked about you the whole weekend.”

This catches my attention. “Hm?” I say quietly pretending to only be half interested even though on the inside I’m dying to know everything.

My dad seems to see right through me as he gives me a knowing smile. “Yeah, every hour he’d check in with me to see if you called me back yet. Every time I said no, his face would drop. He was constantly checking his phone to see if you messaged him back. Every time his phone pinged, he’d get this hopeful look on his face only to have it drop when he’d realize it wasn’t you. It was a pretty sad sight.”

I twiddle my thumbs nervously as he talks. “I don’t know what you want me to do with this information.”

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