Page 73 of The Bad Wedding Date

I smiled before I quickly typed back.

Me: How did you get my number?

Fraser: I made it my business to get it.

Me: Bodyguard or stalker?

Fraser: Client or lover?

My cheeks flamed to life. I looked around to see if anyone could see me acting like a giddy young fool.

Fraser: I’m just saying, you can’t have me as your bodyguard one minute and then kiss me the next. The lines will get blurry, and blurred lines make for messy pictures.

Me: What if I like mess?

Fraser: Then let’s get messy.

Me: I’m trying to work here. Can’t you go play Batman for a while?

Fraser: The rubber suit chafes me because I’m too big, unlike Batman, who’s a total weed without it.

Me: What do you wear then? Underpants over leggings to allow a bit more of a stretch.

Fraser: Stop thinking about my underwear. You’re meant to be my new boss. I’ll be contacting HR shortly.

Me: There goes your pay rise.

I laughed and tucked my phone away. “Get it together, Charlotte,” I whispered to myself before I pushed my hair back from my face and turned to head into Jean’s office, only to come chest to chest with the last person on Earth I expected to see in the building.

His slimy laughter poured free as he grabbed my arms to keep me in place, and when I let my eyes rise to his, my blood turned cold.

“Penn?”

He let me go and stood back, looking like the obnoxious rich bastard he was in his expensive blue jeans, leather belt, and blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up—a move that was no doubt planned on his part. Penn knew I loved his forearms when we’d been together. It had been one of the few things Ihadliked about him back then, and he used it to his advantage whenever he could get away with it.

He looked around the building as though he’d stumbled into a homeless shelter by accident.

“So, this is where you work,” he said, running a hand through his dark hair before he looked back at me and gave my purple nylon outfit the once over. “And look how cute you look in that little… thing.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” I hissed.

“That’s no way to greet your ex-boyfriend.”

“It’s the nicest you’re getting from me. You need to go.”

“I only just got here.”

“And that’s long enough.” I reached up and pushed his arm, turning him in the direction of the door and almost marching him all the way to it until he laughed and pulled us both to a stop in front of it.

“Whoa, Lottie—” I glared at him in warning, cutting him off. “Sorry. Charlotte. This isn’t the reception I was hoping for.”

“You must have got me confused with the ex-girlfriend who actually liked you.”

“Always so hostile.”

“It’s not hostility if it’s the truth, Penn.” Seeing him of all people in the place I worked felt icky, and I needed to keep my two worlds apart, which meant I needed to get him to leave before anyone saw him here with me. “Why are you even here? How? I don’t understand.”

“I needed to see you. We didn’t get to talk much last night.”

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