Page 70 of Bossy Trouble

“That ship has already sailed.”

“No, it hasn’t.” Now that I had finally let out some of my anger, rationality returned. I could see that Lupin purposefully phrased all his words to provoke me. So had Georgia. Yet, neither of them admitted to anything happening.

I knew Georgia. She wasn’t the type to cheat on me. Even with our past tumultuous flings, she’d never been with any other guy apart from me. Never had been, never would be.Not when we were together or had an agreement.

Plus, Georgia wasn’t Lupin’s type. The man liked them slender, glamorous, and totally out of reach. Women like Sasha. He loved Sasha. There was a look of obsession in his eyes when I mentioned her.

“You haven’t done anything with Georgia,” I said, returning to my senses. “Because you’re still hopelessly in love with a woman who sees you as nothing more than a friend.”

Lupin’s entire face tightened, and pain flashed across it, though he tried to hide it under his usual impassiveness. I almost felt sorry for the man. For years, he’d been in love with a woman who didn’t share his feelings. That had to be a special kind of hell.

I didn’t understand him for a long time, didn’t get why he was so hung up and turned so stupid over one woman, but now I got it.

If he felt the same way about Sasha that I felt about Georgia, then it was a wonder he hadn’t killed me yet.

And I guessed I was finally ready to admit the strong feelings I had for Georgia.

Because I didn’t think I would be here feeling the urge to fling this man out of a window because of jealousy for someone that I merely cared about. I’d never been the jealous type in any of my relationships. I thought it was simply my nature, but now I saw I simply hadn’t felt for any other woman half of what I currently felt for Georgia.

“Shit.” I shut my eyes and rubbed my hands over my face as it all dawned on me. “I’m in love with her, aren’t I?”

I heard Lupin chuckle, and I regretted saying the words out loud. I turned to glare at him, and he smiled even wider.

“I never thought I’d see the day,” Lupin said gleefully. “The day the great Donovan Dresden fell. And over a girl like that, no less.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I growled.

“Rest assured; I didn’t mean it negatively. I just meant that she’s too…innocent for your tastes. Too kind. Too good for you.”

“Oh yeah? Well, that’s the exact way I feel about Sasha for you.” I started walking toward him and nearly winced at the pain in my ribs. Damn. When had he hit me there?

“Then it seems we’re in the same boat,” Lupin commented, and I shook my head.

“You and I aren’t the same. You spent years obsessed with a woman who barely gave you the time of day. I’m in love with someone who actually gives a shit about me.”

“How do you know she cares about you?” Lupin pointed out. “Maybe she’s merely pretending.”

What kind of question was that? “I just know, okay?” I knew Georgia and had known her for a long time. She was an honest, pure soul who didn’t have a pretentious bone in her body.

“No, you don’t know,” Lupin rebutted easily, crossing his arms over his chest. “That’s your emotions talking because your emotion wants to believe the best of the person it’s focused on, wants to believe that the person loves you back.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Did it even occur to you for a second that Georgia and I were together today because we were scheming against you?”

“What kind of bullshit lie is that?”

“It’s true. A few weeks ago, right before she started working for you, I met her outside your office. She was on her way in, pissed that you stole her company. She spilled coffee on my shirt, and we went over to the coffee shop. We ended up talking, and I convinced her to work for you so she could spy on you for me.” His words weren’t making any sense, but he spoke them with all the confidence in the world. “Ask her yourself if you don’t believe me.”

I shook my head, disbelief roaring through every fiber of my being. His story was ridiculous, convoluted even, and it didn’t make any sense. Georgia scheming against me? He was lying. He had to be.

But the utter confidence in his tone of voice had me doubting.

Was that why she kept asking all those questions about my visitor? Not because she cared but because she wanted to find out more information?

Was I truly snookered?

Lupin picked up his phone, typing as he talked. “Now that you know the truth, you can decide what you want to do with it. Do you want to stick your head in the sand and pretend like you heard nothing, or do you want to face the truth that maybe you, too, are in love with someone who doesn’t give a fuck about you too? You’re a sap, just like me.”

He gave me a malicious smile and then put down his phone. “You should be going. The police will be here in about fifteen minutes.”

Of course, the coward called the police. Unfortunately for him, I wasn’t scared of the cops or the media.

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