Page 28 of No Faking a Second Chance

Winnie’ssmall hand comes down on my shoulder and she gives it a gentle squeeze. “Whydon’t you head home for the day?Youlook like you need the rest.”

Restis the last thingIneed.WhatIneed is forBishopto forgive me, and let me show him howIreally feel.Ineed to fix everythingIscrewed up and that’s what has my shoulders shaking with quiet sobs, becauseI’mnot sureI’llbe able to fix a damn thing after last night.

Chapter16

Bishop

It’sbeen silent in the office this week, especially withGeorgiaholing herself up in her office majority of the day.I’mmore than tempted to rush in there and ask if she’s okay, but that would only give her the ideaI’mnot angry with her.Betrayedis a better word, butI’mangry too.Soangry for being stupid enough to think she finally noticed me and realizedI’vebeen in front of her all along.

I’mstanding in the lobby whenGeorgiasteps out of her office, head bowed to the ground, and she freezes when she glances up at me.Hereyes are red and puffy, as if she’s been crying, and my body is begging for me to wrap my arms around her.

Ican’t do that though.Instead,Igive her a small nod, then look back down at the paperwork for the client who left moments ago.There’sanother one in a few, butIcan’t remember who it isI’mseeing.Whichonly makes me angrier, becauseInever forget whoI’mtaking care of —I’malways ready as soon as they walk through the door.

Thebell above the door chimes andIsnap my head whenGeorgiagasps behind me.CamdenDavisstands front and center of the room, a smile on his face as he looks atGeorgiaand inches closer to her.

“Lookinggood,Peach.”Thesound of her nickname has me ripping the papers from the counter and storming into the empty room — whereCamdenwill be in a few minutes.

Georgia’swhispering to him, no doubt telling him how sweet he is, andIuse that time to look over my next client's paperwork.Ofcourse,I’mtrying my hardest to avoidGeorgiaandCamdenand he’s not only here to see her but to see me.MaybeIshould give him recommendations for other chiropractors in the area, that might be the best.

I’mnot sureIcan look at him without wanting to punch him in his pretty athletic face.Yes, pretty.Imight be a man butIcan still tell if a man is attractive — andCamdenis definitely attractive.Nowonder she didn’t say anything.Ican't compete withthat.

It’sprobably better that we got this situation out of the way before something like this happened further down the road.BeforeIdeveloped deeper feelings for her than the onesI’vealready got.Thatwould’ve been even more embarrassing.

Imight be angry with her right now, but there’s no denying her beauty.Theblack skirt she’s wearing today accentuates her waist, and ifIlooked hard enoughI’mcertainI’dsee a glimpse of her bra through the thin white blouse.Butthe heels?God, the heels she’s wearing make her legs look a mile long and that’s enough to have me groaning out loud.

That’sthe moment the door gets pushed open andGeorgiaushersCamdeninto the room with me.Heruns a hand through his hair and glances at me. “Hey, man,Ihope there are no hard feelings.”

Ishake my head, glaring at him. “Nohard feelings?”Ofcourse this athlete wants me to act like nothing wrong happened, thatIwasn’t humiliated by him andGeorgia. “I’llpass on that, because my feelingsarehurt andIrefuse to act like they’re not.”

Henods, as if understanding whereI’mcoming from — butIhighly doubt he actually does.

“Let’sget everything done.Whendo you go back?’

Camdensighs and sits slowly onto the bench located in the middle of the room. “Uh, three days from now.”Heseems to be a little flustered by me, probably thinkingI’dbow to him like everyone else in his life.GuessI’mnot like every other person he’s come into contact with.It’sgoing to take more than a pretty face to make up for everything the two of them did at the wedding.

“Okay, so this will be the last appointment you need from me.Justfollow up with a chiropractor there andI’llfax all the informationIhave on you to them.”Insteadof talking anymore since, quite frankly,Ihate the sound of his voice,Iget into a position to help give him some relief.

Itdoesn’t take long for the appointment to end, andIseeGeorgiawaiting at the front of the office with a frown on her face.Shestands straighter when she noticesCamdenandIcoming out of the room, then focuses her attention on the guy beside me.Iopt to let the other staff take care ofCamden’sexit and rush through the hall untilIget to my own office.

Georgiais a great employee.Irefuse to let this feud get in the middle of our work life.Butdammit,Ihate seeing her wait for him exactly likeIthought she’d be waiting for me after a long day.

Iglance at the clock, noting there’s still a couple hours left of her shift, and walk back out to the lobby with a stern expression on my face.There’sa large window, andGeorgia’son the other side of it as she talks heatedly withCamdenon the sidewalk.Afew people passing by give them curious looks, butGeorgiadoesn’t seem to care right now.Camden’sshoulders are slumped, whileGeorgiajabs a finger at his chest, andIflinch away as if she’s doing it to me.

Thisisn’t healthy.

Whatthe hell amIdoing standing here, watchingGeorgiainteract with the guy she’s always been in love with, whenIshould be sitting in my office and worrying about work?Ishake my head, letting her be, and march back inside the spaceIjust was in.

Exceptwork is the last thingI’mworried about doing right now.Igo to the closet nestled in the right corner of the room and open the door, lifting onto my tiptoes and pulling a box down from the top shelf.WhenIget back to my desk,Iopen the lid and suck in a deep breath.

Thereare things in here from throughout the yearsI’veknownGeorgiaand from the things we’ve done together.Ayear ago, when an old friend backed out of a concert at the last minute andIaskedGeorgiato go with me — she demanded we get a picture together once we got there, andI’veheld on to the image ever since.

Anotherpicture of the two of us, hosting a trip to the zoo outside the city with a group of kids — something she vouched for weeks for untilIfinally caved.Recieptsfrom everywhere we’ve eaten becauseIwanted to remember what her favorites were anywhere we went.

I’vekept so much from our moments together.Igrab the favor of bubbles from the box, the ones we got at the wedding, and clutch them tightly in my hand.Thisis where everything became obvious and real, whenIrealized thatI’dnever have the womanI’vedreamed of.

There’sa knock on the door that has me quickly closing the box and taking it back to its hiding spot, thenIclear my throat. “Comein.”

Iimmediately recognize the black heels asGeorgia’sand look up to find her biting her lip as she stares at me. “Everythingokay?”Iask.

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