Page 46 of The Naughty List

She stares at me, unblinking. Her small hand wraps around the neck of the bottle and our fingers brush, sending a sizzling tingle up my arm. She brings the bottle to her lips and takes a sip. She doesn’t react as strongly this time, but her eye twitches and a small cough erupts from her chest.

“So, what do you normally do on Friday nights?” Her question breaks the budding tension.

“Let’s see…” I run my hand over my unshaven jaw, my stubble audibly scraping against my palm. “When I’m not here working late, I’m usually working late in my home office.”

“Seriously?”

“Afraid so. Not a terribly exciting life I lead.”

“I thought being the billionaire owner of a company meant you could do whatever you want. Jet off to Monte Carlo, or wherever rich people go.” She gestures a little wildly with her hands and I realize the rum is hitting her.

“That sounds like an amazing idea but”—I hang my head—“not as exciting as you’d think it would be when you’re doing those things alone.”

“Oh, I guess I assumed…” I grab the bottle back from her and take another long sip, the rum burning a path down my throat and into my chest.

“What about you? What’s your typical Friday night?”

“I don’t really know anymore.” She shrugs and her expression looks a little sad.

“Meaning?”

“Since Tim wanted a ‘break’…” She does air quotes, following her statement with an exaggerated eyeroll. Darting out a hand, she grabs the bottle from me, this time tipping her head back much longer than she had for her previous sips.

I pull the bottle away from her mouth. “Whoa, whoa. Maybe we should pace ourselves.” I place the bottle on the ground and grab her hand. “Here, why don’t we sit.” She doesn’t resist as I guide us both down to the floor.

“These damn shoes are pinching my feet.” She leans forward to unzip the black ankle boots she’s wearing, removing them and kicking them to the side.

“So, tell me about this Tim guy. I already don’t like him.” I don’t offer an explanation. The truth is, the rum is hitting me too, but I don’t care. I don’t understand how a man could have this woman in his life and just toss her aside.

She snorts. “He’s a lawyer, been together for three years now, and he just decided a few weeks ago that he suddenly doesn’t want kids anymore and needs space to figure out if I’m who he even wants to be with.”

“Wait a minute. There were no warning signs, no previous talks, he just decided he needs space and that was that?”

“Yup. Well…” She holds up a finger, her eyes squinting like she’s thinking. “I guess there might have been a few warning signs. At his firm, the new first-year lawyers were recently brought in, which is when he started acting shady. I saw this woman’s name, Tiffany, on his phone, and he acted like it was just because she’s new and needs help or whatever…but when I asked to see the messages, he said it was private because they’re lawyers and it breaks some code or bylaw or something because it’s technically his work property.”

“He certainly sounds like a lawyer.” I grit my teeth. Just hearing about this piece of shit is pissing me off. “So, clearly there’s something going on between those two and he wants to explore it, which is why he said he wanted space.”

She slaps my arm. “That’s what I said! Of course, he said I was being dramatic and jealous. He’s—there’s other stuff.” She twists her fingers together in her lap. “My friends don’t like him, and I’m pretty sure he hates my family.”

“Hey.” I reach out and touch her chin to get her look at me. “He hates your family? Sadie, that’s not a good thing, you know?”

She nods and looks back down. “I know there are red flags, especially since my friends can’t stand him, but I guess I’ve just been too scared to admit it and let go. I hear all these dating horror stories from social media and from my friends, and they made me feel like I was lucky to have Tim because it meant I didn’t have to be out there navigating all that. Pathetic, I know.” She leans over to grab the bottle and takes a drink before handing it to me.

“Not pathetic. We’ve all been there, I think. But I can confidently say that guy is an asshole and I hope you see that now.”

“He can be so nice though. I think sometimes people don’t put enough effort into working through issues in a relationship.”

“Or some people give too much.” I can see her mood souring so I change the subject. “Anyway, what about your friends? You have plans with them this weekend?”

Her eyes light up again. “I do! We always go to this annual holiday pub crawl in Wrigleyville. We’ve been going since college. It’s dive bars, cheap beer, and lots of silly holiday games and costumes.” She laughs and the sound tugs at my heart. “We don’t do the full bar to bar thing anymore. We tend to settle at the final bar, Finnegan’s, and watch all the crazy drunk people pile in at the end.”

“That sounds like a fun time. What about for Christmas?”

“I spend it with my family. They live about forty miles outside the city in Yorkville. We have a very traditional Christmas, the big meal, presents, sledding. What about you?”

“You’re not going to like my answer.” I give her a sheepish smile. “I stay home and work.”

“What?” Her back shoots off the wall of the elevator. “You can’t work through the holidays! What about your family?”

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