Second Chance Mess (Bad News Billionaires #1) - Lucia Jordan Page 0,12
my high school English teacher would use to make himself sound smarter than he actually was.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Nick said with wide eyes and an eager curiosity written all over his face. “That’s one of the hottest rooftop bars in the city. You have to have V.I.P. access to get into that place. I’m jealous.”
“Me too!” said Kate. “Take lots of pictures and videos for us so we can see what it looks like when you get home.
“Okay,” I said. “I will.”
There was the sound of a car pulling up outside. Kate pulled me aside before there was a chance for anyone to knock on the door.
“Just remember,” she said. “Think about things before you say them or do them. You can always add to things that were left unsaid, but you can’t take things back once they come out of your mouth.”
“Got it,” I said as if I were being prepped for some sort of mission.
When the knock at the door came, I gave myself one last look in the mirror and tried to take one more slow and calming breath. No matter what happened tonight, good or bad, at least it was a chance to talk and find out the truth.
Kate opened the door, and Tim stood there looking inconceivably hot. I was glad that I ended up wearing jeans because he was wearing jeans and a T-shirt too. Tim stared at me as if he were looking straight through my clothes, and I wasn’t sure whether to be flattered or offended by his gawking. I was sure that Kate would have said flattered.
“Do you want to come in for a drink before you leave?” Nick asked Tim at the door.
I wasn’t sure why Tim would want to have a drink here before going to some elite bar in the city, but he accepted and came inside.
“You look beautiful,” he said as he walked up to me.
I could see his hands twitch at his sides as if he wanted to reach out and touch me, but he didn’t.
“Thank you for agreeing to come out with me tonight.”
I didn’t say anything as he walked in and sat down while Nick poured everyone a drink. He sat on the couch next to me, and it was unbearably tense. I kept trying not to look over at him because I knew that at first sight of his messy mahogany hair or his amber-colored eyes, that I would start to melt and be rendered illiterate in any attempt at a coherent conversation that I tried to have. Instead, I tried to look straight ahead at Kate and Nick, who were sitting on the mismatched living room armchairs. I reminded myself to scold Kate for taking those seats first and making me sit on the couch with Tim.
Even though I kept my head straight, though, it was impossible for me not to see his body out of my peripheral vision as he sat next to me. Tim had a muscular, runner’s body, the type that looked good beneath any type of clothing or without any clothing on at all. Every time he moved, it looked like the definition of a muscle popped and flexed beneath the fabric. The jeans he was wearing tonight were snug enough to showcase what was beneath them, and I knew that I had to make a conscious effort to keep my head together or else I would fall right back into the uncertainty that got me in this predicament to begin with.
I had one goal for the evening above all else. I needed to know what happened that night that the picture was taken. I needed to know what happened between Tim and the woman in the limousine and why he had avoided talking to me about it before he had left for his trip to Spokane. If other things were discussed, that was fine. But first, I had to deal with the issue that caused me to send that breakup text. I saw him walking out of the office building with that same woman again, so if Tim tried to deny that or tell me that I was overreacting, I had already tried to mentally prepare myself to get up and leave.
8
Chapter Five (Tim)
Everything about tonight had to be absolutely perfect and exquisite. I knew Max said it wasn’t about the materialistic things, but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to make Brooke feel especially pampered, considering I had already made her feel neglected.