at precisely that point that pain turned into anger, thinking about the last couple of months with Phineas and all the mixed signals that would speak to the contrary of what he’d just said to me. In particular, there was one pervasive thought that jumped into my head. One that I knew he couldn’t explain.
“How about we play a drinking game, then, since it would seem you believe that to be more appropriate professional behavior?”
He shook his head. “Mena, please.”
“Great. I’ll start. This one is called Never Have I Ever. I’ll say something I’ve never done, and if you’ve done it, then you lose.”
“We’re not playing anymore absurd drinking games.” He turned around and began heading toward the curtain again.
“Okay, here goes. Never have I ever lied to my employee, telling her that I didn’t see a compromising photograph of her when, oops, I actually did.”
Phineas suddenly paused in mid-stride, turning around once more to face me. The expression on his face reminded me of what mine had probably looked like when my mother once caught me trying to sneak out of the house through my bedroom window when I was in high school.
“You knew the whole time?”
“You know, I’m a little insulted that you didn’t think I could tell the difference between an unread text message and one that had been opened.” Tears burned my eyes, angering me further. I didn’t like crying in general, let alone crying in public in front of my boss, no less. And my anger only acted as an accelerant, igniting a viciousness within me that I was afraid I couldn’t contain.
“Mena …” Phineas furrowed his brow as he took a step toward me, stopping short when I held out the palm of my hand.
“No. It’s my turn to ask the questions.” I took a step back, avoiding his advances. “Why? Why lie to me? You could have just as easily deleted the message and told me you never received it. Why even show me your phone at all?”
“You’re right. I saw the text shortly before I called you into my office that morning and knew immediately it had been sent by mistake. As soon as I realized what had happened, I closed the message. I didn’t tell you what really happened because I didn’t want to make things awkward between us. You were dating Peter. I w-was … am your boss. I just didn’t want to complicate things.”
“But you did, anyway.” My senses told me that he still wasn’t telling me the whole story. He was hiding something else. “I guess I’ll see you back at the office.” I pushed past him to head out the exit.
“Wait,” he pleaded. “Please. At least let me take you home.”
“If it’s all the same with you, I’d rather be alone right now. I’ll find my own way home.”
*****
It was still relatively early in the evening when I walked through our apartment door. As I hung up my coat, I noticed Jo from out of the corner of my eye, immediately feeling compelled to unload on her about the cluster fuck of emotions I’d just gone through.
“If I ever express the desire to go out with Phineas Drake again, remind me about this conversation. Tonight was frustrating to the point of infuriating … but also beautiful and an absolute mess, and … hot. Oh my God, Jo, I can’t even describe the way he touched me. It was just so incredible, until he turned it off just like that.” Punctuating the last sentence with a finger snap, I continued, “I swear, if it’s possible for a woman to get blue balls, I definitely had—”
I hadn’t been looking at Jo while I was talking, but it was clear that I should have been, for the hurried hand gestures she was making were a clear indicator that I should have quit talking before I had even started. Jo made a gesture with her eyes in the direction of the living room, telling me that we weren’t alone. Casting a confused glance in her direction, I walked into the living room to find two familiar women sitting on our couch.
Dumbfounded, I peered back over my shoulder at Jo, who looked at me as if to say, “I was waving my arms, dumbass, what more did you want me to do?”
“Mom? Melissa? What are you doing here?”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“Is that any way to greet your mother and your sister?” My mom stood up from the couch, Melissa following behind her. “You’re certainly