Boss I Love to Hate An Office Romance - Mia Kayla Page 0,95
know exactly why that is.”
He playfully waggled his eyebrows, and there went my heart again, pitter-pattering without my consent.
“Do you live to make me uncomfortable?” I crumpled up his cookie bag and placed it on the tray.
“I live to make people, particularly you, accept the truths.” He placed his sandwich down. “And the truth is … I think you like me.” Though he didn’t sound too sure.
I let out a peal of laughter. “I do. I like you enough to let you lie for me and be my pretend boyfriend at the wedding and even Friday night on our double date.”
I smiled, all teeth, and he frowned.
“Oh, yeah. I almost forgot about that.”
There was no way I was showing up to the double date without him on my arm. “You’d better not.”
He grimaced, studying me for a second as though he were debating on saying something. “Why are you doing this, Sonia?”
“Well, you did say that you wanted a date, so …” If I could put a wink emoji at the end of that sentence, I would.
Brad was not amused. “I meant, a real date, and don’t worry; I’m still collecting on that. But I mean, with Jean and Jeff. Why did you say yes?” He leaned in, elbows on the table, eyes intently fixed on me.
There were so many things that ran through my mind. Why am I even wasting my time? It is over with Jeff, so why do I even care? But, ultimately, I was going on the date because I didn’t want to seem as though I wasn’t over him. I didn’t want him to think I was a loser. I wanted him to know that I was so much better off without him. I wanted him to regret ever leaving me.
There were a slew of reasons, and it seemed as though Brad could read me so well.
“Why does any of it matter? Unless …” His forehead crinkled, and he rubbed the back of his neck, his face thoughtful. “Are you not over him?” When I didn’t answer fast enough, he added, “Do you want him back?”
Do I? Do I want Jeff back? I hated him for what he had done, how he’d left me, possibly cheated, yet why was it so hard to just forget about him and move on?
“You do, don’t you?” His voice was whisper soft, and his face flipped like a deck of cards—surprise at first, disdain, and then ultimately hurt.
“No. Of course not.” It was the truth, wasn’t it? How could I possibly want him back after he’d left me the way he did, so easily, so brokenhearted? But, if I didn’t want him back, why couldn’t I get over the fact that he’d left me?
He stared at me far too long. After a beat, he stuck his laptop back in his bag, stood, and rubbed the back of his neck. “I have to get back to the office. I have to prep for this meeting at two and the meeting with Titan later this week.”
His abrupt change in mood gave me whiplash.
“Is something wrong?”
He sighed and averted his stare. Not able to read his eyes unnerved me.
“No. Just have a lot of things to do.” His standoffish demeanor, the one that hadn’t made an appearance in a while, was back in full force.
Normally, I’d call him out on it, but I didn’t because I was afraid he’d continue to ask me questions that I wasn’t ready to answer.
We walked back to the office in silence, side by side but as though we didn’t know each other, an odd contradiction to how we’d been since the wedding. When we were finally in the office, I rushed behind my desk. He was about through his office doors when he about-faced and walked straight toward me.
He dropped his bag on the ground and placed both fists on my desk, leaning in. “I have to say this because you can’t see it, but he’s just not good enough for you. He’s just not, Sonia.” The way he uttered my name had my heart staccato stopping again. “You’re wasting energy on someone who isn’t worth a second of your time. If you love someone deeply, care for them infinitely, then you would never, ever let them go. I know I wouldn’t.” His eyes were feverish and bright, and there was an underlying desperation in his tone.
I could read all his emotions with his one look, and shit, it intimidated me.