Charity Case - The Complete Series - Piper Rayne Page 0,112

repeated…memories of my no-good ex were my mental stimulation when I was turning on my unicorn cock vibrator this weekend.

“Hello?” Hannah yells into the office.

“I’m in here,” I call out, not getting up from my seat because I have the dreaded task of telling Hannah who her tax attorney is.

She steps into my office a few minutes later, minus her bags, with her coffee in her hand. “Vic is going to be late.”

I nod, figuring it’s Monday and ever since Reed entered her life you’d think her Mondays would be less frazzled, but nope. I wouldn’t doubt if she and Reed head to his condo after dropping off Jade and Henry for a quickie to start their week.

“Did you have a date this weekend?” Hannah asks.

“No.”

Her lips tip down. “Why not? You know I’m living vicariously through you, right?” She mocks offense, all with a smile on her face.

“I had one, but it was supposed to be after I dropped off the papers to our tax attorney, Mr. Bennett, Friday afternoon.”

“Oh yeah, he sent me an email that he got them. Thanks.” She sips her coffee.

“Han, the tax attorney…”

She narrows her eyes and looks at me quizzically. “What am I missing, Chels? Your face is pale and that spunky side of yours didn’t seem to leave your apartment with you this morning.”

“Mr. Bennett is Dean Bennett.”

“Yes.” She smiles like a teacher to a kid who just recited their ABCs.

“I used to be Chelsea Bennett.”

Her eyes bulge out. “Is it a family member of your ex?”

“Well…”

“We can totally find someone else, even if we have to pay. I won’t put you through interacting with anyone from his family. God knows I wouldn’t have anything to do with my ex-in-laws.”

Hannah and Victoria don’t know everything that happened with Dean. I may have hinted at a few things here or there, but I’ve never told them the entire story. It’s embarrassing, and my family looks down on me enough for my whirlwind romance that led to my marriage to a douchebag. I don’t want Hannah and Victoria to look at me any differently than they do now.

“Dean Bennett, attorney at law, is my ex-husband.”

She places her coffee on the edge of my desk and stares at me for a second, not even blinking. “But you said he was a bum. That he was probably in jail.”

“I assumed he would be. When we parted, if someone would have said he’d be a tax attorney in five years I would have bet a million dollars they were lying. Tax evasion seemed like a more likely scenario.”

She sits in the chair across from my desk and crosses her legs in the elegant way only Hannah does. Her red wine silk jumpsuit is both elegant and professional all at once. Strappy black heels pull it all together. Hannah is the kind of woman who matches her purse with her outfit every day.

“Tell me about him,” she says.

I blow out a breath trying to figure out where to start.

“He’s gotten under your skin, Chels.” She dips her head to meet my eyes. “Do you still have feelings for him?”

“No!” My head shoots up. “Not at all. It’s just, it’s been five years and I wasn’t expecting to see him, but there are no feelings there.”

“Good because I’m a firm believer that people don’t change. Whoever he was before is who he still is under this new facade of a tax attorney.”

“Really? You don’t think people can realize something and change the way they are?” I would have agreed to that statement three days ago, but now it unnerves me. I hate to admit how upset that makes me. Maybe there was a glimmer of hope inside me I didn’t realize that thought maybe things would have worked between us if he’d changed.

“I think it’s a rare occurrence.” She shrugs.

“Oh.”

“Please Chelsea, remember these are my beliefs. Not some rule book that you have to live your life by. If there’s something there and you want to explore whether he’s changed, then give it a try. Just keep your hands in front of your face so he can’t left hook you.” She stands and takes her coffee off the edge of the desk. “We’ll discuss this at lunch. I have a call in five minutes.” She stops at the doorway of my office. “It’s your call, Chelsea. I’ll gladly thank him for his services thus far and find another tax attorney for RISE. Let me know.”

“No.” I stand up, my