Endeared (The Accidental Billionaires #5) - J. S. Scott Page 0,19

guarantee that I was going to get that scholarship anyway,” she said. “I had a backup plan to go to nursing school, and I’m not sorry for the way everything worked out. I love what I do at the clinic, Owen, and I think I like spoiling the animals at the shelter more than I’d enjoy operating on them. Now that I’m older and wiser, I think fate pushed me in the right direction, even though I didn’t think so at the time. I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

“Are you still volunteering at the shelter?”

She nodded. “As much as I possibly can.”

It was believable that Layla was happy doing women’s health at the clinic. I’d seen her in action. Her patients adored her, and she happily gave a lot of herself to the people under her care. “I’m glad you’re happy, Layla. I’ve thought about you a lot over the years.”

“I’ve thought about you, too,” she answered softly.

“Probably none of those thoughts were pleasant,” I said dryly.

She sniffled a little louder. “Not all of them were bad,” she argued. “And I’m so glad you were there for Andie. I wish she would have told me. It must have been difficult to be her main emotional support when you were in school and working, too.”

I shrugged. I’d managed, even though it hadn’t been easy. “The hardest part was watching her suffer. She went through hell, and I think it would have been hard on you to watch that, too.”

“But I would have done anything I could to help her.”

I nodded. “If it helps, I did encourage her to call you so she had your support, too, but she refused. She said she thought you were going through some stuff yourself.”

“She’s so stubborn,” Layla said, not sounding the least bit disgruntled. “I know how she can be. She never wants to bring anybody down. I’m so glad she’s happy with Noah now.”

“More like deliriously happy, and it’s weird having one of my best friends married to my brother, but I’m glad, too. He needed her as much as she needed him.”

“I don’t know Noah all that well, but I think you’re right. Andie said he was a serious workaholic.”

“He was,” I agreed. “But he’s lightened up significantly.”

There was a pause before Layla asked, “So what can I do to make all this up to you, Owen? I feel horrible about what happened. I mean, I’m not asking to be your friend again or anything, but I don’t want hard feelings between the two of us anymore.”

I held up a hand with my palm facing her. “Please don’t say you’re sorry one more time. And for fuck’s sake, don’t start crying again. It’s over, Layla. All I really wanted was to put things right between us. Yeah, it hurt that you’d think I was capable of being such a dick, but we were teenagers. Except for that mistake, you were always a good friend to me.”

Layla had always encouraged me to reach for my dreams, and she’d been there during some rough times. I could easily give her a break. “Maybe the next time I ask you to go get some dinner, you could say yes,” I suggested.

She smiled. “Maybe I will, since you haven’t been to Russo’s yet.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t want her to trust me again like a best friend, but I couldn’t exactly see her as a buddy when all I wanted to do was get her naked.

One step at a time.

At the moment, I could enjoy the fact that she didn’t hate me anymore.

“I think you should probably be mad at me, but I’m glad you aren’t,” Layla said in a hushed voice. “And I still want to make all this up to you somehow.”

The sound of regret in her tone was more than I could handle. I walked around the island and held out my arms. “Come here.”

I’d wanted to be closer to her for so long that I was willing to play the “friend” card to get her into my arms.

She jumped up from her stool and ran toward me, throwing herself into my arms as I wrapped her into a bear hug.

I knew I’d fucked up almost immediately.

But I didn’t give a damn.

I buried my face into her hair and inhaled her seductive scent.

I savored the way she wrapped her arms around my neck without hesitation and plastered her body against mine.

She let out a contented sigh. “I should have known that you’d never do