Endeared (The Accidental Billionaires #5) - J. S. Scott Page 0,7
eyes met, and I couldn’t look away. “If I do, that’s my business,” I said sharply, tugging to get my arm back.
I wasn’t about to ask permission from Owen to go on a damn date.
He had no idea that my love life was nearly nonexistent, but even if it wasn’t, it was absolutely none of his concern what I did with my free time.
He let go of my wrist. “I’m not going to stop trying, Layla. I hate the way things are between us right now. Maybe whatever happened was a decade ago, but we were tight. Whatever is bothering you, I want to make it right. I tried like hell to get you to talk to me back then, but I had to leave for college, so I had to let it go. But I’m not going anywhere now.”
He had nagged me to talk to him after he’d screwed me, and a few times, I’d almost broken down and told him off. But in the end, I’d kept my silence, just like I always did.
Like he can actually change our past now? Not possible.
“And I’ll keep saying no to you,” I answered as I picked up the last file and put it in the pile I was holding. “We’re colleagues, Dr. Sinclair. That’s all we’ll ever be. I love Citrus Beach, and I want to be here with the patients I’ve established at this clinic. If I didn’t want to stay, I could easily go somewhere else. Please don’t pressure me out of this office.”
I was single, and I was free to travel to another location, or maybe to a different state, where I could open my own independent practice.
I’d definitely considered all my options when I heard that Owen was buying Dr. Fortney’s clinic, but I’d stayed because this was where I wanted to be.
I’d told myself that I could handle working with Owen, and I was perfectly capable of doing that—when he wasn’t trying to persuade me to get personal with him.
“Don’t go because of me,” he said hoarsely. “I don’t want that. I just want things to be . . . different.”
I swallowed hard and moved toward the door to escape as I said, “I’ve learned the hard way that you can’t always get what you want.”
I didn’t say another word as I opened the door, exited, and closed it quietly behind me.
CHAPTER 2
LAYLA
Dark: So what you’re saying is that you can’t stand your boss, but you still have to go to this party, or your best friend will be disappointed.
I nodded like Dark could actually see me, even though we were conversing via text in a dating app.
He’d summed up my situation pretty accurately. I wasn’t looking forward to going to Owen’s house at all.
Me: Exactly. But it’s just one evening. I’ll get through it. It’s just not how I’d like to be spending a Saturday evening.
I glanced at the clock and let out a sigh as I rose from my kitchen table. Although I would have enjoyed talking with Dark for a while longer, I had to get to Owen’s place to help set up.
Me: Time to jump back into the real world.
Dark was a fun distraction, but he wasn’t exactly . . . real. He was just a guy I’d met while helping Andie’s husband test his new dating app, Not-Just-A-Hookup. I’d started conversations with several people over the last few weeks in an honest effort to assess the app for Noah, but Dark was the only person who hadn’t creeped me out or sent up a ton of red flags.
Dark’s full handle was Dark Humor, so his name had gotten shortened to Dark.
My app moniker was California Dreaming, and he called me Dreamer.
Other than that, we knew next to nothing about each other, but we’d always found something to talk about.
The two of us pretty much checked in with each other daily. It was a nice, nonthreatening kind of communication, and a fun escape.
Dark: I don’t get why you’re helping your boss. I thought you didn’t like him. He annoys the hell out of you, remember?
I let out a tortured groan. It wasn’t like I wanted to be near Owen any more than I had to be.
Me: I offered to help before I knew the reception was being held at my boss’s place. Honestly, I like my friend’s husband, and almost all of his family.
I could hardly tell him that my friend’s husband was the developer of the app we were chatting