Grayson
I’D BEEN IN a foul mood for days now, and the annoying knock on my office door did nothing but make it worse. “Fuck off, Caleb,” I barked angrily. I clenched my hands into fists, fighting back the urge to yank the door open and punch my best friend in the face. He’d gotten some sick kind of pleasure from pushing my buttons these past two days, and I wasn’t in the mood to deal with more of his shit.
The knock came again. I shot from my desk with a growl and stomped to the door, prepared to break his goddamned nose. The bastard had it coming; he was practically asking for it. “I said fuck off, Ca—” The words died on my tongue as soon as I pulled the door open and saw it wasn’t him. I sucked in a surprised breath. “Fiona? What are you doing here?”
“Bad time?” she asked with a shy, teasing smile on her face.
“I….” I wanted to say yes, it was a bad time… especially considering everything Lola had said about her still having feelings for me. But despite the discomfort at her unexpected arrival, I couldn’t bring myself to turn her away. Feelings or not, Fiona was still a friend. She’d been too much a part of my family for most of my life for me to be rude. I gave my head a clearing shake and stepped out of the way. “No, sorry. Come in. It’s not a bad time.”
She hesitated for a second before finally moving into my office. Closing the door behind her, I walked back to my desk and sat as she took a seat in one of the leather wingback chairs across from me. The sound of Lola’s pain-filled voice from Sunday evening filled my head. Guilt began to niggle at me, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that having Fiona there was a betrayal. I tugged at my tie awkwardly, feeling unsettled. I cleared my throat and attempted a casual tone as I asked, “So… what brings you by?”
She looked down and began fiddling with the hem of her skirt. “I wanted… what I mean to say… well… I’ve been meaning to stop by. After how I treated Lola at your parents’… and what happened with the pool….” She closed her eyes for several seconds as her chest rose with a deep inhale. “Is she… is she all right?”
I blew out a steady stream of air as I sat back in my chair. “She’s….” I had no idea how to answer that since the damn infuriating woman had refused to talk to me the past two days. “Honestly, I don’t know how she is. She’s not really speaking to me at the moment.”
Fiona’s head shot up, her brown eyes wide. “She’s not? But… why? Is this because you threw her in the pool?”
I lifted an arm and massaged the center of my forehead with my fingers, trying to ease the tension building in my skull. “Truthfully, Fee… I think it’s because of you.” I let out a dry, humorless chuckle as I admitted, “She’s got it in her head that there’s still something going on between me and you, that you might still have feelings for me. It’s ridiculous, and I tried telling her, but she’s convinced that….” I trailed off when her cheeks got red and a brief flash of sorrow flitted across her face.
“Would it really be so ridiculous?” she whispered, a sad smile tipping her lips.
My stomach sank to the floor, my words lodging in my throat. I had no idea what to say. For all the confidence I had when it came to running a business, I was shit when it came to letting a woman down gently. It felt like navigating a minefield — one wrong step and everything would explode.
“Fio—”
She lifted her hand and cut me off. “Look, I know it’s stupid. I do. Our relationship ended forever ago, but I can’t help it. Every time I’m around you, I remember what it was like when we were together. I….” Her eyes grew glassy as tears welled up. Just the sight of them caused panic to clutch my chest. I never did well with women’s tears. Hell, no man did. “I miss you. But I know you don’t feel that way about me,” she finished, twisting a blade of guilt deep into my gut.
“I’m sorry,” I offered pathetically, unable to think of anything to say that would offer the slightest bit of comfort.
She sniffled and waved me off with a small watery laugh. “Don’t be sorry. I knew deep down that it was never going to happen. I guess it just took me by surprise to see you with someone else.” She fisted her hands together in her lap and looked up at me apologetically. “I… I didn’t handle it well. I should have been nicer to Lola. She didn’t deserve that.”
“I don’t know what to say.” Again, it was pathetic, but I was treading on dangerous ground. And I was a man, so I was inherently terrible with emotional matters. “I’m sorry that you’re hurting. You know I care about you. We’ll always be friends, Fee. Nothing will ever change that.”
“Good. I’m glad about that.” Her smile held less sadness than it had earlier. “And I’m sorry for coming between you and Lola. If there’s anything I can do… maybe I could talk to her? Apologize in person and try to explain? I really did like her. She seemed sweet.”
“She is sweet,” I chuckled, “when she’s not busting my balls.”
“You need someone like that,” Fiona laughed wistfully. “I think that’s why it would have never worked out between us. You’re the type of guy who needs a woman who can keep up with him.”
A lance of hot, sharp pain sliced through my heart as I thought about Lola. “When I’m with her, I feel like I’m the one trying to keep up.” The words came out soft, as though I’d spoken them more for myself.
“You really care about her, don’t you?”
“I do,” I answered with blatant honesty. “Having her freeze me out is fucking killing me.”
“Well,” she said, coming to a stand. “I’m sure, between the two of us, we can figure out how you can win her back. Why don’t we go out for lunch? You can tell me all about Lola and we’ll come up with a plan to thaw her out.”
I quirked a skeptical brow as I looked up at her. “You sure that’s a good idea? I mean, after everything you said—”
“Grayson,” she stopped me with a direct tone. “I might have feelings for you, but I’ll get over them. You’re still my friend. I want you to be happy, and if she’s the one who can do that I’ll help any way I can.” She held her hands out, her features containing genuine honesty. “No ulterior motives, I swear. This is simply two friends having lunch.”
“You’re on.” I stood from my chair and rounded my desk, hopeful for the first time in two days. Maybe Fiona would help me come up with a plan that would get me out of this miserable limbo I’d been stuck in.
I’d gotten a taste of Lola’s sinful, fiery sweetness and I wasn’t ready to give it up. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be ready. I needed to get her back.