Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 102479 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102479 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 512(@200wpm)___ 410(@250wpm)___ 342(@300wpm)
I’d just pretend I hadn’t seen the message and go upstairs as scheduled. And that’s just what I did. Smiling bright, I opened the glass door to the executive floor and hoped the receptionist hadn’t been told about the cancellation.
“Hi, Amara.” I pointed to the back and kept walking. “I’m late for a meeting with the boss.”
She smiled back, none the wiser. “Better put a move on. He’s been grumpy lately.”
Gee, tell me about it.
Jagger’s assistant was in with him. He was reaching for something on the bookshelf behind him, so she saw me before he did. “Oh, hi, Sutton. Are you here for the mentor meeting? I’m sorry, but I sent you a cancellation a few minutes ago. You probably didn’t see it.”
Jagger turned, and our gazes locked. “Actually, I did. But I really need a few minutes with Mr. Langston.”
“Umm…” His assistant’s forehead wrinkled, and she looked to her boss.
He put his hand up. “It’s fine. Shut the door on the way out, please, Laura.”
She looked between us again but didn’t say anything more. I stayed rooted in place, just a few feet inside the office, as she walked out and closed the door behind her.
Jagger gestured to the guest chairs. “Would you like to sit?”
“No, I don’t want to sit. What the hell is going on, Jagger?”
He looked down at his desk and reached for some papers, shuffling them into a pile. “You’ll have to be a little more specific. I have a hundred things going on these days.”
“There’s only one that I care about at the moment, and I think you know exactly what I’m referring to.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“You were busy last week and the week before, too. Yet you somehow always found time for me. What’s changed?”
He met and held my stare for a long time before looking away. “I needed some space.”
“Is it because I went back home when you didn’t want me to?”
He shook his head and continued to avoid eye contact.
“Jagger.” My voice cracked. “Can you please look at me?”
He turned to meet my eyes.
“Is it because of your nightmare?”
He blinked. “What?”
“I came up the morning after I told you I was going back home to give you the keys to the apartment, and Amelia mentioned it.”
The mask he’d been wearing slipped, and for a moment he looked so vulnerable. His eyes filled with pain and sadness. Without giving it any thought, I walked toward him, wanting to touch him and offer comfort.
But Jagger’s stern voice stopped me in my tracks a few feet away. He held up a hand again. “No.”
“No?”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry, Sutton.”
“Sorry about what? Avoiding me the last week?”
“No. I’m sorry I let things between us get out of hand. It was a mistake.”
I’d been on the verge of tears until I heard that word. It felt like someone had sucker-punched me in the stomach, and it made me angry. “A mistake? A week ago you told me you’d fallen for me and gave me a gift you said meant I was yours.”
He hung his head. “I’m sorry.”
This was the way we were ending? Not even a reason? He owed me that much. “Why is it a mistake, Jagger? I deserve an explanation.”
“I told you at the beginning I wasn’t looking for more than sex.”
“And neither was I!” I raised my voice. “But more than that happened between us, and you damn well know it.”
I felt another rush of emotions coming, this time hurt more than anger, and there was no way in hell I was going to let him see me cry. So I turned on my heel, rushing for the door to at least keep a small piece of my dignity.
When I reached the handle, I stopped. “You were the first man I’d trusted in a long time,” I said without looking back. “Thanks for the reminder that I was stupid, yet again.”
CHAPTER 36
* * *
Sutton
2 weeks later
“Good morning, Marcus.”
The beefy bodyguard who had been in residence in front of my building for more than three weeks now nodded. “Morning, Ms. Holland.”
“It’s Sutton. And you’re fired.”
The corner of his lip quirked. “You have a good day, Ms. Holland.”
I’d fired Marcus the first time on my way home the day I’d been kicked to the curb by Jagger. Now it had become part of my daily routine—that and the daily text I shot off to Jagger immediately after.
Sutton: Call off your dogs. I don’t want your bodyguards following me anymore.
I watched as it went from Sent to Delivered and then to Read. As usual, he didn’t respond. The entire routine was sort of comical at this point, and maybe a little sad.
I shoved my cell into my pocket and headed to the subway. I didn’t have to turn around to know Marcus had joined me for the walk. Usually he stayed almost a full block behind me. Sometimes I walked fast and tried to lose him, but then I’d inevitably see him getting out of the subway car next to mine.