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I stare at the e-mail, dumbstruck. Call me when you can? Then she switches off her phone? Right. I grit my teeth. Right.

***

“Weren’t you supposed to be in the Bahamas?” Logan asks two days later. He enters my office, dropping in the chair opposite my desk, staring at me. He was away from the office yesterday.

“I was, but Ava got cold feet and fucked off to New York.”

“What? Why?”

“Ask her. She wrote me an e-mail, saying she had to return, I should call her, and now she’s not answering her phone. It goes straight to voice mail.”

“Have you e-mailed her?”

“I have my pride, Logan.” I hit the table with a fist, drawing in a breath. “I’m not going to beg a woman who didn’t even have the decency to tell me to my face that she wants out.”

I almost e-mailed her. I must have drafted out at least fifteen e-mails, and then deleted them. Imagining her reply kept me from sending them. The mere idea of seeing her rejection written was enough to prompt me to press Delete. Yes, I’ve officially become a coward and am passing it off as pride.

“Ava’s not that kind of person. Hell, she didn’t chicken out when the marketing manager up and left one week before the show. That woman’s got some balls. Maybe she had an emergency.”

“I thought about that, but she’s not even picking up her phone. I don’t know about you, but I can take a hint when it’s thrown at me.”

“You love her, don’t you?”

“Does it matter?” I counter. “Yes, I do.”

“Okay, let’s talk about something else. I hate to break this to you, but we need to hire a marketing manager like. . . yesterday.”

“I know, but I’m not in the mood right now.”

“I’ve been looking into promoting someone from within the department, but they all lack the necessary leadership skills. On the other hand, if we bring someone from the outside again, we’ll repeat history.”

“I’ll find a solution. Eventually. What else is on the agenda?”

Logan talks about the meeting he attended yesterday. I don’t listen to one word. My concentration is atrocious. It doesn’t help that I haven’t slept at all since Ava left. I came to the office yesterday morning and remained here, sleeping on the couch. I keep asking myself why she did it, driving myself mad looking for an answer. Other women took my money when they left. Ava took my sanity, along with everything else that was worth it in my life.

Well, it is what it is. Everything will go back to the way it was. I hate how horribly depressing that thought is. Back to empty days and meaningless nights. I already put my assistant in charge of renting out my place. I won’t return there alone.

Logan’s monologue lasts about an hour before Pippa interrupts us.

“What are you doing here?” She stands in the doorway to my office, looking at me as if I grew a second head.

“I’m the CEO, this is my office,” I answer sarcastically. “Why wouldn’t I be here?”

“You’re supposed to be somewhere else.” Strutting into the room, she puts her hands on her hips, surveying me with wolf-like eyes. “You look terrible.”

“Why, you’re all sunshine and rainbows today. Thank you for the compliment.”

“I wanted to point out that you look dreadful when I came in,” Logan adds. “But I kept my mouth shut.”

“That’s because you’re smart.”

I have a two-day beard, and I haven’t changed my shirt, which looks like crap after I’ve slept in it. I probably smell too. So what?

“You didn’t answer my question,” Pippa insists. “Why are you here?”

“Bahamas got canceled. Don’t ask me for—”

Pippa throws her hands in the air. “Not Bahamas, you idiot. You’re supposed to be in New York.”


Tags: Layla Hagen The Bennett Family Romance