“Yes, sir,” Levi jokes, and heads back outside.
I glance toward the elevators. I could head upstairs to my room and clean out the mini bar, but what fun would that be? I need a distraction, and another drink is the right answer. Especially after his little speech about that brunette.
I head to the hotel bar and exhale a heavy breath when I see her at the bar counter, sat on a stool. She’s nursing a soda, or it could be something like a rum and coke. I don’t know what she prefers to drink.
I don’t know much about her.
“Is this seat taken?” I grab the stool beside her and sit my ass on it, whether she wants me to or not.
Cali shifts on the stool. An eyebrow raises when she realizes it’s me. Maybe she thought it was some other loser going to hit on her.
“I didn’t think you’d want to drink with me,” Cali says. She gestures the bartender over but frowns.
Does she smell the liquor on my breath? We’re rather close, and the bar is mostly empty. I could have chosen anywhere else to sit, but I decided to torture myself by sitting next to her.
Agony.
I should walk away. Leave her alone to suffer without me.
I’ve punished myself enough as it is, regretting everything about our time together. I want to hate her, but I hate myself even more.
“You’re a real witch,” I say, gesturing the bartender over. “I’ll have a bourbon.” My eyes burn, and the room sways slightly, but I’m still on the barstool. I’m not done. Not so long as Cali is sitting beside me at the bar.
“I deserve that,” Cali says. She’s quiet, soft-spoken. Not like how I remember her. There was a passion in her eyes, a heat in her cheeks, especially when we kissed and I grazed my lips over her body.
The memories with her enslave me.
I gulp the bourbon and gesture for another.
“It’s not even the shit you said about me that pisses me off. It’s that you involved my kid and her friend,” I seethe. “What kind of a monster does that?”
Her gaze moves from me to her drink, studying it like it’ll produce the world’s answers and solve everything, including world hunger. Well, guess what, Cali, your silence is answer enough.
Acceptance.
Agreement.
She doesn’t fight me or argue her side of the story.
“You have nothing to say?” I spit.
“You’re drunk, Logan. Now isn’t the time to have a deep and meaningful conversation.”
“When is the time? Before we fuck?” I ask, growling at her. “Because you assured me that I had nothing to worry about, and then you screwed me over. You tried destroying my company, and worse, my daughter and her friend. Was that fun for you? Mess with a billionaire’s family, and let him pick up the pieces by trying to buy away her heartache? Newsflash. That’s not how life works.”
Cali digs into her purse, puts a twenty on the bar counter and then swings her legs off the barstool. “I’m not doing this with you.”
“Not doing what? Being honest?” I retort. “You’re good at the lies, Cali. You’ve made that abundantly clear. How did you get Levi to interview you? What connections do you have? Or were you trying to destroy me from the inside out?”
“You’re drunk,” Cali says, and grabs her coat. She heads out of the bar, her heels clicking over the wooden floorboards.
I drop cash on the counter for my drink. I should let her go, leave her alone, and sleep off the alcohol.
But I can’t stop myself.
My self-control flew out the window hours ago. I’m currently on a train of self-destruction and heading straight for Cali Town.
I hurry out of the bar, my feet slipping on the floor when it changes from wood to marble. But I catch myself before I make a bigger ass out of myself.