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HER BULLY'S REGRET MARRY ME
“I need you,” Nathan says, and I know he’s talking about work, it’s obvious he’s talking about work, but his voice mixes with the alcohol in my blood. My body thinks he’s talking about something else.“You need me for graphic design,” I clarify.“I need you for marriage,” he says, and I’m so shocked I drop my drink. My glass shatters on the ground between us.“What?” I ask, heart thudding. “It’s too loud. I thought you said...” I shake my head, unwilling to embarrass myself by saying it out loud.Nathan’s hand moves to the small of my back, and my pulse leaps as he guides us around the broken glass. Then he leans in, so close I can feel his heat near my neck.His lips move close to my ear and he says, “If I marry, my wife gets a seat on the board. If certain board members think I’m about to get married, they’ll switch over to the winning side. So I need a fake fiancée.”He says it slowly. Carefully. Unmistakably.“You’d be perfect,” Nathan says, his voice soft and low in my ear, and s
HER BULLY'S REGRET FAKE ENGAGEMENT
“Nooooo,” she protests, drawing it out. “Not exactly. More like, offer an alternative option for the clients who are too small for you to bother with.” “Fair,” I acknowledge. It’s not a bad angle. Companies reach out to us all the time who then realize they can’t afford our services. Normally when that happens, I recommend they reach out to one of the smaller firms I know. The smaller marketing firms appreciate the favor, and the client will feel good about us if they end up needing a bigger marketing firm in the future. “Tell you what,” I say. “I will give your business my personal recommendation and offer an introduction to anyone you want.” Nicole leans in. “How much is that recommendation worth after we ‘break up’ though? They’ll think you’re recommending me out of pity because you dumped me.” “They’ll think you’re so good, I’m recommending youeven afteryou broke my heart.” She snorts. “No one’s going to believe I broke your heart.” “I have a heart,” I say, indignant. I love
HER BULLY'S REGRET SPEAK FOR YOURSELF
Just like before, she smells like oranges and sunshine. I wonder if that’s perfume, or soap, or just what she smells like.“At first the idea of starting my own company was just because I wanted more control over where I worked,” Nicole admits. “But the more I plan for it, the more excited I get.” She wets her lips. “I can do this.”She says it like it’s an idea she’s still trying out. Like she’s expecting me to contradict her.“You can absolutely do this,” I agree. “And you can do it a lot faster with my help.”She hesitates.“Come on, Nicole,” I coax. “What’s really holding you back?”Nathan will also support Amelia in connecting with potential clients for up to eight years after the dissolution of the engagement.Nicole frowns over my shoulder. “You didn’t say there was a limit on helping me with connections.”“Sixty percent of businesses fail within the first eight years,” I say. “If you make it past eight years, you’re fine.”“That’s ... not necessarily encouraging.”“You’ll be f
HER BULLY'S REGRET MEETING KIERA
Nicole slips on her heels and grabs her purse. Then she takes our napkin contract and carefully places it in her purse.I resist the urge to tell her to take a cab instead of the subway. She’s a grown woman. She knows how to take care of herself at night in the city. It’s none of my business.Except maybe, for the next six months, it is.She stands and turns to go. “Nicole,” I order. “Take a cab home. It’s late.”She smiles, soft and tired. “You’re cute when you’re bossy.”Then she’s gone, and leaving me to wonder if I’ve just made the best or worst decision of my life.NICOLEIn the dream, I’m in Nathan’s office. I hand him something boring and work related, and then he’s kissing me, guiding me back onto his desk.I need you to focus on your work, Nathan says, kissing my neck, sliding his hand up my skirt.I can give you everything you want, if you just focus on your work.I twist and gasp, but it feels so good, and it’s Nathan, and he’s making me helpless.You seem distracted, Nathan
HER BULLY'S REGRET SHOW ME AROUND
I’m not quite ready to face Nathan, so I keep my attention on Kiera. “How long have you liked dinosaurs?”“Since last month,” a woman’s voice says.I turn to see a woman with the same soft face and freckles as Kiera. Only she’s got gorgeous red hair, and no hot chocolate on her designer clothes.It only takes me a second to recognize her from the social media images I saw. This is Nathan’s ex-wife.“Nathan spoils her,” she says with exasperated fondness. “I’m Bridget.”“Nicole,” I say.“I’m going to be a paleon-tho-lol-ogist,” Kiera contributes.“Paleontologist,” Bridget corrects. She looks me up and down. “Kiera, go get your coat and say goodbye to your dad.”Kiera hands me one of her stuffed dinosaurs and runs off, presumably in the direction of Cole’s office.Bridget waits until Kiera’s footsteps have disappeared into the vast apartment. “So. You’re the woman who agreed to fake an engagement with Nathan.”I blink. “He told you?”“Of course he did. You’ll be spending time with our d
HER BULLY'S REGRET SHE CAN'T BE YOUR FIANCEE
It all looks incredibly soothing.“You said there was a mini fridge?” I tease.He opens something I thought was a dark wood cabinet to reveal a discreet mini fridge. Then he opens another cabinet door to reveal a flat screen TV I can watch from my bed.I kick off my shoes and flop back on my bed. It might be the softest thing I’ve ever felt.“I may never leave this room,” I say.“Unfortunately, you’re going to have to,” Nathan says. “It’s time for you to earn your keep.”“What do you mean?” I sit up, having visions of Nathan sending me to wash a mound of dishes, or whatever else Cinderella had to do when she moved in with the prince.“We have dinner with my dad in about...” He checks his watch, “forty-five minutes.”“What?” I yelp.I knew something like this was coming. But I didn’t expect it to come so fast. “Shouldn’t we warm up with an easier audience?” I say. “Maybe dinner with a neighbor you don’t care about?”Nathan ignores my nerves. “I didn’t know what you packed, so I had my
HER BULLY'S REGRET HE WON'T MAKE A GOOD HUSBAND
“I know, right?” Nicole gushes, purposely misinterpreting my dad’s words. “How often do you get a second chance with the love of your life?”Something like pain flashes across his face, and he instinctively touches the place where his own wedding ring used to be. Like he thinks he has the right to regret how his marriage ended.I refuse to feel sorry for him. He chose gambling over us.And yes, I know addiction is a sickness. I know it’s not black and white. I know sometimes addicts need to hit rock bottom before they can find the strength to get help and change their behavior.But the truth is, the threat of losing his wife and son wasn’t even my dad’s rock bottom. No, his rock bottom was all but driving the company into the ground. That’s the thing that made him change.I think of that old cliche about people telling the truth when they’re drunk. For my dad, he showed the truth about what mattered most to him every time he sat down to gamble. And in the end, it wasn’t me or my mom.
HER BULLY'S REGRET CAROUSEL
My dad flinches.“So now imagine what it’s like to meet him, in passing at a coffee shop, and have him turn your whole world upside down.” Nicole looks at me, her smile conspiratorial. I feel heat lick through my entire body at that smile.“Imagine,” she says softly. “You think that’s the end. But then it turns out he’s at your new job. And it’s like no time has passed at all.”I’d laugh if she wasn’t so damn convincing. If there wasn’t a part of me that wants to believe the lie she’s spinning.“Didn’t you try to spray him in the face with hairspray?” my dad points out.“It was a rough breakup,” I admit. “I get why she was mad. But when I saw her, I knew I needed her back on my side.” My voice gets lower, softer. More honest. “It couldn’t be anyone else but her.”If possible, her smile widens.“You really are doing this,” my dad says, sounding disgusted. But also, finally convinced.On impulse, I kiss Nicole. It’s a quick brush of lips, my hand cradling her face. I can tell myself it’
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