Page 57 of Crazy Thing
Yeah—that’s what it is. They’re day drunk. That’s all.
But good grief—I don’t know if I’ll ever recover from what happened between Darius and me on Saturday night. The way he kissed me, the way he touched me, the way he made me shatter in the presence of the stars.
I’m still struggling to make it mean nothing but it’s a challenge, especially with the way the man has been undressing me with his eyes at the office all week.
I know the deal, though. It’s not like Darius Brighton is suddenly in love with me. He’s a guy, and he sees me as an easy opportunity. But I’ve got self-respect. At least a little bit. So I’ll pick up the pieces from my mistake and I won’t givehim access to my body again. I’ll be strictly professional from here on out.
Timothy folds his arms across his chest. “Come on. Admit it, Zig. Don’t you think he’s cute?”
My stomach does a flip. I clear my throat. “Fine. I think he’s…fairly attractive.”
Timothy’s eyes roll violently in his head, calling me on my bullshit. “Fairly attractive? Really?”
Daphne snickers.
My siblings see right through me.
I glare at them both. “Shut up and come help me with this zipper.”
Ugh. If I didn’t need this dress for a work-related event, I’d consider bailing on this altogether.
Darius doesn’t like me. He’s into flawless, elegant women. Women like Cecily. Women like the one he ditched me to dance with at the Soul of Summer Festival all those years ago. He has a type, and that type doesn’t include a weird hippie girl who marches to the beat of her own drum.
Again—what happened on that rooftop meant nothing. That’s why I refuse to even bring it up now.
Karli and Daphne wouldn’t understand. They’d use it to fuel their own ridiculous theories instead of seeing it for what it truly was.Which was just Darius testing my limits. Just Darius seeing what he could get away with. Just Darius showing me who holds the power in our dynamic. It’s borderline sleazy when you think about it.
They all keep chitchatting as they help me try on clothes in the shop’s tiny dressing room. As many times as I try to divert the discussion, somebody always brings it back to my infuriating boss.
What makes this conversation about Darius evenweirder is the fact that his sister is right here in the room. To be fair, though, she’s the one who started this nonsense.
With the way Karli always gives him shit, it’s obvious she’d often like to strangle her brother. But at the end of the day, she loves him. As for Daphne, Timothy and Zack, I realize that they don’t hate Darius like most of the town does and for some reason, that breaks down my defenses a tiny bit.
Anyway, as the afternoon wears on, Karli is doing an especially great sales job, educating me about all the charities that Darius donates to and about the volunteer work that he’s done and about the positive social causes that he’s invested in.
Strangely enough, I’m not nearly as annoyed as I try to let on. A part of me is enjoying learning all these different facets to this man who’s reentered my life in the most unexpected way after I shut him out years ago.
I find myself becoming more and more curious about him, on a personal level. On more than one occasion, I have to bite my tongue to keep from asking Karli questions that belong squarely in the none-of-my-business category.
But I’m not interested in him ‘that way’. I’m just trying to prove to myself that he isn’t actually the devil. It’s just so I don’t feeltoobad about the fact that I fooled around with him over the weekend. It’s not because I have any interest in him moving forward.
I try on dress after dress, totally out of my comfort zone, but the group is determined to help me find the perfect outfit for the charity event. A pink whimsical gown catches everyone’s attention.
“This is the one,” my sister whispers as I twirl in the dress in front of the tri-fold mirrors, marveling at how the ruffled hem sweeps the floor.
The dress is stunning, and some.It’s a fairy pink charmeuse that compliments the shade of my hair. It’s got a sexy hook-and- eye corset that gives me killer cleavage with its sweetheart neckline, and long, puffy sleeves that add an ethereal, dreamy vibe. This gown makes me feel like a runaway princess.
Even with it being second hand, the sticker shock is legit. I feel weird putting this kind of charge on Darius’s credit card, but I’m trying to tell myself what I told my friends.It’s just business.
“You look smoking hot,” Karli encourages me.
“Yep, this is the one that’ll take Darius’s breath away,” Zack says, earning a chuckle from my brother.
I open my mouth to argue, to remind them all that Darius is just my boss. But then, I bite my tongue. Because…
I like the way he looks at me when he’s turned on. I like the way his jaw clenches with restraint when he’s struggling to hold back.
All the proclamations I made about not being interested in the man still stand true.
