My mother.
I crouched and snatched my robe off the floor. My breath caught as I saw how hard he was for me. That touching me like he had—with no reciprocation—was enough to excite him.
I stared up at him for a second, then flew out of the room.
I crossed to my bag and dug inside, upending it on the chair. A half dozen texts already waiting for me on the screen. What would happen if I just tossed it out the window and into the lake?
I gripped it so hard, my hand shook.
When I looked up Xavier was in the doorway wearing only a pair of boxers, still hard from what we’d done in the bathroom.
I could ignore her and walk across the room and lose myself in him again.
Let the phone go to voicemail.
It stopped ringing and the room was silent for a minute, my breath heavy.
Then it started ringing again.
I took it out on the balcony and closed the door between us.
“Yes, Mother.”
“Ignoring me isn’t wise. I just wanted to let you know that I fired Pete today.”
“You can’t! He’s been with the company forever.”
“And he’s at the end of his use.” My mother’s cool voice made my stomach clench.
“You’re taking far too long.”
“I’ve been here a few weeks,” I whispered furiously.
“I want results Sydney. You have another week and then we’ll see if Lynn can keep her job.” Then she hung up.
I sagged against the half wall, the lake blurry under the haze of rage.
What was I supposed to do?
I didn’t even have a concrete plan to get Jude back to Seattle. And I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
“Sydney?”
I turned to find Xavier in the doorway.
He held up a box. “What’s this?”
My heart raced and the rage went straight to a cold sweat drenching fear. The Plan B prescription. “Xavier, I can explain.”
“You said you were on birth control.”
“I know, I—” What? One more lie?
To add to my others.
“I—”
It was indefensible. I should have demanded him to use condoms after that first time. It was smart and yet I’d done nothing smart since I stepped foot in this freaking state.
