I can smell her bubble-gum-like perfume before I turn to meet her icy gaze.
“Rachel, hi! How’ve you been? God, I can’t believe those assholes ...” Ainsley pesters Rae with her condolence speech regarding the blackmail. Rae nods and gives tight smiles throughout her rambling.
“Well, it’s all fine now, but thanks for your concern.” Rae turns her attention back to her empty bread plate as Ainsley turns hers to me.
“November, right? I’m sorry things didn’t work out between you and Spencer.” Her face is anything but sorry.
When the hell did she start calling him that? Rae looks at her like she’s a complete idiot as soon as she says it.
“No, you’re not.”Well, that came out right. Both Monica and Rae throw their napkins to their faces to cover their grins.
“Excuse me?” Ainsley steps back, putting her hand on her chest as if I just implied her baby was ugly or something.
Having lost my appetite, I push my chair back and stand. “I said you’re not sorry. Why would you be sorry that I’m no longer with someone you’ve been pining after for years? The unfortunate part is—you burned that bridge with Spencer long before I came along.” Out of the corner of my eye I can see Rae’s eyes widen in excitement. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to work. See you around.”
Adrenaline pumps through me as I brush past the underweight ex-cheerleader and head outside. I pause, waiting for Rae and Monica. When they come out, sporting canyon-wide grins, Ainsley is a step behind them.
Oh for the love of ...
“You think you know me?” Ainsley starts in without invitation. “You don’t know anything about me, except what you may have heard from baby sister over here.” Rae simply rolls her eyes. She’s gone a few rounds with Ainsley in the past, this appears to be nothing new to her ears. “The fact is you abandoned Spencer in his time of need. I would never do anything like that. Who’s the tramp now?” As quickly as she can, Ainsley pushes past me and takes off in her car.
Holy shit. Is she right?
“It’s Bo, Ainsley, just Bo!” Rae hollers after her.
“What the hell is up her ass?” Monica’s first encounter with Ainsley was a doozy.
“Ember, don’t listen to what she said. She’s a bitch,” Rae pipes in.
They continue to talk as we walk to the car, but their chants of reassurance and revenge are drowned out by a shrill voice condemning me of abandoning the man I thought held my future, when our short past was based on lies. I don’t know what facts Ainsley has, but it barely matters. Her opinion is likely shared by those who don’t know the story. We drive back to DROP in silence. I lock myself in the office and immerse myself in work for the afternoon.
Chapter Ten
A soft knock on my office door pulls me out of my two-hour long mail-merge-a-thon.
“Ember?”
“Yeah, Bo, come in.” I turn down Dave Matthews’ voice and sit back from my computer, still trying to drain Ainsley’s words from my brain. I motion for him to sit in the chair across from my desk.
He sits and rubs his hands down the front of his thighs before speaking. “Rae told me you guys saw Ainsley at lunch ...”
“It was a treat.” I roll my eyes.
Bo leans in, placing his elbows on my desk, staring into my eyes. “Don’t listen to a thing that comes out of her mouth. She doesn’t know what happened between us. She’s just bitter because I’ve been ignoring her calls.”
“Don’t ignore her calls on my account.” I shrug, then instantly regret the words as I see him wince slightly.
The truth is, I don’t know how I’ll handle seeing Bo with someone else, because there will eventually be someone else. But, it can’t be Ainsley.
Anyone but Ainsley.
“Sorry, that came out wrong,” I backpedal, still not wanting to hurt his feelings or sound presumptuous. “I just mean ...” I don’t know what I mean.
“I don’t want her, November ...” His eyes beckon my heart, calling to me with their Siren’s song of promises eternal.
I stand, hoping a change in elevation will help me refocus. Crossing my arms over my stomach, I pace around the desk, leaning against it in front of him. He sits back, crossing his arms in front of him as well.
“What she said...is that how you feel? Do you feel like I abandoned you?” I almost whisper.
Bo’s eyes start at my knees, bare from my skirt, and swim up the length of my body before he stands, regarding me with tenderness. Our bodies are inches apart; the space between them filled with tension, anger, passion, and promises of forever. I relax my arms and place my hands on the desk behind me. My pulse drums a familiar beat, allegro in his gaze.