Chapter Sixteen
Drew hadn’t thought of that. Of course, his picture featured on the website, and Terese would’ve researched the job. Fuck. Why hadn’t she told him about her interview? “No one calls me Andrew. Not even my father.” He paused. “But you don’t remember meeting me?”
“Of course, I remember you! I’ve been screwing you for the past six days.” She shook her head, exasperated. Turning away, she started pacing again. “Today was the biggest day of my life, and you ruined it. I knew you were a mistake. What the hell was I thinking?”
“Apparently, the past week meant nothing to you.” His mouth curled in a snarl. Let’s forget for a moment he was as shocked as she. But a mistake? Low blow. He crossed his arms over his chest, straining not to scream or shake her. They had connected. Fuck her for dismissing everything for one stupid misunderstanding.
“That doesn’t change the fact that I didn’t know who the hell you were! You took advantage of me. Following me around, stalking me.” Her words hit him like lashes from a whip.
Stalking? His face scrunched into a grimace. “I didn’t hear you complaining once. You laughed about it, remember?”
She flapped her arms again. “Yeah, when I thought it was a joke.” She waved her hand at his hair. “So what was that about? A disguise to get me in bed? Didn’t think I’d go for you as a business exec?” She scoffed. “Thanks for thinking so highly of me.” She turned her back on him, and his vision reddened as the pain stabbed him through.
He kept his voice low, his teeth clenched. “I did ask you out. I go to your bar almost every Friday with the suits from Drake.” He flicked the lapels on his jacket. “You know, the group of office guys in the corner you and the waitresses scoff at.” Terese gazed over her shoulder, studying him. “Yeah, I was there. A lot. And I asked you out. You treated me like some worthless nobody, too insignificant for your attention.”
“Whatever.” Her voice lost some of its fire. Waving dismissively, she continued, “At least you didn’t take up too much of my time.” Her irate words held a tinge of sorrow. Drew didn’t care. He was beyond pissed.
“So what am I to you? Just a penis with legs, here to service you?”
She spun and charged him. “You lied about who you are.” She emphasized each word by poking him in the chest. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Ignoring her question, he continued, “Terese. I asked you out in my stupid suit weeks ago. You blew me off.”
“I don’t remember that,” she said.
“Of course, you don’t.” His anger and humiliation broke free, unable to hide anymore. His eyes burned. “I wasn’t cool or hip or exciting. But when I came at you like some college student, you were all over me.”
Frowning, she took a step back. “You started the whole thing with that soul-sucking smooch.” She leaned against the edge of the conference table. Tears swam in her eyes. Wrapped up in his own pain, he almost missed it.
“Yeah, and if I had kissed you while wearing the suit, you would’ve slapped me and bounced me out of the bar.”
She sniffled. “I’m not some superficial, sorority girl looking for a nice ass and a big cock.” But wasn’t she? She’d rejected him in the suit. Was she rejecting him now?
“No. You’re a twenty-six-year-old waitress who still thinks she’s twenty. Playing at the bar, still partying like college never ended.”
****
“No, I’m not.” But Drew’s words drained the strength from her legs. Did he really think that? Tears freely rolled down her cheeks. Shame burst through her, and she wanted to crawl under a rock and die. He thought her a shallow, party girl.
As if she wasn’t struggling with enough agony, an image of her cell phone bill bloomed in her mind. No money. No job here. No job at the Tavern. She was unemployed and up to her eyeballs in debt. Even selling her car and her beautiful shoes wouldn’t keep her off the street now.
Anger pulsed through her as she tried to pull herself together. “Why do you think I needed a new job? Why do you think I came to the interview? I told you I was thinking about a career. You didn’t say anything about working here. Or tell me your real name!” She stomped her foot, feeling like an angry toddler.
“I’m thrilled you’re here.” But he sounded cold, definitely not thrilled. “I think it’s a great step for you. You’d be fantastic as the concierge or the event planner.” His gaze flat, his mouth a straight line.
She blinked at him, startled by the contrast between his words and the emotions he projected. Why was he angry? She was the wronged party here. Her temper blazed a fiery road before her, and she marched down it, unthinking. “So what? If I keep sucking your cock even though I know the truth, I get the job?”
The words burst out of her fueled by the heat of her embarrassment. A bridge burned brightly before her, but she couldn’t see it through the cloud of her fury. The worry about money and her future would’ve been solved today if Drew hadn’t lied to her. Hadn’t ruined her best chance to make something of herself.
The whole situation reeked of favoritism, which she loathed. After all the hard work at the bar, she didn’t want to start a new job with the “boss’s girlfriend” label hanging around her neck.
Drew, who’d been stone, cold and indifferent, now vibrated with ire. “Is that what you really think of me?”
Lips trembling, she grasped for words. “You lied to me the whole time about who you were!”
“No, I didn’t,” he snapped. “Not about who I really was. I only wore a different costume, like what you do at the bar. I dressed in the right outfit for the right event. You of all people should understand.”
The logic flew right over her head. How dare he throw the clothes thing at her? It was all she had, some days, the only thing that made her feel real, important, beautiful. Low blow, Drew.
Cutting back to the original problem, she spit out, “It doesn’t change the fact you lied. You could’ve told me anytime, any day who you really are.” Her words fell like stones. “Instead, I find out here.” She flung her arms out, indicating the opulent conference room. “You throw it at me at the most important moment of my adult life.”
Drew blinked at her, the tension melting from his body as his mouth went slack and his brow unfurled. Maybe he was starting to understand how badly he’d betrayed her.
“Now, thanks to you, I’m screwed with my finances, my career, my fucking life.” She gathered up her things and tried to make a dignified exit.
Drew crossed to her, grasping her arm. “Terese,” he said. Hearing him say her name with such a mix of emotions—anger, love, trepidation—just about killed her. She couldn’t face him, was deaf to anything he might say. She turned her head away but lacked the strength to wrench her arm back. “Look…”
Everything ground to a halt.
They stood there, she leaning down to get her purse, he with his arm on hers. Neither spoke for minutes.
It was over.
Whatever this crazy thing between them had been, now it was finished with a spectacular fail. Her heart squeezed, and it took all her strength not to cry out. Another tear rolled down her cheek. She didn’t bother to wipe it away.
“Terese…” He said her name again in a low, quiet tone.
No, she wasn’t going to let the situation pass. More than missing a date or embarrassing her at work, her career, her life was on the line.
“What?” she snipped, finding the guts to meet his gaze.
“I can fix it. I can get you the job you want. Then we”—he waved his hand between them—“can figure this out.” His brows furrowed as his tone became more exacerbated.
Derisively, she snorted. “Yeah, great. Then everyone can say I slept with you to get the job. That I only got it by opening my legs. Exactly how I want to start a new career.”
“No, Terese, no one would think that.” He tried to pull her into him. Hugging him was the last thing she wanted to do.
“You have no idea, do you? Daddy got you your job, and no one questions your ability. But if you get the girl you are screwing a job, everyone’ll talk.” He shook his head, and she wanted to slap him. “It’s not the same for women. We are held to a higher standard.”
“Terese, it’s not like that here. My dad—”
She cut him off, done with bullshit. “Your dad, nothing. Take the woman assisting you today. Tell me no one thinks sex played a factor in her position.” He seemed to think about it for a second, then shook his head again.
“No, she’s my dad’s executive assistant. He didn’t…”
“But who did she work for before him? And before that? Tell me honestly, with a sex bomb for a secretary, no one talked.”
Drew swallowed hard. Maybe he saw her point. “Terese, let me help.” The determination in his voice only broke her heart more. She was losing the dream job and the dream man in one fell swoop.
She picked up her bag and the briefcase, squared her shoulders, and looked him in the eye, in those dark, gorgeous eyes. “You can’t, Andrew. You fucked up my life because you weren’t honest with me. I’m done.”
Sniffling in earnest, she exited the building, heading back to her empty life. Slamming against her car door, she fished for her keys, but the tears blinded her. Frustrated and openly sobbing, she tossed the purse to the pavement as the heartbreak overtook her. Drew hadn’t bothered to chase her.