Heart's a Mess Read Free Page A

handbag, doing her best to listen.
    And stopped. There was her bra. Neatly
folded and sitting atop her bag.
    “Yeah,” he said, his voice coming closer.
“I thought we could talk.”
    Motherfucker.
    She’d forgotten all about the stupid thing.
Getting away had been her priority the night before. Forgetting it ever
happened had featured predominately throughout the day. Evidence of their
sexual escapades had skipped her mind entirely.
    The bra wasn’t one she wore often. It had
been a gift from a friend and the band was a bit tight. Losing it hadn’t worried
her anywhere near as much as it should have, clearly. When she’d gotten home,
she’d torn off her clothes and dumped them in the laundry basket, doing her
best to forget what she’d been up to. Who she’d been all over. Worry about the
possible repercussions had filled her mind. Missing lingerie had been the least
of her concerns.
    “How?” she asked, dry-mouthed.
    “I remembered your perfume.”
    Violet closed her eyes, shutting it all
out. It didn’t work. He stood close enough now that she could feel the warmth
of his body, the weight of his stare. And her job, her beautiful job, it was
slipping away like sand through the hourglass. Shit.
    “I think it might be best if we talk at
your place, yeah?” he said.
    “Not in the office?”
    “No,” he said. “This is personal. I don’t
want this affecting work.”
    Her eyes shot open. “You’re not going to
fire me?”
    “Absolutely not,” he said. “No, Vi. I
wouldn’t…look, whatever happened or happens in the future stays between us,
outside of this place. It doesn’t impact your job. We can both be professional
about this, right? We’re both adults.”
    Her heart had a mini seizure. Just in case.
“It’s really okay?” she asked.
    “It’s perfectly fine. I promise.”
    Her ribs loosened their pincer grip on her
chest and she took a full, happy breath. It felt like her very first for the
day. “Oh. Good.”
    Alex smiled back at her, blue eyes warm.
Really warm, bordering on smoking, smoldering hot. They were packed full of
affection and the promise of good times ahead. And holy shit, reverse
thrusters, because there wasn’t a single chance of that happening. She couldn’t
let it.
    “In that case, we have nothing to talk
about,” she announced. “I think it’s best if we just pretend this never
happened.”
    “Wait—”
    “It was a mistake, a huge mistake that will
never be repeated.” Violet grabbed her handbag and stuffed the bra deep inside.
“I’m really glad we could sort this out.”
    “No,” he said. “We haven’t sorted anything
out. We need to talk.”
    “This definitely doesn’t affect my job?”
she asked.
    “Definitely not.”
    She nodded. “Then that wasn’t an order from
my boss. This never happened. None of it. Good night, Alex.”

Chapter Two
     
    Like hell she’d get away from him that
easy.
    Alex stood behind the bar staring at Violet.
Chillingly cold, foamy beer gushed over his hand, startling the crap out of him
as the glass overfilled. “Damn it.”
    “That’s the sixth time you’ve done that,”
said Duncan helpfully.
    “Shut up.”
    “This hour.”
    Alex gave his smirking customer, luckily one
of the regulars, an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that. Let me get you a clean
one.”
    “I gave up keeping count for the day,”
Duncan told the customer.
    “He would have had to take off his shoes.
Math was never his strong suit,” said Alex, finishing up with the fresh drink
and placing it on the bar. “That one’s on me, Reg.”
    Reg nodded and smirked some more, moving
back to his table.
    “Why don’t you just go talk to her and put
us all out of our misery?” his brother asked, throwing him a towel to mop up
the mess. “Go on. They’re finished serving dinner. It’s a quiet night.”
    “Didn’t ask for your opinion.”
    “Think of it as a gift. Catch her before
she heads out the door.”
    Alex shook his head. “No.”
    “For