Page 55 of My Sexy Boss
“He likes them blonde and real busty. Like me.” She threw me a cold smile as her gaze flickered to my chest.
Now, I’m not exactly flat-chested, so I figured Kelsey’s remark was meant to make me feel like crap. I cleared my throat. “Are you over him?”
“He hurt me like hell, but I’m not gonna let him ruin my life. You know I don’t have a shortage of men who want to date me. Chandler’s so in love with me, it’s cute. I’m just telling you not to fall for his charms because he’s nothing but a player. He knows how to seduce a woman, I’ll give him that. But once he’s had his fill of her, he just moves on.”
“I’m just glad you’ve moved on.” Kelsey not pining away for Trace took the guilt out of the equation for me. The Trace she described wasn’t my Trace, but maybe the Trace I knew was the fake one he used when he wanted to dupe a woman like me. Being a good judge of character was one of my strong suits, and I didn’t think I was that far off base with him. He really was a nice guy, even if he was a little bossy and spoiled.
“You should keep away from him and stick to that guy Cory.” Kelsey nudged me with her foot, bringing me out of my musings. I smiled weakly.
Cory had texted me the day after the launch asking how everything went. I’d been so wrapped up with Trace that I only answered briefly, and when he’d called me, I didn’t pick up. Since he’d been back, he’d asked me out to dinner and lunch a few times, but I wasn’t interested in going. The truth was my feelings were just for Trace, and it wasn’t fair to keep going out with Cory and lead him on. I had no idea what was going to happen between Trace and me, but I couldn’t switch off my feelings for him like a light switch. I wished I could because it would be a lot easier.Why did I have to fall for Kels’s ex and my boss?I couldn’t count the number of eligible men I’d met over the years since college, yet he was the first one to have me feeling that sweaty-palmed, fluffy-headed crush. Maybe this was the universe’s way of putting me in my place, of reminding me that no matter how in control I thought I was, things could spin out on me at any moment.
“Hey, hey.” Kelsey waved her hand in front of me. “Earth to Cierra. Calling in.”
“Sorry. I just have so much work stuff on my mind.”Thatwas the understatement of the year.
“Let’s stop talking about men, and Trace in particular, and go out for some fun.”
I wanted nothing more than to stop talking and thinking about Trace, so I let her babble on for a while as my mind drifted to why I wanted to hang out with Kelsey. It seemed like I was nothing more than a sounding board. She never asked about my work, and she hadn’t mentioned the launch at all until I brought it up. Hanging with her was like spending the night listening to a series of monologues.
I looked up at Kelsey, and for a moment, it was like I saw her for the first time. She was the most self-absorbed person I knew, expecting the world to twist around everything she wanted and needed without any kind of thought for anyone else. I remembered all the times when she’d called in tears about some guy and would push me to go out with her even though I’d told her I had to work the next day, or I was too tired. Whenever I wanted to go out, if she didn’t want to, she wouldn’t budge. Our friendship was very one-sided, and it was getting real old.
“…so I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how this pans out,” she sighed, finishing some long, dramatic anecdote about her job that I’d completely tuned out without realizing it. I blinked, snapping back to reality, and shrugged.
“I guess so,” I agreed, looking down at my beer. Even though I had just started it, I suddenly wasn’t much in the mood to continue the night any further. “Hey, can we call it?” I faked a yawn, stretching and tipping my head back. “I’m tired. It was a long week.”
She paused for a moment, her lips pressed flat and her brow wrinkled. “You’re really going to sit home on a Friday night?”
“Yeah. You know I’m usually dragging my ass on Fridays.”
“Whatever,” she snapped, getting to her feet and dumping her beer bottle loudly on the coffee table next to the couch. “I’ll catch you later.”
Grabbing her bag, she stormed out before I had the chance to walk her to the door. In that moment, I wondered if Kelsey even knew how to be a friend.
