Page 39 of Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
Fine.
I’ll be there.
Evan doesn’t respond right away, so I send him a separate one to make sure he sees the group thread.
Don’t want to interrupt, but I wanted to make sure you got the text about the meeting.
Evan
I did, princess. Thanks. I’ll see you there.
It gives me no clue as to where he is right now, but at least his response is reassuring. I’ll see him again in a couple of hours.
Girl, you’ve got it bad.
“Shut up,” I say aloud and toss back the covers. I need to get ready.
One look in the mirror tells me I can’t lie to myself. So how can I hide it from Evan and the guys?
I’m in love with Evan Andrews, and the truth is written all over my face.
??????
“Milo, I can’t. You know that.” Chloe sounds close to tears when I open the conference room door almost two hours later.
“Chloe—” Milo cuts off as soon as he sees me, and when Chloe follows his gaze, she stiffens before pushing back from the table to rush past me.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt…” I seriously wish I hadn’t walked in when I did, but I’m looking for Evan. I haven’t heard from him since my text earlier, and this pit in my stomach won’t go away.
I want Evan to wrap me in his arms and tell me everything will be okay. And I’m notthatgirl, so the desire to find him for a hug is new to me. Is this what love is like? If so, then I have a bone to pick with Cupid.
Milo drags a hand through his much shorter—which is still shocking—hair.
“You didn’t. Not really.” He looks so forlorn that his heartbreak is like another person in the room with us.
“What’s going on?” I ask, sitting in the chair Chloe vacated a few minutes ago.
“I…nothing.”
“That didn’t look like nothing.”
He sighs, and the silence draws out for so long I’m convinced he’s not going to answer me.
“How did Evan convince you to give him a chance?”
His question catches me off guard.
“Huh?”
“What made you decide you didn’t hate him?”
“I-I never hated him,” I admit. Even at his hottest and coldest, I was confused, but that puzzlement stemmed from a combination of attraction and my inability to explain why he reacted to me the way he did.
“You didn’t?”
“No. I thought he hated me.”
“Nah. If he hated you, he would have vetoed the decision to bring you on board.”
