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“Well, I’m me all the time, so if you want to come back over here, I won’t complain.” He yanked on my legs, pulling me in closer. He leaned his forehead against mine. “And it’s so sweet that you were willing to burn off your taste buds for me.”

“That’s just the kind of girl I am.”

“I know. And I love ... I love that about you.”

What?What?

CHAPTER TWENTY

Even though Brenda had told me I didn’t need to bother coming into work, I now felt compelled to show up. Although I knew I’d probably lose my shot at a full-time job with ISEN, I didn’t want them to be able to say that I’d quit or just stopped coming in. I knew that I should start looking for another job. Because I believed Evan and thought there was no story there. Unless he was the most amazing actor and best liar alive, he was a virgin. No matter how badly my soon-to-be-ex-boss didn’t want him to be.

I wouldn’t be able to give her the story she wanted.

On my way in I texted my sisters and Nia to figure out what his “I love,” pause, “I love that about you” meant. Was it just a casual slip? Or had he wanted to say something more and thought maybe it wasn’t time? Or we weren’t ready?

The general consensus from their replies was that they didn’t have enough information to proceed. Nia told me she had to throw up, Rory advised me to get with all that as soon as possible, and then Aubrey said:

Walking into the office was one of the hardest things I’d had to do in a very long time. Everyone on my floor stopped and stared as I went over to my tiny cubicle and sat down. I had just switched on my computer when I heard my name being called.

It was Brenda. “In my office.”

“You’re in trouble!” Rand said with a smirk and a singsong voice, his feet upon his desk and fingers laced behind his head. I considered pushing on his shoulder so he’d fall backward but refrained.

“Well?” Brenda asked as soon as I entered the room. She sat at her desk, glaring at me. “Do you have any updates?”

There was nothing I could say that would make her happy in this moment, but I had to give it a shot. “I’ve talked to Evan, and—”

“I’m not interested in what Evan Dawson tells people. I’m interested in the truth, and you’re not going to get that from him when he has an image to protect.”

“Then no, I don’t have any updates for you.”

She crossed her legs while she glowered at me. “I wasn’t joking about your job being on the line.”

I’d never thought she had been. I had taken her very seriously. “I just don’t think ...” I took in a big breath. This was hard for me, standing up to her. “I don’t think there’s a story there. I think Evan’s telling the truth.”

Brenda just stared at me like I was the stupidest person alive. She did it for so long that when she spoke again, it startled me. “But you’re still pretending to be his fiancée. He’s getting something out of that. Shouldn’t you?”

“I don’t know what you mean.” I didn’t say that it was feeling less and less like pretend.

“You’re not some shrinking virgin, too, are you?”

It so surprised me that she’d said it that at first I wondered if I had imagined it somehow. But, given the look on her face, I knew I hadn’t. I’d have to check with Aubrey at lunch, but I was pretty sure that was illegal for Brenda to ask. And it wasn’t like I could go to HR. Her cousin was the HR manager. I knew he’d take her word over mine, and trying to file a complaint would just get me kicked out faster. I wanted to tell Brenda it was none of her business but couldn’t make myself say it. Instead, I just sat there, mute and unable to defend myself.

She let out a sigh of disgust. “I guess I have to spell it out for you. If you’re dating him, I’m guessing it wouldn’t be too hard to seduce him.”

It was like she had slapped me. After all of my conversations with Evan about this subject, it would be a total violation of him and what he stood for. “I ... I can’t. I won’t.”

She frowned at me for a really long time. “Then I don’t know why you’re still assigned to this story. You told me you’d be willing to do anything to bring Evan Dawson down. You’re forcing my hand, and I’ll have to assign someone else. Someone who can get the job done.”

Someone who wouldn’t have a problem seducing him? Was that her endgame? If Evan really was celibate, then she’d find somebody to make him not be?

Brenda pushed a paper across her desk. “This is an official reprimand form. On it I have noted your refusal to fulfill tasks that are assigned to you.”

Was she serious? “Did you also note that you just told me to have sex with someone for a story?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ashton. I never said anything like that. It would be against the law and company policy.”

Shock made my mouth drop open. It had literally just happened. But I saw from the expression on her face that she was serious, again. She would deny that she’d told me to seduce him, and everyone at work would believe her and not me. Especially her cousin.