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Adelia’s eyes turned on Merritt. “What was that all about?”
“He’s rude and insulting and immature and—”
“That’s a pretty strong reaction to someone you just met,” Giovanni interjected with one eyebrow raised high.
“You heard him, Vanni.”
“Yeah, he wasn’t very nice. But then you weren’t too nice to him either.”
“Can you blame me?”
“I feel like you two need a do-over,” Adelia said. “Maybe a reintroduction when you’re both in a better mood or something.”
“I’m in a fine mood. At least I was until he walked in.”
Giovanni was right. It was a strong reaction toward someone she’d just met. But no one had ever provoked her that way before, and she’d lost control of her mouth over it. With that level of anger, she could’ve spit nails.
Merritt did her best to enjoy dinner, but she couldn’t shake the annoyance Gus had caused. At least he hadn’t stuck around and ruined the entire party for her.
THREE
Gus stared blankly, unable to pay attention to anything he was seeing on the television screen. All he could think about was the brunette spitfire, who was currently eating dinner with his friend, yards away from where he was sitting in the pool house.
So, she was Merritt. Her name had come up in conversation with Adelia, but they’d never had occasion to meet. She definitely wasn’t what he was expecting. Adelia had made her sound like such a great girl. She’d even teased about setting them up, which he wanted nothing to do with. He could find his own dates, thank you very much. And Merritt … well, she was definitely not his type. And he couldn’t deal with her attitude. She had no right to be rude to him after she nearly ran him down with her car.
It was really too bad because she was a beautiful woman. If she had a different personality, and if they’d clicked rather than biting each other’s heads off, maybe he would’ve asked her out.
He stared over at his phone. He had yet to tell his family he wasn’t coming home for Christmas. He knew Skylar would try to convince him to come, but he just couldn’t.
After Sebastian got engaged to Genevieve and announced he was stepping down as president of Schultz Chocolate, Gus had let a glimmer of hope shine through that it might be his turn, that their father might choose him to take Sebastian’s place. But that hadn’t happened. Dad’s announcement that Skylar would be president had felt like a ton of bricks landed on his chest, heavy and crushing. Just further evidence that his father would never believe in him.
He couldn’t really blame his dad, though. He’d been a screw-up for far too long and had too many brushes with the law to count. But he had truly been getting his life back in order and trying to prove that to his family. Until one stupid drunken mistake at a bar had landed him in a lawsuit and away from the company he loved. Gus knew that was the reason Dad had chosen Skylar over him.
Feeling hopeless, disappointed, and betrayed, he’d walked away from his family that night two months ago. And he hadn’t looked back.
He picked up his phone and stared at it, then opened the contacts and dialed his sister.
“Gus!” Skylar answered on the first ring. “I’m so glad you called. How are you?”
“I’m okay,” he replied.
“Are you still at Adelia’s?” she asked.
“Yeah.” He could hear talking in the background. “Where are you?”
She paused. “Schultz Chocolate Christmas party.”
Her reply felt like a knife to the gut. “Oh.”
“I’m sorry, Gus. Should I not have mentioned it?”
“It’s fine.”
“When are you getting in?” she asked.
“I’m … not coming home for Christmas.” There. He’d said it.
“What? Why?”