Page 175 of Positively Pricked

Chapter 58

On the phone, Charlotte was still laughing. "But why'd you take the stairs when you could've grabbed an elevator?"

"Because," I explained, "I didn't want to risk seeing anyone else."

Istilldidn't want to see anyone, but Ididappreciate hearing her voice, even if she wasn't giving me quite the reaction I'd been hoping for.

An hour earlier, after trudging down countless flights of stairs, I'd finally made it back to my own hotel room, where I'd taken a long shower and then called Charlotte for a dose of sympathy.

The only problem was, she wasn't terribly sympathetic. In fact, she spent most of the conversation telling me that she'd known all along that Zane and I would hook up eventually.

Andhowdid she know this? It was because, in Charlotte's words, "You can't hate someone that much without loving them at least a little."

When she repeated this for the third time, I said, "What are you saying? That I'm in love with Zane Bennington?"

Heaven forbid.

"You must love him," she said. "He's all you ever talk about."

"Sure, because he's a monster."

Her tone grew teasing. "You mean a monster in bed?"

Well, he was big and powerful. And he'd made me scream. Did that count? I mumbled, "Yeah, well, that doesn't mean anything."

"Says you. And if he was such a monster, you wouldn't have slept with him at all."

Technically, this was true, but I wasn't ready to give in just yet. "Youdoremember that he fired me, right?"

"Yeah, and he gave you a three-years' severance. It's practically a vacation."

Well, there was that.

"And," Charlotte continued, "he was paying you a crap-ton of money, anyway."

"So?"

"So when you takethatinto account, it's more like a ten-years' severance, at least in normal-person dollars."

Damn it.She did have a point. Still, I wasn't blind to the fact that he was literally paying me to go away.

I sighed. "I dunno."

"Wanna know what I think?"

"What?"

"I thinkhelovesyou, too."

I almost dropped the phone. "Oh, please. He doesn't love anyone."

"But from what you said, he loved his grandfather. And his dad."

"Yeah, so?"

"And he loves his dogs."

"Well, everyone loves dogs," I pointed out.