Page 41 of Rival Hearts

I rolled my eyes and drained my glass, irritated with Maya for knowing everything about everyone and we’d been here the same amount of time.

Sometimes, I wished I wasn’t as quiet and withdrawn as I was. I wished I didn’t think about things as much, or calculate everything as many times, or stay in when I could be going out talking to strangers.

Maya’s life was very different from mine because she was outgoing, and she wasn’t scared to march up to strangers and introduce herself… and theylikedher for it.

“Come on, Lottie,” Maya said when I poured another glass of wine. She held her glass so I could top her up, too. “Don’t be angry with me.”

“I’m not.” Although I was grumpy. “I just don’t know what to do.”

I sat back.

She studied me. “About what?”

“About Alex,” I admitted. “I keep running into him, and then I can’t help it, I’m just so drawn to him.”

“Maybe it’s not the worst thing.”

I stared at her. “What?”

“You don’t get that kind of feeling with just anyone, you know. If you’re meant to be together… We don’t get to choose who we fall in love with.”

“Oh, no, no.” I shook my head. “First of all, this isn’t love. Far from it.” Lust was a much better term, although that didn’t completely cut it, did it? “Besides, did you miss the part where I told you we’re against each other? He’s a Blackwood, and I have the campaign. And then there’s my brother—”

“The campaign won’t last forever, you know. And he was right about you not knowing anything about his company. You could always go check it out. Ask for a private tour.” She waggled her eyebrows and giggled. “But seriously, go and find out. Maybe he’s one of the good guys, and then everything is fine and dandy.”

“What about Gabe? He will always be my brother, no matter what.”

“Yeah, and have you seenFriends? Chandler ends up with Monica, and Ross was fine with it.”

I rolled my eyes. “My life is not a sitcom, Maya. Things don’t work out that way. People love that show because they can get lost in a world that never really existed in the first place.”

Maya groaned. “Don’t be so negative. I’m just saying, Gabe can come around if you’re open with him about how you feel.”

“I don’t feel anything! I need you to tell me this is a bad idea, to be the angel on my shoulder telling me to keep the moral high road, not the devil telling me to sleep with him again!”

Maya’s freckles shifted as her grin broadened. “I didn’t sayanythingabout sleeping with him again.”

My cheeks burned bright red, and I put down my wine and covered my face with my hands.

“Oh, my God, Maya.”

She giggled with glee, enjoying every second of my mortification.

“Why is everything in your life always so simple?”

Maya shrugged. “You can do a lot when you don’t overthink, Lottie.” She grinned at me when I dropped my hands and glanced at her. “Seriously, you think too much. You make your life way too complicated. Just let go, you know?”

If only it were that easy.

I drank more wine. It was starting to go to my head, making me dizzy, making all my troubles seem just a little less important.

Good, that was what I was after. I didn’t usually drink a lot, but today I just might.

“I have to focus on the campaign,” I said to Maya. “I came here with a goal, and I can’t let a guy like Alex distract me.”

“You know you can do both, right?”

“Both?”