Page 2 of The Comeback Road (Leaving #2)

Lexie

Present Day

The beeping of my alarm sounded, indicating that it was time to get out of bed and to the office. Fuck. Why the hell did I decide to take this job again?

Beep. Beep. Beep. The sound grated on my brain, and my hand darted out to shut off the bane of my existence. Instead of internally cursing out the world for waking me up, I was mumbling curses while wrestling with my sheets so I could get up and into the shower.

My thoughts kept floating back to why am I awake again? Oh, yeah, because I’m hopelessly in love with Jace, my boss and friend . Wincing at the term friend , I did my best to shake off my thoughts and get moving and dressed.

I could hear sounds coming from downstairs, and instantly knew that Sloan must have spent the night.

I was happy for Magnolia. After what had happened with her being held at gunpoint, Sloan had attached himself to her hip.

At one point, he threatened to sew her skin to his. It was adorable in a totally yuck way.

Begrudgingly and shooting longing glances at my bed, I finished getting ready and made my way downstairs. I was met with Magnolia sitting on the counter with Sloan in between her legs, feeding her what I was hoping was fruit and not something like edible body paint.

In mock horror, I yelled out, “My eyes, my eyes ,” while I covered them

Magnolia’s laugh filtered through, and it felt good, hearing her laugh.

She’d always been something special, spending her days trying to save every living thing she possibly could, coming up with an incredible idea to provide low-cost, quality veterinary care to those who couldn’t afford it.

She deserved all the happiness she was currently getting.

Even so, I couldn’t help but feel a small pang of jealousy.

It was becoming harder to push down the nagging thought that I was intruding on her and Sloan while they were starting to reconnect.

It made me think that maybe I should find an apartment.

As if she could read my thoughts, Magnolia interrupted my inner turmoil.

“Want to get lunch today, Lexie? I feel like it’s been forever since we caught up. Alone. ” I saw the daggers she shot at Sloan, and he raised his hands in defeat, but didn’t bother containing his smile as he buried himself into her neck while she kept her eyes on me.

“Sure. I can meet you at the diner at noon? I’ve been craving pancakes!”

Glancing at the time and realizing it was already 7:47 and I would be late if I didn’t leave right then, I grabbed a bag of mini muffins. Sloan handed me an already-made cup of coffee, and I silently praised him as I took my first sip.

Okay, fine , he can stay.

I turned my attention back to the happy couple instead of the caffeinated goodness. “I’ll see you for lunch, babes. Sloan, I can only assume I’ll see you for dinner.” I shot a wink at both as I exited, not bothering to wait for their responses.

The ride to the office was quick. One of the only good things about having to be awake in the morning was the fast commute.

The quick drive didn’t stop my mind from going over every interaction it had, could have, or would have with Jace.

He’d been adamant about the fact that he was not really married, and I thought back to our conversation as I was leaving the office the day before.

“Are you ready to say yes to dinner with me yet, Lexie?” Jace’s voice called out from behind me.

“Are you still married?” I asked, but still didn’t turn around, keeping my eyes firmly locked on the door—my exit. I heard his exasperated sigh from behind me, and I felt the whispers of his exhale on my neck. I had to steel my spine so my resolve wouldn’t falter.

“Lexie…” His deep voice caused goosebumps to litter over my arms. I briefly thought about leaning back and into him, but shook it off.

“I know.” It was all I could say to him before I tucked my tail and ran.

I couldn’t help the jittery feeling that slithered all over my skin when I recalled the moment as I pulled into the parking lot.

I didn’t like to acknowledge how inside out Jace made me feel.

And I would have liked to tell myself that it wasn’t instantaneous, but the second I saw him, it felt like I was hit by a bolt of lightning.

Like everything I’d been through had led me to that moment, and with one assessing look, the future that had begun stitching itself together in my mind was shattered when my focus landed on his left hand.

A wedding ring. It was like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over my head, drowning any hopes and dreams that had started to build.

It was 7:59 a.m., and I had one minute to make it into the building.

Instead, I could barely get myself to move.

Every day, I took a few minutes to sit there and collect my thoughts, giving myself a pep talk to get myself together before I walked into the building and put myself through the sweetest torture.

You will be professional. You will not mount him like a…

Knock. Knock.

“Jesus!”

The knock on my window pulled me from my internal pep talk, and I felt my face heating, which didn’t bode well for me with all my red hair.

Thankfully, a quick glance showed me it was Dexter, my other boss, and not Jace.

Exhaling a sigh of relief, I rolled my window down, taking in the barely there spring air.

“Hey, Dex.” I gave him a partial smile. It had been a weird few weeks for him. He had ended things with his long-term girlfriend, and to say she was less than spectacular about it would be an understatement.

“Heading in or just going to keep staring at the building?” There was a lightness to his tone, but I couldn’t help the raging flush that took over again, knowing I’d been made.

“Oh, uh, you know, just a bit of a crazy morning.” I did my best to plaster on my easy breezy Lexie facade and wave away his concerns.

“Sure. Are you ready?” He glanced back at the building, and I nodded, grabbing my purse from the passenger side as we walked into work together.

The good thing about Dexter was that he didn’t ask questions.