Scandalous Read Online Free Page A

Twitter. I’d fallen off the grid, partly to get away from this boy who was now a successful man.
    Jack nodded, and steepled his fingers. Head tilted, he said, “I’m serious. How would you sell it, Ab ?”
    Gus watched the exchange, smart enough not to interfere. The room was charged with emotion from the moment Jack entered. I had no idea what Jack was thinking. His posture said he didn’t care, not anymore, but his eyes said something entirely different. That blue gaze was dark, the tiny specs of light extinguished by God-knew-what. Gus leaned back in his chair, his pointer fingers resting against his chin. He tapped it periodically as his eyes shifted between us.
    I stared at Jack for a moment, waiting for an answer to come to me, but it didn’t. I didn’t know how to do sales. Thoughts spilled into my head, things I could have tried to make into a reasonable attempt to sound like I knew what I was talking about, but I didn’t know. My stomach sank. Whatever was between us at one point was now one-sided because Jack sat there cooly gazing at me. Once upon a time, he would have realized how much I was squirming inside and put me out of my misery. But not now. Twisting my hands, I confessed, “I’m not sure.” My voice was quiet as I looked past Jack to the sea. The steady sound of waves crashing on the beach was nostalgic.
    Jack saw my eyes look past him at the water on the other side of the window. He knew how much I loved the beach. “When was the last time you were home?” he asked.
    My gaze drifted back to his face, avoiding his eyes. Pushing a stray hair out of my face, I said, “Haven’t been. I left and didn’t plan on coming back. But things changed, and, well, I got here last night. Today I’m sitting in front of you asking for a job that I need, and want, but can’t possibly get.” What was I saying? I cringed inside. There was this bravado in my voice mixed with something else I couldn’t identify. I had blurted out what I honestly thought with no expectations from Jack.
    His voice was deep, surprised, “A job you want ? You really want to do sales?” Risking another glance at his deep blue eyes I noticed the trail of dark stubble on his cheeks. He was beautiful. My stomach twisted as he looked at me. I nodded. I wanted this job. It would fix everything. The expression on Jack’s face led me to believe he might give it to me, but I was wrong. Looking away, he said, “The right answer is that you sell an expensive painting the same way you would sell any other work...” His hands rubbed his face, “How can I give you this position when there are others that are way more qualified? I’m sorry Abby, but this won’t work out.”
    My teeth had taken hold of my bottom lip. I should have known as much. Begging Jack for a job was bad enough. He had a way of making me melt and do stupid things that I wouldn’t have normally done. That was the way he was back then—and it only seemed to have intensified with age.
    Humiliated, I stood, “Thank you for your consideration. I’ll show myself out.” As I swung my purse over my shoulder, I walked to the door. I was so screwed. My mind warped into hyper-drive as panic shot through my brain yipping like a freaked-out Chihuahua. I was going to die, eaten by the walrus. The noise of a chair moving behind me caught my ear, but I figured it was just Jack leaving. I didn’t expect him to lunge in front of me, stopping me in my tracks.
    “Where are you going?” he laughed, throwing his body in front of me so I couldn’t walk through the door. His silky dark hair fell in his eyes. The smile melted that cold expression he was giving me before. My heart lurched at the sight of it. It took me a minute to realize he wanted me to stop. I’m kind of thick sometimes. Hands up in the universal sign for stop went right over my head, so he threw himself in front of me. “Abby, I said you couldn’t have that job. You’d suck at it.” I frowned without