Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 62095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62095 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 310(@200wpm)___ 248(@250wpm)___ 207(@300wpm)
She nodded slowly. “I hear you.”
“For what it’s worth, I’ll be on my best behavior.” I was going there. I was gonna sneak in an apology for how I’d acted. I wasn’t sure I’d get a better opportunity, and I wanted us to move forward. “Unlike…you know, when I spouted some arrogant nonsense the other day. I’m sorry about that.”
A slow smirk took over her lips. “Hashtag getting shit done?”
I winced and made a face, and I instantly felt like a dumbass. I was half surprised she hadn’t told me to fuck off. I’d wanted her to pay me some damn attention—but she hadn’t hired me to check out my abs.
Christ.
No fucking wonder my brothers gave me shit.
It was as if a fog was lifting, forcing me to see things in a new light.
I wasn’t a fan.
“Yeah, that won’t happen again,” I promised. “Sometimes, I get caught up in what faceless strangers on the internet want to see.” By sometimes, I meant that had been my whole life the past…fifteen years?
Natalie tilted her head. “I can understand that. You have a business to run and followers to keep hooked.” She shrugged. “And as much as I want to deny it, we all sell out in some ways.”
Wait, what? She got it? How did she sell out?
“You’ve had to make compromises too?” I wondered.
“Oh my God, all the time,” she laughed softly. “From interviews and PR stunts to the size of my collections. I tend to want them small, and my marketing team pushes for bigger so there’s more to sell. In fact, I have a work trip coming up next week that I wish I could cancel, but…”
I guessed that made sense. I hadn’t really thought about how her industry worked, but I reckoned it was all the same. Feed the masses, push products, more, more, more. And evidently, leave Camassia to go on a work trip.
“How long will you be gone?” I asked.
“Just a few days,” she said. “I try to visit one of my stores every other month, and it’s Miami’s turn.”
Got it. A few days in Miami, huh? I could think of worse places for a brief stay in the sun.
It was a good reminder, though. Camassia wasn’t her whole life. She still had friends and colleagues all over the place, and she wasn’t tied down. She was living her life.
I should probably think about doing the same. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d traveled, unless it involved visiting my brother in San Francisco or attending fitness events in Vegas.
The more I thought about it, the more it sickened me. I’d let myself get swept away by trends, at least for the packaging material of what I sold, and I lived and breathed work.
I had some rethinking to do in the near future.
CHAPTER 8
Natalie Nolan
“Ahh, I wish I’d known about this sooner.” Chloe sighed contentedly and sank into the water. “I might have to take a longer lunch break in the future to come here.”
Yeah, the pool was without a doubt my favorite area at Ethan’s gym, especially the hours nobody showed up to swim.
“When do you leave tomorrow, by the way?” she asked.
“I’m on a red-eye,” I replied. I swam over to the edge so I could get started on my laps.
And now I didn’t have to dread my upcoming work trip any longer. I’d sort of pushed it out of my mind because I’d wanted to stay in the present where I’d had such a good thing going with Ethan and my progress, but given how he’d behaved this week, maybe it was a good thing I was going away for a few days.
Something had happened at Jayden’s birthday party last weekend. I couldn’t put my finger on why, but Ethan had distanced himself from me. If I initiated a conversation, he was all for it, and we could lose track of time. But he didn’t bring up anything himself anymore.
Had he noticed that I had sought him out more frequently this week? I mean, he was always around when I was working out, and I freaking loved talking to him. So yeah, I’d stopped to chat a few more times before or after my workouts. Could that be it? Was that why he was retreating?
I only did it when he didn’t look busy, but perhaps it was too much anyway. He was my PT during my scheduled hours.
Dammit.
Chloe and I swam in comfortable silence, and I alternated between slow laps and fast ones. But internally, I was ready to hit up a coffee shop and word-vomit about my conflicting feelings toward Ethan Quinn.
I guessed they’d been building up for a while, but his less-attractive traits had made it so easy for me to be satisfied with the allotted time I got with him. It was just… Seeing him at Jayden’s party had changed things, and I’d wanted to get stuck in our little bubble the whole day. Instead, Chloe and Gray had dragged me off around the time the food had been done, and I hadn’t spoken another word with Ethan until it was time to drive home.