“Yeah, I’m not so convinced.” Roxie wasn’t a man-hater; she just valued her independence and didn’t cope well when her man involved himself in her life like Scott did with Harlow.

The prospect tried to hurry us up. “While I find your conversation about men amusing, ladies, I’d like to get you home so that I can get back to more pleasurable activities.” He winked at me as he said this, and his hotness rating skyrocketed.

“I bet you would,” Roxie said.

His smirk almost convinced me to throw myself at him but there was some niggling thing in the back of my mind stopping me.

Nash.

I inwardly sighed. Nash sure knew how to capture a woman’s attention.

Roxie pushed Harlow into the front seat of the prospect’s car and she and I took the back seats. It wasn’t a long trip to Scott’s house, only about fifteen minutes, and he was waiting outside for us when we pulled up. Harlow stumbled out of her seat into his arms and he grimaced at her drunken state.

He turned his gaze to me and I held up my hands in defence. “Your girl didn’t eat today apparently.”

He muttered something under his breath but nodded at me. “Thanks for getting her home safe.”

Harlow wrapped her arms around his neck and said, “They’re good to me, those girls.” She hit him with a megawatt smile and you could see the annoyance seep right out of him. Damn, that man was so far gone on his woman. I never thought I’d ever see Scott Cole whipped but it seemed that Harlow had done just that.

“You’ll get Velvet and Roxie home, okay?” he directed at the prospect who nodded.

“Thanks,” he said, and then he took Harlow inside.

I got out of the car and quickly made my way to the front seat. Doing up my seat belt, I looked at the prospect and asked, “So, you got a name?”

He grinned. “Yeah, darlin’, it’s Wilder.”

“You don’t talk much do you?”

“I say what I need to say.”

Roxie interjected from the back seat, “Velvet, let the man rest his mouth. He probably has other things planned for it tonight.”

I caught his grin. “How long have you been a prospect for?” I continued firing questions at him.

“Coming up to one year.”

Damn, he was hard to make conversation with, and not that I wanted to flirt with him, but I figured that would be pointless too. I was sitting next to him with my cleavage on full display and he hadn’t even taken a look. Not even a peek. “You’re not into women?” I asked. I favoured directness; it usually got you the answer you were looking for rather than fucking around with subtle questions.

He finally ran his eyes over my body before running his hand through his hair. “Baby, you’ve no idea. But it ain’t worth my while to even look at a woman the VP is friends with.”

“Thank God for that, because I gotta tell you, it would be a loss to womankind if you were into guys.”

He laughed and I lamented the fact I was friends with Scott. We finished the rest of the drive home in silence. He dropped Roxie off first and then me. As I was getting out of the car, I said, “If I ever stop being friends with Scott Cole, I’ll be sure to look you up.” He grinned and I gave him a wink before going inside. It had been ages since I’d flirted with a man and it felt good. Maybe it was time to get back out there and find some fun.

Chapter 13

Everything Has Changed ~ Taylor Swift & Ed Sheeran

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Nash

I dropped my head down into my hands. The question Madison had just asked me was one I didn’t want to think about, let alone answer.

“Nash,” she said, quietly, “You do feel something for her, don’t you?”

The pressure I felt when I thought about Velvet buzzed in my head. It was easier not to think about her, and fuck, I’d tried. Ever since I’d pushed her away, I spent most of my time trying not to think about her. But she consumed my thoughts, day and night. It was worse at night when I was alone, and the darkness encouraged my mind to wander into dangerous territory. Thoughts of the past collided with thoughts about Velvet, and the weight of everything was almost unbearable.

I looked back up at Madison. She was watching me, waiting patiently for me to reply. Finally, I admitted the truth. “Yes, I do.”

She smiled. It was a smile full of kindness and love. “Have you ever felt like this about a woman before?”

I sucked in a breath. This was shit I didn’t want to go over, but I’d gotten to the point where I knew I had to. I couldn’t ignore it any longer. “Once. A very long time ago.”

She nodded. “Who was it? Tell me about her.”

I’d come here tonight with the intention of talking. Hell, I’d actually asked Madison if I could come over to talk, but now I wanted to get the fuck out of here.

At my silence, Madison spoke again. “Nash, you once told me that people like us need to get this stuff out otherwise we fall back into old habits. You need to talk, and I want to be here for you because you’ve always been there for me.”

I hated it when my words were thrown back at me, even if it was done out of kindness. Ah, fuck it. I opened up. “It was my ex wife, Gabriella. I met her when I was twenty; the first chick I ever did crazy shit for. She fuckin’ knew how to push my buttons to get what she wanted and I was a fool for her.”

Madison’s face was full of surprise. “Wow, I didn’t realise you’d been married before.”