Free Atonement (The Atonement Series) by Elle Chardou Page A

then they have one too many drinks and think just because I am blonde, my legs are going to miraculously open up for them. One bloke had the nerve to tell me he heard English girls were easy so what did I expect? ‘First off, I’m American and second off, my other half is French so if you think you are getting anywhere past first base, it’s going to take a bit more than a dinner at Crush and a ninety-nine vintage bottle of Ristow to get me into bed’.”
    “I suppose you got out of there as soon as possible?”
    “Of course. I told him I had to go powder my nose and just walked out the front door. No way will I have a man treating me like dirt. And that goes for Liam van der Meer as well. I know he’s your friend’s brother but I am not going to take shit off him because he happens to be your new boss,” Caitlyn expressed before she sat beside me.
    “How’s work going?”
    She scrunched up her face. “Work is work, Deirdre. Seriously, did you really come over to ask me about my day or are there other issues that brought you by?”
    I drank from my wine. “Why do I get the feeling like I have disturbed something? Listen, I know how often you bring your work home so just go ahead and finish it. But I will see you tomorrow at the get together, right?”
    Caitlyn smiled with devilish steel blue eyes. “Of course you will.” She chewed on her lip for a moment before she glared at me again. “Tell me you two haven’t slept together!”
    “Who? Colin and I? Course not. It’s just strictly platonic…at the moment. Why? I’m not a whore either you know.”
    “I certainly wasn’t suggesting you were one but…I see the heated looks exchanged between you two. He likes you a lot and you’re crazy about him. What ever happens in Europe, don’t fight him when you come back, okay? Stop letting Drew chase men away from you.”
    “Okay…um, is everyone living in an alternate universe because there are absolutely, positively no heated looks between us. I like him, as a friend, and he came through when I needed him to be there for me. It’s been tough, you know. Usually I go weeks without hearing from Aubrey and this time it was a couple of months. I really thought she had her shit together and then she pulls that stunt with us picking her up at the club? That is so not cool.”
    Caitlyn stood and walked to her floor to ceiling picture window. The curtains were open and the city spread out beneath us. The lighting was purposefully muted and felt romantic yet soothing at the same time.
    “Maybe it’s time you start to…cut her out of your life?” She turned toward me and her blue eyes pleaded for understanding. “Don’t get me wrong, sis. I mean, I know she’s your uncle’s daughter and a part of the family life you missed because your real mother died but…that doesn’t give her the right to use you when ever she likes and that is exactly what I see her do to you on a regular basis. I don’t like it at all and you need to take a firmer stance when it comes to her.”
    I immediately became defensive though I knew I should just calm down and take out a few strangled breaths. “How is she using me, Cait? She’s got nowhere to go, and her roommate was bangin’ her ex-boyfriend. What am I supposed to do? Leave her to her own devices on the street? You know she’s been clean for a while now and all I need is a druggie for a cousin because she is going to be an even bigger pain in the ass than she is now. At the moment, she’s tolerable. And hopefully by the time I get back from Europe, she will have found another place to stay.”
    Caitlyn cocked her head to the side and crossed her arms underneath her breasts. “Do you truly believe that?”
    I sipped from my Sauvignon Blanc before I set the glass on my sister’s coffee table. “No, not really.”
    “Well then why don’t you really lay down the law tomorrow night when we have you and Colin’s going away celebration? Tell her you’re tired of being