Free Exposure by Annie Jocoby Page B

said, knowing that it would be at least a half hour before she could make it to the hospital. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”
    I was still talking on the phone with Scarlett when Asher appeared, a bottle of sedatives in his hand. I tried to ignore him, but he sat right down next to me, his hand on the arm rest. He slowly attempted to creep his hand so that it was on top of mine, but I quickly took my hand away and glared at him.
    Scarlett and I were making small talk, which was what I wanted. I certainly didn’t want to talk about Asher and his charity proposal. The whole thing made me sick just thinking about it.
    “So,” Scarlett was saying. “Bobby the Goldman Guy called me tonight.”
    In spite of myself, I laughed. Bobby the Goldman Guy was one of Scarlett’s hookups. Hotter than hell, but, according to Scarlett, he was more than selfish in bed. He apparently had a cock like Asher’s, but had no idea on earth how to use it. Shame, that.
    “And?”
    “And, what? I mean, I guess he’s trainable, but I really don’t want to have to coach a guy through remedial sex school. Besides, he either has it or he doesn’t. I’m not sure that he’s redeemable at this point.”
    I smiled at her term “remedial sex school.” There were plenty of guys who needed to go through that particular school, that was for sure.
    Asher wasn’t one of them, though.
    I snarled my lip as he sat next to me, rattling around the pills that he got for me in their little brown case. Why did he have to be so hot and so great in bed? I was trying, very hard, to keep my wall up, but he looked so sad and lost I almost lost my nerve.
    Almost.
    “Well, then, give old Bobby the heave ho, you ho,” I said with a smile. I was starting to feel better just talking with her on the phone. “There are plenty more where that came from.”
    “True that. What about you, CJ? I almost hate to ask you this, but have you heard from your billionaire hotty lately?”
    “No comment,” I said, glancing at Asher. He immediately looked at me, a hopeful look on his face. I guess he thought that perhaps because I looked at him, I was going to somehow forgive him.
    Nothing doing.
    “Well, CJ,” Scarlett said. “I’m here, and I’m coming through the door.”
    I looked at the door, and, sure enough, there was Scarlett with an umbrella in one hand, and a phone in the other. She had another umbrella slung over her shoulder, and an extra raincoat.
    I didn’t even realize that it had started raining.
    What a perfect metaphor for my crappy life.
    I stood up and looked back at Asher. He, too, stood up. Scarlett just stood looking at both of us, her mouth gaped open as she looked at Asher. She blinked her eyes, as if she wasn’t quite sure she was seeing what she was seeing.
    “CJ,” Asher was saying. “I have your sedatives here. I think that you need to take them. I don’t want you to have problems on the way home.”
    “I won’t have problems,” I said, but, as I looked out the window, and felt the familiar constriction in my chest, I felt doubtful about that. “Oh, what the hell, give me that bottle.” I looked at Scarlett. “I’ll be right back. I need to take one of these pills with some water.”
    Scarlett just nodded at me, her eyes still fixed on Asher. I walked away and looked behind me, and Scarlett was just staring at Asher, and Asher was just staring at me.
    I shook my head. What kind of a rabbit hole did I just fall down?
    I went into the bathroom and downed one pill with some water. I looked into the mirror at my blotchy face, wondering what the hell Asher saw in me to begin with.
    Oh, what was I saying? I was a charity case for him. Nothing but a fucking charity case. Therefore, he didn’t see anything in me. Well, he saw me as a good lay, I guess. But, other than that, I was a nobody to him. A nothing.
    Why did I ever think that I would be more?
    After a few minutes, the sedative started to kick in, and I was feeling