Free Entwine (Billionaire Series) by Evelyn Harper Page B

Whatever was
going on between J and Philip had effectively put a halt to any emotional
progression between Jennifer and Philip.
     
    She hurried up the
stairs to her apartment. There was only one person she could talk to about
something like this. Rachel would listen and give advice and wouldn't judge
when Jennifer said that she craved Philip's touch, and that her body responded
to him almost without volition.
     
    As soon as she
opened the door to her apartment, she saw a piece of paper on the table and her
heart sank. She knew before she read it that Rachel wasn't here. The note was
brief and, like most of Rachel's correspondence, barely legible.
     
    “Jen, I have to go
away for a couple of days. Minor emergency. Nothing big so don't worry about
me. I'll talk to you when I get back. Call if you need me and I'll try to
answer. No promises. Love you, Ray.”
     
    Well, there went
that idea. Jennifer sighed as she kicked off her shoes. She wasn't about to
bother Rachel for something so trivial. Whatever Rachel was going through was
more important than Jennifer's difficulty of trying to understand her two men.
     
    The only problem
was that now Jennifer was alone with her thoughts, a scenario that had been
playing out far too often in her opinion. No good came of that, she knew. If
she could've figured this mess out on her own she would've done it already. She
needed to talk things out.
     
    Her gaze fell on a
pillow that had fallen off of the couch the night before when Brad had been
there.
    Brad. He'd listened
so well, been so kind and understanding. What were the chances he could be that
way again? And if she changed the personal to the professional, why couldn't
she debrief on him, ask his advice? After all, they had been friends once too.
She had to decide if she was seriously going to consider calling Brad.
     
    As she changed out
of her work clothes, she made a face as she pulled off her panties. She decided
that a shower was in order.
     
    The idea was still
bouncing around in her head twenty minutes later when she finally grabbed her
phone off the table. This, she supposed, would really tell her just how much
Brad had changed. If he took the time to listen to her problem and tried to
help her fix it, she would know that he was different.
     
    Her fingers shook
ever so slightly as she punched in the number, but her voice was steady when he
answered.
     
    “Hey, Brad.”
     
    “What's wrong?” He
asked immediately.
     
    The fact that he
still knew her well enough to know, with just two simple words, that she was
upset, instantly made her let down her guard. The concern in his voice sent
words tumbling from her mouth before she thought better of it.
     
    “Remember how I
said I had a bad couple of days? Well, now I'm stuck because I don't know what
to do. My boss, he's all over the place, and I'm not sure how I'm supposed to
react. He takes me for granted—doesn't appreciate what I do.”
     
    “Do you like your
job?” Brad asked.
     
    “What?” His
question stopped Jennifer's flow of words.
     
    “Do you like your
job?” He repeated.
     
    “I…guess so,”
Jennifer answered. “I hadn't really taken that into consideration.” It wasn't
until now that she realized she hadn't thought of that at all.
     
    “Well, if you want
my opinion...”
     
    “I do,” Jennifer
quickly said.
     
    “I think you need
to look at it this way,” Brad continued. “Is what you're learning and how much
you like your job worth how you're being treated?”
     
    Jennifer was
silent. It seemed so easy, so simple, when it was put that way. And wasn't that
how she should look at it? Was the experience, the one-on-one learning and, yes
the mind-blowing sex, was any of that worth Philip distancing himself, the
secrecy, and the often rude behavior? She didn't know the answer just yet, but
now she at least had a question that made some sense.
     
    “And, Jenny, if
this guy really is as big of an ass-hat as he sounds, you deserve