NOVGO.NET Chapter 21: PAST MISTAKES
Chapter 21: PAST MISTAKES
LAURA
Why the hell is he walking towards me?!
My brain screamed in trepidation the whole time Colin Matsson casually strode towards I and Tristan’s table, wearing a smug smile that suggested how bad this unplanned meeting was about to get.
I knew that the only reason why my ex-boyfriend who blatantly broke up with me, would walk up to me with that nasty smile, was to humiliate the shit out of me. Because on his arm was a woman gorgeous enough to have all his attention.
But Colin had been a prick who wasted no second making my life hell in the past. He had been obsessed with it. I had just been too blinded by a sick love to see the truth.
"Hello, Laura bear." His voice was filled with fake affection and a backdrop of mockery, stoking the anger and pain bubbling in my chest, reviving memories from the past. Memories that had been successfully buried and locked away—or so I thought. Memories of wasted time, wasted love, wasted effort.
Was I ready to face this bastard again?
"Talk to me, come on."
Ignore him.
I could feel Tristan’s hot gaze on my face. So I decided to focus on it instead. When I looked up, he was silently glaring at Colin who still stood there with the sheepish woman on his arm.
She looked really gorgeous from a distance. But at close range, I could see why a woman like her would choose a man like Colin Matsson. It was obvious she didn’t think very highly of herself, even though she dripped gold from head to toe and reeked of money.
I cleared my throat and picked up my glass of wine. "So, Mr. Pierce, how exactly does this deal work?"
"I know you see me, Laura. So talk to me." Colin’s voice rose above the cool evening din in the restaurant, sending waves of irritation coursing through my veins.
I was very tempted to lash out and demand what he wanted, or why he was pretending to know me after he broke up with me in the most humiliating and disheartening way three years ago, at a time when I needed him most.
But I knew composure would be the best card to play right now. Because people were looking. And I was already a social media sensation, given the scandal with Tristan Pierce. It would be an utmost disaster to add any more to the pile.
"I’ve seen your scores, you know," Colin kept rambling on. "Fashion designer extraordinaire. You think you’re some big shot now, huh? Is it because you were photographed with the dashing CEO here where he had his hand up your ass?"
My fists curled on the table. But before I could react, Tristan was already on his feet, grabbing Colin with a speed that had everyone in the restaurant gasping.
The woman on Colin’s arm shrieked as Tristan yanked him closer.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Get your hands off me, man! What? You can’t take a joke?"
"I don’t see anything funny about you coming up here and interrupting my dinner date." Tristan’s gaze flicked to Colin’s woman. "Do you?"
The woman heaved a sigh and reached for Colin. "Please, let’s go. You’ve embarrassed me enough in one night."
Colin turned a feral glare on her and she shrunk like pumpkin. Then he snatched back from Tristan’s grip, adjusting his collar.
"You will regret this," he spat, looking from Tristan to me, "someday. You will regret ignoring me, Laura!"
I was tired and very irritated with the entire display. Especially with how Tristan thought I needed saving and did not fail to jump in. And Colin...he wouldn’t just stop yapping in my ears.
"But for now," he continued, "I have to teach my lady some lessons." He cut her a disgusting wink. She flashed him a shaky smile.
I rolled my eyes at the display. Then I rose to my feet with grace and style, leaning in close enough for my vanilla scent to choke him. "Well run along, Colin. Go ruin someone else. Don’t grovel for my attention."
I pulled back with a sweet smile to see him seething with rage. My chest bubbled with triumph and elation. I had put him in his place without having to announce it to the world.
Not another smear on my public reputation.
Grunting in rage, Colin grabbed his lady’s wrist and off they went. A greater relief flooded my chest and my knees grew weak. I slumped into the seat, grabbed my glass and drained it.
Tristan watched me the whole time.
"Don’t tell me you had something to do with a prick like that."
I scoffed. "You sound jealous."
"Do I?"
I heaved a deep sigh and hung my head, staying down for a brief moment.
"I had things with pricks. But those are mistakes of the past." I lifted my head and met his gaze. It was electric, warm and hypnotic under the dim lights. "They stay where they belong."
We stared at each other for a long moment. Then his lips curved in that stunning smile that raked up flutters in my chest too easily.
"I’m fucked," he shook his head slowly, a serious light in his eyes. "Because I think your irony is hilarious."
For some reason, those words made me blush. Unable to contain it, I broke into a full-on grin, turning my head to the side and staring at the glittery wall on the other end.
Maybe this was why I fell for Tristan that day I wrong-texted him. The way he got me...intended and unintended humor. They way he handled a silly mistake and turned it into an erotic encounter that had stayed with me ever since.
"But seriously, I see him anywhere next to you again, I’m throwing him in a pond of sharks."
"Tristan, what?!" A deep laugh tumbled out of my gut, embarrassing me before I could realize I had lost myself. "Please, stop it," I added, snickering. "Let’s just talk about your offer."
"So," he leaned close and crossed his thick forearms on the table, "think you might consider it? Working as the face of Pierce Holdings? It’s mutually beneficial to us both. We get to work closely together again."
"You sound like you forgot what happened the last time we worked close," I inverted my fingers in the air, "together. What? You’re not scared this little bitch would steal your sweet business deals again and sell it out for some chump change?"
His blue eyes swirled dark with knowledge as they burned into me. "You’re worth more than chump change, Laura. We both know it. New York knows it. The world knows it."