Cake by Nicole Reed Read Free Book Online Page B

I valued him in my life and knew that girlfriends didn’t last long in his. So, since college, Trent travels the world designing safe water supplies and saving lives. He really is one of the greatest men I know. When he comes into town, he spends his time with Dray and me, telling us about all of his travels and we usually spend a couple of days at the lake just the three of us. Dray and I, both, seem to hunger for his attention, so we set our differences aside and call a truce during that time because we both know he will be gone again soon.”
     
    Finishing my story, I glance over at Leo as he sits in stony silence, staring back at me with his gaping mouth.
     
    “Gawd! That is the most sadistic love story that I have ever heard in my lifetime,” he says with disgust. “Pass me the razorblade and let me cut your wrist for you, why don’t ya?” Rolling his eyes, he turns around and straightens the rack of clothing he is leaning against. “Here I am, thinking I am finally going to hear why this fabulous beautiful socialite is single. I could deal with the tragic story of her one and only love dying an untimely death or even getting jilted at the altar, but no, all I get is Flowers In The Attic , without the actual incest or real familial connection. I feel horribly cheated.”
     
    Stepping back, he turns around while straightening his sweater-vest and stares. I’m at a loss at what to say. He’s only the third person I’ve ever told my story to other than Mads and my Aunt Leigh. He has been begging me for the last year to hear my tale of lost love and now he throws it back into my face?
     
    “Screw you, Leo,” I retort as I hear his chortler of laughter. I glare into his twinkling eyes.
     
    “C’mon, Kylie,” he says laughingly. “Here you are owning and operating one of the most successful high-end boutiques in the Atlanta area at twenty-five years of age. You are the most sought after bachelorette in the Southern Hemisphere, and you’re pretty much telling me that you’re lonely and single, not because of some horrific accident, but because you never told the guy you love him. Actually, that is the single most depressing story I have ever heard, but I cringe to say love story, because if the other person doesn’t know how you feel, than that’s just a story of obsession, and that is creepy. I never saw you as the Scooby Doo Creeper. Just saying,” he says as he walks past my stunned expression, cutting his eyes at me.
     
    Placing my hands on my hips, I finally find my voice and reply, “I should fire your ass.”
     
    Turning towards me, he crosses his arms and asks, “Why? Because I’m speaking the truth? Kylie, I’ve known you now for what? Several years? I’ve seen you shoot down more guys in a night than a Camper in a Black Ops video game session. If you are lonely and lost in love, then it’s your own damn fault because you sure as hell don’t have to be.”
     
    Feeling the rush of emotion seizing my throat, I barely choke out, “You have no idea what you are talking about.”
     
    Tilting his stylish blonde head to look down at me, he asks, “Don’t I?”
     
    Our staring stand-off seems to last forever. Finally, shaking his head, Leo sighs and rubs his eyes with one hand.
     
    “Kylie, you know you are one of my favorite people, not just because you are my boss and I desperately want and need this job, but because you are one of the sweetest people that I know. I guess I don’t understand how you can let yourself be the unrequited love heroine.”
     
    “Well, at what, a couple of years older than me, you think you know all about love?” My voice shakes as I hold back the tears. It’s hard for me to share my past, and my bad on obviously picking the wrong person to impart it to.
     
    “No. I guess I don’t; however, what I do know is with that luxurious brown hair, those glittering green eyes, and a killer figure, I imagined you had one hell of a story to tell. I’ve seen