Preserving Love: A Contemporary Romance Series (Nick & Lexi Book 2) by Kay Brody Read Free Book Online

closed the shop early and I didn’t plan on going back. I needed a hot bath and a long night’s rest. Well, and maybe a good cry.  
    I hurt someone I care about today and I didn’t mean to.  
    I heard the phone chirp while I was bathing and tried to ignore it. But I just couldn’t. Something told me it would be my ‘Nick’. For some reason that was how Evan had chosen to handle bad situations. As much as I wanted to pretend I didn’t care, I did.  
    Maybe you should examine your words and actions.  
    Sometimes my hands are tied. I don’t have a choice.  
    We all have choices Nick. We just tell ourselves we don’t so that we feel less guilty.  
    Okay, correction, I didn’t have a choice except for giving up something that means a lot to me.  
    More than the person you hurt?
    No. I guess I just thought maybe she’d understand.  
    Some things are hard to understand. Why do you have to choose between the things that mean so much to you?
    I was hoping I didn’t have to.  
    Yet you keep making the choice.  
    I was told what to do.  
    Maybe she was too. The difference might just be that she refused.  
    She can do that. I can’t.  
    Why not? What is it that stops you from refusing to do what you are told?  
    Dreams. Job. Life.  
    Are you really fulfilling your dreams if they turn you into a person you aren’t happy with?  
    That’s profound.
    Don’t be a smart ass. I’m serious.  
    I haven’t changed Lexi.  
    Or have you?  
    Why does it have to be me that gives up what I find important?  
    Why do you have to give up one to have another?  
    I didn’t say I did.  
    Then maybe you shouldn’t act like that is the way it is.  
    I want her to forgive me.  
    I’m sure she does.  
    I want her to still care about me.  
    I’m sure she does Nick. You are wanting the wrong thing.  
    What should I be wanting?  
    That’s what you need to figure out.  
    That’s not much help Lexi.  
    If I tell you what to think and feel, then it isn’t genuine. Nick, you have to decide for yourself if you are going to get the answer you want.  
    I wish I could kiss her and tell her how sorry I am.  
    Yea-- me too.  
    He never replied after that. He just let it go and so did I. As much as I cared about him, I was hurt and angry. It also bothered me that he’d yet to take responsibility for what he’d done. In his mind he was justified because he’d been told to do it. That didn’t fly with me.  
    I drifted to sleep quickly, but it was a fitful and unhappy night. I didn’t rest at all and only wanted to fix the situation with Evan. Problem was, I was pretty sure it was going to get worse before it got better.  
    A fact I would undoubtedly realize was true when I woke up.  

    *****

Chapter 9
    “Damn,” It was all Kendall could manage to say.
    I’d spent the previous half hour explaining to her what had happened at the HRC hearing and then with Evan at lunch. I was still upset, even though he’d tried to soften it with the Facebook conversation.  
    “Things weren’t this rough when you guys didn’t even like each other,” she pointed out between bites of fudge.  
    “Thanks,” I rolled my eyes at her, “Nice to have some support here.”
    “Sorry Lex,” she shrugged. “I just don’t understand I guess. I mean you guys despised each other and still managed to handle things okay. Now that you are dating neither of you can seem to deal with the problems.”
    “I can deal with problems,” I argued. “I just can’t deal with being blindsided by things like this. We are supposed to be together. Why would he just set me up to fail?”
    “It’s his job?”  
    “You’re starting to sound like him. It’s a job . They are everywhere. Why ruin someone else for it?”
    “Wow,” she acted surprised by what I’d said.  
    “Wow what?”
    “Nothing,” shaking her head she took another bite of the candy.  
    “If you have something to say, say it.”
    “Would you give up the shop for