The Girl He Left Behind by Shilpa Suraj Read Free Book Online Page B

remember me rescuing you from his snide remarks?’
    ‘If you’re bringing it up just to make fun of me today, I don’t think it’s very heroic.’ She grumbled.
    ‘I’m calling in that favour. Come have coffee with me now.’
    ‘What’s the catch? Coffee with you wouldn’t be calling in the favour.’
    ‘Nisha is at the cafeteria right now waiting for me to have coffee with her and I don’t want it to be just the two of us. So you’re coming with me.’
    ‘Oh! Poor you! It must be so hard to go through life with pretty women chasing after you. I wonder how you manage to suffer through it.’
    Sarcasm was something both Minty and Sia could make a career out of, Ryan reflected. It was no wonder they’d stayed fast friends.
    ‘Either you come with me now or I will have a conversation with your fiancé where I relate every single embarrassing moment of your life. Speaking as someone who has been there for a lot of those embarrassing moments, I have quite a repertoire.’ He broke off as he saw the smirk fade from Minty’s face.
    ‘Let’s not keep your date waiting then.’ Eyes averted, she grabbed her purse from the desk and got up.
    ‘Min, is everything okay with you and the fiancé?’ He stepped in front of her to stop her headlong dash for the door.
    ‘I don’t know. Right now I just don’t want to think about any of it.’
    ‘Want me to beat him up for you? Is he skinny or built?’ Hoping to coax her smile into reappearing, he continued ‘I could probably take him even if he is all muscular and everything but I sort of like my face the way it is. Having it rearranged would be a little inconvenient.’ He had an arm around her and was looking down at her when they walked into the cafeteria which is why he missed all the signs of the potential disaster coming up until they were at the table.
    Minty’s murmured ‘Ryan’ had him looking up and over at where Nisha was sitting. Unfortunately, she wasn’t sitting on her own. Sia and she seemed to be in the midst of an animated conversation.
    ‘There he is!’ Nisha exclaimed, making Sia look up and at them. Minty, the traitor, slipped into the seat next to her leaving him the seat next to Nisha. ‘Sia was just telling me that your team will be giving us your ideas for my book promotion very soon.’
    ‘Actually, the book promotion is more Minty’s end. We’re just looking at a broader view of romantic fiction in the market and your book is definitely part of it. Since you brought it up and we have all the key players around this table, I may as well run you guys through an idea the team had today.’
    ‘Nisha just mentioned that she had a coffee date with you. Why don’t Minty and I leave you guys to that and we can have the work conversation another time? I can book a conference room if everyone lets me know what a good date and time is for them.’ Sia levelled a cool look at him that had his blood starta slow simmer. This ice maiden act she had going was really starting to get to him.
    Ryan sat back in his seat and let the women figure out the logistics of the meeting.
    ‘Does Monday morning, at nine thirty, work for you Ryan?’ Sia waited for his reply with the same distant expression on her face.
    ‘Can we make it Tuesday? I was hoping Nisha would have dinner with me Sunday night.’ Loading as much innuendo as he could into the smile he flashed at Nisha, he continued ‘I’d rather not have an early morning meeting on Monday.’
    With barely a hitch in her rhythm, Sia made the changes in her Blackberry and stood up. ‘Done. Minty, will you be coming with me? We should leave these two to their coffee now that we have work out of the way.’
    Shrugging helplessly when Ryan glowered at her, Minty said her goodbyes as well and walked out with Sia. They walked in silence for a few minutes before Minty spoke up. ‘What was that all about?’
    Deciding that feigning ignorance wasn’t going to work when you’ve known someone all your life,