Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

Adriana

Cole left, and my gaze honed in on Heather. “What are you trying to do, woman?” asking Heather while squinting my eyes at her like daggers are coming out.

“What do you mean?” Heather replies, acting oblivious.

“You know exactly what I mean.” chuckling at her antics. “I think you are up to something, ma’am.”

“Okay, so here is some tea you have to keep between us. Cole and his ex-broke up a little over three months ago, but they haven’t gone public with it. Anytime Ty and I have talked about you he’s seemed quite interested. So when I had to stay home for the delivery today, he practically offered to pick you up.” Heather updates me.

I stare at Heather, absorbing the meaning of her words. That answers my question and gave me more to think about. Cole is single and wanted to pick me up?

“And hey if he realized maybe he has a crush, then you know even better.” Heather shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly. “He’s given Ty so much shit about settling down and getting married. So, we’ve been waiting for a front-row seat for him to fall.” She finishes.

“Well, he is gorgeous, and he was very sweet. But, fair warning, my ex really did a number on me.” Giving her the heads up.

“What did he do? Are we sending the boys after him?” she asks me dead serious.

Boys? She’s so put together in all other aspects of her life, but her soft spot is these two men and it makes me laugh.

“Heather, they’re men, not boys. And no, we don’t need to do that.”

I take a deep breath before diving into my relationship trauma. It’s the first time I’ve talked about Toby since sharing what happened with Dani five months ago.

“And I walked in on the jackass with not one but two women, who I call the floozie twosies, the day I was laid off. I should have known he was a two-timing jackass since his name was Toby, but I guess my asshole radar wasn’t working the day I met him. Needless to say, I’m not really that excited or eager to get back on the horse, if you know what I mean.” Giving her the inside scoop that led to my being here.

“Are you fucking kidding me?! What a piece of shit! I’m so sorry, lady. It sounds like the next man needs to be an actual adult and not a man-child.” Heather tells me.

“Yeah, it’s going to take someone pretty fucking special to change my mind. And a whole lot of fucking effort, too.” Agreeing with her.

Heather’s ability to make me feel at ease allows me to open up to her, and it’s truly remarkable. It feels like our dynamic goes beyond just being a boss and employee. It’s as though we’ve been friends for years. The only other person who’s ever made me feel that comfortable is Dani, and it’s really nice to know there is someone else in my corner.

“Alright, I’m going to get going so you can finish and relax. So happy you’re the one helping kick off this foundation. I have this incredible feeling that we’re going to be amazing friends. Don’t forget family dinner tonight at six thirty pm.” Heather says as she comes to give me a hug. I return her hug and feel like my found family is about to grow by three.