Read Online Seduction (Club Destiny) by Nicole Edwards - Free Book Online Page A

time which had led him to finally reach out to Cole
Ackerley. Admittedly, he needed help and Ackerley was one of the best in the PR
department. Having him come onboard would reduce some of the stress on Alex.
    Since Dylan wasn’t
quite pulling his own weight, Alex was trying to cover that as well, which was
beginning to pull him under. It wasn’t that Dylan didn’t have the necessary
skills to succeed, but the man seemed to be lacking the motivation. And that
was the reason Alex was taking the time to meet with Dylan for lunch.
    “Table for two,
please.” Alex told the hostess when he entered the restaurant.
    Due to their
conflicting schedules, Alex had opted to meet for a late lunch so they could be
on neutral ground for the conversation that was inevitable. Since the
restaurant was more or less empty, Alex didn’t need to request a table that
would offer a little privacy.
    The hostess
seated him promptly, and he advised that he was expecting someone. When the
waiter stopped by, he ordered two beers and then began checking his email on
his phone while he waited.
    Prompt as
always, Dylan joined him a few minutes later.
    “Hey.” Alex
greeted his friend and business partner as Dylan took the empty seat across
from him.
    “Is it just the
two of us?”
    Nodding his
head, Alex grabbed a menu from the holder on the table. “I ordered you a beer.”
Then he found himself stalling.
    Earlier that
day, the idea of this meeting had been a good one. The conversation had played
out seamlessly in his mind while he drove to the restaurant, but now that Dylan
was sitting across from him, he was beginning to have second thoughts.
    The two men
perused the menu, drank their beers, chit chatted about nothing significant and
otherwise avoided the issues at hand. When the waiter came back around they
ordered then waited for him to step away again.
    “Spill it.”
Dylan stated in his laid back Texas drawl so much like his grandfathers. “I
know you have more appealing choices in lunch companions, so why don’t you just
cut to the chase."
    “Alright.” Alex
said, downing the rest of his beer before signaling the waiter to bring
another. Dylan was right, Alex just needed to come out and say it. “I don’t
know any other way to say this, but when I asked you to come onboard, I wasn’t looking
for a receptionist.”
    Dylan’s reaction
wasn’t one of surprise, or even anger, which was what Alex originally expected.
Instead, he glanced down at the table briefly before meeting Alex’s eyes once
more.
    With a resigned
sigh, Alex elaborated. “When I asked you to be a partner in CISS, I didn’t mean
a silent partner. I didn’t need money, and I don’t need someone to answer the
phones.” Alex told him, all of the pent up frustration coming to the surface.
“You sit around the office answering the damn phones like it’s what you were
born to do.”
    “Someone has to
answer the phones.” Dylan remarked without heat.
    “But not you.
Fucking hire someone. Or just have them forwarded to my phone like they’ve always
been.” Alex told him, sitting back in his chair. “Look. We’ve been friends for
a long time. I know what you went through, and I’m still so very sorry, but,
Dylan, she’s been gone for eight years.”
    “I know.” The
sadness in Dylan’s eyes shone bright, making Alex feel like a jackass.
    “Meghan wouldn’t
want you to stop living. Now that the kids are older, you’ve got the rest of
your life ahead of you, man.”
    “Preaching to
the choir, brother.” Dylan said, taking a long swallow of beer. “I’ve heard it
all before, and I’ll tell you the same thing I tell everyone else. You don’t
know what it’s like. You don’t know what it’s like to go from one day having
the love of your life and your best friend right there beside you, only to have
her taken completely away the next. She’s gone, and I feel like I died right
along with her. The only thing that has kept me going was taking care of