Chapter 12
Randi
Randi did not make impulsive decisions, not the kind that unraveled entire chapters of her life in one reckless move.
But there was something deeply satisfying in opening her laptop that afternoon and quietly searching for positions that existed entirely outside the reach of TimeOff and outside the orbit of a man who had proven with brutal efficiency that proximity to him came at a cost she had not fully calculated.
It wasn’t that she planned to leave, not yet anyhow. But options mattered just as much as control. And that kiss had proven that neither of them had very much control. She had no idea how she was going to face him again.
A slap across the face would have been more appropriate than falling into the kiss and encouraging it along. She was ashamed of her own response, and she was just lucky that no one had been around to witness it.
She had stayed in a situation while away at college. It couldn’t even be called a relationship because it was simply her infatuation with the guy that gave him the permission to use her feelings like a boxing bag. She refused to be that version of herself again.
She wasn’t going to be the one who stayed too long or who hoped too much. She had packed her life and followed her sister to Stagholt with lessons she hadn’t wanted to learn. Now she needed to be firmly on her own two feet, so options needed to be available.
Before she could spiral too far into listings and logistics, or before she could replay the kiss for the millionth time, she grabbed her cell phone and hit one of her speed dials. If there was one person who could cut through her thoughts without making them worse, it was Bryn.
“Hey,” her sister answered, warm and immediate in a way that made Randi’s shoulders drop just a fraction. “You okay?”
Randi let out a breath that felt longer than it should have been. “Define okay.”
“That bad, huh?”
Randi leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling for a moment before answering. She needed a good starting point because saying it out loud was going to make it real in a way she hadn’t quite allowed yet.
“I think I might be falling for my boss,” she said flatly. “Who also happens to be the CEO. And also happens to be, well…” she stopped and ran her hand through her hair, “complicated.”
There was a pause on the other end.
“Okay,” Bryn said slowly. “That’s a situation.”
“That’s one word for it.”
Her sister snorted. “Men are usually pretty complicated at the best of times.”
“Well, this guy takes the cake.” Randi gave a play-by-play of their entire relationship, short as it may be. “And then he kissed me and I felt, I don’t know, alive and wanted. Just for him to tuck tail and run.”
“Randi,” Bryn continued with her gentle way, “you need to be careful.”
Randi let out a short, humorless laugh and turned her chair slightly as if movement might make the conversation easier.
“Too late,” she said, because there was no point pretending otherwise. “That ship sailed somewhere between a swaying lift and him laughing like a completely different person.”
Another pause. “Are you hurt?”
Randi hesitated, just for a second. “Yes,” she admitted. She told Bryn about her upcoming date with Josh.
“Don’t ignore the hurt,” Bryn said quietly. “That means that you care and that says a lot. And don’t try to fix it by grabbing onto the next thing that feels easier.”
Randi’s lips pressed together because that hit home closer than she wanted it to. She pushed back against it almost immediately.
“It’s not like that,” she said. “Josh is, well, he’s nice. He’s normal. I asked him out, he said yes, and I’m actually looking forward to it.”
“Okay,” Bryn said again, though there was a knowing note in her voice now that Randi didn’t entirely appreciate. “Just remember that love finds you. Not the other way around.”
Randi rolled her eyes, even though her sister couldn’t see it.
“I’m not looking for love,” she said.
“Mmhmm.”
“I’m not.”
“Right.”
“I just want one uncomplicated, good date,” Randi insisted and sat up straighter as if that alone could make it true. “That’s it.”
“Then I hope you get exactly that,” Bryn said, and this time there was no teasing in it, just quiet support. “You deserve something easy for once.”
Randi held onto those words as she got ready to go meet Josh.
She chose something simple but flattering, that didn’t seem like she was trying too hard because this wasn’t about impressing anyone.
It was simply about proving to herself that not everything had to feel like standing too close to the edge of a cliff.
Josh was already waiting when she arrived. His smile was immediate and genuine in a way that required no interpretation and no second-guessing.
“You look great,” he complimented as he held the door open for her.
“Thank you,” she replied, and meant it when she smiled back.
Dinner was nice, as nice as tacos could be.
There were giggles around the constant mess that occurred with tacos, and Josh nearly snorted tequila out of his nose when she accidentally used the super-hot sauce and took a big bite.
She was pretty sure that she could have blown fire for a few minutes if she had tried.
Nice was the word that kept surfacing. The date was steady and consistent as the conversation flowed easily from work to stories to small, shared observations about the world around them.
Josh genuinely in a way that made her feel seen without feeling examined and comfortable without feeling off balance.
He was thoughtful and easy to be around, which is exactly what she had told Bryn she wanted.
And when the music shifted later in the evening, softer and slower, he stood and offered his hand with a slightly self-conscious smile. “Do you want to dance?”
She felt a flicker of genuine excitement. “I’d like that.”
The dance floor wasn’t crowded, and when his hand settled at her waist, gentle and respectful, she let herself relax into it. The simplicity of moving in time with someone who wasn’t going to play Jekyll and Hyde was nice.
This could work. She wanted it to work, or maybe needed it to, more than she wanted to admit to get a certain CEO out of her system.
Josh’s fingers brushed against her hand as they turned, a small adjustment, natural and unforced, and she felt… nothing.
Not nothing, exactly. There was warmth and comfort with a pleasant steadiness that matched everything else about the evening.
But there was no spark. No sharp, electric awareness that made her breath catch or her thoughts stutter. There was no heat and no pull, unlike with Chance who only had to glance her way with that half-assed grin of his.
She shut that thought down immediately and tightened her focus on the present, on the way Josh smiled when she met his gaze. Thank God he couldn’t read her thoughts.
This was what she needed. And yet, somewhere beneath it was the undeniable awareness that something was missing.
By the time the night ended, she was still smiling and genuinely enjoying his company, but the clarity she had hoped for, the clean break from everything tangled and uncertain, hadn’t arrived the way she thought it would.
It still lingered, unresolved.
She carried that with her into the next day, tucked neatly behind professionalism and routine, until work pulled her back into its familiar rhythm and she almost managed to forget about it.
Until Chance walked into her department. He wasn’t there for her, that was immediately clear. She couldn’t help but notice how sexy he looked dressed in a pair of jeans and button front shirt. He must be going on location somewhere, and she found herself hoping she was forced to go with him.
Stop it! Stay away from him. She knew she would ignore her own warnings.
His attention was directed toward Marissa, his tone clipped and focused as he asked about timelines and adjustments. It was a completely normal interaction, but Randi had to wonder why he suddenly showed up so much more now that she was aware of him.
She tried to ignore him and kept her head down, until she felt his eyes on her. When she peeked up, he seemed to be staring at her wrist where she had propped her elbow on the desk and used her hand to support her head.
He seemed to be enthralled with her tattoo.
Randi’s pulse skipped in a way that made no sense given the circumstances. He had asked about the ink before, at the water park. She couldn’t figure out what he was so interested in a dragon for.
It seemed very strange.
She lowered her arm and unconsciously rubbed the tattoo. When she looked back up, he stared straight at her. She caught the heat in his eyes.
For the first time since the humiliation and the hurt and the careful rebuilding of her own defenses, Randi felt something shift back in her favor.
He was as affected by their chemistry as she was. She wasn’t the only one struggling. She held his gaze for just a moment before she looked away.
If he chose to push her away even if he was interested, then it was a losing fight before it even started.
And she just needed to move on.