One Mistake (The One Series: Novella #2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

not?” I bit at my lip to keep it from trembling.
    “Because she’s not you.” William held his hands helplessly away from his sides. “I don’t want to be with anyone but you. Not now, not ever.”
    I was shaking now, and not from the cold. “I have to go,” I whispered. “I can’t do this.”
    “Why not?” William followed me down the sidewalk and I furiously tried to hail a cab. It was a nearly impossible feat on New Year’s Eve.
    “This wasn’t supposed to happen,” I yelled at him. “It was supposed to be one night. And then it was just supposed to be some random fun. You weren’t supposed to develop feelings for me and I certainly wasn’t supposed to fall for you.”
    I saw a thrill of delight in his eyes. “I knew it.”
    “Stop. Just stop.” A miracle happened when a cab saw my hand waving in distress. I tore open the door and dove inside.
    “Don’t do this, Olivia.” William leaned in the open cab window.
    “I’m sorry, William. I have to go.” I pushed the button to roll up the window. William backed away slowly, his halting breaths sending bursts of clouded air into the night sky.

 
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
    The next morning I had a giant hangover, and an even worse realization. In exactly one day, I would be boarding a plane to fly to D.C. for a business trip with William, Tara and another coworker, Dan. If I hadn’t already felt sick, that would’ve been enough to make me throw up.
    By strategically planning my arrival at the airport, I was able to avoid running into William until I boarded the plane. He was seated in business class when stepped aboard. He caught my eye as I walked past but neither of us said anything.
    My stomach churned during the flight. Tara was seated on my left and she kept shooting worried glances in my direction. I took my time departing the plane, hurrying only when Tara started to shove me forward. Just as I suspected, William was waiting.
    “Did you have a nice flight?” he asked all of us, but his eyes lingered on me.
    “Not as nice as yours, I’m sure.” I smiled as I said it but I was certain everyone detected the bitterness in my voice.
    William went out of his way to make the rest of the day as uncomfortable as possible for me. He made sure to sit next to me on our cab ride, stood too close to me on the elevator, bumped against me as we walked to our client’s office and sat across from me at lunch, tapping his foot against mine repeatedly.
    “You have to stop it,” I said as we walked back to the hotel. Tara and Dan were walking several yards ahead of us discussing the next action to keep bad press away from our client, Palmroil, the world’s leading oil supplier that had just suffered a disastrous oil spill. William and I should’ve been right there with them, developing a strategy, but instead William kept brushing his hand against mine and I kept moving further away from him.
    “I’m not doing anything, Livy.” William brushed against me again. “You can’t stay away from me forever. You tried it before and you failed miserably.”
    Tara and Dan made it across the street before the light changed but William and I were forced to stop. Now we no longer had to be careful about what we did and said. This time when his hand touched mine, I slapped it away.
    “Olivia, seriously, stop it.” He grabbed my hand. “I made a mistake not telling you about Holly. I know it must have been awful finding out that way. But I didn’t want to upset you unnecessarily.”
    “This isn’t about Holly,” I said, jerking my hand back. “My anger isn’t about your mistake. It’s about mine.”
    “What do you mean?” The light had changed again and everyone around us began to cross the street but neither of us moved.
    “What happened at your parents’ house… everything that was said…,” I shook my head as I remembered it all. “It was just proof that this thing between you and me was never going to last.”
    “Says who? My parents? They