The Wright Mistake(16)

“You didn’t even share it with me,” I said with mock offense.

“I know. I’m legit the worst.”

“Indeed. If you’re not going to tell me, get the hell out of my office.”

Heidi laughed and stood. “Are you still on for the First Friday Art Trail tonight?”

I nodded. “It sounds awesome. How have I never been before?”

“You lack culture. That’s obvious.”

“That’s clearly it.” I rolled my eyes and pointed my finger at the door. “Out, Martin.”

She held her hands up in surrender. “All right, but meet me for the meeting.”

“Done.”

I grinned at her retreating back. Heidi, like everyone else in my life, save for Austin, had no idea that I had an artistic bone in my body. They probably should have guessed it from the artist’s flavor I put into my tats and makeup and, God, the incredible things my hairstylist, Lisa, did with my red mane. But art was a secret I kept close to my heart. My charcoals were for healing purposes only. I no longer used them to bring myself joy, like I once had. Too much had changed in my life. And they held too many memories of the old Julia that it hurt to pull them out.

But I was dying to see the Art Trail. I had a minor in art and a healthy appreciation for all artistic endeavors. As long as it wasn’t my own art.

The rest of the day flew by as I had a dozen one-on-one meetings to help people with various functions of their jobs—from new training to various coaching methods to disciplining troublemakers to hearing and resolving the latest fight on the job. Every day was a new challenge.

I packed up right before the meeting and met Heidi outside of my office. She was bouncing around, as if she were on a pogo stick. I had no idea what this new announcement could be or why she was so freaking excited. But she wouldn’t explain, and I silently followed the rest of the company upstairs.

The top floor of Wright Construction was an incredible restaurant with a panoramic view of the skyline, overlooking the Texas Tech campus. It was used for the annual Christmas party among other events and apparently had closed down from lunch early so that all of the Wright employees could have this meeting. I didn’t know why they wanted to get everyone in one room instead of sending the reason for the meeting in the email. Would have saved everyone a lot of time.

I surveyed the crowded room and snagged on Austin, as if I had a radar for him. He must have felt my eyes on him because he shifted and glanced over at me. I blushed. Shit. I’d been caught. He smirked and nodded his head, signaling for me to come over toward him. I bit my lip and then averted my gaze. Austin was bad news. Why can’t my brain grasp that?

“So…you and Austin?” Heidi asked with a pointed cough in my direction.

“No.”

“Are we going to go stand with him and Patrick?”

“Nope.”

“Oh, come on.”

“Trevor could see,” I said lamely.

“And so what? You broke up, and you’re not interested in Austin. Right?”

I grumbled under my breath. Wow, I’d backed myself into a corner.

“Heidi, no,” I whispered as she tried to drag me across the room.

I tried to put up a resistance to her, but Heidi was the kind of girl who always got her way. I had no idea why she was trying to push us together, but even if I still found him hot as sin, I wasn’t interested in him. I wasn’t. Seriously.

Heidi wove us through the crowd to where Austin and Patrick were standing near the front of the room. Austin arched an eyebrow at my approach. Patrick was grinning like a fool.

“Babes,” Patrick said.

“Hey,” I said, shifting from Patrick to Austin on instinct.

He had on a suit. A black suit with a white button-up and a pink tie. He looked sharp as fuck and made me feel like a total sucker.

His eyes swept over my knee-length black skirt and V-cut blouse. I was showing off cleavage today—well, more like every day if I wasn’t wearing a turtleneck—and he appreciated it. In fact, he came away looking thirsty.

“Jules,” he said with a head nod.

I silently scolded him, and he only smiled broader. I swore he called me that just to irritate me.

“You’re looking good today, Julia,” Patrick said with his own grin.

Austin shot him a look of anger, which only made Patrick laugh. I wondered if Austin had told Patrick about what I’d said.

“Thank you,” I said to him.

Heidi held her hands out. “Anyone going to say how nice I look?”

“Uh, Landon?” Patrick asked. “Last time I told him you were hot, he threw me into someone else’s truck. I’ll stay on his good side.”