Chapter 672 The First Woman He Truly Loved
It was totally her idea to draw the line, but when Anthony dropped those words, Juniper felt like her heart got jabbed with a needle, and man, it hurt bad.
Juniper thought, 'Yeah, I've been fooling myself thinking we had a past, but to him, we got zilch. He never even asked me to be his girl.'
Thinking this, she shoved the pain down and flashed a whatever smile. "Yeah, there was nothing between us. Just boss and employee, no worries."
Her eyes were clear, and she smiled lightly, but Anthony started feeling all kinds of uncomfortable, like a weight on his chest.
"Mr. Eilish, I'll bust my butt for the company. I'm heading out now, bye." Juniper said and then walked out of the office.
It felt like she left her heart behind in there.
She told herself that from now on, she and Anthony were done, no more messing with each other, and all that past drama was history.
Thanks to Ronnie, her coworkers were suddenly all over her. The ones who used to ignore her now wanted to grab lunch together.
Juniper politely turned them down, saying she had work to finish.
On one hand, she wanted to bury herself in work to stop thinking about Anthony, and on the other, she couldn't stand hanging with a bunch of women with hidden agendas. So annoying.
Around one o'clock, her stomach started growling, so she went downstairs to grab some takeout.
When she hit the restroom, she pushed the door open and heard them gossiping about her.
"Isn't it just 'cause she hooked up with Mr. Woods? What's she so stuck-up about, not even having lunch with us. Does she think we're beneath her?"
"She acts all polite, but she's really just a snob. She looks down on us."
"Totally! It's not like we need to kiss up to her."
"She's the flavor of the month now, Mr. Woods even showed up at the company dinner to back her up. No other girl of his ever got that treatment."
"I bet it won't last. You really think a player can change his ways? No way. Once he's bored, he'll dump her. She won't be the favorite for long."
"She won't even introduce us to Mr. Woods, like we're gonna steal him from her. We look good too, and can snag rich guys on our own. Maybe we'll hook up with one tomorrow."
"Exactly."
Juniper said nothing, quietly closed the door, and left.
When she was munching on her takeout at her desk, the same people who were trash-talking her in the restroom came over all friendly.
"Juniper, why don't you have lunch with us? Eating takeout alone is so sad."
"Yeah, eating alone is like eating feed. It's way better with a group."
Juniper ignored their fake friendliness and said coolly, "Not at all. I like eating alone. It's quiet, no flies buzzing around."
Was she calling them flies?
A few of them frowned, looking ticked off.
They thought she was being too much. But they couldn't call her out, so they pouted and left.
But when it was time to clock out, they were all over her again, insisting on taking her to dinner. There were too many of them, so Juniper couldn't say no.
"What do you wanna eat? Our treat." They said, but they really just wanted to get close to Ronnie, who often picked her up after work.
Juniper turned them down, "I'm heading home."
"Come on, we skipped lunch together. Let's at least grab dinner. We're coworkers, gotta build that bond."
"Yeah, totally."
"Hey, Mr. Woods is here to pick you up again!"
"Wow, he's such a hottie!"
"His eyes are like, hypnotic. Gives me chills."
"Juniper, how do you not melt with Mr. Woods' electric eyes? I need CPR just looking at him."
"Mr. Woods."
"Over here."
"Hey." Ronnie nodded.
"Hey, Mr. Woods. We're tight with Juniper."
"Yeah, super close."
"We were just planning to have dinner. Got time to join us, Mr. Woods?"
Ronnie saw Juniper's face, clearly not into dealing with these folks, so he said, "Tonight's our time, maybe another day."
A few of them looked bummed but kept smiling.
"Of course, so sweet."
"Yeah, really envy Juniper."
"Mr. Woods, bring friends next time, and we can all hang out."
"Sure."
Juniper couldn't help but roll her eyes and hopped into the car.
"Drive, like, now."
She was so grossed out by their brown-nosing faces pressed against the window that she lost her appetite.
She really couldn't stand those opportunists.
Ronnie chuckled.
"You shouldn't pick me up after work anymore," Juniper said.
Ronnie shot back, "If I don't, how will you shake them off? You should be thanking me."
Juniper said, "You think they really wanna have dinner with me? They wanna get close to you, hoping you'll hook them up with some rich dudes. So, you're the root of all this mess. If you don't come, they won't bug me."
Ronnie shrugged. "Can't help it if I'm this good-looking."
"Narcissist. Ronnie, are you seriously trying to date me?"
Ronnie replied, "Duh. So, what's the deal? You gonna be my girl?"
Juniper retorted, "Nope. If you're serious about this, stop doing stuff I hate, like picking me up from work."
Ronnie asked, "Isn't that, like, super thoughtful?"
"Nope, it's super annoying to me." Juniper shook her head. "I hate feeling smothered. If you really like me, respect my space. Otherwise, it's a no-go."
"Guess I don't have a choice."
Juniper said, "You can keep bugging me, but I've made it clear. I really hate it."
Ronnie agreed, "Alright, I respect you 'cause I like you. I'm like fire. When I like someone, I go all in. Maybe I was too quick. Since you don't like it, I'll chill and go at your pace. But you gotta promise to see me at least twice a week, or I'll go nuts missing you."
"We'll see, but no promises. If we both have time and I wanna see you, then maybe."
Ronnie backed off a bit, so Juniper didn't wanna be too harsh.
For whatever reason, Ronnie was actually pretty nice to her, and she wasn't ungrateful.
"Then I gotta make you like me fast, so you'll wanna see me and hit me up. Juniper, I can't wait for the day you like me and cling to me." Ronnie said, all excited.
Juniper asked, "And then you'll dump me?"
Ronnie shot back, "What are you thinking? Of course, I'll cherish you. I told you, I'm in this for the long haul. You're the daughter of the Cooper family and the first woman I've truly liked."
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