She's Cold✔️

Chapter Thirty Six

Ian stared at her from across the table, his coffee growing cold by the seconds. He hadn't said a word since he had met her at the coffee shop.

"Okay what did I do wrong?" Jocelyn threw her hands in the air. She had hoped Shane would be relieved that she was gone. He had gotten his big break; Mr Black had accepted his offer. There was no need for the pretend marriage anymore.

"You're smarter than this, Josie," he muttered, finally sipping his drink. He made a disgusted face and pushed it aside.

"Smarter than what?"

"You signed a contract with him right? That you would go through with the wedding and stay married for a few years, with the condition that you'll receive a monthly payment and he bought the orphanage for you."

"How did you know all that? Did he tell you?" She shifted in her seat, looking away from him.

"He showed me the contract. Do you know you can be sued for this?"

Her eyes widened as she shot up in her chair, her spine straightening. "He's going to sue me? I thought I was doing him a favor by leaving. I don't want him to have to deal with my mess anymore," she protested.

"If I were him or his lawyer, I'd definitely advise him to sue the hell out of your ass. Even if you returned the money he paid into your account, there's no way you can return the money for the orphanage."

"So you're on his side? I've been away for three weeks and now you and Shane are such tight buds?" Her upper lip curled.

"You're not even listening to me. No sane man would let it go, Josie. Even if you don't want to get married, you should talk to him about it. Work something out. I'm sure he'll be reasonable."

"Fine. I'll think about it and let you know what I decide," she sat back in her chair, folding her hands across her chair.

Ian's phone vibrated on the table and he picked it up, immediately frowning. His fingers flew across the keyboard as he replied the person.

"Where are you staying and what are you even doing for work?" He asked, putting his phone back on the table.

"I found a motel for now. I'm not going back to my old apartment. He can find me there and the lease will expire soon anyway."

"Do you have cash?"

"I still have some left from all the part-time jobs. I'm not touching Shane's money, especially now that he's going to sue me."

"I didn't say he's going to. I said he should," Ian smiled at her, picking up his phone that vibrated again. She wondered who was texting him.

"So how's he?" She asked quietly.

Ian's eyes slowly travelled from his phone to her face before breaking out into a wide grin. "Oh my God!"

"What?" She eyed him.

"You like him! Jocelyn Williams, you like him, don't you?" His eyes twinkled as he watched her shift in her seat.

"He's nice so yeah," she muttered.

"I don't mean it like that. Do you have actual feelings for the man?"

"I don't know. I don't think so," she looked away.

"Mhmm. Okay let's put this to a test. How do you feel when you're with him?"

"Calm, happy, peaceful even. The night we shared a room I had a nightmare and he managed to calm me down. I even went back to sleep."

"For real? And you didn't consider the fact that you have feelings for him?" He eyed her, pulling his coffee back to him. She wondered if he would drink the cold brew, but he just stirred it while looking at her.

"I didn't. I really don't want to label it as feelings," she sighed.

"You can lie to me, but please don't lie to yourself okay?"

"What does that even mean?"

"Don't worry about it. Also he's not doing so good. I'm sure he misses you," Ian said.

"Why didn't he call or text then?"

"Incase you forgot, you changed your number and threatened me to keep it to myself. Plus you said you needed space," he shot her a look. "I can't believe you were actually waiting for him to call you. You cut off all forms of communication, idiot."

"Well he could have asked about me," she whined, finally picking up her iced coffee. It didn't taste wonderful, but the ice helped her cool off so she was grateful.

"I've never met someone as indecisive as you are. You want him then you don't want him," Ian laughed. "I heard his ex has been coming around lately. He's yet to see her but I can imagine it's just a matter of time," he goaded his friend.

Jocelyn frowned as she watched him. "Why are you telling me that?"

"God! You make everything so difficult," he threw his hands in the air. "Fine. I don't care anymore. You can let Ava have him and you can also get sued. This is the last time we'll talk about this." He stood up, pocketing his phone.

"Wait, wait. Ian, come on," she protested, holding on to his arm. He gave her a look before sighing and sitting back down.

"What do you actually want, Jocelyn?"

"I've never been in an actual relationship and I'm kinda scared to try now," she whispered. "If I do try, I don't want to start by marrying him."

Ian squeezed her fingers and she allowed it for a few seconds before pulling her hands away from the table. She folded it in her lap and stared at it.

"Did you have sex with the man?" Ian asked.

"No. But we did do other things. And before you ask, yes I enjoyed it," she blushed.

"Do you want to?"

"Ian," she whisper-yelled, her cheeks heating up.

"Fine, I'll stop," he laughed. "I think it's best you talk to him. You can tell him you don't want to get married. And that you will consider a relationship with him."

"It's not like I can just call him and tell him. I don't even have his number anymore," she sighed.

"You know his house, you know where he works too. I'm sure finding him will be a piece of cake," Ian laughed, texting on his phone again.

"Just give me his number."

"I'll do you one better. It's a good thing I brought him with me. He'll be here any second."

"What?" Jocelyn gasped, looking around the tiny coffee shop for signs of Shane.

"Yeah. He insisted and I couldn't say no," Ian replied, standing up to leave. "Ah, there he is."

Jocelyn looked towards the door as Shane entered, the tiny bell above the door jingling and announcing his arrival. He waved away the waitress that ran to him.

"Fuck," she muttered under her breath as he walked towards their table. Ian was already halfway to the door, abandoning her to deal with this alone.

Few chapters left to be completed. Please let me know what you think about this chapter.

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