Chapter 5 CLAIRE LEBLANC

"You what??" Ethan blurted out, making several people around us look in our direction. "I can't believe this. I step out of your life for a bit, and you get engaged to that loser Collins, and then sleep with some random blonde?"

"I got cheated on, alright? What did you expect me to do?" I huffed, rolling my eyes as I sipped my frappuccino. "He was blonde, handsome, and... had those golden eyes that... God..."

"Okay, okay, I get it. No need to dive deep into your little play-by-play," he grumbled, rubbing his face. "The last time you started with that, I even found out the size of the guy's dick."

I flashed a mischievous grin, and Ethan seemed to know exactly what was coming.

"Claire, I love you, but... there are things I don't need to know. If I'm not getting in on the action, I don't care." He was brutally honest, and I just sighed.

"It's hard when you don't share my taste," I crossed my arms over my chest, pouting instantly.

"That's because I have good taste," he quipped before taking a bite of his stuffed croissant. "Seriously though, Collins? Out of all the rich boys you could've picked, you chose him?"

"He was sweet, okay? He started bringing me flowers and chocolates as soon as he seemed to like me..." I glanced at the floor then, a mixture of shame and sadness washing over me. "He seemed like... a prince."

"Claire, wake up!" Ethan snapped, his words harsh and without a shred of mercy. "Every guy can play the prince. It's the easiest way to get laid."

I took a deep breath at that moment, because while I knew he wasn't wrong, a part of me didn't want to admit that George... had only done all that for something as shallow and stupid as sex.

"He couldn't have done all that just for that. No one would go to that much effort just to screw me."

Ethan rolled his eyes so hard, I thought they might pop out of his head, and he sighed with so much frustration that I was sure he was trying not to slap me.

"Sweetie..." he took one of my hands, as if trying to figure out how to put it in the simplest terms, "you are Claire Cecile LeBlanc, for god's sake! Get a grip!" He clearly couldn't hold back, running his fingers through his platinum-blonde hair, which needed its roots touched up, before pushing it back. "Of course he did all that to fuck you! Do you know how much a guy like Collins would gain from that?"

My eyes widened.

And as much as it didn't make sense to me, I understood what Ethan was getting at. Like he had told me many times before... the higher the standard of a woman, the bigger the conquest, and the more bragging rights the asshole would have. And that? Made me feel like a complete idiot.

ALEXIS GALLAGHER

When I got back home, I couldn't stay still, consumed by frustration and restlessness from what had happened that morning. I paced back and forth, trying to shake off the feeling.

I even took a shower, hoping it would help, but I remained agitated, and moving around the house wasn't doing anything to calm me down. Before I knew it, I was dressed, had put on some cologne, and was heading out the door after asking my driver to take me to a restaurant - since breakfast time had long passed.

"She didn't even let me take her to breakfast," I thought angrily. I had planned a whole morning with that damn woman - knowing she was heartbroken over the breakup - but no! She had to ditch me like I was some kind of cheap escort!

But I wasn't going to let it get to me, right? No... I would just go have my lunch and figure out how to show that gorgeous, raven-haired woman with those gray eyes... what she missed.

"Gallagher?" I heard someone call as I stepped through the restaurant door, and... seriously?

I started wondering when luck had decided to side with me because standing right in front of me was Lewis LeBlanc.

"Mr. LeBlanc," I replied, a slight smirk forming on my lips. "What a coincidence running into you here."

"Please, just call me Lewis," he said, approaching and extending his hand for a handshake. "I wanted to have a word with you last night, but I couldn't find you anywhere."

"Oh, really?" I responded, shaking his hand. "But... what did you want to talk about?"

"Ah, yes. But first, why don't you join me?"

"It would be an honor," I replied, and he led me to his table, taking a deep breath before speaking.

He explained that he wanted a partnership with my company and even admitted that he had been looking for me for almost the entire event - to the point where he thought I hadn't attended at all. One thing led to another, and we ended up discussing business.

"You're an interesting young man, Gallagher," he said with a chuckle, and when the bill came, he handed over his card before I could. "Why don't we continue our discussion at my place?"

"Wouldn't that be an inconvenience?" I asked, because as much as I wanted to see the look on Claire LeBlanc's face when I walked into her house again, I wasn't about to throw my manners out the window for that.

"Not at all, quite the opposite," he replied with a smile that reached his eyes. "And I'm sure the only person who's probably home right now is my daughter Claire."

"I see," I said, holding back a grin. "In that case... I don't see any harm in continuing our conversation there."