Madly Yours (Nora Reed) novel Chapter 78

She couldn't allow herself to rely on him, and she absolutely couldn't...

Nora took a deep breath, slapping her own flushed cheeks.

Focus.

Calm down.

They were both adults. A biological reaction was perfectly normal.

He flirted, she reacted. It didn't mean anything.

Besides, he was... incapacitated in that department.

Sure, it felt rather imposing just now, but for all she knew, it was all show and no substance.

Realizing where her thoughts were going, her face burned even hotter.

She smacked her cheeks again.

Stop obsessing over it.

...

That afternoon, Nora sat staring blankly at her computer screen.

She had already mapped out Leo's rehearsal schedule and cleared out all her pending communications.

But she couldn't focus.

The memory of what happened over lunch kept replaying in her mind on a loop.

She knew what his lips tasted like.

Hot, soft...

Packed with a predatory intensity that made her knees weak.

Like he wanted to devour her every time...

Stop!

What was she doing?

Nora buried her face in her arms, groaning in frustration as she ruffled her own hair.

"Jade? Why is your face so red?" Chloe's voice floated over her. "Are you running a fever?"

Nora snapped her head up. "No! No fever!"

Chloe jumped back, startled by her intense reaction. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Nora let out a dry, awkward laugh. "Just... a little hot in here."

"Hot?" Chloe glanced up at the AC vent. "The AC is blasting at seventy-seven degrees. I'm actually freezing."

"..."

Nora gave up trying to explain and simply changed the subject. "What were you going to tell me?"

Chloe stared at her, completely bewildered. "You're... not angry?"

"Does getting angry fix it?"

Chloe was frantic. "But they're spreading vicious rumors about you! Saying you faked your credentials, that you slept your way into the job—they're treating it like absolute fact! Don't you want to clear your name?"

Nora leaned back in her chair, absentmindedly spinning a pen.

Slut-shaming.

How deeply unoriginal.

"Do we know who started it?"

Chloe shook her head. "No idea. It started in the massive company group chat. There's no way to track down the original sender."

Nora remained silent.

"Jade, shouldn't you make a statement?"

Chloe was incredibly anxious. "These things spiral out of control fast. It's going to ruin your reputation."

"It won't work."

Nora shook her head, her tone even. "People believe what they want to believe, especially when it's scandalous gossip. The harder I defend myself, the more guilty they'll think I am."

"So what do we do? Just let them get away with it?"