Julian shakes his head. “Don’t think I haven’t thought about it.”
We eat in silence for a few moments.
“What were you fighting about?” I eventually ask.
“She wants Bentley.”
I drop my fork and it hits the plate with a clang. “She’s not taking fucking Bentley!” I snap in an outrage. Bentley is the brown Labrador that Masters and I bought Seb for his birthday one year. He’s adored, and he stays with me when Seb is away. I love that dog like he’s my own.
I point my knife at Seb. “If she takes that fucking dog, I’m not even joking, I will have her knocked off, no questions asked. I might even do it myself.”
Masters and Seb laugh.
“And this why we thank God that you don’t have an ex-wife, Spence.” Masters laughs. “You’re a nasty bastard when you’re crossed.”
“You don’t fuck the gardener, take the house, fight for maintenance and spousal support, take the fucking dog, and then live to tell the tale.” My blood boils just thinking about it. “God, I fucking hate her.”
Honestly, the woman infuriates me like nobody else on Earth. Why the hell would anyone ever cheat on Sebastian Garcia? He is the sweetest, loyalist man I have ever met. I didn’t like her before any of this, though. I knew what she was like by the way she used to look at me. She wanted me and if I’d have let her, she would have fucked me in an instant.
She never loved my best friend, not even in the beginning.
Luckily, I do.
Of course, Seb doesn’t know any of this. Masters does. He could pick up who she really was, too. She wasn’t exactly subtle.
It boils my fucking blood. How many men did she fuck behind his back before she got caught? The next woman he falls for better be fucking good or else there will be hell to pay. To be honest, I don’t think any woman will ever be good enough for him. Not in my eyes, anyway. My anger pulses through me as I eat the remainder of my breakfast.
“What’s happening on the agenda today?” Masters asks me.
“I’m finally going to sack my stupid PA. All she ever does is piss about on Facebook and bitch about everyone else. The other girls have had enough of covering her work.”
“Ha!” Seb laughs. “I’ll believe that when I see it. You’ve been sacking her every Monday for two months.”
I exhale heavily. “I know, I hate firing people even if they are assholes.” I sip my coffee. “And she is a queen fucking asshole.”
“Get Sheridan to do it,” Masters suggests. “She lives for firing people.”
A sense of unease fills me.
Sheridan.
What am I going to do about that one?
She’s due here in the next couple of weeks.
But I’m not thinking about her right now. I want to think about Charlotte.
I smirk to myself, remembering one story I can share with the guys.
“Charlotte locked me out on the balcony of her hotel room yesterday… while I was naked. My pecker almost froze off. I wouldn’t be surprised if some old lady had a heart attack on the street below.”
“What the hell? Why?” They both laugh.
“I was chasing her around her suite and… get this.” I narrow my eyes. “Fucking Alexander York turns up unannounced, tagging along with Charlotte’s friend, not knowing I was there. The friend let him in.”
They both fall serious. “Is York after your girl?” Masters asks me.
“Maybe.”
“Fuck him.” Seb winces.
“I’m planning on digging a double grave. One for Helena and one for Alexander. I’ll call it the snake pit.”
*
I’m reading through an email for the second time when I hear my office door open.
“Hello, darling,” the familiar voice purrs.
I look up, startled. “Sheridan?”
She smiles as she turns the lock to ensure our privacy. She walks over and kisses me, her lips lingering over mine for too long before I pull out of the kiss.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
A scowl creases her forehead. “What do you mean, what am I doing?”
“You can’t just kiss me like that.”
She smiles darkly. “I can do whatever I want to you.” She kicks her shoes off, takes her hair down and sprawls on the couch in my office. Why is she damn comfortable around here?
She taps the couch beside her. “Come lie with me.”
“Sheridan.” I sigh.
“What? I’ve missed you. You were weird the last time I saw you.”
I roll my lips as I watch her, knowing it was because I was thinking about Charlotte the whole time I was with her.
How do I say this?
“Is that why you’re back so quick?” I ask her.
“I needed to see what was going on with my man.”
I remain at my desk, despite the way she keeps tapping the couch for me to go to her.
Her phone rings. “Excuse me.” She answers it. “Hello.” She listens for a moment. “No, I won’t be there for another twenty minutes. Stall them.” She hangs up without saying goodbye. Her attention turns back to me. “Let’s go out to dinner tonight. We can paint the town red.”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I’m seeing someone.”
She smirks. “Since when does that matter to us?”
I stare at her, not saying a word.
She gets up, saunters across the office and places herself in my lap. She tries to kiss me again, but I turn my head away.
“We belong to each other first and foremost, Spencer.”
“This one’s different, Shez.”
She frowns. “Meaning what?”
“Meaning, I’m not going to sleep with you while I’m with her.”
“She’ll never even know.”
“I’ll know.”
“Don’t be so ridiculous.” She leans down and kisses my neck, and I instantly push her off me.
“Stop it!” I snap.
“Spence.” Her face falls. “What’s going on?”
“I really like this girl. I’m not going to risk fucking it up by sleeping with you.”
She raises her chin in defiance. “Is this the young one?”
“Yes.”
“Are you in love with her?”
I shrug. “I don’t know, it’s only new.”
She smiles, sarcasm dripping from her face. “You can’t do monogamy, Spencer, you’re just not wired that way.”
“I’ve never tried it.”
She laughs. “Exactly. So, why are you trying it now?”
I glare at her.
She puts her shoes on, her temper evident. “You’ve decided you want to be in a relationship and play happy families, is that it?” She fixes her hair. “You want a house in the country with a two point four children, is that it?”
“What, like you have?” I roll my eyes. “Sheridan, stop with the dramatics. I don’t know what I want. All I know is I only want to sleep with her right now.”
“Is the sex that good?” She sneers.
“It’s not about the sex,” I fire back without hesitation.
Her face falls and she stares at me for an extended period of time. “That hurt more than it should have,” she murmurs softly.
I drop my head. “I’m sorry.”
“Where does that leave us?”
“There is no us at the moment.”
“But we’re always going to be together. We made a pact seven years ago that we would always come first with one another.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose.
“Remember?” she asks quietly.
I nod and put my hands on my hips as I stare at her. We did promise each other that years ago, and until now it has never even been a problem.
She walks over and slides her key into my pocket, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. “Women will come and go with you, Spencer, but I’m here forever and, unlike them, my love for you is unconditional.”
I stare at her.
“I’m here for ten days,” she whispers.
“I’m not coming.”
“We’ll see.” She turns and walks out of my office, closing the door quietly behind her.
Her perfume lingers in the air, along with my regret, and I drop into my seat and stare into space.
Sheridan has been the only stable in my life for so long.
This is a really weird feeling.
Charlotte
I sort through the mail with a goofy smile on my face. I’m thinking of Spencer naked and laughing in the shower. He makes me melt. The way I laid in his arms after having sex, and the way we talked and laughed like old best friends…
The way he looks at me.
The way he makes me feel.
The day has flown and I’m in my fan girl element.
Spencer Jones.