Page 94 of Business Casual

Chapter 16

With the music and crowd noise gone, Tre’s voice ripped through me.

I slowed to a stop and took a few seconds to brace myself before turning around to face him. “Yes?”

“God…” His eyes swept down my body. “You look beautiful.” He took a few steps toward me. “Where are you heading?”

“I was going to the other bathroom, but I guess I got turned around.”

“Can we talk?”

I stared at his mouth. “It’s probably not a good idea.”

“I just want to explain—”

I held up a hand, causing him to stop. Meeting his gaze, I shook my head. “No need.”

His face fell so I looked away.

“Imani…” he breathed. “Please.”

“This isn’t the time nor the place to explain anything. We’re professionals.”

“You won’t even look at me,” he pointed out.

I forced my eyes to his.

“It’s not what you think with Syd. She’s here as my date, but it’s not like that with us,” he explained.

I shook my head. “You don’t owe me an explanation. You’re single.”

“Yeah, I’m single, but that doesn’t mean that the feelings I have for you aren’t real,” he said roughly. “I’m not explaining because I have to. I’m explaining because I want to. Because you mean something to me.”

I narrowed my eyes. “So why didn’t you ever mention that you were going on a date with Sydney? Because when we talked about her, you never mentioned you two were still dating.”

“We’re not.” He shook his head and took a step forward. “I swear to God there’s nothing between us. I needed to bring a date. She was available to come. That’s it.”

“So, when you need a date, you reached out to your ex?”

“Yes,” he sighed. “And I know how it sounds, but again, it’s not like that.”

I lifted my shoulders. “In all our conversations, you never mentioned that at the drop of a dime, you and your ex can go from off to on. So, I just want you to consider something. Maybe you’re not really over her.”

“I’m over her. There’s nothing between us anymore. We didn’t go from off to on. We were off and we’re still off and we will always be off.” He took another step forward. “If I had known you would be here, I would’ve told you. But I didn’t say anything to you about it because Syd agreed to come yesterday.”

Tears pricked my narrowed eyes. “Before or after we fucked?”

“After.”

I swallowed around the lump in my throat. I was so mad, but I couldn’t even put it into the right words.

“Look at me,” he demanded, but I looked everywhere but at him. “I would never knowingly put you in a situation like this. I invited her as a decoy. I was hoping having her here would throw Josephine off our scent.” He paused. “I think she knows.”

My head snapped up and my eyes widened. “What did she say?” I questioned. “Because just yesterday, if I’m remembering correctly, you said that no one suspects anything.”

“With the information I had at the time, I didn’t think she or anyone else suspected anything.”

“What do you mean?” Panic swirled in my gut. “Do you have informationnowthat makes you suspect?”

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