Page 68 of His Hot Mess

Vowing to go over and give him a high five, maybe sneak him a Coke if I could just as soon as I found Sadie, I kept going. I’d almost made it to the back of the shop and the door leading to the employee area, when a heavy hand clapped onto my shoulder.

Whirling around, I was face to face with Dean. Relief ran through me as I saw that he was alone. Then the jealousy came back, hitting me like an ocean wave. He was wearing a suit too, and goddammit if he didn’t look like a fucking GQ model, one with tattoos peeking out from under his cuffs.

“Hey, man!” he said.

“Oh, hey Dean,” I said, standing up straighter. At least I was taller than him. Maybe it was only by an inch, tops—the guy was still over six feet. But it was something.

Maybe I could take him in a fight.

But he was thick across the shoulders too. We’d probably be pretty evenly matched.

Still. It felt good to picture him with a bloody nose.

“Chris?” he was saying.

“Huh?”

“I said, what do you think?” Dean asked. He was looking at me with anticipation.

Guilt hit me then, like a splash of water in the face.What the hell is the matter with you?

Dean was a colleague who was going to become my employee, when I signed the partnering agreement with Graydon. And he was a good guy. Even if he’d hooked up with Sadie, which was ludicrous—just becauseI’dhooked up with her didn’t mean he had. Besides, that was his own business. Not mine.

“You did an incredible job, Dean,” I said. “Sincerely. It’s exactly what we talked about.”

Dean nodded and gave a little shrug, but I could tell he was pleased.

“Are you interested in project managing more work?” I asked.

“Definitely,” he said. “I had a blast on this one. I’m ready to take a bigger bite.”

We chatted for a minute about the space, then one of the subs waved at us. I could tell he wanted to talk to them, so I congratulated him again and kept moving.

I still hadn’t seen Sadie and was starting to get antsy. There was no one by the door to the back, which was now in a small indentation in the wall behind the cash desk, sheltering it from the music and voices from the crowd. The back door was slightly ajar, and when I stepped through I was momentarily disorientated by the darkness. There was some light coming in the very back door, which was open onto the alley. The light filtered in around a figure in a short dress and clunky boots.

Sadie.

I hadn’t seen her in… what was it, four weeks? My heart began to clap in my chest as I took a step toward her. Then she tossed her head back and laughed. I stopped in my tracks. She wasn’t alone.

Charles Haverford appeared in the alleyway.

My insides went cold. I’d almost forgotten about the silver-templed man standing there in a suit that must have cost three times as much as mine.

For a moment I stood still, unsure what to do. I could slip out now; they wouldn’t notice me. Or I could walk over to them and catch them… doing what, exactly? They weren’t doing anything out of the realm of landlord and tenant.

I didn’t think.

This was just like the last time I’d met these two—the scene was almost identical. Except I wasn’t looking for a leak in the ceiling this time; an excuse to break them up. I had no excuse for even being back here.

You idiot.I spun around to leave, my stomach churning. I was an idiot for coming here. An even bigger idiot for scouring the store for her and now lurking in the dark like a fucking creeper.

I was just about to reach the door back into the shop when a person appeared. They were backlit, so I couldn’t see who it was. They were also blocking my exit.

“Hello?”

Lucy.

There was only one way to get out of this gracefully. I stepped forward and reached for the light switch I thought I could make out on the box next to the door.

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