Page 9 of Guilty As Charged
“No more thank yous,” he cuts me off. “Let’s finish. I’m going to tell my driver we’re almost done.” I nod and put the rest of the items I want to take into my bags.
When we get outside, I hand the small bag that I carried over to the driver. I had to basically beg Spencer into letting me carry one.
“Are you thinking city or country?”
“What do you mean?” I ask, confused by his question.
“I have a place in the city and one in the country. Which would you prefer?"
“Whatever works for you.” I don’t want to be more trouble.
“What works for me is you picking.”
Okay, so he’s not going to make this easy on me. I let out a small laugh.
“Normally I’m a city girl, but the country sounds nice right now.”
“Country it is,” he says and helps me into the car.
With every mile we drive away from the city, the more relaxed I become. If I don’t think about it too much, it could almost feel like I’m going on a vacation.
“It’s been a minute since I’ve been there, so it will be good to check on the place.”
“How many homes do you have?” I tease. I’ve been in isolation for a while, so I’m not used to conversations, but something about Spencer makes me want to keep talking to him.
“The ones I own myself, or do I count the ones I own with Landon and Gideon?”
“Is this you not bragging again?” I laugh.
“Damn, I forgot to mention the beach house. I should have offered that instead.”
“No swimsuit.”
“You’re in luck, it’s a private beach.” He wiggles his eyebrows, and another laugh bubbles free. It feels nice to be laughing and carefree. It’s been so long, and I know that with Spencer I’m safe.
"You're being serious, aren't you?" I say, when he doesn't laugh with me.
"There is a cabin in Aspen too if you'd rather have snow."
“You own those with Landon and Gideon?”
“I do. It’s convenient for us to share.” That makes sense if they are vacation homes. I can’t see them putting their houses up on Airbnb.
“That sounds nice. Having friends like that.” After high school, my friend group broke apart, and I didn’t have the means for college. It’s not so easy making friends as an adult. Plus, a lot of people think my hobby is strange.
"They actually took off on vacation today with their new wives."
Oh, shit. My eyes drop to Spencer's hand to see if I somehow missed a ring. Thank goodness there’s not one, but he catches me looking.
"Oh, I’m single. Well, unless you count being married to the job. But I guess all three of us have been at some point."
He’s young for how successful he is, so I imagine he had to devote all of his time to the firm. Spencer is a great guy, so it’s the single part that surprises me the most.
Chapter Six
SPENCER
How is it that I met this woman today and now I’m taking her to my place upstate? On paper, this might be the beginning of a horror story. Although from everything that Abbie told me, her life while working with Geoff more closely resembled that.
