Page 61 of Not So Happily Ever After (British Bad Boys)
I swivel the leather chair away from my desk so I can stretch my legs and work the kinks out of my shoulders. It’s crazy how much I enjoy catching up with her every evening. Makes being enclosed in a glass office on the tenth floor for ten hours a day more bearable.
One of the reasons I bought the flat at Hyde Park is because it’s so close to the company’s offices in Marble Arch. On a good day I jog across the park to work, and if that’s not feasible, it only takes a few minutes on the tube.
Still another hour before I can leave. I stifle a yawn. Wonder if she’ll be up for a getaway somewhere? I roll the chair back to my desk and search “romantic weekend getaway” online. There’s a first time for everything, and this is mine for wanting to take a girl on a surprise mini-break. She’ll definitely be up for it. There’s a stupid grin on my face as I scroll down the page, but I don’t care. No one can see it.
My phone buzzes, and I grab it, for some reason so sure it’s her that I don’t even check the ID. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Lucas says, and my grin drops off my face damn fast. Fuck. Even though it’s completely illogical, I click off the hotel site I’d been checking out.
It’s not like he can see what you’re doing.
“Hi. Whassup?” Do I sound guilty? It’s the second time he’s caught me having dirty thoughts about his sister. I grip the back of my neck with my free hand and lean back in my chair until I’m staring at the ceiling. Unfortunately, divine inspiration on how to end this conversation before it’s even started doesn’t materialize.
“It’s a cup game tomorrow, and they’re giving some of the reserves a run out. Means I’m free to come home for the night.”
Obviously, my brain’s not functioning on all gears. “What?”
“Violet and I are coming to the party. She’s not seen her mum for a few weeks, so we thought we’d do the Atomic Fire thing before spending Sunday with her family.”
Fucking bollocks. I’d forgotten about that bloody party. “Does that mean I’m off the hook?”
“Don’t be a prat.” He sounds disgustingly cheerful. “Anyway, there’ll be loads of gorgeous chicks there.”
There’s only one gorgeous chick I’m interested in.Yeah, and if Lucas finds out who she is, there’ll be hell to pay with interest.
“Right.” Bang goes my plan of getting away from it all with Mac for a couple of nights. But that’s not all that’s bugging me. How are we going to handle things tomorrow with her brother there?
“Unless,” my best friend says, “you’re bringing a plus one?”
A plus one? My palms are sweaty, and I’ve no clue how to respond.
“You never know.” Where the hell did that come from?Dipstick.
“You’re shitting me?” He sounds amazed. “Is this the girl you were with the other morning?”
Oh, yeah. And every morning this week. “Since when are you interested in my sex life?”
Nice one, Will. Keep this up, and you’ll bury yourself without any help from your former best friend.
“I don’t give a fuck about your sex life.”
He’s laughing, and it’s a good job we’re only on the phone and not Skyping so he can’t see the guilt dripping from me. I need to hang up ASAP. “Remember you said that.”
For fuck’s sake, what’s wrong with me? It’s like I’m trying to soften the blow for when he discovers the truth.
He’s not going to discover the truth.What am I on? Mac doesn’t want her family finding out about us. The whole point is that this is a brief fling. It’s all she wants.
All I want.
Yeah, about that…
“Whoa,” Lucas says. “Can’t wait to meet her. Make sure you bring her tomorrow.”
He hangs up, and I toss my phone onto the desk. So much for having one last weekend together. By the time I leave work, it’s bugging the shit out of me, and I don’t even know why.
We’ve still got tonight. And tomorrow. There’s nothing stopping us from escaping the party before midnight and spending the rest of the night together.
The last night before she goes back to Uni.
