“You’re right. That’s so annoying, but I’m sure it won’t change. Anyway, since nothing is going to change with me, let’s talk about you.”
I rolled my eyes and suppressed the urge to make up an excuse and hang up the phone before she could say anything else.
“I can feel your eye roll through the phone, Addie. You can’t blame me for being curious. Your love life has been absolute insanity lately. Especially compared to my nonexistent, very one-sided crush on my coworker. I need to live vicariously through you.”
She was right—the past few weeks had been crazy. In a very short span of time, I’d had a relationship-ending fight with my long-term boyfriend, Owen, moved out of the apartment weshared for a year, and had my first one-night stand with a man that was almost two decades older than me. I’d also blocked Owen’s number because he wouldn’t leave me alone. He’d even stooped as low as stopping by Lake Hills last week to try to talk to me. Thankfully, I was otherwise occupied and hid in the kitchen until he left.
That was the short version, of course. Bri and I had already rehashed every single little detail.
Like how my breakup had been a long time coming and was far overdue. Owen had never made me a priority and lacked the drive to do anything productive with his life. I never expected much, but when I paid all the bills and was the only one that could hold a steady job, it took a toll on our relationship. And if that wasn’t enough, he’d lied to me often. About anything and everything. Things as small as who he was texting and as big as if he had a job or was going to school.
And when he’d ditched me Halloween night, deciding instead to hang out with his friends rather than go with his girlfriend to the opening of an exclusive sex club, I knew it was over. Hence the one-night stand with Beckett, also known as Mr. Phantom.
Somehow the gorgeous man dressed as the Phantom fromThe Phantom of the Operawas infatuated with me even in my haphazardly thrown-together Bubbles costume.
I’d decided that night that I was going to leave the old Addie behind Abditory’s doors. I wanted to be someone different. Someone who didn’t have responsibilities or a boyfriend that would rather be anywhere but with her. And Beckett was the perfect person to make that happen. He made it easy to forget everything else.
And after hours of talking and flirting, we’d had the most mindblowing, life-changing sex of my life. It was dirty, undiluted pleasure like I’d never known, and I’d thought about Beckett’s power and skill every day since.
Just the reminder made my skin hot and produced an achebetween my legs I hadn’t been able to satisfy since that night. Since I’d slipped out of the bed and out of the room without so much as a goodbye.
Part of me regretted it, but I also knew there couldn’t be more. There was no point sticking around.
“Well, I have nothing new to report,” I muttered, clicking through emails.
“I’m still trying to understand your thinking here,” she began. “You finally got rid of Owen, and now you have the possibility of a major upgrade.”
“Bri—” I chided, but she didn’t stop.
“He’s the best sex you’ve ever had, attractive, and kind. He’s also an accomplished attorney,andhe’s been searching for you.”
When she put it that way, it sounded so very simple. But life was rarely that straightforward. My time was already sparse and was growing more and more hard to come by every day.
I’d felt bad about leaving him, forcing myself to walk out the door while he was in the en suite bathroom even though my entire being was screaming at me to stay. But when he’d called Grant Events looking for Caroline, it felt like fate when I’d intercepted the call.
I’d pretended to be our receptionist and taken a message. Beckett had been blunt and asked who had attended the opening.
“Oh, I believe it was Meredith, our assistant coordinator.”
“Does Meredith have blonde hair and green eyes? She was dressed as Bubbles.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him the truth. To tell him that it was me. I was the blonde with green eyes he’d spent the night with. But I didn’t.
“Nope, she has long, dark brown hair.”
His sigh was tired, and I held my breath. I wasn’t sure what had come over me, but I’d had to ask, why? I wanted to know why he was looking for her.
His response hadstayed with me.
“Because she’s all I can think about.”
“It’s not going to happen, Bri.” I pretended not to hear the waver in my voice. Bri didn’t miss it, though.
She scoffed, and my phone vibrated on my desk in front of me with a text from the property manager.
“Whatever you say, babe. You just let me know when you’re tired of lying to yourself.”
“Sure thing. But I gotta go actually work. I’ll call you later.”
