“Ah, there you are, Bill! I was just telling Miss Côté about you.” Rob greets me just as I take a seat next to him. Of course Sophie looks surprised. No one outside of work calls me Bill. She wouldn’t have made the connection.
“I apologize for my tardiness,” I say, keeping my voice as neutral as possible. Sophie narrows her eyes at me but doesn’t say anything. Despite this, she’s just as beautiful as ever.
Breathe, Will.
Rob continues: “Bill, we were just discussing how your expertise would be a great fit for Sophie’s goals. I’ll let you introduce yourself a bit more thoroughly.”
“Actually,” I begin, feeling a rush of courage, “that won’t be necessary.” I need this to go well. I need to show her I’m not the asshole she thinks I am. I lift a corner of my lips to offer her a smile. “Sophie and I are well acquainted.”
Rob’s eyes go wide. “Is that so? Well, that’s fantastic! How do you two know each other?”
Sophie opens her mouth to speak, but something possesses me to speak before I can stop myself: “Old friends.”
And from the look on her face, I know I’ve said the wrong thing.
CHAPTER 5
SOPHIE
The walls of the café seem to be inching closer, their edges blurring and merging into one another. The air grows thicker, harder to inhale. My chest tightens.
Old friends?The audacity of this man. Even though I was never rude or impolite to him during my marriage—out of respect for Matthew—I never tried to hide my disdain for his womanizing ways. I’m not in the business of slut-shaming, but the way he led some of those women on makes me nauseous.
When I dropped Julian off at ahalte-garderieon the Plateau earlier today, I felt more pumped than I have in probably over a year. Thishaltehas been an invaluable resource for me since Julian’s birth. While it’s not a full-time daycare, they’ll accommodate children for approximately half a day to give parents back some time to themselves. It’s a godsend for frazzled parents who need a nap, or who—like me—need a few hours to meet people for work.
I had no idea what I would be walking into.
The worst part? Will is ridiculously hot in his perfectly tailored charcoal suit. Even hotter than the first time we met.
That night, Avery and I were dancing toUptown Funkin our favourite bar/club hybrid, and in all honesty, both of us were onour A-game. We were single, ready to mingle, and feeling every bit like the energetic twenty-year-olds we were.
Avery spotted them first when they walked in. She interrupted my dancing and, without being too obvious, gestured to the two stunning men who’d just made their entrance. My eyes immediately drifted to the guy who would turn out to be Will; he was all rugged angles, taut bronze skin over sculpted arms, and buzzed chestnut hair that pulled all the attention to his dark eyes.
“Holy shit,” I found myself saying out loud, Avery nodding along to my sentiment. Neither of us was particularly picky, but this guy …
This guy was carved out of my dreams.
The second man—a handsome blonde with boyish but cute features—whispered something to his friend right as their gazes met ours. And I’ll never forget the lightning that coursed through my body when the first man’s dark eyes met mine.
They wasted no time joining us and introducing themselves. To my then disappointment, the first man, Will, shifted his attention to Avery while the blonde man, Matthew, focused on me. They both bought us drinks, we talked, and soon enough we were back on the dance floor, grinding it out with our respective partners.
At some point, I noticed Avery was gone, but Will had his tongue down another woman’s throat a few feet away from Matthew and me.
That was the moment I got the ick from him.
To Matthew’s credit, he helped me find Avery in the bathroom so I could console her after she was unceremoniously ditched by his friend. But I didn’t mince my words. I let him know his friend was a grade-A jerk.
That didn’t stop me from asking Matt for his number, though. The chemistry we shared that night was powerful, evenif it wasn’t an instant spark like mine and Will’s. I did tell him I hoped he was better than his friend and that I wasn’t making a mistake with him.
Turns out, I did.
I was wrong about Matthew’s true colours. But right now, as I watch Will with that stupid shit-eating grin on his face, I remind myself that I was certainly not wrong about him. These two assholes deserve each other as best friends.
“Something like that,” I say through gritted teeth. To focus my attention elsewhere, I break Will’s stare and look at Rob. “And Will—I mean, Bill—is truly the best person for this job, you say?”
“Without a doubt.” Rob goes on about Will’s experience on similar projects, then starts discussing the goals I mentioned before Will arrived. I can hardly focus on whatever he’s saying, but I do my best to talk shop and interject when I need to add more detail.
There’s no way this man is going to shake me. I’m perfectly capable of acting normal despite wanting to jump across the table to choke the daylights out of him.
