‘It’s alright, Stacey. I’ve got it from here.’ A low voice interrupted our fruitless conversation.
Shit. No. No. Not today.
I screwed my eyes up, hoping that I would wake up in bed and find out everything was a bad dream. Oliver, the book, let this whole thing be some horrific nightmare.
‘Fallon?’
I opened my eyes to find Stacey staring at me with raised eyebrows—like she was revelling in my pain. I shot her a glare and turned towards my traitorous ex.
‘Charlie. Didn’t think I’d see you today,’ I said, mustering every ounce of professionalism I could.
He stood beside the desk, one hand resting effortlessly in his business pants, the other holding onto a white access card. The card that if Stacey weren’t a heartless cow would have meant I potentially avoided this entire awkward encounter.
He tilted his head and spoke condescendingly, setting my teeth on edge, ‘I don’t know why you’d think that. I work here.’ He smiled serenely at me.
I might have misheard his emphasis on the wordI, but either way, his tone irked me.
‘Perfect. Well, if you don’t mind, I have a meeting with your mother to attend.’
Idefinitelyemphasised the word mother. It had the desired effect of making the vein in Charlie’s forehead pop.
‘Yes. The Oliver Blake book. Belinda mentioned it.’
There was something wrong about someone using their parent’s Christian name. It was like in school when you found out your teacher’s given name; it felt wrong to use it. Charlie had always called his mother by her name. He’d told me repeatedly that he hated that people knew they were related, so putting that wall of separation up gave him a certain level of freedom.
How much freedom could you possibly have when your last name is on the stationery, your mum is the one running the company and she’s the one who keeps promoting you?
‘If I could get an access card, I’d already be there by now.’ I shot a pointed look towards Stacey, who stared back like she couldn’t care less.
‘No matter. I’ll take you up. Everyone’s waiting for you.’ Charlie turned around and began walking back towards the lift.
I ignored the stab of guilt at being the last one to arrive and followed after him.
We entered the empty elevator, and he pressed the number seven. Neither of us spoke the entire ride up. I watched the flashing numbers change as they passed each floor, half wishing someone else would get on so I wouldn’t have to spend this much time alone with him.
I surreptitiously peeked at him out of the corner of my eye. The man who, for an entire year, I thought I was madly in love with. The man who brought me food at my desk late at night when I was working overtime and sat with me until I finished. In the beginning, he’d been the perfect gentleman.
I wasn’t completely naive. I knew there was a high possibility that I would run into him. But I hoped that in my absence, he’d at least had the decency to lose a bit of his perfectly sculpted body. Maybe put on a pound or two, or grow a beard so his face didn’t look so chiselled.
After using me like a treadmill to get where he wanted, a bitter part of me had fantasised about strutting past his office, flicking my hair over my shoulder with this new book deal in the bag, and watching him regret ever treating me like shit. However, the reality I’d faced was Charlie looking handsome in his tailored suit, completely at ease.
Why did I feel ashamed? I had nothing to be embarrassed about.
Okay, that wasn’t technically true. The dildos and shaving foam had been a misjudgment, but it wasn’t as if they’d doneany permanent damage to his precious car. It would have just taken some tugging to get the cocks off.
He’dusedme. Not the other way around, yet I felt like someone caught shoplifting and then discovered returning to the scene of the crime.
Ugh.
The elevator doors opened. In my haste to escape Charlie’s presence, I didn’t look where I was stepping, and my toe got caught in the small gap between the lift and the floor. I gasped as I felt my body lurch forward, but right when I should have gone crashing into the ground, probably losing a few teeth, a strong arm banded around my waist, yanking me upright.
I tumbled into my saviour’s chest, breathing heavily.
‘Easy there, Pooh. Throwing yourself at me again?’ I looked up and found Oliver’s face inches away from my own. A smug grin stretched across his face.
Finding my feet, I pushed him away and stepped out of his hold. My skin instantly missed his warmth. My cheeks flushed when I looked around to see multiple people who had witnessed my grand entrance.
Oliver folded his arms over his chest. He hadn’t taken a step away from me yet. So our shoulders were brushing. ‘Never a dull moment with you around.’
