“How was I supposed to know that was going to happen?”
“It’s called, pay attention to your surroundings.”
“Iwaspaying attention, Weston. It’s not my fault?—”
“Actually, itisyour fault.” A beat of silence passed. “If I was able to walk in here without knocking the stopper out of place, then there’s no reason why you couldn’t have done the same.”
I wanted to grit my teeth. Gnashing them together to deal with my current frustrations seemed easier than responding.
It didn’t take long to adjust to the lack of light. Pretty soon, Weston turned into this apparition that sailed from one end of the countertop to the other—which wasn’t really that long, maybe ten or fifteen feet. He moved with ease and confidence, the kind that had my stomach tying itself into a knot. Even with his back facing me, it was as if his eyes were on me, never straying.
He just had that kind of aura about him. He didn’t have to be looking at you for you tofeelhis entire presence. You also didn’t need the lights on, apparently. If anything, it was almost worse in the darkness. It sent a shiver through me, and I did my best to ignore it.
I watched as he bent down and opened a cabinet. He reached inside of it then set a small black bag on the counter before shuffling through it.
“What are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” he huffed.
“I don’t know, Weston,” I said, sarcasm lacing the words. “I can’t really see all that much.”
I could hear his annoyance in his reply. “There should be something in here that we can use to see. A flashlight, or at the very least, a few candles and some matches.”
I brought my hands up and twisted them against my stomach. When I left the conference room in search of medicine, I hadn’t expected something like this to happen. Being stuck in a room with Weston for a prolonged amount of time sounded just as exhausting as being in one with his brother.
I fled the conference room, and I wanted to do the exact same thing now. I couldn’t be here. I couldn’t share this room with him, force polite words out of my mouth, and deal with how physically awful I felt until someone realized we weremissing and came looking for us. Nevermind the time it took to unjam the door.
A click sounded from where Weston stood, and then a ray of light illuminated the room. He aimed it in my direction, causing me to lift my hand and cover my eyes. If there was one good thing about the power being out, it was that I didn’t have to deal with the light hurting them more than they were already bothering me.
He twisted the flashlight around and propped it on the counter against the wall. The light gave away the side of a glass that sat there, waiting to be filled. Then, he effortlessly hopped up on the countertop—an act that was so unlike him—and reached his arm up over the top of the cabinets. A few seconds passed and then he lowered back down, a bottle of alcohol in his hand, judging by the shape of it.
Curiosity grew inside of me. From what I knew of Weston, he wasn’t the kind of person who’d have a hidden alcohol stash. No, that would have been Lennon.
My inquisitiveness got the best of me. I still hadn’t taken a step in any direction, instead opting to stand there and squint against the low gleam of light that gave away the tiny spots of dust in the air. “Has that always been up there?”
He replied with ahmph. No words. Only a vibration that came from deep within his throat as he filled his glass. It made that shiver come back tenfold. It zipped through my body and made my fingers all tingly. “If I say yes, are you going to rat me out?”
I rolled my eyes even though he couldn’t see it. Weston didn’t answer to anyone at Taylors Security. It was his—and Lennon’s—name that was on all important memos. It was the both of them that made all decisions regarding the business. At the very least, I could’ve gone to Lennon about it, but I had more important fish to fry with him than hisbrother having a little bit of alcohol stored in the break room.
“Why would I do that?”
“I think the better question is, why aren’t you at Lennon’s party, celebrating his birthday like everyone else?”
This gross feeling filled me, and then images flashed through my mind. Red nails. Feminine laughter. A palm to a cheek.
I hated how Weston still thought Lennon and I were in this happy, thriving relationship. I mean, there wasn’t any reason why he shouldn’t have thought that, but I still didn’t like it. Didn’t he know how his brother was? Couldn’t he see the way Lennon gave his attention to Celeste?
My shackles rose, like they often did when Weston and I butted heads. There had been more than one occasion where we bickered enough that Lennon had to step in. Every one of those instances happened during family gatherings, though, when we were forced to spend time together. Forced to share spaces that weren’t big enough for the both of us. Or our words. And because we weren’t around a bunch of our coworkers, I said the first thing that came to mind.
“Why do you always have to say such assholey things?”
A husky chuckle came from him. Not in a sexy way, but menacing.
Goosebumps littered my arms, and I ran my hands over them, trying to scare away the chill that he always had a habit of setting into my bones, into my body.
He moved the flashlight away from the wall and set it closer to the edge of the counter. The light bounced off the ceiling and created this waterfall effect over the small room. He turned around and crossed his arms over his chest as he held his glass. A second later, he downed it in one go. I couldfeel those dark, steely eyes on me as his throat rolled with a swallow.
“You know what, it doesn’t matter,” I told him, not giving a damn suddenly. I had enough going on. I didn’t need to poke Weston Taylors when I knew it wouldn’t result in anything good. He was prickly on his best days. I didn’t want to find out how he could be when he was locked in a room with someone he didn’t really care about.
