“Ah. That’s right.” I glanced over at the bottle of Grey Goose—I caught a glimpse of the wording when I got my water—that he had yet to touch again. “You came for the booze. Could it be that Mr. Taylors is a closet drinker?”
His arms shifted but remained crossed. Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned the hidden alcoholic thing at all. “Something like that.”
“Why is it so hard for you to have conversations with people?”Namely, me—but also with others as well. I rarely saw him hanging out with anyone in the office or talking to them. Family events were the most I’d seen him socialize.
That annoyance licked at the back of my throat when I thought about Lennon. “It’s your brother’s birthday. Why was it so hard for you to stay and enjoy the night with him?” If Weston had stayed, maybe Celeste's hand would have never assaulted Lennon’s body the way it did.
I glanced over at the line of windows on the wall while Iwaited for him to answer. Some time had passed since the storm last dropped a stream of lightning and thunder on us, even though the rain wasn’t letting up. I hoped the worst of it was passing by, gearing up for the next town over.
I looked back over at Weston. He uncrossed his arms and unbuttoned the top of his shirt enough that I noticed his undershirt, thanks to the flashlight illuminating the space just enough. His shirt was paperwhite against his olive skin tone. Then, he rolled the sleeves up his arms, showing off those wrists and forearms, and I knew exactly why Ava had a thing for Ben, though Weston—and his forearms—were in a league of their own. He didn’t need tattoos. That skimpy show of skin was enough all by itself.
Those arms that spent hours in front of a computer each day, typing away and working through computer code that only a small percentage of the people in the office understood, caught my attention in a way that I knew was bad.
Weston was smart, and he knew it. And so, so, arrogant. Damn him for having such nice arms. And damn my brain for liking the way they looked.
Sometimes, I wondered how the hell he ever sent those initial smiles my way when I first started working at Taylors Security. How was it possible that his face knew how to smile when all he had given me in the past was that scowl?
I tore my gaze away from him again. It was hard to look at him. For reasons I didn’t want to give attention to.
“I was at the top of my class at Brown when it came to reading code and finding the error in it. It took me minutes to get through the same amount of computer code that it would take another person an hour to read.”
“I don’t understand how that’s relevant to this conversation,” I said. I leaned forward on my arm, my hand tucked under my ear and holding my head up.
“It’s pertinent because I can’t seem to wrap my mind around whyyouaren’t with him. I’m starting to wonder if you might be enemy number one, waiting for your chance to sweep his feet out from under him.”
Wait,what?
I tried to get words out but I…I couldn’t speak.
Leaving Lennon’s celebration had nothing to do with some ulterior motive and everything to do with me needing space and a little quiet. My focus shifted to the man in the room with me. I wanted to know why he felt the need to be so abrasive, so harsh, socruel.
He leaned forward, casting his gaze my way. I didn’t need to look at him to know all of his attention was on me. The standing hairs on the back of my neck were enough of an indicator. “Tell me, does he know? I wonder how he’d feel if he knew you were here with me. And that you were giving other men in that conference room fuck-me eyes when he wasn’t looking.”
I blinked in response, not knowing what to say. He kept going.
“That’s right, Olivia. Lennon might not have noticed, but I certainly fucking did.”
My stomach tightened, remembering what it was like to feel Lennon’s betrayal. The blade of that knife sank into me and cut deep. The only reason I had yet to bleed out was because the knife was still there, taunting me with the knowledge that if I slid it out, I’d fall to my knees.
I still couldn’t understand why Lennon would do such a thing, but I was working on trying to forgive him—despite it being hard as hell. To get over that fully, I needed time, which was how I knew I had no choice but to call it quits with him.
I just couldn’t do it tonight.
But I wasn’t… That didn’t mean I hadfuck-me eyesforother men. I looked but only out of my own curiosity of how others acted. There were two other guys who were dating women within the company, and I wanted to see for myself who it was they were giving their attention to—their girlfriends or the other women in the room. Was it only Lennon who did that? Or was it common for men to tell one woman they cared about them deeply while a different one dragged their warm palm against their cheek?
My mind sped through so many thoughts but kept coming back to a select few. How was it that Weston even caught on to me doing that? Was he watching me? Had he been for longer than tonight? But why would he focus his attention on me when…
I swallowed the lump in my throat. Nothing made sense, and my body hurt from my head to my toes. Weston’s words dug Lennon’s infidelities from the dirt, dusted them off, and put them front and center on the shelf of my mind.
I wanted to hate him for it. Because Ihatedfeeling less than, but I also hated disappointing people. I disliked knowing I had the ability to make a person feel like shit, which was why I tried to stay positive and offered Lennon more than one chance at redemption.
The onslaught of tears pricked my eyes, and my chin quivered.Damn it, Weston.But I wouldn’t let them fall. Not in front of him.
“What’s the matter?” Weston taunted with callousness. “Don’t like being called out on your shit?”
I gritted my teeth and stood from my chair so quickly it tipped back and crashed to the floor. I paced away from him and the tables, running my hands over my face. Why was it so easy for him to get a reaction out of me, yet, when I saw Lennon with Celeste, I blinked and turned away?
More than that, I couldn't understand why he thought itwas okay to say what he did. Toaccuseme of something that came with such a heavy weight.
