Want Me (Mess with Me 4)

He shrugs. “Do you think people can really find someone from a dating app?”

“Anything is possible. I’ll help you with your profile if you want. It’ll be fun.”

That finally brings a smile to his face.

“Thanks. There’s this girl... but she only sees me as a friend. Maybe a little professional help could change that.” With a wave, he goes back down the hallway toward the marketing cubicles.

Watching Wallace walk away, I’m suddenly brimming with ideas. Grabbing a notepad, I start jotting ideas and questions to show Mya later.

The rest of the day flies by. To Val’s disappointment Seth Barrington isn’t at the initial meeting for GlowUp. We spend a productive three hours learning about the app, the background of the company producing it and start identifying key elements of the target market. Everyone working on the campaign is invited to the app’s soft launch party this weekend which leaves the whole office buzzing.

“There you are. I feel like I haven’t seen you all day.” Law appears at my side holding his laptop and a mug of coffee. It must have been a bad day if he’s still drinking coffee at four pm.

“Mya had us in that new app meeting most of the afternoon.”

He gives me a significant look and I glance around. There’s no one in the hallway so I follow him back to his office. As soon as the door closes behind us, Law nuzzles against me, kissing my neck.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why I can’t get away. In theory it sounds so easy to just leave someone who can’t give you what you need. But this feeling, this certainty that I am in the right place at the right time, no one else has ever given me that.

So what’s a girl to do?

“We can’t. What if someone comes looking for you? I can’t be in your office with the door closed for long.”

At work, we’ve tried to be discreet. I never thought I’d be that girl, the one banging the boss. My coworkers have never said anything but I’m pretty sure everyone knows. A fact I find mortifying at times but luckily no one has made comments about it.

At least not to my face.

“I know. It’s just been a long day. Spent an hour on the phone with a new client trying to talk him off a ledge. His ads aren’t performing as expected and he’s freaking out. Then I had another HR meeting. You know how much I love those.”

“That’s why you’re the boss. I hate boring meetings. And I am not the one to calm freaked out clients.”

His eyes sparkle as he plants another kiss on my neck. “He’s a good guy. He’s getting married this month so I should have expected this. Poor bastard.”

I draw back at the barely hidden vitriol in his voice. “Why do you say it like that? Maybe he’s happy.”

Law scoffs. “Men don’t get married to be happy. They do it because they don’t have a choice.”

Even though I knew he wasn’t warm and fuzzy about marriage after his divorce, it never occurred to me that he just doesn’t believe in marriage at all. This is a side of him I’ve never seen and that’s probably partially my fault. Maybe I’ve been too scared to ask the obvious questions, justifying it as giving him space since he went through hell with his ex-wife. But this is something entirely different.

And the time for looking the other way is over.

“So you’re saying you don’t think any married men are happy? They’re all just dragged to the altar in chains? Do you even hear yourself?”

Law looks up from the papers he’s been rummaging through on his desk. His eyes widen slightly as if he’s just realized I’m upset and is baffled by it.

“No, of course not. I’m sure he’s very happy.”

“You could at least pretend you meant that.”

Law sighs. “You know how I feel about this. It’s just a piece of paper. People put far too much stock in it. Signing your name on a dotted line doesn’t mean that you’re going to live happily ever after. I know from experience.”

He looks so frustrated that I want to back down but that’s always what I do when we start talking about anything real. Maybe a year ago that was enough for me but ever since Casey’s wedding, I can’t pretend it doesn’t matter anymore. There’s no shame in wanting a lifelong commitment and pretending like it’s no big deal hasn’t gotten me very far.

“You went through hell with Elizabeth. I know that.”

“Do you, Anya? What do you really know?” Law looks pissed off now and I’m stunned by the nasty tone of voice.

“Only what you’ve told me. But one bad experience doesn’t mean all marriages are bad. My parents have been married for almost thirty years. They’re happy.”