The Deal (London Suits 0.50)

I felt Ethan’s presence behind me but made no move to turn and greet him.

“Are you ready to go?”

I nodded and trailed him to his car, where he’d already stowed our bags. It seemed he wasn’t in the mood for conversation, either, selecting a music playlist as soon as he’d turned on the engine and setting the volume at a level that made conversation difficult. That was fine by me. I pulled my phone out of my bag and passed the time reading the latest West End and Broadway news and rumours, until the battery on my phone was completely dead and we were almost home.

I’d driven myself crazy analysing the weekend, and I’d come to the conclusion that the feelings were mostly one-sided. It was obvious he’d been attracted to me, but it was clear that he had no interest in pursuing it beyond that one night. To be fair, he had reiterated that to me, after our kiss that he apparently regretted, the morning after. The way I saw it, he’d been caught up in the moment with the whole wedding atmosphere, and once that was over, reality had invaded, and he’d returned to viewing me the same way he always had. As a colleague and friend. Nothing more.

Still, true to his word, a shiny new coffee machine had appeared in the office kitchen on Monday morning, so at least something had come out of the weekend. Despite the new machine, I still couldn’t seem to shake the habit of getting him a coffee on my way into work, but he’d been conspicuously absent from his desk each time I’d brought his coffee over. Today was no exception.

I sighed loudly as I placed a full mug on my colleague Luke’s desk.

“You okay, Aves?” Luke glanced up from his computer screen, his green eyes meeting mine.

“I’m fine, just man trouble,” I muttered. I’d never, ever give him the details—there was the tiny matter of him being Ethan’s best friend. Not that he would want to hear the details, regardless.

“My advice is to stay single. No chance of getting hurt, that way.”

“Thanks for that. Great advice.” I rolled my eyes, and he grinned at me.

“Hey, cheer up. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll work out.”

“Thanks. Any plans for the weekend?” I changed the subject, needing to take my mind off Ethan.

“Nothing much. I’m off to the nursing home after work to see Martha—they’ve got some dinner thing for the residents, and she’s asked me to come as her date.” He shook his head, a fond smile on his face. “Saturday, I’m heading to the rugby with Ethan to watch Alex. Nothing else planned apart from that. You?”

Great. He mentioned Ethan. So much for taking my mind off him. “Nothing much, either. Anyway, I’d better get on with some work.”

“Me too.” He turned back to his computer, and I wandered over to my desk, opposite his, slumping in my seat and taking a sip of my coffee.

“Morning,” my colleague Eddie greeted me cheerily as he headed to the water cooler to fill up his bottle. He peered closely at me when I gave him a half-hearted smile. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, really. Just feeling a bit down, I suppose.”

“I’m going to the pub after work with George; do you want to join us? Maybe a drink with two handsome men will improve your mood.”

“Thanks, that sounds great.” This time my smile was genuine.

“Brilliant.” He smiled back. “It’s a date.”

As I sipped my gin and tonic, I chatted with Eddie and his boyfriend, George, about everyday, mundane topics, feeling my mood lifting. We were in the middle of discussing our favourite West End musicals when my phone lit up with a message. A name appeared on the screen.

Ethan.

Flushing, I made a grab for my phone, but Eddie and George had both seen it.

“Why is our boss sending you messages?” Eddie eyed me with curiosity.

“Um. It’s probably to do with the project I had to work on with him last weekend.” As I looked at Eddie, I couldn’t bring myself to lie to his face.

“Look, I’m going to tell you something because…the sad truth is, I don’t have any close friends to talk to about this, and I trust you no

t to say anything.”

“Your secret’s safe with me. With both of us,” he assured me, squeezing my arm.

“Okay. Good. You know the project I just mentioned? Well, it wasn’t exactly a project.” Settling back against the wooden back of the booth, I told them about the deal Ethan had made with me, the weekend where I’d felt like there was something happening between us, and the distance and awkwardness that had replaced our friendship.

Eddie sat, deep in thought, as I finished speaking. “I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but it sounds to me like he’s interested in you as more than a friend, but he doesn’t want to start anything. You know what he’s like—he’s practically married to his work. He probably can’t see a relationship ever working out.”