“And you’ve seen the type of women he usually goes on dates with. The complete opposite of me. Honestly, you should have seen his ex-girlfriend, Clarissa.” I shuddered dramatically. “Talk about a condescending bitch. As well as all that, he’s a bit of a neat freak, and I’m not.”
“Those things aren’t important if you like each other.” Eddie’s voice was firm. “We don’t choose who we fall for. What we do choose is what to do when we fall for someone. Do we take a chance and make room for that person in our lives, or do we shut them out and carry on as we were before?”
“Well, he made his decision. I’m not saying anything more would have happened between us, and we did agree it was only a one-night deal. What upset me was the way he brushed off what had happened between us as if it was nothing, and the way he’s acted since—basically ignoring me unless he has no choice but to speak to me.” I sighed as I finished the rest of my drink. “Nothing I can do about it, anyway.”
“Hang on, what did the message say?” George looked pointedly at my phone.
“Oh, I forgot about that.” Sliding my phone into the middle of the table where we could all see the screen, I opened the message.
Two words.
I’m sorry.
Eddie and George eyed me with interest. “What are you going to reply?”
I tapped my fingers on the table, thinking aloud. “Well, he’s obviously realised that he’s been acting like a dick, but—”
My phone lit up with another message.
Can we talk?
“Okay, he wants to talk.” I tapped out “Yes, when?” and sat back to wait for his reply. It was almost instant.
Monday? I’ll get Delia to schedule it.
“Looks like he can squeeze me into his busy life on Monday.” I wrote “OK” then turned my phone off, so I wasn’t tempted to reply anymore. Anything he had to say to me was better done face to face.
12
Avery
Monday. This particular Monday was worse than usual. It was pouring with rain. Instead of my usual walk to work, I caught the Tube to avoid as much of the downpour as possible, but by the time I arrived at work I was drenched, regardless. I peeled off my soaked coat and hung it on the hooks near the office door, leaving a large puddle to gather on the floor underneath. Pushing my dishevelled hair out of my face, I gathered it into a ponytail and collapsed into my chair with a sigh of relief.
Ugh. My feet were wet. My mind flashed to the bus that had driven past just as I was hurrying past a large puddle…yeah. Not great. I rushed into the toilets and peeled my damp tights off and dabbed my feet with a damp paper towel. What a mess. The day had barely begun, and I was already feeling like I needed to drink something large and alcoholic. I glanced at the time on my phone and decided I had time to use the work showers, if I hurried. Until this precise moment, I’d never appreciated the fact that our building had them, but as of now, I was beyond grateful to work somewhere that had such facilities.
Returning to my desk after the world’s quickest shower, I stretched my legs out in front of me and proceeded to start the tedious task of inputting expenses receipts into the accounting software. A meeting request popped up on my screen, and I immediately clicked on it, glad for an excuse to stop what I was doing.
MEETING REQUEST: ETHAN. AS DISCUSSED. 4:50PM CONFERENCE ROOM.
I clicked Accept and the meeting added itself to my calendar. My workday ended at 5:00 p.m. so it didn’t look like Ethan was giving our discussion much time. Still, I was intrigued to hear what he had to say.
The day dragged, my mind constantly straying to Ethan, and I was clock watching all afternoon, willing the time to go faster. Finally, it got to 4:45 p.m. and my calendar reminder popped up to say my meeting was due to begin in five minutes, so I switched off my computer and gathered up my things. Ignoring Luke’s quizzical expression, I headed into to the conference room, closing the door behind me. Ethan was already there, seated at the head of the large ash wood table, and he sent a heart-stopping smile my way. Damn, he looked sexy. My heart fluttered as I stared into his dark eyes.
“Avery.” He indicated the chair next to him. “Come and take a seat.”
I slid into the chair, crossing my bare legs. Ethan’s gaze darted to them, and he let out a low noise that sounded remarkably like a growl. “Why?”
I stared at him, but it didn’t appear that he was going to say anything else. “Why what?”
He looked pointedly at my legs, his eyes darkening.
This was interesting. Maybe there was still a chance that something could happen between us.
Time to see just how far I could push Ethan.
Was this a good idea? Absolutely not. Would that stop me? No.
I stood, slipping my feet out of my heels, and swung myself onto the conference table, angling my body towards him. He sat completely still; the only sign that I was affecting him was the muscle ticking in his jaw. I lifted my leg and placed it on his thigh, then deliberately moved my foot up and over the obvious bulge between his legs. He gave a strangled moan and grabbed my ankle, halting my progress. We stared at each other, both breathing rapidly, the air between us crackling with tension. His thumb caressed my skin where he held me, and I couldn’t help a tiny whimper escaping. He cursed under his breath, his gaze molten as he moved his hand higher. “I tried so hard to stay away from you.”