Chapter 3
Wes
The Favor
A week had passed since I had spent the day with Clare. I had felt like utter shit when I left her apartment. I had thrown it up in her face twice that she hadn’t ever been in love. Twice. What an asshole.
To top it off, I couldn’t get her out of my head. I thought about her when I was at the gym, when I was working, and at night, the dreams I had about her had me waking up with dick in my hand and coming within seconds.
“Fuck,” I said as I pushed back from the desk and stared at my computer. I had opened a solar energy business with my brother Finn when I was still in New York, and had been more of a silent partner, until I moved back to Boston. I stood, grabbed my coat and headed to Finn’s office. With a quick knock on the door, I poked my head in. “I need a drink.”
He looked at his watch then at me. “It’s only one in the afternoon, Wes.”
“It’s five o’clock somewhere. Want to join me?”
Frowning, he replied, “No, I’ve got a proposal I’m working on for the City of Boston. Remember, for the library?”
“Right. Do you need help?”
He stared at me for a moment before he turned his chair some to face me. “Are you okay? You seem…on edge?”
“I’m fine. Just have a lot on my mind.”
“Okay, well, if you need to talk about anything.”
“Why would I need to talk? Did Clare say something?”
That caused him to lean back in his chair and narrow his eyes at me. “What did you do to Clare? So help me God, Wes, if you did something to her and it pisses off Rory, I will kill you.”
I held up my hands. “I didn’t do anything to Clare.”
“Then why would she say something?”
Swallowing the sudden lump in my throat, I said, “No reason.”
Finn raised one brow.
“Honestly, it’s nothing. I’ve got a lot on my mind. If you need me for anything just text.”
Turning, I started to head out of the office.
“Where are you going?” Finn called out.
“Like I said, I’m going for a drink!” I shouted back over my shoulder. I stepped outside and shoved my hands into my jacket. It was windy and cold. But what else was I expecting from Boston in November?
I wasn’t even sure how long I walked for when I saw a pub. I stepped inside and made my way to the bar and slid onto a stool.
“What can I get ya?” the bartender asked.
“Give me a good Irish whiskey and make it a double.”
He knocked on the bar and turned to get the drink. Two seconds after he placed it on the bar, I downed it.
“Another?”
I nodded, the feel of the whiskey burning as it made its way down.
When he set the next one down, I took my time with it. I needed to get Clare out of my head and focus on what I should do next. I was going to ignore her words about Mandy and come up with a game plan to win her back.
“Wes? Is that you?”
The female voice caused me to turn around. Mandy stood there with another woman, a huge smile on her face.
“Mandy, what are you doing here?”
She tilted her head and asked, “I could ask the same of you. What are you doing here kicking back whiskey in the middle of the day and here in Boston?”
I let out a bubble of nervous laughter. “It’s been a long week, and I moved back to Boston.”
A look of surprise crossed her face and she adjusted the large amount of papers she held in her arms. “You moved back? For good? I mean, I heard you were in town a couple months back, but I didn’t know you had moved back.”
I lifted my hands. “I’m back, for good.”
She stared at me for a few moments before turning to her friend, she said, “Wes, this is Loren. We work together and she is one of my very best friends.”
Loren held her hand out and flashed me a flirty smile. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Wes.”
I raised my brows as I looked back at Mandy. “Is that so?”
She shrugged. “I may have mentioned you a time or two.”
Loren laughed. “Yes, a time or two.”
“What, um, what brings you to this side of town?” I asked.
“My fiancé lives right around the corner. He just left a few minutes ago. We came here for lunch after we went and picked out our wedding cake flavors.”
It felt like someone placed a lead bar in my stomach. “Oh, so you’re still engaged then. What was his name again? Don, was it?”
“Ron. His name is Ron Reynolds and yes, we’re still getting married this spring, May 7th.”
“And you booked Ron’s favorite band, The Launchers.” Loren looked back at me. “That was a huge win for Mandy here. It’s Ron’s favorite band and she surprised him with it. It was the only thing he truly wanted for the wedding.”
Mandy grinned. “Yes, we were able to land them for our wedding reception.”
“That’s great,” I said with mock happiness. What self-respectable man likes a band called The Launchers. Sounds like a pussy band.
“Never heard of that band.”
Mandy looked at me. “Oh, they’re a jazz band, you wouldn’t have heard of them. Not your type of music.”
I forced a smile. “You always were a jazz lover.”
Mandy grinned.
“Well, we really ought to be going, Mandy. Our lunch break was over a long time ago.”
Mandy nodded, then reached out and put her hand on the side of my arm and gave it a light squeeze. “It was so great seeing you again, Wes.”
“Yeah, it was nice to see you again, too, Mandy. And it was nice meeting you Loren.”
Loren gave me a polite smile. “You as well.”
“Bye, Wes,” Mandy softly said before turning and walking out of the pub. Something fell from the pile of paperbacks she had been holding. I got up and picked it up. It was a calendar. I looked up at the door and almost ran out to give Mandy back the calendar she had dropped. But then I paused. Opening to today’s date I saw the entry for the cake testing and noticed the other appointments and events that Mandy had scheduled. With a grin, an idea—my plan of attack—started to take root. Turning back to the bar, I grabbed the whiskey and drank it. Holding it up, I said, “Another one, please.”
? ? ?
I drew in a deep breath, lifted my hand, and knocked on the door of Clare’s apartment. I managed to slip into her building when someone else was walking out, and only because the doorman was busy flirting with a female delivery person.
The door opened and Clare stared at me. She poked her head out and looked each way down the hall before focusing back on me.
“How in the hell did you get in here?” she asked.
“Someone needs to tell the doorman not to flirt with the cute UPS delivery lady. I just walked in when someone was walking out.”
“Ugh. Was it a young kid, dirty blonde hair?”
I pointed to her. “That’s him.”
“Damn it. I’m going to file a complaint right now!” she said, spinning and walking back into her apartment. I followed her in and shut the door. I slipped off my coat and draped it over my arm as I walked farther in. Her computer was sitting on the table, and she sat down and picked up her phone.
“What if I had a stalker! It’s bad enough you got in!”
Placing my coat over the back of the sofa, I smirked and sat down. “Nice to know I’m on the same threat level as a stalker.”
“No one is answering. I’ll just walk down to the office as I walk your happy ass out of here.”
She went to stand, and I held up my hand. “I have something I want to talk to you about. A favor, if you will.”
Pausing, she crossed her arms over her chest, and I tried to ignore the way it made her breasts look bigger.
“Why would I do anything favorable for you?”
I made a pouty face. “Because we’re friends.”
A harsh laugh came out. “Friends? Okay, if that’s what you want to call this.”
“Clare, we are friends. And if you don’t help me, I’ll tell Rory it was you who spilled the red wine on her wedding dress after the wedding.”
She gasped. “How did you know that was me!”
I leaned back and rested my right ankle on my left knee. “I saw it happen. I may even have video evidence of it on my phone.”
Her hand came up to her mouth as she said, “No!”
“Yes. Now, about that favor I need.”
“You blackmailing son of a bitch. You come into my home, and ask me to…to…”
I raised a brow.
“Wait, what’s the favor?”
Holding up the calendar, I smiled. “This.”
“Because I’m an executive assistant, you need me to mark something down in your calendar?”
“No. I need you to accompany me to a few places.”
She looked unsure as she asked, “What kind of places?”
When I didn’t answer, she took the calendar, opened it, and started flipping through the pages.
Her mouth slowly dropped open. “Oh my God. Is this your ex-girlfriend’s calendar?” Jerking her head up to look at me, she added, “How in the world did you get this?”
I shrugged. “Do you really want to know?”
Gasping, she said, “You broke into her house, didn’t you? Like you got into my apartment building. You are a stalker!”
“No, I didn’t break into her house. I ran into her this afternoon. She dropped the calendar on her way out of the pub she was having lunch at.”
“So you picked it up, and the first thing you thought of was how you could use it to your advantage?”
I pointed to her. “Yes! And you can help me!”
“You’re asking me to sabotage the woman’s wedding.”
Holding up my hand, I said, “First of all, you’re not sabotaging anyone’s wedding. You’d be playing a role, that’s it.”
“A role?”
“Yes, a role,” I said with a wide grin. “You pretend to be my girlfriend, and we’ll go to some of these places. Like that cooking class…that would be a great place to run into her. Or the play she’s planning on going to.”
Clare stated at me like I’d lost my mind.
“You’d just be pretending, that’s all.”
“Oh, because that makes it all the better. No, I’m not doing it, Wes.”
I dropped my leg and leaned forward. “Do you really want me to call Rory and upset her? I also heard the baby is teething, so she’s more on edge than normal.”
Clare screwed up her face. “You are a monster.”
With a dramatic sigh, I pulled out my phone.
“What are you doing?”
“You leave me no choice.” I hit Rory’s number and put it on speakerphone. When she answered, Karleigh was screaming in the background.
“This better be good, Wes. Or you better be dying.”
I smiled. “Rory, do you remember when someone got red wine on your wedding dress?”
The phone went silent, even the baby stopped crying.
“Yes. Do you know who did it? I’m going to kill them when I find out who it was.”
Clare started waving her hands like a crazy person. Then she mouthed, “Fine! Fine!”
“Yeah, I was thinking about that. If you want me to look into it, maybe I can look through the photos or something.”
“That’s why you called me? To give me false hope that you knew something about it…or that you want to take a shot at finding the dress killer?”
Dropping her head, Clare slowly shook it.
“I was thinking about it.”
Rory started to mumble words I couldn’t understand before finally saying, “Don’t call me with stupid shit, Wes! I have a teething baby, I haven’t slept a full night’s sleep in days. I don’t have time for this.” Then a silent pause, like the baby was also waiting to hear what she’d say next. “But, if you find them, let me know.”
The phone went dead, and I looked at Clare.
She stood. “If you really think that threat is enough to make me go along with this stupid plan of yours, you’re crazy.”
“You said fine.”
“I was just trying to get you to get off the phone. I’m not afraid of Rory. It’s just a dress.”
“Really?” I asked as I narrowed my eyes at Clare. “And the film? What about that.”
Her eyes went wide with horror. “You know about the film?”
“Of course I do.”
Laughing, she shook her head. “You don’t know about the film.”
“If I didn’t know about it, Clare, why would I be mentioning it?”
Her hand came up to her mouth. “You know about the film.”
I nodded. “I also know what happened to that film that held my brother’s wedding on it that someone claimed was lost, but we know better don’t we, Rory?”
“How?” she softly whispered.
“I saw the whole thing play out. The videographer, you arguing with him, you grabbing the camera, and then said camera biting the dust.”
“That wasn’t my fault! He was coming on to me and I did what I had to do.”
“So you say, Clare, so you say. I guess it’s your word against no one’s since he’s not here to corroborate your side of the story. But somehow, I don’t know if my brother will buy into what you’re selling.”
“You are evil!” she said as she stood. “I cannot believe you are going this low in a sad attempt at breaking up a couple.”
“Oscar-award-winning performance, by the way, at the wedding. You know, when you claimed to have not known what happened to the dress, then the terrible misfortune of Rory and Finn’s wedding not being captured professionally on film.”
She reached up and pushed me, causing me to stumble.
“How could you? Your ex is happy. She’s also a cheater. Go find some girls to fuck and get her out of your head like a normal guy would do.”
A sudden image of Clare sitting on top of me, her head thrown back in pleasure, caused me to take a few steps back.
“What the fuck?” I whispered.
“Yeah, what the fuck? Are you realizing what a stupid thing this is you’re doing? And you’re attempting to drag me into it, Wes.”
I shook my head and looked at her. Her blue eyes were on fire, and I had the urge to pull her body to mine and kiss her. Feel if those lips were as soft as they looked.
Turning around, I drew in a few deep breaths as I placed my hand over my chest. What was happening to me?
“Wes? Are you okay?”
Her voice was starting to make my dick go hard.
“Wes?”
Another image of her crying out my name as I took her from behind assaulted my brain.
“What is wrong?” Clare asked as she followed me through the small apartment to the front door.
“I can’t right now,” I said as I pulled the door open and practically ran to the elevator.
The second I got out of that building and hit the cold air I sucked in a breath. It felt like I couldn’t breathe the entire ride down in the elevator. I turned and started walking as fast as I could. It wasn’t until I was four blocks away and had managed to stop thinking of Clare naked that it dawned on me, I had left her place without my coat.
“Fuck!” I said as the cold wind seemed to go right through me. I lifted my hand and called for a taxi. When one pulled over, I slipped in and gave him my address. Dropping my head back onto the seat, I concentrated on breathing. I needed to stay away from Clare. She was a distraction, and I couldn’t afford one right now. But I knew I needed her if I wanted to get Mandy back.
What in the hell was wrong with me. I was fantasizing about Clare, yet planning on trying to break up Mandy and her doofus fiancé Ron. Ron who listens to a jazz band—cringe—called The Launchers. What a joke.
Opening my eyes, I lifted my head. I could just fuck Clare and get it over with. My hand scrubbed down my face. I would never do that to Clare. Not ever. Assuming she’d even let me back into her apartment, that is.
“Sir, we’re here,” the taxi driver said.
Reaching into my wallet, I pulled out a hundred-dollar bill and handed it to him. “Keep the change.”
“Oh, thank you, sir. Happy holidays!”
I leaned back into the cab. “Yeah, happy holidays.”
Shutting the door, I quickly made my way into the building and up to my condo. When the door shut, I placed my hand over my chest and slowly breathed until it didn’t feel like a vise was around my chest.
What the hell am I going to do now?