Chapter 20
Three months had flown by, and I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Easton showed up at my house every night with food. He took his rebound rule of feeding me seriously.
Although, the food was always cold when we finally got around to eating it. Easton would slam me into whatever surface was available and we’d make out like teenagers with their parents gone for the weekend.
Every time his lips would mold to mine, he’d whisper, “I missed these lips,” and I’d melt a little more inside. Easton slept over most nights, too; his toothbrush and gym clothes became a staple in my room.
After our sex marathons we would pull out our laptops and work in companionable silence, or watch trash TV, until one of us gained our strength back, and we would end up being naked again. I was surprised how much work I was able to get done with Easton’s delectable body so readily accessible.
In the morning, when he’d kiss me on the nose at the ungodly hour of four a.m. to go to the gym, he’d always ask, “Feelings check?”
I would tell him that I couldn’t feel my legs, and he’d smirk, then kiss my nose one more time before leaving. The worst part was, I suspected I was lying to him.
Feelings were slowly sneaking up on me. When I’d hear his car pull into my driveway my stomach would flip and a smile would creep on my face without my permission.
Easton was becoming a pivotal person in my life.
I leaned on him for advice in business, and he’d answer my questions with patience, never appearing annoyed.
I tried to convince myself that I was just milking his brain since he was one of the most successful men I’d known, but in the back of my mind I knew I was lying to myself.
I was falling for Easton.
I’ve already fallen for Easton.
Even though I hadn’t been with Easton very long, I knew when we finally ended our rebound arrangement I was going to be broken. Oddly enough, the thought of Easton ending what we had hurt more than Bradford’s hasty departure.
My relationship with Easton was different. We started out not liking each other, and now I had to remind myself daily, hourly that this had an expiration date.
“I miss you,” Jules said, when she walked into the office two weeks later holding out my one energy drink for the day.
“Woman, we work together, and we see each other every day.” But I felt the same. Jules and Cole were still in their “non-relationship,” and Easton and I were in our “reboundship,” leaving us less time for each other.
Also, Marketing Madams was slammed with new marketing projects and the launch for Aurora’s indie project was a week away. We were making the final decisions and working out the last-minute details.
Not only was Aurora’s project going to skyrocket from this launch, Marketing Madams was going to level up in the biggest way.
When I secured a contract with the JackholeS that they would sing one song at Aurora’s launch party, Easton picked me up and swung me around the living room, yelling at the ceiling that I was, and I quote, a fucking genius.
“I know we work together, asshole, but we don’t hang out like we used to.”
My heart squeezed. Jules and I had been inseparable since college. Even when I was dating Bradford, I made sure she had all the attention she needed. It wasn’t because I was dropping her for Easton. I was dropping her for Cole.
Cole was the only man she’d allowed to stay in her life longer than a three-night stand. Jules swore that she was just waiting for the right time to discard Cole, and me being the loving friend I was, I allowed her to live in that lie.
I watched the way Cole’s eyes would follow Jules when she wasn’t looking. That man had fallen and he’d fallen hard. He would let her get away with saying stupid things, like they weren’t in a relationship, and they were temporary. Cole would just smile at her with a knowing look.
I also watched the way Jules would look at Cole, when he wasn’t paying attention.
Hell, by the stars in her eyes, she may have been more in love with him than he was with her.
I just hoped he was strong enough to withstand the push she was going to do when she finally came to terms with her feelings.
Because it was going to happen, and it was going to be harsh.
Easton begged me not to interfere with their relationship, but I wanted to warn Cole. I wanted to give him the peptalk of all peptalks. Imploring him, that if he could weather the storm that was Jules falling in love, he would have the most loyal girlfriend a man could ask for.
It also wasn’t lost on me that Easton and I were in a very similar situation, but instead we had rules. Stupid, dumb rules that I wanted to burn to ash and stomp into the ground.
“We should do dinner tonight,” I said, finishing my energy drink.
“Yes, can we do sushi? Please, don’t say something stupid like salads. We have been working too hard for fucking lettuce.”
“Fuck salads, you’re right, we do deserve sushi.”
Jules jumped out of her chair and ran over, kissing my forehead. “I fucking knew I made the right choice.”
I laughed, but said what she expected me to say, “Right choice for what?”
“Choosing you as my best friend,” Jules finished the Cars reference.
“All right, I have six things I have to get done before we leave tonight,” I told her, turning on my laptop and setting up my tablet.
Easton had told me I was going to need to get two computer screens. I told him I wasn’t that busy yet, but I noticed I was using my tablet more and more for work.
He was going to use his sexy I’m always right smirk when I ordered another screen, which I would be doing in front of him. Mostly because I lived for that smirk. In truth, I lived for all of his smirks.
I am fucked.
Jules went back to her desk, and we worked like mad women. Phone calls were made, contracts were negotiated, lunch plans were confirmed with new clients. Occasionally, we would catch each other’s eyes and smile like the crazy women we were.
Our business was taking off, and I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with anyone else.
“Fuck, everything hurts,” Jules said when she stood up and stretched her back.
“We should book massages after Aurora’s launch party.”
“Yes! I keep asking Cole for massages, but you know how it is.”
“Yep, five minutes in and there is a dick rubbing against you, and seven minutes into the massage there’s a dick inside of you.”
“Exactly!”
“When I book the massages, I’ll make sure the massage therapist doesn’t have a dick. See, I’m a problem solver.”
“I wouldn’t mind a dick. Cole and I aren’t exclusive.”
I pretended to rummage in my purse when Jules told her lie. Her voice didn’t have any conviction, and I knew she was saying it to make her feel in control over her non-relationship. I refused to look her in the face and see the lie on it, because I was a fantastic friend.
“I’m so ready for sushi,” Jules said, turning off her laptop and putting it in her bag.
“Me too. I can’t believe we worked through lunch.”
Jules and I walked out together, our cars parked right next to each other in our designated parking spot.
“I’m so fucking proud of us,” Jules said when we made it to our cars.
I smiled because I was feeling the same high she was. Sometimes the silliest thing would hit me, and I would have a thought that we did something special.
“We have parking spots. Who would have thought when we met each other in college we would have our own business with our own parking spots?”
I laughed. “We do have our own parking spots. We’re fucking amazing.”
“Meet you at the restaurant,” Jules said, sliding into her car and backing up.
My phone lit up when I started my car. When I answered Easton’s call, the smile from me and Jules gushing over our parking spots was still on my face.
“Well, to what do I owe a call from the sex god so early? I thought you had late meetings tonight?” I backed out, heading toward the restaurant.
“Some of my meetings were canceled and I thought we could go out to dinner. I haven’t had a hot meal since I met you, Trouble.”
My heart plummeted. This was the first time since our agreement that Easton had asked to see me outside of my house. But like the loyal, non-bitch friend that I was, I turned him down.
“I thought you were going to be working late, Jules and I are going to treat ourselves to sushi.”
“How did she talk you into sushi and not a salad on a weekday, no less? I’m shocked. Are you sick, do I need to take your temperature?”
I giggled. “And let me guess, the thermometer is your dick?”
“Well, what else would I check your temperature with? I’m not a heathen. I wouldn’t use a store-bought thermometer. You deserve only the best.”
“I do only deserve the best,” I agreed. “Jules and I got a lot done today. I negotiated the catering contract like you told me to, and I got them to give us a twenty-percent discount.”
“Fuck, you get me hard when you talk business.”
“And you call me weird. Jules misses me, and I think she needs some best friend time. She still thinks her and Cole are temporary and that they aren’t madly in love with each other.”
I bit my lip. It sounded like Easton was texting while he was talking to me on the phone. Ever the dedicated businessman.
Please, please don’t break my heart before sushi.
I almost spit out that I was madly in love with him, too, and I wanted our arrangement to be a farce just like Cole and Jules.
“They’ll figure it out. Jules is one of the most stubborn women I’ve ever met. Of course she’s not as stubborn as you. You beat her by a long shot.”
“I take offense to that, sir.”
He growled. I had in fact unlocked a kink in Easton when I called him sir.
“Don’t worry about them. Jules is in denial, but it will all work out the way it’s supposed to.”
“I hope so.” And I meant it for Jules and for me. “Don’t say anything, I just parked and Jules is walking over to my car.”
“See you soon, Trouble.” Easton hung up before I could tell him goodbye.