Chapter 24
Lewis
“Morning, Mads,” I greeted our manager when I entered her office on Monday morning.
“I brought Noah. He asked me to tell you that he’ll be here in a few minutes. He’s just saying hi to Ollie.”
“You brought Noah along? It’s seven thirty in the morning.” She cocked an eyebrow at me. “I follow him on ArgoS by the way.”
I ran a hand over my nape. “It’s not real, Mads,” I deflected her question. I spent the weekend with him and his cat, and my legs still shake from how hard I fucked him this morning.
It’s not real.
“His ArgoS sure as shit tells a different story.” My friend pursed her lips but the smile won. “You look happy together.”
Before I could reply, there was a knock on the door and Noah entered.
How is it that he takes my breath away even after we’ve been apart for only ten minutes?
He looked so pretty in his dark APEX slacks and a loose-fitting charcoal jumper. His warm brown eyes took in the room for a moment before they fell on the woman standing next to me. They both moved in for a hug.
“I guess I’ll leave you to it,” I said.
“Yeah. I’ll see you later, Lew.”
Maddie pressed her lips together and let go of Noah.
“Go on, kiss your man goodbye,” she muttered as she turned back to her desk and shuffled a few papers into a pile.
My sweet puppy blushed, but he dashed over to me and pecked me on the lips when I bent down to meet him. I cupped his nape and gave him a little squeeze.
“Bye, Puppy. See you later.”
I’d barely left her office when someone called my name.
“Lew, hey!”
Ollie hurried down the stairs of the newly renovated building that still smelled of freshly cut wood and the lingering traces of paint.
With Maddie’s help, Lone Fox made more money than ever. And Fitz had hinted at a lump sum Ilwyn Hall had invested in the business to help his grandson and his wife. The Old Fox had taken to Madeline.
“Ollie, hi. How are you, mate?”
Fuck, I still felt his brother’s lips on mine.
He looked exhausted.
“Yeah, I’m okay. You?”
“You sure? You look dead on your feet. I’m”—I’m in love with your brother and want to marry him—“fine.”
Ollie fiddled with his clipboard.
What the fuck is wrong with him?
“Ollie? What’s wrong?”
His eyes darted up at me, then he hastily looked away. I recognised that look.
“Oh shit, did you cave and go to see him?”
“What? No, I—” he was decidedly not looking at me.
“You’re still seeing that asshole, Ollie?” I hissed. “After everything he did to you? ”
Arden, a former colleague of Ollie’s, had walked all over my best mate, broken his heart and then ditched him. I hated that cunt, and if he ever came near me I hoped he was a good runner. Gods, I knew that he had gone to see him the other day.
“That’s, no, that’s not what it is.”
“I fucking hope it’s not. Did you forget what that cunt did to you? You can do so much better.”
He fidgeted on the spot. Ollie’s behaviour reminded me so much of Noah when I mentioned Bali.
They are both terrible liars.
“Did ye go to see him? Last time he—”
“Dropped me like a hot potato. Yeah, I know. He just wanted to talk,” he said evasively.
“And fuck you and ghost you again after a few hookups,” I grumbled.
Ollie looked hurt.
Fuck.
“I’m sorry, mate.” I reached out and palmed his shoulder. “You know I am not saying this to hurt you. Fuck, sorry. I just worry about you. You deserve—”
“Yeah, I know,” he snapped. “But I’ll never get that. Nobody wants to deal with .…” His voice trailed off. Nobody wanted to deal with what? Ollie was amazing. Okay, so he had a bit of a stick up his arse, but I was so sure that if he was loved by the right person, he’d come out of his shell.
“Anyway, I was going to ask you if you were working the pub night?”
“Oh.” I’d hoped to spend the evening with Noah.
“Ariah and Perla offered to take over the bar.”
“Yeah, cool. I won’t be working, then. That’s good.”
“Okay.” Ollie made a little note on his clipboard. “Good. I’ll see you at lunch. I’ve got to go grab SweetPea’s list so I can order whatever he needs.” He contemplated me for a moment. “Thanks, Lew. You look relaxed, by the way. Did you have a good weekend?”
Yeah, it’s all the orgasms your brother gives me that make me glow.
“Cheers. Yeah, it was fine. See you later. I think Noah will be joining us for lunch, too.”
“Yeah, he said so. He came to see me a few minutes ago.” Ollie hesitated. “I wonder if it’s a good thing that he works for Lone Fox. You know how flighty he is.”
“Well, Maddie knows it’s just for a couple of months. She’s happy to have him on the team. He’s excellent at what he does.”
“You think so?” Ollie didn’t sound convinced.
I raised an eyebrow at my best friend. “Yes, I do.”
“Yeah, well. It’ll be good for him to have something to do.”
“What the fuck?” I bristled. “He’s been working his ass off.”
“How do you know that? I mean he takes pictures for his social media, doesn’t he? How hard can that—”
“Don’t be an arsehole, Ollie.” My best mate’s mouth clamped shut. “It’s not just taking pictures. He has to come up with new ideas, do all the paperwork, find and secure brand deals—that’s a shit ton of work. It only looks easy because he’s so good at it.” I sniffed. “We’ve been hanging out a bit.”
And we’re fucking, and I love him.
“Thanks, Lew. I’ve been so busy I haven’t…”
“I know. And I’m not doing this to do you a favour. I like Noah.”
“Good,” he said with his eyes back on the clipboard. “Okay, I’ll go find SweetPea. See you later.”
“Yeah, I should be in the brewery, anyway.”
Mads, Noah, and even Fitz joined us for lunch. Fitz, whose chronic mobility issues got worse with the snow and the cold, seemed to have a good day. His green eyes sparkled as he leaned on his walking stick and crossed the staff room to join us at the table.
It was the most enjoyable lunch I’d had in all the time I’d worked for Lone Fox Distillery.
I took Noah back to my apartment after lunch.
“Will you stay here with me?” I asked him as I pulled him into my arms.
“I can’t. Mr Pickles is waiting.” Noah broke off and I kissed him.
He’s not ready.
Give him time, Sinclair.