Chapter Twenty-Five
Six Months Later
Chris: Can I see you tonight?
I look around the table of my co-workers, making sure no one happens to be looking over my shoulder. Not that they would even realize who I was texting; they’re all pretty drunk. There’s a handful of us here in Miami for a couple of days for a new project and a few of us decided to get a private table at a club. Chris isn’t out with us, but I have a sneaking suspicion he might be showing up soon. I wouldn’t say that we broke up, but we haven’t been seeing each other as much as we were before. Chris has been traveling a lot these past few months and I have been trying to focus on work. Plus, I’m trying to listen to my mother’s advice about giving myself some space to see what I want and he was willing to give me that space. We haven’t slept together or done any of the things we usually do while we’re forced to be apart.
Chris: I’m over this distance between us. I want to talk.
Chris: I want my girl back.
I turn to Raegan, who’s seated next to me. “I’ll be right back.” She looks at me for a second like she’s nervous and I give her leg a gentle squeeze. “Two minutes. I just have to make a call.” I rub her back gently, and I want to tell Liam to leave her alone while I’m gone. He really can’t take a fucking hint that she’s not interested.
I’m like ninety-nine percent sure Beckham is in love with her and I’m pretty sure she feels something for him too, but she hasn’t admitted it. Maybe I’m hoping there’s something there so I can finally have someone to talk to about Chris. The fact that we’ve been able to keep this a secret for so long has been insane, especially after all of the times we’ve hooked up in his office.
I press the button to call him and he answers like always on the first ring.“I know where you guys are, so just say the word and I’m coming there.” I don’t immediately agree even though I know I’m going to. “I want to tell Wes about us.” I’m still silent. “I miss you and nothing has changed. I’ll talk to your parents, your brother, whoever. I want to be done with this space. It’s been three years of knowing that I’m in love with you and I want to be with you.” He pauses and I run a hand through my hair that I curled for tonight. “Am I talking to your answering machine?” He chuckles and a smile pulls at my lips. “Marissa, baby, talk to me.”
“Okay, come,” I whisper into the phone, “but…don’t be obvious.”
It doesn’t take long for Chris and Mr. Beckham to show up. Chris slides in next to me while I note that Beckham sits in the closest seat to Raegan. I’m somewhat trying to keep an eye on that when I feel Chris’ hand stroke my knee gently. “You look beautiful,” he says as he leans forward to pour himself a drink. He’s not looking directly at me but when he leans back, his blue eyes are trained on me, and it transports me back to our friend’s wedding and the way he was looking at me at the bar. He’s been looking at you the same way for three years.
“Can I come to your room later?” I whisper and his eyes light up as he pulls his drink to his lips.
“How about every night for the rest of your life?” he says behind his glass to mask what he’s saying from everyone else at the table.
I narrow my eyes at him. “That’s an odd way to propose,” I swirl my drink around my glass with the straw before taking a sip, “but yes.”
He bites down on his bottom lip, before letting out a chuckle. “I am going to ride your cunt so hard tonight.”
I’m about to respond that I’m ready to go do that now when Beth, a woman from marketing returns to the table with a bottle in her hand and Liam in tow. “Who wants a shot?” I see Liam behind her and he immediately looks at Raegan and then at Mr. Beckham.
“Didn’t realize you guys were coming out tonight?” Liam asks our boss quite ballsy before turning his eyes to Chris.
“This motherfucker,” Chris mutters under his breath. “I’m sorry, aren’t you using the company card to pay for all of this? Why wouldn’t we be here? He’s paying for it,” he says as he points at Mr. Beckham, and I giggle. “We can’t have fun too?”
Liam gives what seems like the fakest laugh before sitting down as Beth begins pouring a round of shots. “That guy needs to watch himself.”
I giggle. “Why do you say that?”
“I’ll tell you later,” he says and I don’t miss the way his hand runs down my back when he sits up to grab the shot. “So, I know you moved out recently. I’m a little hurt that I haven’t been invited over to see the new place.” The guy sitting on the other side of Chris turns to look at us and I can tell he’s hammered.
“Holt, we were thinking of hitting a different club, you want to go?” I hear the implication loud and clear that they are probably going to a strip club. I roll my eyes before turning to talk to Raegan but am hyper-aware of the next words that come out of his mouth.
“Nah, my girl wouldn’t like it.”
“Your girl?” My ears perk up because to my knowledge no one in the office thinks he’s dated since his divorce was finalized. “You don’t mean your wife, right?”
He snorts and I turn back towards their conversation. “Definitely not my wife. I mean she might be soon…” he starts and I’m about to interrupt before he goes down a road that ends with him outing us to the entire table, when I hear Liam from across the table announce that we are out of vodka.
“I’m going to get another bottle. Rae, you want to come with me?” I can feel Raegan tense next to me, and I shoot Liam a look that I wish he would understand so he can stop embarrassing himself.
“What, you need help?” Chris snorts and I elbow him as inconspicuously as possible. He gives me a side eye with a grin.
“No, I just wanted to chat for a bit.” He holds his hand out for Raegan and she gives a polite smile before she gets up and follows him out of the area. I don’t miss the look that briefly crosses Mr. Beckham’s face, and at this moment I am thoroughly convinced he’s in love with her so I decide to help him out in case he’s thinking Liam is a threat.
“I love Liam to death, but can he give it a rest?” I pick up the shot that Chris had poured for me and down it. “She’s not interested,” I sing, feeling the alcohol starting to warm my insides. I look at Chris who I see giving Beckham a look before his eyes turn back to me.
“What?” I ask, wondering why it seems like there’s a secret that I’m not in on.
“I’ll tell you later.”
“Tell me now.” I frown and he laughs.
“Oh, someone is feeling their drinks. Okay, but don’t react—” he starts but is interrupted when I hear Mr. Beckham’s voice.
“I think I’m going to head out.”
When I turn around, he’s standing up.
I think about the fact that Raegan may not be happy if she comes back and he’s not here. “Now?” I ask. I want to tell him to hang out for a little while, just to say goodbye to her, but he’s already heading towards the edge of the section. “Yeah, I have some work to do, and I want to get up early but you guys have fun.”
I turn back to Chris fully prepared to unleash my hypothesis about Beckham being in love with Raegan. “Okay, you know what I think?”
“What do you think, gorgeous?” He smiles while looking down at my lips and I can’t stop the giggle that leaves me. “You ready to go to my room?”
“Yes,” I tell him as I grab the glass that’s in front of me, wanting to finish it before I leave. “We probably shouldn’t leave together though. I’ll go first? I have to use the ladies’ room anyway.” I’m only a few feet from the table when my phone vibrates with a text from Liam.
Liam: Why didn’t you tell me that Rae had a boyfriend?
She does? Since when?
I’m not sure how to respond so I ignore his text for the time being and that’s when I see Raegan moving through the crowd by herself. I make my way towards her before she can get back to the table and tug her into a corner away from any prying eyes or ears.
“Boyfriend?! Did you just make that up to get him to back off? Tell me fast. Or do I need to corroborate this story? I haven’t answered Liam’s text yet.” I bring my drink to my lips and Raegan pulls it away from my mouth to smell it.
“Marissa, maybe you should slow down. You’re going to be hungover tomorrow.” And fucked. “Are you going to sleep with Chris?”
Yes.
I turn back towards the table and then to her. Chris and I haven’t talked about telling anyone other than Wes, and I don’t want to make this decision while I’m drunk but I do trust Raegan so I decide to go with a watered-down version of the truth. “I don’t know. Maybe.” I let out a sigh. “Okay, I’m going to tell you something but don’t freak out.”
She narrows her eyes and leans forward. “Oh god, what?”
“I’ve slept with him before.” Many times. In fact, I’m in love with him.
“What?!” Her eyes widen to the size of saucers and she puts a hand over her mouth.
“Before I worked here!” I let out a guilty laugh. “And since I’ve worked here.”
“Wow, oh my god. Wait…” She pauses. “You’ve worked here three years and wasn’t his divorce just recently finalized?”
“I didn’t know at the time.” I bite my bottom lip, preparing to lie to her for now. “I met him at a wedding. His childhood best friend was marrying my college roommate and we were both in the wedding blah blah blah. I get a little slutty at weddings; I don’t want to talk about it. His wife was not there and I don’t remember seeing a ring but I was very drunk. Nevertheless, he obviously did not tell me that.”
“Okay, so…how did that lead to you working here?”
“Coincidence? Karma? I don’t know. I got the job before I even realized he worked here. I slept with a married man; he didn’t exactly give me his credentials. It makes me cringe to think about what I did. I really am a girl’s girl.” And I hate that there was a period in my life when I was really anything but.
“I know.” She rubs my arm and I’m grateful that it seems like she’s not judging me unlike everyone else in my life when they found out.
“Please don’t think less of me.”
“I don’t!” she says, shaking her head.
“Okay good. That’s why I never told you or anyone that works here. I felt so ashamed after I found out. Imagine running into the guy who was the best sex of your life on your first day of work only to find out he’s your married boss.” I drain the rest of my glass and set it on a nearby high-top table. “Then Beckham screamed at me. Told you my day sucked.” I wince. “He told me he was leaving her and then everything got so complicated and then his wife actually found out about me and it was such a mess. So, I went to Paris. I fled, because…I fell for a married man. But I ended it. I told him we were done until he was completely single. No bullshit separation either. I stayed away for a while and now…”
“Now, he’s single and obviously very into you.” She nods toward him and when I turn around, I meet his gaze and a smile finds his lips instantly. “You guys are definitely getting back together. He hasn’t been able to take his eyes off of you all night.”
I turn back towards her and shake my head. “Okay, enough about me. Boyfriend?”
“Okay. Since we are trading secrets…”
“Oh my god!!” I squeal because I knew something was going on between her and Beckham. “I knew it. I knew it, knew it, knew it!” I say, tapping her nose each time. “He’s so down bad for you. I knew I wasn’t crazy.” I slap her arm. “How could you not tell me?! Since when?”
“Umm, the holiday party?” she answers weakly and I knew it was odd that she just disappeared out of nowhere.
I shake my head at her as a smirk plays on my lips. “I die! Of course. Oh my god. I need to know everything.”
“So, when were you going to tell me about Beckham and Raegan?” I say as soon as we slide into the backseat of our Uber.
He pulls me into his lap to straddle him even though I’m in a very short dress and grips my ass. “Do we have to talk about it now?”
“Umm, yes? That’s big! Does he love her?”
He closes his eyes and then opens one. “What did she say?”
“Well, she didn’t explicitly use that word but something tells me you may know more about his feelings.”
“He hasn’t told me either but as his best friend, yeah”—he nods—“I think he’s in love with her.”
“Holy shit!” I smile because now thinking about all of their interactions over the past six months, they really make the cutest couple. “Well…maybe with you both being in love with subordinates, you guys can change the fraternization policy.”
“Now, you see why I wanted to talk to Wes?” he asks.
“Well…he may beat you to it.” I wince.
He groans and rubs a hand over his eyes. “You told Raegan?”
“I…yes?” I wince.
“Everything?”
I nod. “I mean, there’s no way to squeeze three years of our relationship into the three minutes we talked, but I gave her the cliff notes.”
He sighs. “Beck is going to chew my ass out for keeping this from him for so long.”
“I’m sorry.” I wince again. “You were staring at me like you wanted to fuck me on top of the table all night, so Raegan asked if I was going to sleep with you and then everything just kind of spilled out.”
“I’m not mad.” He leans forward and presses his lips to mine. “But I think the four of us are going to have a little talk tomorrow morning.”