by KB Winters
That’s all this was, right? Just a game to him.
He thought that since he’d gotten me to open up and talk about my childhood and fall asleep on him, that somehow that equated to me being ripe for the picking again, and he could get back in my panties.
I cringed, realizing that it had worked. Again. I had to give him credit—he was the best gamer I’d ever encountered.
But it was done. I was done.
“I’ll check in with you later, then,” he said, his face masked and unchanging as he ripped open the office door and swept out.
As soon as the door was closed, I sank into the chair behind my desk and stared blankly over at the couch. My mind was racing with so many thoughts and emotions that I feared I was on the brink of a nervous breakdown.
Why was it that every time something like this happened, I was the one left feeling insecure and heartbroken and he could just vanish into thin air, like I didn’t mean anything to him?
Because you don’t, Allie. You’re just a piece of ass.
I buried my face in my hands and pressed my thumbs against my eyes, trying to hold off the flood of tears that was rapidly welling up inside of me.
I knew there was no way I was going to be able to get anything done, and I really couldn’t bear the thought of parading around the office in the same outfit as the day before, so I gathered my purse and fled, hoping that I could get out of the building without anyone noticing me.
As soon as I arrived home, I poured myself a huge goblet of wine and then poured myself into a bubble bath. Sam sat on the edge of the tub watching me, his tail swishing along the edge of the tub. I’m pretty sure his interest was because I’d neglected to fill up his food bowl when I returned home, but I told myself he was there to comfort me in my time of need.
My God, I’m pathetic.
I took another gulp of wine, letting it slide down into my belly, warming me from the inside.
“Can you believe I said that?” I asked Sam. He continued to stare.
The truth was—I still wasn’t sure where my blurted-out question had come from. It was phrased in the worst way and delivered at the absolute worst time. What had I been thinking?
I wriggled my toe against the faucet until a slow stream of hot water poured into the tub. I’d been soaking for twenty minutes or so and my bath was getting cold. My skin was turning pruny and wrinkly and I knew I should get out, but then I would be forced to come up with something to do for the rest of the day, and I wasn’t sure I could deal with entertaining myself right now.
Everyone else I knew would be working—like the good, responsible, mentally stable people I knew and loved.
I, on the other hand, suddenly had nothing to do except sit around, turning in a human raisin and bemoaning my bad taste in men and terrible habit of saying the first thing that popped into my head.
In all fairness, my question wasn’t one hundred percent off base. Cooper did owe me an explanation—and his resistance to give me one was only making me feel worse about the answer he was hiding. Whoever this actress was to him, it was clear that there was something going on between them. Something more than a casual acquaintance. First of all, casual acquaintances don’t spend the night at each other’s houses, they do not say things like “I love you”, and they do not hide them from other people. Especially not the woman they are involved with.
“Hah!” I had to laugh at myself. To think that Cooper even considered me when making decisions or choices in his everyday life was laughable, if not completely delusional. Cooper had proved time and time again that the only person he was capable of thinking about was himself. I really had no right to be mad at him. He’d never promised me anything. There had never been a discussion of exclusivity or relationship status. For all intents and purposes I was just a fling to him, a conquest, a notch on his bed post.
I drank more wine.
When the goblet was empty, I set the glass outside the tub and sunk lower into the bubbles. They were rapidly dissipating, but there were still enough to give a faint aroma of rose petal and sweet pea. It should have been soothing, but I couldn’t relax. My nerves were shot from the hacking fiasco last night and the crazy session in my office this morning. The last twenty-four hours had left me reeling, fighting for breath and clarity as my world continued to get weirder and weirder.
Eventually, I hauled myself out of the tub and wrapped up in a soft, fluffy bathrobe that I’d stolen from a hotel once upon a time. I knew it had been wrong, but it was the nicest thing I owned at the time, so I’d kept it.
I wandered into the kitchen and rummaged through my fridge but it was pretty bare. I had done all kinds of shopping over the weekend, but, unfortunately, none of it had been for groceries. I pulled out a container of hummus and a bag of carrot sticks, praying the hummus hadn’t gone bad. With my snack in hand, I sat down at the dining table and pulled open my laptop. I may have high-tailed it out of the office, but that didn’t necessarily mean I couldn’t get any work done. I needed to focus on this hack. The sooner I got Cooper the answers he was looking for, the sooner he would leave me alone.
And that was what I needed…for him to leave me the hell alone.
The man undid me in a way that I couldn’t even articulate. The way he looked at me, talked to me, talked about me. The way his hands felt on my skin, his body fit against mine, the smell of him. Ugh…it was all too much. He was driving me insane in the worst possible way.
I shook my head, hoping to clear him out, but it didn’t do much good. He was still there, hovering in the back of my mind as my computer fired up and I logged in to the company website. I checked my emails, but there was nothing super important. I’d been with Brighton Enterprises for a week and although I was cc’ed on most inter-office memos, they really had nothing to do with my position and I could safely ignore the majority of the chatter. I supposed Cooper wanted it that way, at least for now. Whatever he thought the competition had, he wanted it badly, and wanted to make sure I could focus on that task entirely.
The whole thing was so confusing. I still had no idea why he cared what the competition was using in their products. I’d given him the general ingredients, with my added suggestions of natural, plant-based substitutes, but still, he pressed on, demanding more information.
The next thing I pulled up was the data that I’d saved from the night before. I’d emailed all the tracking information and screen shots to myself for further review, and decided that now was as good of time as any. I munched on the stale carrots as I read through the files, digitally highlighting anything that seemed important.
As I scanned through the data, a ding sounded, indicating that an email had come in. I minimized the window and pulled up my inbox. There was some small speck of hope that it could be from Cooper, telling me he was ever so sorry about the way he’d left my office, and asking me to come back to work so we could talk.
The email was from Parker.
Curiosity quickly replaced my disappointment and I pulled it open to read his message:
Allison,
I’m really sorry to do this over email, but I don’t think things are going to work between us.
I hope this doesn’t make things too awkward at the office. I think you’re a great girl and am happy to have you on the Plush team.
Regards,
Parker
I almost laughed, but it died on my lips before it could escape. I rolled my eyes instead and deleted the email, not bothering with a response. I had no doubt that Cooper had nipped that situation in the bud as soon as he found out about it. It didn’t really matter. Parker was a nice guy, but not someone I wanted a second date with. However, knowing that Cooper had intervened in some way brought my anger rising back to the surface and suddenly I couldn’t get him out of my head again, which only made me angrier.
Chapter Eight
“Hey, Allie, long time! How are you?” Bryce asked when he picked up the phone.
“Well, I just spent two hours in the
tub, day drinking and contemplating going postal, so… you tell me,” I replied.
After my bath and receiving the email from Parker, I’d called up the first person that came to mind—Bryce. I figured he’d know what to do since he’d been there at the beginning of Cooper and me…and whatever it was we were doing together. It wasn’t a relationship. But then, it wasn’t not one, either.
It was complicated.
“Sounds like you need to get out of the house. The question is, do you want to continue drinking, or do you need something to sober you up?” he asked.
I hesitated, balancing the phone against my shoulder as I craned around the corner to look at the glowing digital clock beside my bed. It was nearly one o’clock in the afternoon. I was still exhausted, but with everything going on in my head, I knew there was no way I was going to be able to sleep without medicinal intervention.
“Coffee would probably be the best solution right now.”
“Done. Let’s meet at Piper’s Cafe. They have good coffee and we can get you something for lunch, as well.”
I smiled, appreciative of Bryce’s concern. He rattled off the directions, and we hung up. I went to my bedroom and quickly changed into a pair of dark wash jeans and a black tank. I didn’t bother with makeup and threw my long hair into a ponytail. As I slicked back my hair, I recalled confessing to Cooper that I am a natural redhead. It had been ages since I’d let myself revert to my natural color, but in that moment, staring at my reflection in the mirror, I started to consider it.
I swept out of the apartment, giving Sam a pat on the head as I left, and within fifteen minutes had arrived at the cafe Bryce had indicated. It was a cute shop with indoor and outdoor seating. I spotted Bryce right away, and then noticed he’d brought Clay, his boyfriend, along with him. I’d met Clay once before, when Bryce had coaxed me out of my apartment after a different encounter with Cooper had left me down in the dumps.
Man, I have got to get off this fucking merry-go-round.
I was a little embarrassed as I walked over to them. I didn’t want Clay to think of me as some whiny chick who did nothing but complain about men. I didn’t know why it particularly mattered to me, but it did. Bryce saw me and started waving me over to the table they had selected. I plastered on a smile and resolved to not talk about Cooper at all.
My resolve lasted all of ten minutes—before I knew it, Cooper was, yet again, the focus of the conversation.
“So, wait, let me get this straight,” Bryce interjected at the peak of my story. “You’re working for him now? For Plush?”
I nodded and licked my lips nervously. “Well, technically, I’m in the IT department, but the current project he has me working on is in relation to Plush.”
Bryce and Clay nodded slowly in unison and I felt even more awkward.
“Is that bad? Do you think?”
I’d left out the part where Cooper had stalked me and hauled me out of a strip club I’d been working at to make rent. I had no idea what Bryce—and now, Clay, too—would think if they knew that part. It wasn’t exactly something I liked to bring up.
“Well, I don’t know, Allie. I’ve heard that working for Brighton Enterprises is a pretty sweet gig, but do you think it’s good to be in such close contact with him, after…everything?”
It felt warm and I wished they had chosen a table inside. I took a long sip of my iced coffee, partly to stall and partly because it seemed like I was overheating. “I don’t know. He was nice and the job pays more than I could have ever imagined…” My voice trailed off. I’d thought talking to Bryce would make me feel better, but now I just felt stupid. “I wanted it to be different. I was going to keep it professional. And it was…”
“Until it wasn’t?” Bryce asked, his eyebrow cocked.
“Yeah. I don’t know what my problem is. But now, I don’t know whether to stay and keep working for him or if I should leave.” I let out a sigh, exhausted by my own drama.
“If you stay, isn’t that going to be kind of awkward? I mean, Cooper is the CEO. It’s not like you will really be able to avoid him forever.”
“I know. But if I don’t keep the job, at least for awhile longer, I won’t be able to find another job and I’ll get back in debt again.”
Bryce seemed to be listening, but he had an odd expression, as if he wasn’t quite sure what to say. He’d never been guarded with me in the past, but I got the distinct feeling there was something he was holding back. Maybe he just didn’t want to say the wrong thing and make me feel any worse than I already did.
I waved my hands and tried to laugh it off. I didn’t want to be having this conversation anymore. “Let’s drop it. I’ll figure it out.”
Thankfully, the server made her reappearance at that moment and set down plates in front of each of us. I’d been pleased to find a large selection of vegan-friendly menu items, and happily dug into my soup and sandwich combo. Everyone was so busy eating and enjoying the food that conversation dwindled away. The only thing breaking our silence was comments about how good everything was.
Somewhere between emptying my soup bowl and starting on my sandwich, a little nagging voice started up in the back of my mind. I was looking at Clay and trying to figure out where I knew him from. There was something else, something not related to Bryce. But I couldn’t place it exactly. I didn’t know where the sudden suspicion came from, but something about the way he looked had an edge of familiarity. I’d seen him, prior to the first time we had been introduced over dinner and drinks with them a few weeks before. I just didn’t know where…
As I wiped my mouth and set down my napkin on my empty plate, it hit me.
He’d been at the Plush fragrance event I’d been to, where Cooper and I had been photographed making out.
But why had he been there? And why hadn’t Bryce mentioned that he’d been there?
The whole realization struck me as odd.
“So, Clay, remind me again, what it is that you do?” I asked. It was a good change of topic, as well as a little sneaky recon.
He cleared his throat and took a sip of his iced tea. “I’m actually in the tech game myself,” he said.
I nodded, hoping he would proceed and I wouldn’t be forced to dig.
“Clay’s being modest. He’s a genius,” Bryce filled in, his eyes full of admiration as he looked over at Clay, who was obviously more subdued.
“That’s really cool. What kind of stuff do you do?”
“Mostly consulting, at this point. I branched out on my own a few years back.”
He didn’t elaborate, so I dropped it. We waited for the server to come drop off the bill and I tapped my fingers along the tabletop, mentally debating whether or not it would be wise to ask if Clay had been at the Plush launch party. I was burning up with curiosity, but I didn’t know how to ask—or if I even should. Maybe Bryce didn’t know that Clay had been there? Maybe he’d been on a date with someone else? I knew they were committed, and had recently purchased a condo together, but still…people cheated all the time.
That was a life lesson I knew all too well.
When the server came, Bryce snatched up the check before I could get my fingertips on it.
“Absolutely not, Allie. It’s my treat. I’m the one who invited you out.”
“Thank you,” I said, forcing aside my questions and letting myself relax.
Twenty minutes later, I was back at my apartment, having said goodbye to Bryce and Clay at the cafe. I’d barely laid my head down on the couch, before I was zonked out.
When I woke up, it was dark outside the windows. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and checked the time. It was seven p.m. I was suddenly wide awake from my afternoon nap and decided to go in to the office and get some work done. I knew Cooper would be gone for the evening, and I had a key card to let myself in at any time, so I figured it would be a good time to go and be productive without any distractions. In the back of my mind, I was also well aware that whoever had hacked the system the day
before may have been plotting another attack and I would rest easier knowing the data was all safe and accounted for, even though I figured Cooper would have already seen to it that someone was watching the data like a hawk, 24/7.
I got on Cherry Bomb and drove downtown. I parked in the garage and hurried to the Brighton Enterprises tower. As suspected, everything was dark and quiet as I slid my key card into the front door of the building. I rounded the corner to the elevator banks and waited for a car to descend. It was almost eerily quiet as I stood there, the sound of me nervously tapping foot echoing around me.
Finally, the elevator arrived and I punched the button and rode up.
As soon as I stepped off, I realized I’d made a mistake. I’d accidentally pushed the button for the floor that Cooper’s office was on, not the IT department.
“Smooth, Allie. Get your mind off of him for two seconds…” I chided myself under my breath.
I spun around again and was about to board the elevator, to go down one floor, when I heard a sound down the hallway.
I stopped, frozen in place, at the sound of voices drifting from somewhere nearby.
My heart raced as I instantly recognized one as Cooper’s, but the other voice, I couldn’t place.
It was definitely female…and giggling…
That son of a bitch.
Chapter Nine
The elevator doors slid open but I stepped away and let the doors close again, without me inside.
If that two-timing filth thought he could fuck me in the morning and then bring some hoochie up less than twenty-four hours later to bang in his office after hours, he had no idea who he was messing with.
I’d put up with a lot of shit from men in the past. My most recent ex, Marx, had been crowned the king of douche bags—or so I’d thought.
He might have some competition now. I crept down the hall towards the voices, staying as close to the wall as possible. The hallways were only halfway lit up, as if in some kind of energy saving, night mode. Light enough to see, but there were shadows that made it a lot easier to sneak around.
