Ainsley bites her lip, clearly regretting having brought the subject up in the first place. “I’m sure he’ll make his feelings known when you tell him the big news. But one of you better do it soon. Because you know how hard it is for me to keep my mouth shut.”
My stomach drops. I thought I’d bought us a little more time. “Don’t worry. We’ll take care of it.”
“Good. I’d hate to let something accidentally slip when Jake and I are—”
I hold up a hand. “Stop. I beg you.”
She raises an eyebrow. “I was going to say when we’re playing Scrabble.”
I roll my eyes. “Sure you were.”
We laugh as we say our goodbyes, but inside I’m a mess. Because having to tell Jake means I have to let Connor know that our secret’s not a secret anymore.
And the truth is, I’m not exactly sure how he’s going to react.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Connor
“WHATAREYOUstill doing here?”
I look up from my computer to see Jake lounging in the doorway of my office. My eyes flick to the clock on my screen, then back to him. “What are you talking about? It’s barely seven. That’s not late.”
“For the old, Connor, yes. The one who lived at the office until well past dinnertime. But not the new Connor, the one who’s been hightailing it out of here before the sun sets for the past few weeks.”
Fuck.I thought I’d been pretty stealth, sneaking off to spend nights with Brie when she’s not working. Tonight, she’s having some girl time with Ainsley, so I figured I might as well stay at the office and get some work done. Now I wish I had stuck to my original plan and gone home, even if it was to an empty apartment.
Funny, it never used to feel empty, even before Giselle moved in with me. I’m the kind of guy who has always valued what my mom called “alone time.” I like my own company. All I need is a good book on my e-reader or a half-way decent documentary on TV, and I’m good to go.
Or I was. But now, the thought of spending the night in my monstrosity of an apartment without my roommate seems worse than having a root canal without Novocain.
“Ainsley thinks it’s because you’ve got a new girlfriend,” my annoyingly persistent best friend continues, pushing off the door frame, plopping his ass in a guest chair, and propping his feet up on my desk.
Got it in one. Question is, she does have any theories on who the lady in question might be? And has she shared them with Jake?
I loosen my tie and undo the first couple of buttons on my dress shirt. When did it get so damn hot in here? I’m suffocating. “Ainsley needs to mind her own business.”
“If you can get her to do that, do me a favor and tell me how.” His toothy grin takes the sting out of his words. The guy is completely whipped. And loving it. “My fiancée is very strong-willed.”
“You can say that again.” I push his feet off my desk and shut down my computer. No use pretending like I can concentrate on work now. Not when Jake may or may not suspect that I’m fooling around with his baby sister.
“So is it true?” He leans forward, elbows on his knees. “Are you seeing someone? How long has it been going on? Have you slept with her yet?”
“What are we, teenage girls? Are we going to do each other’s hair and paint our nails next?”
“We’re evolved men, comfortable discussing our thoughts and feelings.” He waggles his eyebrows suggestively. “And our women.”
Uh, yeah. Pretty sure you don’t want the deets on all the ways and places I’ve screwed your sister.
“Does this look like the locker room at the Y?”
I gesture around my tastefully decorated office, worthy of a spread inArchitectural Digest. My eyes land on a framed photo of my mom and me on the bookshelf.
It’s a new addition. One of the ones in the box Brie rescued from my father. I’m about seven or eight and we’re at the beach, probably someplace in the Hamptons, splashing in the surf wearing matching swimsuits and broad smiles. Similar to the grin splitting my face now at the memory of how Brie surprised me by framing the photo and sneaking it into my briefcase one morning before I left for work.
Jake leans over my desk, lifts one of the silver balls on my Newton’s cradle, and lets it fall, starting the chain of balls in motion. “Dunno. Haven’t been to the Y in years. Not since I installed my home gym.”
I grab the Newton’s cradle and stop it, the rhythmic click-clicking already driving me crazy. “You know what I mean. I’m not giving you a blow-by-blow of my sex life.”
