“Please,” I confirm, heading into my office to grab the tie I had discarded before I went to see Sidney and my jacket. I start to put it back in place as I walk back to Lauren. “Can you have lunch sent to Sidney, please? Usual place.”
Lauren’s face scrunches up. “Right. Of course.”
I ignore whatever that was and make my way toward the meeting room, slipping a mask over my face so I can deal with the fucker behind the door.
Isaac Shaw is a fucking asshole, but an asshole I have been forced to work with. We are building an app for an investment firm in the city, and where I specialize in coding and the platform, Shaw Security deals with the security side of the system. It’s not the first time we’ve had to work together; it won’t be the last, but it doesn’t mean I have to fucking like it.
I haven’t liked the fucker since college when we had to share the same dorm room. He’s cocky and pushy, and not once, but twice, he’s tried to buy my company. It’s never been for sale, but that doesn’t mean shit to a man like Isaac.
“Calahan,” he greets me when I enter, two of his staff sitting on either side of him, looking entirely too young and fresh out of college. He refuses to pay the salary to more experienced workers, so he’s a revolving door of people, unable to retain his staff.
“Isaac,” I lower into the chair at the head of the meeting table and open my laptop, sharing my screen to the monitor on the wall. It’s just a quick meeting to ensure we are on track and to smooth out any hiccups we have or may encounter building the platform.
“Late as usual,” he leans back in his chair, fiddling with the sleeves of his jacket. I stifle the need to roll my eyes.
“I had someone more important to see,” I reply cooly. “This won’t take long.”
“Miss. Adams, I assume,” His smirk has my blood heating, and I curl my fist against the table. My dislike of the man only increased further when he tried it on with Sidney. He’d met her at a charity event when she was my date a few months ago, and though I tried to keep him the fuck away from her, he found her anyway. The guy’s slimy as hell and always has been. “How is she these days? I never did hear from her.”
My molars grind.Yeah, and you never will, buddy.I made sure of it then, and I’ll make sure of it now.
“She’s fine,” I pull up the data we need to get this over and done with. Lauren knocks and enters, sliding my coffee onto the table. Isaac watches her intensely, his eyes rolling down her. He’s welcome to her, just notmySidney.
I steer the conversation away from Sidney and to the task at hand, keeping it on the straight so I can get him the hell out of my office. The entire time, though, I’m thinking of her. How her legs shook with my face buried between her thighs, how her nails scratched at my scalp. Sidney is a drug I will never get enough of.
Finally having the taste I have craved for years has only left me with an itch under my skin that only she’ll be able to satisfy.
We are intense. Passion.
Explosive together.
And I need her to see that we are destined to be more than just best friends, and we always have been. I know she sees it; she’s just too stubborn and too afraid to admit it.
We will get there.
We have to.
Chapter Ten
Icradle my three-month-old nephew, the tiny baby snuggled in the crook of my arm as I feed him the bottle my sister passed over. She’s lounging across from me, looking completely worn out, hair a mess, shirt dirty, and I’m not entirely sure she’s brushed her teeth today. But she also looks happy, content in a way I am missing.
And this tiny little boy, this precious bundle, is the most perfect thing on the planet.
“So, what’s new with you?” My sister asks, her eyes blinking sleepily.
“Nothing,” I say it too quickly, and I know it the moment my sister sits up straighter, any sign of fatigue gone now she’s got a whiff of possible gossip.
“Liar,” she calls me out, eyes lighting up with excitement, “What is it?”
“Really,” I swallow, unsure how I even broach the subject of Noah to her or what he offered. She’ll think it’s insane, which she wouldn’t be wrong about. Itisinsane. “It’s nothing.”
Her eyes narrow in suspicion, “You tell me everything.”
“I do,” I keep my eyes on my nephew.
“Then why aren’t you telling me this? Is it going to hurt my feelings?”
I laugh, “No, Luce, there is nothing new.”Other than the fact that I’m fucking Noah Calahan,theNoah Calahan who has been my best friend since forever and I always claimed there was nothing going on.My sister has always believed there to be something more between the two of us, and we’ve both denied it vehemently over the years. Now I can’t say that. But I also can’t confirm something is happening because, really, what is this? Fucking. That’s it.
