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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.
