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My knuckles tap on the door. Minutes later, Eric opens it, dressed in a sharp gray suit.
“Oh.” He eyes me dubiously before glancing aside. “It’s you.”
“Can I come in, please?”
With his mouth set in a hard line and arms crossed, he motions for me to follow him inside. Eric’s condo is modern with gorgeous views of the Hollywood Hills. He lives here with Tristan, who has become this mega movie star. Who would have figured? The two of them an unlikely couple, yet they never can stay apart.
“I brought this for you.” I hand him a white box with a red bow, gesturing for him to take it.
Using his perfectly manicured fingers, Eric opens the box and sifts through the tissue paper to pull out a mustard paisley cravat from a French boutique. The three elements he despises—the color mustard, paisley print, and, of course, the ever-so-controversial cravat.
“I wanted to say I’m sorry. For lying to you.”
“By giving me a cravat?”
I nod, smiling, knowing how much he hates them. “If I’m honest, I was ashamed. I knew from the beginning it was wrong, but I let myself believe that I was a big girl, and I could handle it.”
Eric releases a breath, staring at the box before raising his eyes to meet mine with a hopeless gaze. “Come here, give me a hug.”
In Eric’s embrace, the world feels right again. I’ve called him a drama queen, a pain in the ass, but the truth is, my life isn’t complete without him in it.
“I’m sorry, too, for flat out calling you a whore. It just caught me by surprise. I seriously thought it was a joke when he told me.”
“I wish it was.”
“You got to him, you know,” Eric confesses, keeping his voice low. “My whole life, we’ve barely spoken two words. It’s like I was never good enough to be his little brother. But now it’s all changed. It feels like we’re family.”
“I’m sorry,” I repeat, then pressing my lips together thoughtfully. “But it was never going to work out between us. Two different people and two different lives.”
“I know,” he admits, running his hand against the fabric of the cravat. “And look, he’ll move on. But he did… oh sorry… he does, love you.”
Dominic has no idea what love means. But who am I to care anymore? It’s a moot point, and my life is now with a man who loves me unconditionally. Dominic will move on, just like we all do when the stars don’t align.
“I have ten minutes to catch up before meeting Lex at the office. Tell me, what’s new with you?”
“Tristan and I took up hiking. Do you know how many hot French hikers we run into at the trail? I’m just waiting for an orgy to break out in the wilderness. You’ve got to teach me how to speak French.”
“Well, if it’s going to happen, then fingers crossed it’s to you. You can call the video Bareback Mountain.”
Eric snorts, followed by a ripple of laughter as I break out as well, unable to control myself until I fall into a coughing fit.
As we both try to calm down, Eric removes the cravat from the box entirely. “Let’s say, for the sake of argument, I wore this one day. On a scale of one to ten, how many honey daddies would I score?”
I shake my head with a wide grin. Some things never change. “Ten. They’d be throwing themselves at you.”
We speak a little bit more before I check the time and have to leave. I promise to catch up once I’m back permanently. In an odd expression, Eric looks rather pleased with himself, chewing his bottom lip with a knowing smirk. To add to that, his lingering silence also raises concern, but I’ve no choice but to ignore him for now.
Leaving his building, I welcome the short drive to the office to prepare myself for a very tiring few days.
***
Lex walks me through the building, introducing me to a few key people I’ll be working with. I’ve forgotten how strong the American accent is, having been away for a while. According to many, I still have my British accent, though my linguistic efforts have been directed to learning French.
The building is rather large and modern, fifteen floors to be exact, in which we occupy all of them. It’s located on Wilshire Boulevard in the heart of Beverly Hills, with Rodeo Drive just a few blocks away.
I’ve gone over the briefs, familiarized myself with our chain of hotels, and rise to the cha
llenge Lex set, but nevertheless, the man will continue to push me because that’s what he does best.
