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“Right.” Christopher cleared his throat and nearly leapt inside with us. When he pushed the button for the second floor, the doors shut and my stomach dropped away as the ground lifted.
Next to me, my old crush sent me a quick uneasy glance before something flickered in his gaze. He pointed to my stain-free chest. “Hey, weren’t you at the meeting last week?”
From the corner of my eye, I noticed the question had gained Ezra’s attention. He looked between me and Christopher with great curiosity and more scrutiny than I wanted.
With a tight smile, I answered, “Thank you again for the white vinegar tip. Worked like a charm.”
Christopher nodded, looking way too intrigued for my comfort. Once upon a time, say a week ago, I would’ve relished that attention, but now, I kind of just wanted him to forget I existed.
“I’d never seen you at a meeting before,” he said, eyeing me up and down, taking in the floor dust on my dark slacks and then checking my chest, probably looking for more stains. “What department do you work in? And I didn’t catch your name.”
The elevator stopped, and the doors began to open.
“Second floor,” Ezra announced. “Your stop.” He nudged Christopher out and away from me.
Christopher stumbled away, only to turn and gape at us as the doors slid closed again, his eyes wide with shock, and my face no-doubt a million shades of red.
“Well, that was fun,” I said quietly, not daring to look Ezra’s way or address the fact that he’d seemed jealous of Christopher for merely talking to me, so much so that he’d actually shoved the guy away from me.
“You know he’s gay, right?” I felt the need to inform him.
In return, Ezra merely hissed out a frustrated breath and glanced up at the ceiling.
When the elevator stopped on the third floor, he finally gave me his attention again. “I’ll walk you back to Broderick’s office.”
I nodded stiffly and stepped into the hall. It was empty, so thankfully no one saw us together, because I had a horrible feeling we looked like a principal and student as he walked me to the office where he was about to suspend me. For life.
I risked a peek up at him as we reached my stopping place. Clearing his throat, he readjusted his tie. Then, without looking at me, he murmured, “You were right. We should’ve just let Saturday night become a nice memory and left it at that.” His expression darkened. “Now it’s ruined.”
Rotating on his heel, he strode away.
I stared after him, trying not to cry.
Here I was; I’d finally gotten my wish to stop anything and everything there was between us, and it hurt more than I cared to admit. I guess this was why people always said to be careful what you wished for.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Okay, why the fuck did he leave his shoe on my desk?”
Brick’s voice from right behind me made my heart nearly leap out of my chest before I spun around in the doorway of his office where I’d been standing and watching Ezra march off. He sat at his desk, Ezra’s shoe in hand.
When he waved the familiar black pump, I slumped against the doorjamb and closed my eyes. “Dammit.” Then with a frown, I opened my eyes, straightened, and pointed to my stepbrother. “This time, you’re returning it to him.”
Brick lifted a single eyebrow. “This time?”
Crap. Said too much.
Wincing and then offering him a big smile, I pressed my hands together in prayer before asking, “What’re the chances you could just forget you heard that?”
He set the shoe down and folded his arms over his chest as he rocked back in his chair. “About zero, I’d say.”
“That’s what I thought.” With a sigh, I fell into the chair across from him and told him everything, leaving out the details, until, no… I spilled those too.
“And he has the softest lips known to mankind,” I gushed twenty minutes later. “I’m not lying, Brick. They’re like sexy little pillows, made just for—”
“Okay, that’s enough.” Brick lifted a hand and made a sour face. “A, I don’t want to know what his lips feel like. And B, does my mother know anything about any of this?”
I blew out a breath. “No. Nothing.”
