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But it was most definitely too late, because from the corner of my eye, I could see Adam having the time of his life, his head tilted just so as he watched me suffer quietly through my inner turmoil.
But then with a crooked grin on his lips, he faced forward like me and took a drink from his glass.
“I think we both know I have a couple things your fiancé doesn’t,” he said, making my cheeks light on fire all over again.
Because he absolutely did.
Dick aside, he had the clout. The success. The respect. Every networking connection in LA that an aspiring filmmaker would kill for. Yes, Adam did have literally everything that Caspar wanted, and yes, it was exactly why my fiancé was constantly texting me to come home whenever I had to work late.
Because he was jealous.
That much had always been abundantly clear to both Adam and me. It just went mercifully unspoken of over the past five years, because it’d be painfully awkward for me to have to acknowledge that my boss’s mere existence managed to threaten my relationship in any way.
Doing that would be a slippery slope down a road where I’d also have to acknowledge that my boss was very, very attractive and appealing as a man, and that was a fact that I had happily forgotten many years ago.
Though it was clearly rearing its unwanted head right now.
For the love of God, AJ, what the fuck? I demanded of myself, taking a deep breath and facing Adam only once I knew the heat had drained from my cheeks.
“Not that I’m ever shocked by what a dick you are, but is there a reason you’re being the particular worst about Caspar today?” I finally asked, mostly as a long-winded way of saying “you fucking suck.”
“Am I?” Adam frowned. And for a brief moment, considering the slight falter in his smile, I thought he was about to be serious. To have an actual answer for me. But then the corner of his mouth twisted into a crooked grin. “Apologies. My intention is to go this hard every day, but I’ll be sure to pick up the slack.”
I groaned. “I’m going to do actual damage to my corneas if I roll my eyes any harder, so I won’t. But please know that your joke just now sucked.”
“Noted. Shall we get on with this meeting?”
“Please.”
And for the next forty-five minutes, we did exactly that, reviewing all the notes we’d compiled for tomorrow’s meeting with Knox. It wasn’t difficult. We’d been obsessively preparing for this presentation all month, which was definitely a good thing now, because as incredibly important as this potential client was to me, I couldn’t quite focus on him right now.
My mind was fixed entirely on two things:
Getting over the weird exchange I’d just had with Adam.
And getting ready to pull off this big surprise for Caspar.
Thankfully, the excitement of the latter soon overtook the former, so pretty much the second we wrapped on the meeting, I popped up from my chair, chugged the last of my wine and beamed as Adam handed over his extra room key while giving me the customary look of annoyance.
“Just don’t take too long, alright?” he said as I tucked the card into my pocket. “I need to shower and get ready for dinner once you’re done.”
“No worries, I’ll be fast,” I said, tossing back the final gulp of my wine. “Who’s your date tonight, by the way?”
“No idea. I’m still deciding between Jess and Danielle.”
“What, are they on call for you or something?” I snorted. But as Adam took a drink from his glass and gave me a blank stare, I realized they very much were. “Oh, gross,” I crinkled my nose, because five years later, I was still in awe of the amount of shit the man got away with. But as I slung my purse over my shoulder and weighed between the almost identical, model-looking blondes, I put in my two cents. “I say go with Jess.”
“Yeah? Why’s that?”
“Because Danielle’s from NorCal and she says ‘hella’ so often that you kept saying ‘hella’ after spending a night with her last time, and it was in an ironic way, but I haven’t forgiven you for it.”
Adam raised his eyebrows. “Jess it is,” he concluded as he whipped out his phone. “Now get your ass moving so we can get on with our nights.”
“Trust me, I’m gone,” I grinned, heading out. “But hey, cheers to us both getting laid tonight,” I called over my shoulder.
Adam didn’t look up from his phone. “Cheers to just you,” he corrected. “Since it’s a much rarer occurrence for you.”
4
