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Maeve sat down across from her two newest best friends and tried not to turn tail and run like the hounds of hell were on her heels. They were staring at her, their gazes all too curious. All too seeing.
She could hide from AJ like she was made of air, but Sally and Anna saw ev-vah-ree-thing.
“What have you been up to, Mae?” Anna asked, her hazel eyes twinkling. “We haven’t seen you in a bit. You been hiding from us?”
Yes!“No, of course not. I’m just busy finishing up all the end of the year admin stuff for the office. You know how those two are—they’ve left everything to the last minute, and I’m stuck making sure they don’t get audited or sued for contract infringement.”
Sally sighed, shaking her head, her pin-straight black locks shining beneath the LED lights overhead. “That’s my brother, alright.” As AJ’s sister, Sally knew more about her brother than anyone…except Maeve.
There were things AJ shared in his emails to Swan, She Without a Name, that he never would’ve shared with his sister. Sex things. As in…his favorite sexual positions, his dirtiest fantasies—bondage—and how and when he lost his virginity. Prom. An affliction he and Maeve shared. But no one could know about how much she knew about AJ. She’d just die.
“And that’s definitely Blaze. Those men wouldn’t know what the hell to do with themselves if Blaze hadn’t poached you from Sylvester to work for Harris,” Anna quipped.
“Technically, I still work for Sylvester since he invested in Harris, and Harris is using White tech and resources.” Like an email server.
Sally waved off her comment. “Harris pays your wage, so you work for Harris. Sly was sad to see you go from the satellite office, but he understood that you wanted more full-time work.”
“He offered me a full-time job with White,” Maeve admitted, then immediately regretted it when both Anna and Sally looked at her like she’d grown a second head.
“Why didn’t you take it?” Anna asked, planting her elbows on the table to cup her face and stare at Maeve. “I’m sure he could have offered you more money.”
It wasn’t about the money, it was about getting to spend more time around a man who didn’t even know she had tits.
“He offered a salary, which meant I would end up working odd hours, long hours, and probably weekends. With Harris, I work normal hours and I get my weekends. I sacrifice the income for the chance to actually have a life outside of the office.”
Oh, yeah? And what are you doing with all that out-of-office time?Obsessing over her oblivious boss and baking batches of cookies that went straight to her already generous butt.
Sally nodded emphatically. “I get you, girl. I know what you mean. When I worked for Sharp Image Marketing, I worked sixty to eighty hour weeks, and I nearly killed myself. I was hardly home, and when I was, I was usually too exhausted to do anything but change into sweatpants and veg out.” Since meeting Sylvester, Sally had definitely undergone a life upgrade. Having a billionaire boyfriend meant she didn’t have to work a day in her life, ever again, but the woman was not about to lie down and do nothing. It was against her nature. “I can honestly say that working in consulting for Sly is a much better gig. I get to set my own hours, my own salary, and I get to fuck the boss.”
Anna and Maeve chuckled.
“Before all the amazing sex, when she did go out, she was a raging bitch,” Anna muttered playfully, her eyes dancing.
Sally hit Anna’s shoulder, glowering. “I was not! I was my usual charming self, and that paid off with all the hot ass I got on the regular.”
From what Maeve knew of Sally’s pre-Sylvester dating life, she was a serial one-night stander. It took one night with Sylvester White to change her life forever, however.
And now she’s living an HEA most women only read about in romance novels.
“Don’t let Sly hear you talking about hot ass that isn’t his,” Anna chided, grinning.
“And don’t let Blaze hear you talking about Sly’s hot ass—that man is OTT jealous, possessive of his little Anna-boo.”
At Sally’s words, Anna’s face turned a bright red. Sally cackled and Maeve looked on with jealousy. And self-hatred. She loved her friends, wanted only the best for them, but they also had everything Maeve ever wanted, and it made Maeve feel like shit that she begrudged them their happiness.
Happiness…something you’ll never get if you keep up the Swan charade with AJ.
Heaving a sigh, Maeve slipped her hands around her sweating glass of water and leaned back into the red leather booth seat. Did it usually take this long for the waitress to come take their order?
She needed booze—STAT.
Happy Jack’s was Anna and Sally’s Thursday night hang out spot. It wasn’t until a few months ago that they’d invited Maeve to join them. After work, they would meet up, eat bar food, drink a few cocktails, and spill about their weeks. Well, Sally and Anna would spill everything about their weeks, including about their sexy encounters with their men. Maeve talked about work…because spilling the beans about her obsession over Sally’s brother would probably get her kicked out of the “sister club”.
“So, Mae, take any hotties to bed lately? With an ass like yours, you have to be beating them off with a stick.” Anna’s eyebrows waggled suggestively.
Maeve huffed, rolling her eyes. “They’d have to know I exist first.”
“What do you mean? You’re gorgeous—if a little boring in the wardrobe department. I bet, if you put on some skinny jeans, a cute top, and some heels, you’d make every neck in this place snap because they turned to look at you so fast.”
