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“Tell you what. You worry about the diatribe you are going to throw at him. Let me worry about the rest. Okay?”
I knew it wasn’t an easy request, that to women like Jules, asking them to just trust you implicitly was just about asking too much.
So I wasn’t exactly expecting it when she watched me for a long moment only to nod.
“Okay.”
With that, we headed back out to the construction site, finding the boss, Ron, was in as predicted.
“What can I do for you, dollface?”
I resisted the urge to snap at him. Jules resisted the urge to curl her lip. But just barely. We both understood what was at stake here. Her whole savings. Her future the way she wanted it. That meant it all.
Neither of us would risk that.
“Yes, actually. You’ve been working with my fiancé,” she declared, not so much as a hitch in her voice at the word. “About the building of our house,” she added, reaching for her phone, producing a screensaver she hadn’t changed yet – her and the jackass on the pier, her hair whipping back, both of them smiling, his arm tight into her hipbone.
“Oh, right. Of course,” Ron said, not losing the skeezy way he was eyeing Jules. “Matthew. He never mentioned a fiancé.”
“Oh, you know Matt. Kind of off in his own world. Anyway. I have a suspicion he did not go with the floors and counters I told him to pick. Would you mind showing me?” she asked, laying on the sweet pretty thick, something only me – who knew her best – knew was utterly fake.
“Do ya want me to just show you the book? Or would you like to go see it in person?”
“Oh, it would be great to see it in person. If you have a few minutes to spare for me.”
“Darling, we can take as long as you need,” he offered as the secretary typed off something on her cell. “Do we want to bring your…”
“Personal assistant,” I supplied. “I’d rather stay here and catch up on some emails.”
“We won’t be long,” Jules promised, just barely stiffening as his hand found her lower back to lead her out the door.
“Ugh, men,” Abby declared, flinging her phone into her purse. “You put the lid on the honeypot, and they start threatening to go elsewhere.”
“If he uses cheating as a threat, maybe he isn’t someone who deserves your honeypot,” I suggested, watching as she nodded.
“Damn straight. I’m gonna grab a coffee.You want one?” she asked, waving toward the open door to her boss’s office where a Keurig machine was set up.
“Got any hot chocolate pods?”
“Hm,” she mused, thinking on it for a long moment. “Maybe. I think we picked some up in case anyone brought their kids. I’ll go dig around.”
“I appreciate it.”
She had barely crossed into the other room before I was up at her computer, doing a quick search for ‘Matthew.’
I found a number, took a quick picture of it, and rushed to get back to my seat before she knew anything was amiss.
“You lucked out,” she told me, handing me a styrofoam cup steaming and filled almost to the brim with hot chocolate.
“Thank you,” I told her,taking the drink, and waiting. Waiting. Waiting.
“Can I say something?”
“Sure,” I agreed, glad for something to do other than listen to the clock tick, wondering what that sleazy fuck was saying to Jules, if he was putting his hand on her again.
“I don’t know if you have a close bond with your boss or not…”
“We’re pretty close,” I offered, hoping it would give her the push she needed to say whatever it was she was contemplating.
“It’s just… that fiancé of hers…”
“What about him?”
“Well, there’s no nice way to say it. But… he’s a sneak.”
“A sneak?”
“He was sniffing around. Caught him going through some files once when he thought he was alone in the office. And, well, he hit on me.” She shifted a bit uncomfortably. “I know sometimes women don’t want to hear those things from other women. But maybe she will believe it if it comes from you. If I was her, I would want to know.”
“I will see if I have any sway. I appreciate it. I never liked the guy either, but figured I was just being paranoid.”
“I just knew he wasn’t being straight with me,” Jules’ voice declared as the door swung open. “He picked the subway tile!” she told me, making her voice sound exasperated, but amused even as her eyes looked close to rolling at the way Ron moved in close enough to her to brush her butt with his hip as he moved past.
“Well, no worries. We caught it, darling. I will make a note about the changes. We’ll keep it our little secret. You two can have that talk in private.”
“I really appreciate it. You’ve been so helpful. I’ve given him my number to keep me updated in case Matthew comes back and makes any other changes that I may not have agreed to.”
