Willfully Hers (The Dirty Business Series Book 2)

by Michelle Betham

  She walks away, and I sit back again, frowning as I let her words sink in.

  “You okay?”

  I swing around in my chair as Heath comes out of his office. “Yeah. I’m fine. You going to that dinner meeting now?”

  He says something to his associate, waiting until he’s left before he speaks again. “Yeah. In a bit. Lola, what happened with you and Evan…”

  “Is none of your business.”

  He holds up his hands in mock-surrender and walks out front of my cubicle. “Okay. I get it. I’ll butt out.”

  “You got it.”

  “He’s still a mess.”

  “And it isn’t my job to save him. Not anymore. He’ll sort himself out, Heath. He will.”

  “Yeah. I guess. Look, are you sure…?”

  “Go to your meeting.”

  “All right, all right, I’m going. And don’t stay too late tonight. Go home. Relax. Watch some TV.”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, Heath.”

  “Okay, okay, I’m outta here.”

  I watch him stride down the corridor; it’s like he’s always been here. He’s as much a part of this place now as Evan is, and I can’t help smiling to myself. Evan’ll be fine, because he has his brother now.

  I take a deep breath, give myself an inward shake to clear those negative thoughts that are still choosing to crowd my head, and I start to type, start to finish this document I need to complete before I can finally go home. But as I watch my fingers glide across the keyboard the light from my desk lamp catches my engagement ring, bouncing off the diamond, causing me to squint slightly. And then Jess’s words fill my head again. And this time, I listen…

  Evan

  “You did good.”

  “I told you I was the best associate you were going to get.”

  Hayden smiles and perches her ass down on the corner of my desk.

  “Don’t push it, kiddo. You’re nowhere near being the best yet, even I took years to get to that point.”

  She smiles again, her eyes lingering on mine for just a second too long. Yeah. She’s not done with the flirting, but I can handle her. It’s not easy, though, I mean, she is one hell of a beautiful distraction. And so was Lola. At first. Until she became the one thing I needed to be distracted from. The one thing? Really?

  “Evan?”

  I look up as Hayden’s voice drags me from those thoughts. “Right, okay, what next…?” I drop my gaze as I start flicking through the papers on my desk, I just need a second to get my head straight. But those seconds are becoming fewer and further between; that time I need to get my head straight, it’s lessening. I’m finally starting to move on, now I know I can’t go back. Dana was right, all those years ago. We were both right, maybe even my fucking parents were right. You need to make sacrifices in order to be the kind of person you need to be, the kind of man I want to be. I’m making those sacrifices, I’m taking those risks. And I’m going to make sure they’re fucking worth it.

  “You need to relax a bit more, Evan.”

  I feel her fingers gently touch my shoulder, and only then do I realize she’s beside me. Too close to me, but I don’t push her away. I look up, briefly, and check outside to make sure no one’s there, but it’s quiet. It’s late, Joanne’s gone for the night, there aren’t many people left in the building.

  “I relax as much as I need to, Hayden. Besides, it’s not your concern, what I do when I’m not here.”

  My tone doesn’t seem to deter her, her fingertips are still working their way gently across my shoulder blades, but this time I shrug them off, and I move away from her slightly.

  “It’s been a long day. You should go home, get some rest. It’s gonna be another busy one tomorrow.”

  She leans back against my desk and folds her arms as she looks at me. She’s one determined kid, I’ll give her that. “How about dinner? On me.”

  “On you?” I raise an eyebrow and she throws me a look.

  “What? You think I can’t afford you?”

  I laugh, leaning back against the window ledge, my hands in my pockets as I meet her gaze. “I’m not sure you can, Ms. Monroe. I don’t come cheap.”

  “So I’ve heard.”

  I raise that eyebrow again. “People talking, huh?”

  “Now you’re back on the market, Mr. King, everyone’s talking.” She gets up and comes closer, again, a little too close, but I’ll leave it. For now. “And I think you’re worth the expense.”

  “I am?”

  “Yes.” She leans in closer still, and her perfume fills my nostrils, a light yet musky scent, it’s all I can smell as I feel her breath against the side of my neck. “You are.”

  It’s an instinctive, almost reflex action, my hand falling onto her hip, but the second her lips briefly touch mine I come to my senses. It’s like I’ve been side-swiped; like reality was a little too late calling so when it finally arrived I had to act fast, and I push her away, gently. But I need her to step back, because this isn’t happening.

  “You should go home, Hayden. Like I said, it’s late, and it’s another full-on day tomorrow.”

  She walks out front of my desk and gathers her things, hoisting her purse up onto her shoulder as she walks toward the door. But she stops just as she gets there, and she turns around and gives me that smile again, the one that’s loaded with trouble, and I know what I should be doing here. I should be transferring her to another partner, I should be keeping my distance because she’s becoming too much of a pull. But, hey, I like risk-taking, it’s what I do now. Again. Because I’m back. So I return her smile, and I watch as she leaves my office. I watch as temptation walks away. But for how long I can keep her at arm’s length is anyone’s guess.

  Lola

  I lean back against the wall and watch the exchange between Evan and Hayden. I recognize every nuance, every line on his face, even from back here I can read him. Evan King is back, the one I knew before, not the man I married. He’s back, and what’s happening there, between him and Hayden, is exactly how it was between me and him, in the beginning. He gets off on it, that’s who he is. Maybe he had to try marriage to see if he really could overcome the man he thought he had to be, but I don’t think he can. He can’t be anyone other than Evan King, hot-shot lawyer; arrogant, handsome asshole. That’s not the man I married, he’s gone.

  I briefly drop my gaze, and when I raise it I feel a bolt of pain shoot right through me as his hand falls onto her hip, and that’s when I walk away. I turn and I leave because staying here – whatever I thought I was about to do, I’m walking away from it. For good, this time.

  Twenty-Four

  Lola

  I pull up outside and for a few minutes I just sit there, listening to the country music station I’d tuned into for the relatively short drive here from Manhattan. But it was long enough for me to gain a little more clarity; to know that what I have to do now, it’s for the best.

  Switching off the radio and finally getting out of the car I look around, and I reach into my pocket and take out the key and I stare down at it. Kat and Eric gave me this in case of emergencies, and although I wouldn’t class this as an emergency, as such, I’m going to take advantage of the few days alone being here is going to give me.

  I open the trunk and haul out the small overnight bag I hurriedly packed just a couple of hours ago, along with the bag of groceries I’d stopped to buy in town on the way here, and I walk toward Kat and Eric’s beautiful new home. Stopping on the front porch I look up, taking in what’s left of the once blue sky because it’s crowded by masses of dark gray clouds now, I think a storm may be on the way. So I go inside and close the door behind me, breathing in the quiet and the calm.

  Leaving my bag by the door I take the groceries into the huge open-plan kitchen that looks out onto the terrace and the back yard and I put them down on the counter. Then I fill the kettle and place it on the stove, I need a cup of tea. Hot, strong tea, it makes everything better, and that’s the British in me c
oming out there. Born American, brought up in England, I can’t shake those habits I picked up growing up in Manchester. And I smile as I remember the good times I had there, the friends I made. The friends I loved. The same friends I eventually lost touch with, for so many reasons. What happened over there; what really drove me to leave and move to America, it was something that caused me to isolate myself from so many people, including the one person who’d been with me through it all. The one person I should’ve – could’ve – leaned on so much more. But instead I’d stepped back, chosen to deal with it in the only way I knew how, and it was for the best. It really was, it helped. And what I’m about to do now, this is for the best, too. This is the way I’m choosing to deal with the break-up of my marriage, the sudden change in my new life. I’m stepping back. I’m isolating myself. This way; it got me through something far, far worse than this, so, yeah. It’s for the best.

  The whistling of the kettle interrupts my reverie and I turn to pull it off the stove, pouring the boiling water into a mug, the liquid turning darker as I swirl the tea bag around a little.

  I take a sip and smile to myself as that familiar taste fills my mouth and the warm tea settles in my stomach. It’s comforting, and I wrap my hands around the mug as I walk over to the fridge, open it and look inside, and I frown slightly because there’s a lot of food in there, which I find odd, seeing as no one else is here now. And Eric and Kat aren’t due back from Miami for another few days, so there’d be no need for anyone to stock the refrigerator and cupboards just yet. And then I hear the front door open, hear the sound of footsteps coming in from the hall and I turn around, and I realize I’m not alone. There’s obviously a reason why there’s still food in the fridge.

  “Lola! Hi... What are you – what are you doing here?”

  “I could ask you the same thing. I thought you were back in Toronto.” I assumed, anyway, and now I know I should have checked. I should have made sure I was the only houseguest.

  “Yeah, well, I decided to extend my stay for a few more days. I’m getting a lot of work done out here, it’s been good for me, to get away from it all for a little while.” He leans back against the counter and looks at me. “So, what’s your excuse, huh?”

  “I’ve left Cavendish King. As of yesterday, I don’t work there anymore.”

  He frowns, and he folds his arms and he stares at me, as though that’s going to explain everything. “But, I thought you were going back to New York to…”

  “Get my husband back? Didn’t turn out so well, that plan.”

  “What happened?”

  “It’s finished, Mike, okay? And I don’t want to go over it all again, that’s why I came out here. To get away from it. To get away from everyone.”

  “And then I turn up and ruin that plan too, huh?”

  I look at him, and I smile slightly. “Yeah. Kind of.”

  “What about Evan? I mean, when you told him you were leaving, didn’t he even try to…”

  “He doesn’t know.”

  “I’m sorry… what? He doesn’t know you’re here?”

  “He doesn’t know I’ve left Cavendish King. At least, he didn’t know. He will do now, I guess. He’ll have found out this morning.”

  “I don’t understand, Lola. Evan’s a name partner, he owns the firm, how could he not know you were leaving?”

  “I went to his brother. I went to Heath. I told him I’d work a few days notice, but I didn’t want anyone to know I was leaving. Least of all Evan. Even Jess doesn’t know, and I feel really bad about that, but she would’ve tried to talk me out of it…”

  “Whoa, whoa, slow down. You’re losing me here. Heath didn’t tell Evan?”

  “I asked him not to. And he kept that promise. He wasn’t happy about it, but he kept it. Besides, Evan has other things on his mind.”

  Mike frowns again, and I pick up my tea and take another sip as I walk over to the French doors and look outside. The sky’s darkening, there’s definitely a storm on the way, I can feel it.

  “What’s that supposed to mean, Lola? Evan has other things on his mind?”

  “I told you, Mike. I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Has he cheated on you?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Do you care?”

  I swing around so fast I almost spill what’s left of my tea. “Of course I care. I’m still in love with him, I just – I just can’t be with him. Not anymore. And he doesn’t want to be with me. We’re done.”

  “He never did deserve you.”

  I turn back around and look outside, watching as huge, heavy-looking raindrops start to fall intermittently onto the decked terrace. “I never deserved him.”

  “Jesus Christ…” Mike sighs, and I can almost feel his exasperation from over here, and I turn back around, snapping out of that mood I‘d promised myself I wouldn’t fall into.

  “Right, well, if you’re going to be here…”

  “You’re not going anywhere, Lola.”

  I walk over to the sink and place my empty mug in it. “No. I know I’m not. I was going to say, if you’re going to be here, too, then we need to sort out what we’re doing for dinner, because I don’t think going out is an option, judging by what’s happening outside.”

  We both look out at the rain, which is now falling faster and harder and there’s a faint rumble of thunder in the distance now, too.

  “Just as well we’ve both brought food then, huh?” Mike smiles, and all of a sudden that tension I’d briefly felt start to rise just evaporates. “Please tell me you came with more wine? And beer. Tell me you got beer.”

  I reach into one of the bags I’d put down on the counter and I pull out some beer and a couple of bottles of wine.

  “That’s my girl.” He grins and rubs his hands together before he takes the beer and wine from me and puts it in the fridge. “Still loving a drink, right?”

  “Don’t make it sound like I’m some kind of wino. Even if I did bring all of that thinking I was going to be drinking it alone.”

  I start to open cupboards, inspecting what there is in there that can help us rustle up something for dinner.

  “Who’s cooking?” I ask, reaching into one of the cupboards and pulling out some jars of spices. “Me, or you?”

  “Well, there’s some chicken in here, some tomatoes, potatoes, coriander…”

  I shake the jars of spices in his face, and he grins again.

  “Okay. You want one of my curries, huh?”

  I smile, and I laugh, and I place the jars down onto the counter. “The hotter the better. And, if I were you, I’d get cracking as soon as possible, before this storm takes out the power. You make a start on dinner, I’ll go find some candles, just in case.”

  “Still good at giving out orders.”

  I throw him another smile over my shoulder as I head out of the kitchen in search of candles. “It’s what I do best. Now get cooking. I’m starving.”

  Evan

  “You better be fucking kidding me, Heath.”

  “She left, Evan. She doesn’t work here anymore.”

  “Just like that? She left, just like that? She’s supposed to work some fucking notice…”

  “She did. This past week, that’s been her notice.”

  I look at my brother, and I’m trying to take this shit in, but I’m not willing to believe what he’s telling me. “She’s supposed to work a month, not a fucking week…”

  “And what good would it have done to make her stay here when she really just wanted to go? I don’t want to keep anyone prisoner.”

  “We’re not keeping her prisoner, Heath, we’re making her carry out what’s required of her as stated in her contract.”

  “Have you heard yourself? You’re talking about her as though she were nothing more than some other employee…”

  “And when the hell did you become her biggest fucking fan?”

  “Grow the fuck up, Evan. She’s gone. She made her decision, and in light o
f everything that’s happened, I think it’s for the best. Maybe now we can all start to move on.” I don’t appreciate the look he gives me, not when he’s kept shit like this from me.

  “I own this fucking firm, Heath…”

  “You own some of it. The name King is up on that wall, but it doesn’t just refer to you now, okay? So, when an employee comes to me and asks me to do something for them that I think, ultimately, is for the best, and no one else needs to know…”

  “I’m her fucking husband.”

  “Estranged husband. And she didn’t want you to know what was happening, if she’d wanted that she would’ve come to you. She would’ve told you herself. She didn’t do that.”

  “Shit!”

  I turn away and drag a hand back through my hair, I’m seriously pissed.

  “You pushed her away, Evan. She only did what she had to do.”

  “She didn’t have to leave.”

  “So, what? You just expected her to hang around here, watching you flirt with anything in a dress, you expected her to just accept that? And hope, maybe, that she’d come around to your way of thinking and, y’know, sleep with you every now and again? Because she’s still your fucking wife?”

  “Piss off, Heath. You lied to me, and I don’t appreciate…”

  “You don’t appreciate shit, Evan. Are you listening to me? You had it all, and you threw it away, and do you know what’s ironic about this whole fucked up mess? It’s that, in the beginning, when I first met Lola, I asked her not to hurt you. I asked her to be good to you, and yet here you are, hurting her. Hurting yourself, Jesus, what kind of crap do you two get off on, huh?”

  “You lied to me, Heath.”

  “Because it was what she wanted. It was necessary.”

  “In whose fucking opinion?”

  “Hers. It’s over, Evan. Deal with it.”

  “Jesus…”

  I don’t know what I’m feeling, I just know my heart’s beating way too fast and my head’s all over the place.