Things were coming to a head, and they both knew it. Although they hadn’t discussed it, his imminent departure had been hanging over them the entire month. She’d felt it weighing them down, leaving so many unspoken emotions right under the surface.
What would happen once he left?
It was the most important question of all, but she was too much of a coward to ask. Too afraid of the answer. She couldn’t bear the thought of never seeing his boyish grin again. Never feeling his arms wrapped around her in bed, or laughing at his dirty banter. As much as she couldn’t imagine her life without him in it, she didn’t have a clue how they could make a relationship work while they were thousands of miles apart.
“Who do we know in Surrey, England?” Felicity asked as she walked into Bea’s office holding a package. With their offices right next to each other, they could usually talk to each other just by yelling through their open doors. But every now and then, one of them actually made the effort to walk to the other room.
Bea schooled her expression and tried to wipe her mind of her disturbing thoughts. She reached out and took the box. “No one you know,” she replied. Her heart skipped a beat as she assessed the label. It was the final piece she was waiting on. She was enormously relieved it had arrived on time. “This is just something I ordered for the store.”
Felicity’s brows furrowed. “For that mystery display you’ve been working on?”
Bea nodded but remained tight-lipped.
“I still don’t understand why I don’t even get to know what it is,” Felicity grumbled as she fell into a chair across from Bea’s desk. “I am your partner, after all. We’re doing this job together.”
Bea leaned back in her chair. “I know. And normally you would. But this is something I want Zane to be the first to see.” That was actually very important to her.
Felicity looked like she wanted to add something to that but changed the subject instead. “Do I need to stop and get another bottle of red for tonight?”
“I’m thinking we go all out and have a margarita night,” Bea answered. “We’ve earned the right to get a little crazy.”
The group presentation they’d given last month had really paid off. They’d just landed two huge commercial accounts out of that group and received a proposal request from another. Between those clients and the final paychecks from Envision, they were going to be free and clear of the loan from their father right on schedule.
So they were celebrating.
Celebrating meant margaritas. And lots of them.
Felicity laughed. “Don’t lie. You’d get crazy whether you earned the right to or not.”
“No argument here. What time will Gwen be home? She told me she was running errands today.” Gwen had become their third roommate as of a few weeks ago, due to a tangle of personal circumstances. She’d needed a place to stay for a while, so Bea and Felicity had offered their extra room.
“The debate airs at seven, so she’ll probably be home by six thirty.”
Bea groaned, her head falling back. “That stupid political debate’s going to totally ruin my buzz.”
“She’s our best friend, and it’s her boyfriend’s election debate,” Felicity chided. “I think you can handle your hate of politics for an hour or two.”
“God, I hope it’s not two hours.”
Gwen’s new boyfriend, Clay Masterson, was a candidate in this year’s DC mayoral election. And he was running against Gwen’s ex-fiancé, William Callahan. Yeah, it was a little complicated. And a lot messed up. Yet another reason for margaritas.
“She seems to be doing better,” Bea commented.
Felicity nodded. “She seems really happy now. She has this…glow in her eyes that was never there before.”
Bea had noticed it, too. “It’s nice to see.”
“I’ve seen that same glow in your eyes too, you know,” Felicity remarked.
Bea looked up to see her sister smiling knowingly. “What?”
Felicity raised a challenging eyebrow, daring her to deny it. “You are so completely smitten with Zane, there’s no point in trying to hide it anymore. Gwen’s even commented on it. So when are you going to invite your boyfriend over for dinner so we can get to know him better?”
At the word “boyfriend,” Bea’s heart did a little jump from both pleasure and panic. “He’s not my boyfriend. We’re just…casually seeing each other. There’s a difference.”
Felicity rolled her eyes, her expression one of doubt. “Come on, Bea. You might as well move in with the guy. You’re at his house almost every night. Either you two have sex drives that surpass normal human limits, or you actually like spending time with the man.” She tipped her head with a grin. “Or maybe both.”
“Well, think again,” Bea retorted sharply. “It’s just sex, and we just happen to like a lot of it. A boyfriend would have to be my type, and Zane is definitely not. He’s infuriating and cocky and way too take charge for me.”
Her sister snorted, shaking her head. “Please. You need someone to take charge with you, and you know it.” Bea started to argue, but Felicity pushed ahead. “You two are practically the same person, and that’s what infuriates you. You’re just as high-handed as he is.”
“I am not!” Bea protested, slightly offended.
Felicity continued, unfazed by Bea’s outburst. “You always walk all over any guy that you get even slightly involved with, but Zane’s the first person to not put up with that crap. When you push, he pushes back even harder. You may not realize it, but you respect him for that. For taking you down a peg when you need it. I know you won’t admit it, but you love that he’s man enough for you.”
Bea was speechless.
She couldn’t decide if the woman was talking out of her ass, or if what she was saying might actually have some truth in it.
Felicity’s eyes widened as she took in Bea’s reaction. “Seriously? Did you really not know any of that?”
Bea swallowed, her heart pounding. “However much of that might be true, we’re not dating,” she insisted. “We both knew before we started this that neither of us is looking for a relationship. He’s leaving for London soon, remember? Once he’s gone, we’ll make a clean break.” She swallowed at the lack of emotion in her words. “We’re on the same page.”
“How do you know? Have you guys talked about it?”
“We don’t need to,” Bea snapped. She was starting to get annoyed at her sister’s nosiness. “We’re just having fun. You should try it sometime.”
Felicity’s eyes narrowed. “Meaning?”
“Gabe.”
Her sister’s focus shifted, suddenly fascinated by the bookshelf.
“At least I acted on my attraction and made a move,” Bea continued heatedly. “You just waste your time pining after Gabe. Newsflash, sis. This isn’t a John Hughes movie. It’s not going to magically happen. You want something with Gabe? Grow some lady balls and go after him.”
Felicity’s lips curved into a tight smile as she stood up to leave. “I’m not even going to comment on that because you like to fight whenever someone puts you on the spot. It’s one reason you and Zane fight so much at work. When you get all defensive like this, you’re as deaf as a doornail and stubborn as a pit bull. So I’m going to walk away.”
“And you always walk away from a fight when you know the other person is right,” Bea shot back.
Despite everything, she had to chuckle when her sweet and shy sister flipped her the finger as she walked out the door.
But God, the woman was frustrating when she made sense.
Chapter Twenty
Oh, the torture.
Bea’s only saving grace during the boring-ass political debate was the tequila. Years of growing up around politics with their congressman father meant she wanted nothing to do with it in her adulthood.
But best friend duties and all that.
Tonight was supposed to be about celebrating their business accomplishments. But Felicity, the d
evil woman, had effectively managed to kill Bea’s buzz before she’d ever had one. Didn’t mean she couldn’t drink, though. She still had to make the effort to achieve tipsiness, right?
“Finally,” Bea said with a long-suffering sigh as she clicked off the television when the debate was over. “I thought it would never end.”
She didn’t even try to listen as Gwen and Felicity discussed the debate, how Clay had done, who they thought had won. She just continued to sip her margarita and push her worries about the Zane situation out of her head.
“I want to know how it’s going with your sexy man-friend, Bea,” Gwen cheerfully said.
Ah, hell in a handbasket.
Felicity was trying to hide her smile behind her glass, but Bea saw it and glared at her. “The sex is great,” she responded. “That’s all that matters, right?”
Felicity chuckled under her breath, but Gwen’s eyes were full of questions. “But don’t you sort of have a thing going on with him?”
“Yeah, Bea,” Felicity teased in a singsong voice. “Isn’t it more of a thing?”
She ignored her sister and answered Gwen. “When have you ever known me to have a thing with anyone? We’re just hanging out and sleeping together.” She threw up her hands. “Just because we’re spending time together outside of work doesn’t mean it has to be more than that. It’s not like we’re about to go pick out china patterns.”
“Sorry,” Gwen said. “I wasn’t trying to insinuate anything. I just assumed. Because you’ve seemed so happy lately.”
Bea felt guilty for being bitchy, and in an effort to avoid addressing Gwen’s comment about her happiness, she shifted the conversation away from herself. “Why don’t you ask Gimley over there what she’s doing about her crush on Gabe Wexler.”
Felicity choked on her drink and shot daggers at Bea. She blew her sister a kiss in response. Payback’s a bitch.
“Has he finally asked you out?” Gwen asked.
Felicity’s jaw clenched and she finally looked over at Gwen. “No, and it wouldn’t matter if he did. I’ve told you before he has a complicated family situation. And there’s also the matter of him being our client. Things could get weird if we got involved.”
“Those are just excuses and you know it,” Bea said.
“What family situation?” Gwen asked.
Felicity rubbed her forehead and took another drink. “He’s divorced, and all I know about it is that it didn’t end well. He hasn’t shared much, but I’m guessing they’re having custody issues over their daughter. And he doesn’t seem too open to dating right now, which is completely fine with me because we have a ton of work to do for Paxton Designs and I need to be concentrating on that.”
Bea sent Gwen a wry look. “Translation: she’s got a major lady boner for him, but she’s too scared to ask him out.”
A pillow hit her right in the face, nearly spilling her drink.
“Bite me, Bea,” Felicity sneered. “I don’t have a lady boner for him.”
“So you don’t think he’s hot?”
Her sister pursed her lips in frustration. “Of course he’s hot. He’s gorgeous. Any woman with half an ovary could see that. But some of us have more control over our libidos than others.”
Bea raised her glass to her in salute. “Ouch.”
“So it looks like you’re not going to be picking out china patterns any time soon, either,” Gwen said.
“Tell you what,” Felicity responded after a sarcastic laugh. “The day Bea becomes a one-man woman is the day I ask out Gabe Wexler. How’s that sound?”
Bea broke out in a sweat at the mere suggestion of her being in a serious, long-term relationship. She cleared her throat to mask her growing apprehension and glanced in Gwen’s direction.
On the other hand, she did love a good bet.
She and Gwen looked back at Felicity and said in unison, “Deal.”
Bea finished the rest of her drink and reached for the full pitcher on the coffee table. “Okay. Can we please stop all of this talk of china patterns and crap? This is supposed to be a night of celebrating the fact that the Paxton sisters have made a name for themselves and are on the brink of being debt-free. So let’s toast, and get liquored up with some good drinking games.”
“I’ll drink to that!” Felicity cheered.
“Hear, hear!”
For the rest of the night, Bea told herself that she would be just fine. No matter what happened with her and Zane, she would make it. Because she was a strong, independent woman.
But the worst part was, it wasn’t the prospect of having a serious, long-term relationship with Zane that had her worried.
What she was starting to fear more than commitment was the fact that her happiness was becoming so dependent on one man. A man who drove her crazy in more ways than one. A man whose control over her emotions was bringing back painful memories from her past.
A man who would soon be leaving her.
And that was just plain terrifying.
Chapter Twenty-One
Their flagship store was officially opening its doors tomorrow. That was a wonderful, groundbreaking step for Envision Tech Industries and everyone involved.
So why did Zane feel like the world was about to fall out from under his feet?
The closer he got to the launch, the more he felt an inevitable sense of doom looming toward him. Something that would threaten his recently found happiness.
The fact that Bea was acting strange didn’t help matters.
They had been working at the store all day, making sure everything was ready for tomorrow, and she had just been…distant. Her eyes weren’t warm when she looked at him, but rather skeptical. She didn’t melt against him when he got close, easing away from him instead. And the smiles she threw his way were merely polite, not her usual sly ones that held sensual promises.
What the hell was that all about?
He intended to find out.
The store itself looked great, thanks to the Paxton sisters. The decor was current but not too modern. The lighting pulled you in without overwhelming. And the red accent pieces around the store drew one’s attention to certain displays. Envision’s mainstream items, such as tablets, laptops, and ereaders were placed in prominent spots at the front of the store. Though Bea and Felicity had still managed to feature ETI’s signature technology, such as digital antennas, routers, and various software packages.
There was an article about the store opening being featured in every major news outlet within a hundred-mile radius, so they were expecting a lot of business over the weekend. Which meant that he wasn’t going to be able to relax for a single second. His obsessive need to triple-check everything was stressing him to the max.
Again, Bea’s emotional distance wasn’t helping.
He was scanning the store for her when a display near the register caught his attention. “Denise, why aren’t the laptop and ereader sleeves in the checkout display?”
She looked up from whatever she was doing and shrugged. “Bea said it looked too cluttered, so she put them back with the products.”
Naturally, she hadn’t run that by him.
He stomped off in search of her and found her rearranging the display of smartwatches. “Why did you move the sleeves off the checkout display?”
She didn’t look at him when she answered, which only annoyed him more. “It looked too busy.”
He swallowed back his impatience. “We discussed that display for an entire week and agreed to push them as last-look items at the register. You know how much money stores can make off impulse buys, and those are perfect for gift-giving. Why did you change it without checking with me?”
“Sorry, I thought we already covered this,” she said flatly. “That you trusted me to do my job.”
His blood pressure was rising fast. This conversation was becoming less about the store and more about what had caused her sudden mood shift. “It’s my store, Bea, and the opening is tomorrow. It would have been nice if
you’d at least asked what I thought.”
She walked away from the display, brushing by him and still avoiding his eyes. “I apologize. I’ll put them back.”
“Enough!” he growled. Grabbing her arm, he hauled her through the door marked Employees Only and into the stockroom. Away from the rest of his staff, they were completely alone. “Okay, what’s your problem?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve been off in your own little world all day. And the rare times you’ve spoken to me, you’ve been practically monosyllabic. Did I do or say something to upset you?”
She finally looked at him, and what he saw there worried him. A lot. Her eyes held uncertainty, and even what looked like…regret, perhaps?
Alarm bells started going off in his head.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Nothing. I’m fine,” she said, unconvincingly. “We’ve seen each other pretty much day and night for the past month. A little distance is probably a good thing.”
That hurt a lot more than he’d expected, her wanting to spend time away from him. “So you want space. You want some time apart?”
“It’s not as if we’re dating, so it shouldn’t be a big deal,” she said evenly.
It was to him.
This was all wrong. They shouldn’t be moving in this direction. They should be moving forward, into something lasting and meaningful. Instead, she was reverting back to that whole “this is just sex” bullshit she’d tried to play at in the beginning.
“Where is this coming from?” he asked. “You’ve acted completely fine with our situation this past month. Even yesterday, nothing seemed to be bothering you. What’s changed?”
She hesitated, shifting around on her feet as though unsure of herself. “I just thought we both needed reminding of what this is. And what it isn’t.”
Such bollocks.
It sounded as if she was trying the words on herself, seeing how they fit. “You’re really going to try to pretend this thing between us is something to just shrug off? Really, Bea? You’re going to stand there and say you only see me as a friend? A casual fuck? Is that all this has ever meant to you?”
Casual Affair (Slow Seductions) Page 14