Page 72 of The Best Number

I put him out of his misery, shimmying fully out of the coat. The overhead lights make my dress sparkle and I can’t hold back a wiggle as I see the effect it has on my dress.

“You are fucking stunning.” He tugs me close to plant a kiss on my lips.

“Told you he’d like it,” Tom tells me with a wink. I grin, feeling grateful that this silly bit of fun has somewhat calmed my nerves.

We head through the doors into the private room. It’s a decent sized room with a small bar on the back wall. There’s a long table along the side with some platters of food. It’s not super busy, with about thirty people huddled in smaller groups around the room.

Jack leads us from group to group, introducing us as his boyfriend and girlfriend. People are friendly and I lose track of how many times I tell people what sights Tom and I have seen the last few days since we arrived.

Tara, who Jack has mentioned multiple times, is super friendly and welcoming. She’s standing with Duncan, who hooked Jack up with the job. They spend some time with us, asking about our work back in the UK and our plans for when we get home. We are interrupted by a tall guy with some designer stubble who introduces himself as Brad, Jack’s boss in New York.

I was worried about meeting him—knowing that he wanted Jack to stay for longer and that we were the reason he wasn’t. But Brad’s friendly and tells us what an amazing job Jack has been doing. “We are sad, of course, that he can’t stay full time, but really pleased we reached an agreement so we could continue working together.”

I look over at Jack, who appears to be blushing. Which is very un-Jack-like. I’ll have to ask him about that later.

I am exhausted from all the introductions and small talk after a while. And my stomach is now rumbling.

I look over at the food table longingly and Tom must clock what I’m doing because he leans closer and whispers in my ear, “I’m ravenous. Guessing you are too?”

I nod. “Do you think we can help ourselves to the food or it’s just for the staff?” I don’t want to be rude. But I really do need to eat, especially as I’m on my third drink since we arrived because people keep offering to buy us a round.

“Surely they can’t begrudge us a snack or two. Especially when we are attached to the wonder boy.” Tom herds me towards the table and we leave Jack chatting with some of his colleagues.

“So, what do you think?” I ask.

“Of what?” he asks after swallowing down a fancy-looking canape.

“Of being introduced to all these people as one third of a throuple?”

“It feels good. I know that it’s not considered conventional, but it feels good to be open about it. Screw what everyone thinks, as long as we’re happy.” His response makes me grin before I reach up on my tiptoes and plant a kiss on his cheek. It makes me so happy to see him feeling comfortable with this. For so long, he held back his love, not wanting to scare Jack away. If I stop to think about that, it makes me so sad. I’m so grateful that Jack and I have convinced him he deserves love by the bucket-load and shower him with it at every opportunity.

We stuff our faces a little longer and then Jack heads over to us.

“I think I’m ready if you guys are?”

We both nod.

“Have you eaten, Jack?”

“I had some of the snacks. Do you want to go for dinner?”

I bite my lip for a moment. “I know it’s our last night and all, but can we just go back to the hotel and order room service?”

“Best idea ever,” Tom says, grabbing me and pulling me close. Jack looks at each of us before smiling with a nod.

“Sure thing, let’s go.”

He grabs our coats and gives a wave as we make our way out down the stairs.

We order room service on the way through reception. I’m ready to get my pyjamas on and tuck down for the night, but the boys have other ideas. They approach me from both sides, wrestling me out from the mackintosh. My dress is pulled over my head and my bra and panties removed before the coat is put back on me. I’m still wearing my heels.

“This is how you need to answer the door when the food arrives,” Tom tells me in a husky tone.

And just like that, I’m not as tired as I was and I wonder what the guys have planned once we’ve eaten.

Epilogue

Cassidy

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