Page 3 of Hidden Confessions

My eyes locked on hers, a little caught off guard. I hope she didn’t see me staring too long at Finn.

“Sorry, what?” I responded, letting out a small laugh. I could feel my cheeks heating up as I rubbed the back of my neck and racked my brain for something to say to fill in. “It’s been a long day. And night, I suppose, with how long this farewell party is dragging on,” I said.

She gave me a look that made my stomach churn. “See, that’s why I’m asking. I thought you’d be the first one to celebrate the fact that Finn’s leaving,” Tracy said, unable to get the smirk off her face. She was one of those co-workers who lived for gossip, and it just so happened that Finn and I seemed to feed into her addiction constantly. I had no idea why.

I took a large gulp of my wine and smiled. “Well, I am celebrating, aren’t I?” I said, pointing my finger at the glass in my hand.

“You sure are,” Tracy responded, giving my shoulder a light nudge. “What I meant is that I thought you’d be the first one toasting ‘to hell with him’ and then leaving. There’s even a bet on who’d be the first to leave the farewell party, and you were on top of that list.”

“Please,” I snorted before my brows knitted together when her words sank in. “Wait, what? How can I get in on this bet?”

I knew for a fact I would win, not because of the bet but because I was planning to stick around till the very end.

“Too late. Carol was the first to leave, so it wouldn’t be fair,” she laughed.

“What’s not fair is being bet on and unable to partake,” I grumbled as I took another sip, letting the alcohol soothe me. “Did anyone bet I would be the last to leave?”

“Hm...” She trailed off, tapping the bottom of her chin. “Who knows?”

I huffed. “You’re just pulling my leg now, aren’t you?”

A loud, deep laugh on the other side of the room caught my attention. I already knew whose it was, and my eyes automatically flicked over to see Finn laughing at something that paralegal girl said. They’d been chatting for pretty much the entire time I’d been lurking in this corner, which had been an eternity.

What were they talking about for this long?

My collar all of a sudden felt tight as I saw the face that had haunted my dreams one too many times beam with such ethereal sexiness.

Tracy made a noise in her throat. With some effort, I tore my gaze away from Finn. When I brought my gaze back to Tracy, shehad a rather smug expression on her face, like she’d caught on to something. She nodded at the glass in my hand.

“You know, I couldn’t help but notice that’s your third glass...” Her words trailed off for a moment as she glanced at Finn and then back at me.

Okay.

She clearly had been paying attention to me, and yes, I was on my third glass because I needed all the liquid courage I could gather to get through this event.

Sometimes I couldn’t shake the feeling this woman knew more than she let on. Often, when Finn and I had our usual spat, she would be somewhere on the periphery, watching us with a smile that made me feel like she knew my dirty little secret. She had an uncanny way of putting two and two together, and I didn’t want to fall into her trap.

I cleared my throat, taking a slow sip of the wine to compose myself.

“Your point?”

“Well, the girls and I didn’t expect you to stay this long... I mean, everyone’s slowly leaving because it’s...” She paused and glanced down at the golden wristwatch that she wore. “Goodness, it’s already nine thirty? We should probably get going now.”

“Yeah, Tracy,” I said. “Youprobably should.”

Leave me alone to do some more staring while I still have the chance, damn it!

She gave me another smile followed by a wink before she quickly left to find her friends.

The four of them retrieved their jackets, giving me cheerful, drunken waves as they passed by. From the smile on Tracy’s face, I bet she and her gossip group would continue to pester me about why I’d stayed“that long.”

By the time it was five minutes after ten, Finn had said his goodbye to the last co-worker for the night.

It was just him and me now.

“What are you doing here, Spencer?” Finn’s deep voice echoed through the now empty office as his eyes settled on me.

I rolled my eyes at his words while trying to keep my composure in check. I swallowed the lump that had suddenly lodged in my throat.

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