Page 48 of Theirs to Take

“I know,” Rod agreed. “It’s my fault. I’ve met someone and I guess our relationship has taken me a bit by surprise.”

“It’s Evie, isn’t it?” Luke asked.

“Shit,” Rod grumbled. “I’m not supposed to tell anyone at work about us.”

“I saw the two of you come in just now, holding hands in the parking lot. If you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you should come to work in separate vehicles and not hold hands on your way in,” Luke said.

“Where would the fun be in that?” Rod asked. “Don’t tell Evie that you noticed the two of us together. She is insisting on keeping work and personal stuff separate. I’d tell the whole fucking world if she’d let me.”

“She’s a pretty fantastic person, from what I’ve gotten to know about her. I talked to her the other day in the breakroom when I came up to talk to Alex.” Luke was the head of their security and had meetings with Alex once a week, or more, depending on what was going on in the building. Rod liked that his best friend could work for the same company that he did.They used to have lunch together once a week, but he had really slacked off.

“We should have lunch this week and catch up,” Rod offered.

“Deal,” Luke said. “Um, you mind if I ask you a quick question?” he asked.

“Not at all,” Rod agreed. “Shoot.”

“That new girl that works for your brother, is she single?” Luke asked.

“You mean Ruby?” Alex had hired a new assistant once Nova passed the bar and became one of the firm’s new junior lawyers. She was a great assistant and really kept his brother organized, but she was kind of nerdy and introverted.

“Yeah,” Luke breathed. “Is she married or anything like that?”

“I don’t think so, why?” Rod asked.

“Well, I didn’t want to get shot down if she’s married. I like to do a little bit of research on a woman before I flat out ask her out,” Luke admitted.

“You’re going to ask Ruby out?” Rod questioned.

“At some point,” Luke said, “when I get my nerve up.” Luke was a good-looking guy. He had women around that place falling all over themselves to get him just to notice them. Rod was baffled by his wanting Ruby but to each their own.

“Well, good luck, not that you’ll need it. You can get a date with any woman in this place, man,” Rod reminded.

“I know, but I want Ruby,” Luke said. “Call me with what days you have free for lunch, and we’ll make it happen,” Luke said. “I’ve got to get back to work.” He patted Rod’s shoulder and disappeared back into his office.

He stepped off the elevator and found Evie in Nova’s office, sitting on the sofa there, gabbing about something. She shot him a look and he wondered if everything was all right, but he couldn’t worry about them talking every time he saw themtogether. He tried to relax as he walked back to his office, telling himself that everything was fine. He had a crazy day ahead of him, and all Rod wanted to worry about now was getting Evie to agree to spend the night with him again tonight—and every night after, but that was something they could discuss over their lunch date.

Evie

Evie stepped off the elevator and ran right into Nova who seemed to be waiting for her arrival. “Just the woman I’ve been looking for,” she said. Evie wanted to run into her office, shut the door, and lock it, but she knew that sooner or later, she’d have to face her best friend.

“What’s up?” Evie asked. “I have a ton of work to do.” She added the last part knowing that Nova wouldn’t really care about her workload, but she had to try something.

“You remember game night when you and Rod left a little bit early, and I stayed at Tyler’s place with Alex?”

“Um, sure,” Evie said. Red flags were flying all around her, but there was nothing that she could do to get out of what was about to happen.

“Come with me,” Nova insisted. “We need to talk and I’m betting that you’ll want to do this in my office where we have some privacy.” Shit—this wasn’t how Evie wanted to begin her week. One of the guys had spilled the beans and now, all she was going to be able to do was come clean with her best friend.

She let Nova pull her along to her office and shut the door, pointing to her sofa. “Sit,” she ordered. Evie did as Nova ordered, not willing to face any more of her wrath.

“What’s this all about?” Evie asked, pretending to be in the dark. She knew exactly what this showdown was over but admitting it before Nova spilled her guts wasn’t about to happen.

“You know what this is about, Evie,” Nova said. “You lied to me. You let Rod lie for the both of you—you two aren’t really in a relationship,” she said.

“Well, that’s only partially true,” Evie said. “We are in a relationship, even if we weren’t when Rod told you that we were. It started as a lie, but it ended up being the truth,” she said. “I’m so sorry, Nova.”

“Sorry?” Nova breathed. “I consider you to be like a sister and you’re sorry for lying to me. You shouldn’t have done it in the first place.”

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