Page 75 of Guarding My Love

She had to admit she was slightly nervous over that, but Foster had told her it’d be fine.

The thing she hated the most was that she was leaving Marco overnight for the first time. But he loved doggie daycare and they had boarding services there. He’d be taken care of well, she knew that.

“You don’t always need to be here,” Eva said. “I might never come in if I had your job.”

Eva was a coworker in another department. They’d worked on a lot of projects before she was promoted. Eva was actually happy for her and not jealous as she’d experienced enough in her life from other women.

“I will admit it’s sweet working from home.”

“Do you miss this?” Eva asked. “Not coming into the office or just walking to get a lunch or a coffee. Meeting up with people. I mean, what do you do in your little town?”

“I don’t miss it,” she said. “Which is surprising. I think I get my fill when I’m here. As for what I do—not much.” She debated saying she had a boyfriend, but since she was meeting Foster’s family tonight, she could give a little.

In the past, she never wanted to let anyone know because then when it didn’t work out, she’d have to explain that too.

This time, she was hoping nothing went wrong.

“I’d go nuts,” Eva said.

“I do sit by the water a lot. My boyfriend has a place right on the bay with a little beach. We go out on his boat too.”

Eva grabbed her hand. “I didn’t know you were dating someone. Good for you. How long has this been going on? What’s his name?”

“It’s been a few months that we’ve known each other. He lives by me,” she said. “That’s how we met. His name is Foster.”

“You look so happy when you talk about him,” Eva said. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you smile and talk about Landon like that.”

Her smile dropped. “There weren’t a lot of happy times with Landon. I’m not sure what I was thinking about him. And when he tried to get me fired.” She moved into Eva’s office and shut the door. “Landon has been reaching out to me too. He thinks I’m playing games or something and waiting for him to give me something big to come back.”

“What a jerk,” Eva said. “But that is typical of him too. He thought his shit didn’t stink. He just liked having you on his arm. I heard Nicholas saying that Landon used to brag to everyone how good you were in bed. That is why he kept you around.”

She felt her face flame up.

The funny part was she never did anything adventurous with Landon as she did with Foster.

Landon never made her feel like Foster did either.

The sex was pretty bland with Landon.

“I’m not sure why he’d say that,” she said. “He’s nothing to talk about. Maybe younger men are the way to go.”

Eva burst out laughing. “Good for you. Do you have a twenty-year-old?”

She started to laugh. “No. Foster and I are close in age,” she said. Best to just leave it at that. One year wasn’t a big deal.

“Age is only a number,” Eva said. “I know people gave you a hard time about Landon being older, but what’s the big deal? To me, it’s all about being happy and this is the happiest I’ve ever seen you.

“Thank you,” she said. “It might be the happiest I’ve ever felt.”

At the end of the day, she walked a few blocks to their hotel. Foster had his SUV and he said he’d be over when he was done. It was only five when she’d left the office, so she had time to get ready. They were meeting his siblings at six thirty at some pub that West owned.

Foster had told her that there was a room in the back reserved for them so there wouldn’t be a lot of eyes on them.

She wasn’t too concerned about it.

Charlotte slipped her heeled sandals off, unzipped her dress and then hung it up. She’d take a shower since she got a little sweaty walking to the hotel. By the time she got a taxi after work, it was faster to just walk.

When she was coming out of the shower, she heard a noise in the hotel room.

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