Page 53 of Whatever You Need

“I can’t believeTamara dumped all that shit on you,” Ava said over the rim of her cosmo.

I picked up my own martini and held it up in the air. “I should be used to it by now.”

It was Friday night, and Ava and I were having cocktails after work. I have spent every night for the past two weeks in Marco’s bed and I really needed her advice. Our days and nights have blended together, consisting of shared meals, late night cuddling, and texting sweet nothings every chance we got. Things were changing, and with everything going on with my mother and the fucking arrangement, I was feeling overwhelmed.

She waved her finger in my face. “Fuck that. And you know what? I hope your grandfather does cut her off. I would pay money to see her shopping at Walmart with her Gucci bag and Jimmy Choos.”

My fingers tightened around the stem of my glass and I looked around to make sure no one heard her.

“Fuck!” Ava craned her neck to look over my shoulder.

I turned around in my seat to see what had her all agitated. “Double fuck,” I said, and grabbed my phone to make sure Marco was still running late.

With Owen walking our way, I was hit with a very unfriendly reminder that the happy little bubble I was living in was about to pop.

“Relax. Don’t let him see you panic,” Ava whispered, trying to get the look of unease off my face.

“Hello, ladies.” He slid up next to me and draped his arm along the back of my stool.

He looked so put together, with his blond hair styled perfectly and his clean-shaven jaw. It just went to show you that looks could be deceiving.

“What are you still doing here? I thought you’d be long gone by now.” I tried to sound happy to see him, which was always a challenge.

Ava snorted and tried to hide her smirk behind her glass. She was well aware of what a slacker he was at the office. It was six o’clock at night and normally he would have been gone two hours ago.

He tucked his free hand in his pants pocket. “I have a Christmas party just a few short blocks away. I figured I’d hang out at the office until then.”

“Ahh.” That made sense, although I still wished he were already gone. I fiddled with the cocktail napkin on the bar and tried to think of something I could say to get him moving along. “Well, don’t let us hold you up. Wouldn’t want you to get last dibs on all the single ladies at the party.” I smiled cheeky. He thought I was being playful, but I was dead serious.

He rested his arms on the bar and leaned forward. “Don’t worry about that, they’ll wait for me. I have time for a quick drink.”

Ava gave me a sideways glance filled with concern. I squirmed in my seat while Owen ordered his Macallan and soda. The last thing I wanted to do was sit and chitchat with the source of all my frustrations. I wanted him to be long gone before Marco got here.

“So, Amelia, I’m glad I ran into you. Is there a reason why you’ve been avoiding me these past few weeks?”

“Avoiding you?” I acted shocked. Owen had tried to reach me all week. Silly me thought if I’d ignored him then I wouldn’t have to deal with him.

He unbuttoned his coat and leaned sideways. “I wanted to invite you to dinner next week, but with the way you’ve been dodging my calls, I haven’t been able to make that happen.”

I drained the remainder of my vodka, hoping it would settle my nerves a little bit. “I apologize. I’ve been so swamped, but I have been meaning to return your messages.”

His brows pulled together. I could see it in his eyes that he knew I was full of shit. Owen might have been lazy when it came to business, but he wasn’t a dummy. He knew something was up. I was also a terrible liar.

“Why don’t you pick the day and the time, and I’ll pick the place?” he said, swirling the frozen sphere of ice in his drink around before bringing it to his lips.

“Sure, let me take a look at my calendar and I’ll get back to you.”

“How about Wednesday? I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“You just said that you’d let me pick the day and the time.”

He leaned back against the bar and adjusted his tie. “If I left things up to you, this ball would never get rolling. We can’t keep putting this off. How are we supposed to sell ourselves as the perfect couple if we don’t start acting like one?”

His gaze was creepy and I didn’t like it. My suspicion was confirmed when his eyes dropped to the scoop neckline of my black sweater. The one I wore for Marco tonight.

“We are not a couple,” I reminded him through gritted teeth.

“Yet.” He stared while I blinked back at him. “Something is going on with you. I sure hope you’re not having second thoughts, because if you are, you need to find a way to get over them.”

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