Page 46 of The Accidental Wife

Shayla

“Ugh,”I grumble, deleting the sentence I just typed out for this email for the hundredth time. I need to reapply for my grant to go back to university and get my degree, but I can’t seem to get the wording right on this stupid email. I look up when I hear the distinct sound of heels clicking on the marble floor approaching. I see a leggy blonde walking toward me, dressed in couture from head to toe, her silky curls bouncing with every step she took. She looks like she just stepped off a catwalk, for god sake.

“Can I help you?” I ask as she strolls by me, walking toward Cole's office as if I wasn’t sitting there. She looks back at me, her icy blue eyes raking over me before she smirks.

“I’m here to see Tristan.” She declares, turning and walking toward his office again. I get up and follow her.

“Excuse me, do you have an appointment? You can’t just walk into his office. He’s busy.” I say, irritated, and she spins and faces me, brushing a loose curl out of her face with a perfectly manicured nail.

“Oh, sweetie, I don’t need an appointment. I need a soy latte, so why don’t you be a dear and fetch me one. Thanks.” She chirps, knocks on the door once, and proceeds to walk in. I watch Cole through the glass. He lifts his head, a scowl on his face, which softens to a frown when he sees the blonde in his office. His eyes dart over to me for a second, and I shrug, holding up my hands, and he looks back at the blonde.

I observe as she saunters over to him when he stands from his desk. Who the hell is she? I stand behind the wall where they can’t see me watching them. Cole leans against his desk, and this blonde sits on the chair in front of him, giving him a nice view of those stilts she calls legs when she crosses them.

“What are you doing?” I start when I hear a voice in my ear. I turn and see Josh— Cole’s best friend and head of security, watching me with a smile.

“Jesus, Josh, you scared the shit out of me,” I mutter, looking back at Coles office.

“Are we spying on the boss?” He asks, leaning over to see what I was looking at. I press my finger to his forehead and push it back. He laughs.

“Uh, no, I was just waiting to get a report I need from him, but he seems busy,” I tell him, and he gives me a dubious look and nods.

“Uh-huh, sure. So, you’re not even the tiniest bit curious what he’s talking about with his ex-girlfriend?” Josh says with a knowing smirk, and I look at him.

“Ex-girlfriend?”

Josh nods, “Mhm, that’s Sophie Turner. He hasn’t told you about her?” I shake my head and look over at them again. “They dated for about three years, and she just up and dumped him like eight months ago.”

“Wait, she dumped him?” I ask surprised, and he nods. “Why?”

Josh shrugs, “I’m not sure. He never really said why they broke up, only said they wanted different things at the time. He never showed it, but she hurt him bad. He was crazy about her.” He explains, and I’m not sure why, but I felt my stomach drop at his words.

“Right. Well, she asked for a coffee. I better do my job and get that for her.” I excuse myself and walk off to the kitchen to get her coffee from the machine and had Heather take the coffee into his office. I couldn’t bring myself to see him in the same room as his ex. It was almost lunchtime, Cole and I had a table booked, so I could use that as an excuse and tell him we had to leave.

I’m currently sitting at my desk, chewing my nail anxiously, repeatedly telling myself not to look at them, but every so often, my eyes take a sneak peek. I was dying to know what they were talking about. Cole had a profoundly serious look on his face while listening to whatever she’s yapping on about.

I had enough of waiting around. I walk to the door and knock; Cole lifts his head and looks at me before he nods his head for me to enter. “Hi, sorry to interrupt, we need to leave if we’re going to make the lunch reservation.” I remind him, and he opens his mouth to speak, but Sophie interrupts whatever he was going to say.

“Actually, I’ve made lunch arrangements for us already.” She smiles at Cole, who looks at me then back at Sophie again. She gives him a meaningful look, and he sighs.

“Looks like I’m sorted. You go ahead, sweetheart.” He tells me stiffly, and I nod curtly before walking out of his office without another word. Why do I feel so butt hurt like he just rejected me and chose her? I ignore the gnawing feeling of jealousy in the pit of my stomach and go off to get some lunch for myself.

As I sit by the river eating my sandwich, all alone, I try to make sense of this boy’s actions. He said it made sense for us to be seen together to make this stupid ruse more believable, yet he’s out with his ex-girlfriend. How is that going to look if he gets caught by the paparazzi or something? I sigh, closing my eyes, not having an appetite anymore; I feed the rest of my sandwich to the seagulls.

He was crazy about her…

I keep hearing Josh’s words in my head. Why am I so bothered by this? I shouldn’t care, it's just a stupid game, and in one hundred and fifty-one days, I’ll be free of him.

You’re starting to like him. I shake off that annoying little voice in my head, trying to convince me that I have feelings for him because I don’t. It's just a crush, that’s it. He’s an extremely good-looking guy, and I see him half-naked all the time. We live together. It’s only natural for me to develop an innocent crush on him. I just need to keep it at that and not let it develop into anything more.

Yes, that’s the plan. Keep it professional.

With that in mind, I return to the office and notice Cole wasn’t back yet. I groan when I felt that little pinch in my heart. I picked up a smoothie for myself and got one for Cole, too, because I know he loves it. I even had them write the word ‘Stud’ on it—the nickname I call him. I place it on his desk and go back to mine, busying myself to not let my mind wander off to him. What if they’re in a hotel somewhere having raw post-break-up sex? The thought alone made my stomach hurt.

* * *

Two hours later,Cole strolls into the office. I see him approaching from the corner of my eye and keep my eyes glued to the paperwork in front of me. He marches past my desk and walks into his office without a word. I watch him as he takes his suit jacket off and tosses it on the sofa. He looks royally pissed off and loosens his tie while he walks over to his desk. Cole stops when he sees his smoothie. He picks it up and looks at it, reads the writing on the cup, and smiles. I feel a warmth engulf my heart whenever he smiles. Before he sees me watching him, I turn my attention back to my work and bite back the urge to smile myself.

I jump when my intercom buzzes. I look over at him and push the button. “Yes, Mr Hoult?”

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