Page 51 of The Accidental Wife

Shayla must have had the same reaction because she was staring at the island, a faraway look in her eyes, lips parted, her breathing slow and shallow. We look at each other simultaneously, her cheeks flushed. She clears her throat, moves over to the island, and proceeds to clean up. I know one thing for sure, tonight we’ll both be struggling to get to sleep.

I leave her with an inward groan and go to my bedroom, taking off the jeans and t-shirt I was wearing. I fall back on the bed. Moments later, I hear the shower running, and I let my mind wander off to her naked and wet in that shower and all the things I would do to her in there. I wonder if she’s thinking about me and touching herself? I’d give anything to be in there right now.

* * *

The next day was Friday,and as we had a late-night, we got into the office after ten in the morning. Shayla slumps down on her chair and yawns tiredly, both of us only getting four hours sleep I wasn’t feeling much better. I had a total of four coffees just to wake myself up a little after I almost dozed off in the middle of a meeting. If it weren’t for Shayla kicking my shin under the table, I would have fallen asleep listening to the client drone on and on about their ideas.

We walk out of the conference room laughing. “Did you see that guy's face when you jumped awake?” Shayla cackles hysterically.

“Hey, that was your fault. I saw your eyes grow heavy too, so naturally, of course, I would fall asleep.” I defend myself, and Shayla smacks my arm playfully.

“Oh, yes, blame me. You almost fall asleep in the middle of a meeting, and I get the blame. Typical.”

“Yes, it is absolutely your fault. You kept me up most of the night with all your shenanigans.” I tease with a grin, and she narrows her eyes at me.

“My shenanigans? Who told you to smother me in ice cream?”

I laugh, “Well…”

She holds up her finger and scowls at me. “Don’t you dare say it!” She knows me too well.

“All right, all right, put your finger away before you hurt yourself.” I tease and walk into my office, still laughing. I look over at her as I sit at my desk, and she’s grinning too, shaking her head.

I just adore her.

The rest of the day, I buried my head into work. I’ve been really distracted lately, so I put my air pods in and drown out the rest of the world. I frown when I realise it's not my music playing. I look at my phone and discover it's Shay’s playlist. She synced it with my phone, so we could listen to it in the car. I glance over at her desk and watch her for a couple of minutes while she works. She’s so freaking beautiful. I could watch her forever and never get bored.

With a drawn-out sigh, I try to focus on working for the remainder of the day. I seem to find my flow, and the next time I look up was when I hear a knock on my door. I was expecting it to be Shayla, but to my surprise, it was Sophie at the door. She doesn’t wait for me to give her permission to enter, and she walks right in and closes the door before she saunters over to my desk. Twice in one week, what does she want now?

“Sophie?” I greet, leaning back against my leather chair. Sophie walks over and drops her handbag on my desk before she sits on the chair opposite me.

“Hey sweetie.” She sighs, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, and she presses her glossy lips together before she lifts her blue eyes to mine.

“I wanted to talk to you. I didn’t like the way we left things the other day at lunch.” She explains, and I sigh, rubbing my jaw.

“What is there to talk about? I think we said everything we had to say, right?” Sophie shakes her head and crosses her legs leaning back in the chair, regarding me seriously.

“No, Tristan, we didn’t.” She retorts snidely. I roll my eyes. It grates me when she calls me that. I’ve told her I want to be called Cole outside of work for years, but she incessantly calls me Tristan because it sounds better than Cole.

“What else is there to say, Soph? You said you and Derrick are engaged to be married, and I told you my opinion on the matter. You’re making a mistake jumping into a marriage blind with this guy.” I explain, scowling at her.

“Oh, you mean like the mistake you made marrying that assistant girl, Tristan?” She snaps back hotly. I lean forward, placing my forearms on the desk, and I glare at her hard.

“Who said I made a mistake? I love her.” Sophie throws her head back and laughs.

“You love her?” She croons. “Come on, Tris, you and I both know that girl is the farthest from your type. You like your girls classy and sophisticated, and she is neither of those things. She’s a simpleton. A nobody.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Watch your mouth Sophie, that’s my wife you’re talking about,” I growl through gritted teeth.

“Your wife?” She tuts, standing up and walking over to me. “Give me a break, Tris. I know you too well. Why don’t you just admit that you married her to spite me? You cannot honestly stand there and tell me you’re really into this girl.”

I frown up at her and shake my head before I stand up also. “Why do you even care, Soph? You’re the one that walked out on me, remember?!”

“Yes, because you didn’t care about our future! You wouldn’t marry me, but you’ll go and marry a worthless nobody who you wouldn’t look at twice if she walked past you on the street. I spent three years of my life with you. I know you well enough to know you couldn’t possibly be interested in a girl like that. You’re using her to hurt me, aren’t you?”

I laugh bitterly and walk toward her. “Hurt you? You mean the way you hurt me when you just up and took off because you didn’t get your own fucking way?! I loved you!” I bark angrily, and she glares at me, her icy blue eyes watering.

“No! You loved your work. I gave you a choice, Tristan! You chose your job over me every time. Your life is all about your job; that’s how it's always been. Ever since you took over the company, you made me less of a priority in your life. You didn’t see how much you hurt me by pushing me aside like I didn’t matter. I didn’t want to be second best—not to you!” She shouts, pushing at my chest.

“Do you have any idea how I felt when I saw those pictures of you in the papers with that girl? Or the ones all over the internet this morning. That guy is not the Tristan I know. You hate public displays of affection; you wouldn’t even hold my hand, but with her, you’ll do this.” She says, tossing her phone at my chest. I catch it and look at the photos of us from last night. Someone snapped pictures of us while we were outside. It was the moment our noses were pressed together, eyes closed, and I was asking if I could touch her.

I look at Sophie, who wipes a tear that rolls down her cheek. “Sophie I—”

She shakes her head, “Three years, and all I ever wanted was for you to look at me like that. So, tell me, either you never really loved me or that in that photo and all the rest of it is a show.”

I lick my lips and hand her phone back to her. “Of course I loved you, Sophie, a part of me will always love you,” I admit, and she stares at me for a long moment before she steps closer and presses her lips to mine.

---