It wasn’t all that long ago you were.
I made fists and gritted my teeth.
I grabbed my drink glass and downed what was left in it.
“Do you mind if I smoke?” Danielle asked.
“Have at it,” I said. I stood up. “I have to leave.”
“I know,” she said. “You’re in love with someone. And you don’t want that guy to know about it. This isn’t the first time this has happened. Won’t be the last. We’re all just doing our job, right? You’re trying to close a deal. That guy is trying to relax on it.”
I reached into my pocket and put money on the table. “Not sure what this will get me, but I hope maybe some messy hair, pouty lips, and the need to reapply lipstick. For effect.”
Danielle winked at me. “Send someone in to bring me a drink. I have a few hours to kill on my own.”
I walked by Danielle and she grabbed my arm.
I looked down at her.
“Just one last time, Cole. Three hours. Anything goes. I like it all too. Nothing forced.”
“I appreciate the offer.”
“You love her that much?”
“She’s carrying our child,” I said. “I’ve never loved someone the way I love her.”
Danielle released her grip on my arm and brought her cigarette to her lips.
She kept my suit jacket.
And I felt like I was losing my mind.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Maya
“Cody,” I said.
“You know, I’m not a fan of you knowing my name,” he said as he walked to the window. He slipped his hands into his pockets. “Does it bother you?”
“What? The names you’ve made up? Not really. At first, I thought it was just an unfortunate last name. Then I realized something was going on.”
“No, not that. I meant the view.”
“The view? Why would the view bother me?”
Cody looked at me. He smiled.
He had the same lips and smile as Cole. The same eye shape too. But his eyebrows and cheekbones were different.
“I’m afraid of heights,” he said. “Which is kind of funny for a guy who spends all his time getting high. Right?”
“Yeah. Right.”
Cody laughed. “I mean, think about it. All I want is to feel like I’m floating, but I need my feet on the ground to enjoy it.” He shook his head. “This view though… it’s actually making my knees wobble a little.”
“It doesn’t bother me,” I said.
My mind raced on what to do next.
I could text or call Cole. Excuse myself from the office.
But Cole was in a meeting with Mr. Pickle.
I didn’t want him to have to leave and have the deal get messed up.
Which meant all I needed to do was keep Cody here. In my office. Talking. Laughing. That way I could keep an eye on him and make sure he didn’t cause trouble.
“Want to do something fun?” Cody asked.
“Sure,” I said.
“Come here. To the window with me.”
I moved from my desk to the window.
“Take your hands,” Cody said, “like this…”
He put his hands up and out.
I did the same.
“Now put them against the glass,” Cody said. “Kind of lean into the glass.”
“Okay,” I said.
My hands gently touched the glass.
I was only able to lean so far because of my stomach.
“Now, with your hands like that, lift up on your toes and look down,” Cody said. “You feel like you’re falling.”
I listened to him, playing his game, all for the sake of Cole.
When I got to my toes and looked down, I had that sudden feeling of falling. It was a balance thing because of being on my toes. And my eyes panicked for a second, telling my brain I was going to fall out of the window.
I gasped, stepped back and tripped.
“Fuck,” Cody said as he pushed from the window.
A second later, he caught me, keeping me from crashing to the floor.
“Whoa,” I said with a weak smile.
“Whoa is right,” he said.
He stared at me for a couple seconds.
Then he leaned closer to me.
I turned and rolled out of his touch and kiss before his lips could touch mine.
My hands hit the desk and I pulled myself behind it.
Heat rushed to my face.
Cole’s brother is here, high, and just tried to kiss me.
Maybe in some other world that would have been okay. The world where I hated Cole enough and had enough guts that I would fool around with his brother just to piss him off.
But this wasn’t that world, and I wasn’t that woman.
I looked at Cody and he showed his hands. “Sorry. Just going with the sparks.”
“Sparks?”
“You and me. I keep thinking about you in that