I pinch the bridge of my nose.
“Remember?” she asks quietly.
I nod and put my hands on my hips as I stare at her. We did promise each other that years ago, and until now it has never even been a problem.
She walks over and slides her key into my pocket, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. “Women will come and go with you, Spencer, but I’m here forever and, unlike them, my love for you is unconditional.”
I stare at her.
“I’m here for ten days,” she whispers.
“I’m not coming.”
“We’ll see.” She turns and walks out of my office, closing the door quietly behind her.
Her perfume lingers in the air, along with my regret, and I drop into my seat and stare into space.
Sheridan has been the only stable in my life for so long.
This is a really weird feeling.
Charlotte
I sort through the mail with a goofy smile on my face. I’m thinking of Spencer naked and laughing in the shower. He makes me melt. The way I laid in his arms after having sex, and the way we talked and laughed like old best friends…
The way he looks at me.
The way he makes me feel.
The day has flown and I’m in my fan girl element.
Spencer Jones.
I’m seeing him tonight, and oh, it’s all going so well.
I think back to the emails he sent me, and I go through the list of his qualities in my mind.
I don’t have a YouPorn profile. What does that even mean?
“What does YouPorn mean?” I ask Sarah and Paul. They look up from their task.
“What do you mean?” Sarah asks.
“I heard someone say the other day that they don’t have a YouPorn profile. What does that mean?”
“Oh.” They exchange looks and both laugh.
“You know… YouPorn?” Paul says.
“Nope.” I shrug. “Should I know what that is?”
“They should teach this shit at school. This is vital information,” Sarah says. “YouPorn is a platform like YouTube, but people upload sex videos to it.”
“Honesty, I wouldn’t even know how to fuck if it hadn’t been for this when I was a teenager.” Paul laughs.
“Me too.” Sarah nods enthusiastically. “I remember I used to practice the blow job tutorials.”
Paul laughs. “I remember I used to watch the guys fingering the girls to see what I was supposed to be doing down there. I had no fucking idea.”
“Did you practice?” Sarah smiles.
“Yep, on a watermelon.”
We all burst out laughing.
“You need to get on it and watch it, Lottie.” Sarah smiles. “See what we’re all missing out on. There are some seriously hot dudes on there who make the rest of the male population look very lame indeed.”
“Oh, yeah, because all you women let us blow on your faces.” Paul tuts. “Men are more depressed by that site than women are, let me tell you.”
“Yes.” Sarah gasps. “What the fuck is with that? Nobody is blowing on my freshly straightened hair while I kneel with my mouth open.” She shakes her head in disgust. “Honestly, as if women do that in real life.”
I giggle, pretending to know what they are on about. Shit, I really need to study this YouPorn thing tonight.
“Delivery for Lottie Preston,” a voice calls out.
I turn to see one of the security team from the foyer walking through with the biggest bunch of red roses I have ever seen.
“Holy shit!” Sarah cries.
My eyes widen and the man walks over to me. “You Lottie?” he asks.
I nod.
He passes me the huge bouquet, and I turn bright red.
“Oh my God!” Sarah cries. “Look at the size of the heads on those roses.”
I inhale their scent-a deep and beautiful perfume-and I open the card.
Lottie,
Thanks for an amazing weekend
I can’t wipe the smile from my face.
Dolce.
**
I hold the card to my chest as happiness literally beams out of me. It was an amazing weekend and I can’t wipe the smile off my face either.
Oh, and he signed it Dolce…. so sweet that he remembered our stupid game.
“Who the hell are they from?” Sarah gasps as she touches the petals. “Look at the size of the flower heads. And look at the crystal vase they are in.”
“Those will have cost a pretty penny. The fucking vase alone.”
I swing on my chair in glee.
“I got back with my ex-boyfriend,” I lie. I’ll just go along with Spencer’s story. It seemed to work okay.
Sarah nods in approval. “He knows his shit, that’s for sure.”
I place them on my desk and I read the card again.
“I’m just going to call him quickly, is that okay?” I ask.
“Yeah, sure thing, go for it,” Sarah says, and the two of them turn back to their work.
I dial his number, smiling as it rings.
“Hello.”
I walk out of earshot from my colleagues.
“Hi,” I breathe. I can hardly contain my excitement. “I just got a delivery of the most beautiful red roses I have ever seen in my life.”
“You did, huh?”
“Thank you. They’re beautiful.”
“I should be thanking you. I had an amazing weekend.”
“Me too.” I’m practically beaming.
We both wait for the other to say something.
“What time are you coming over tonight?” I finally ask.
“I’ll come over and cook you dinner.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I’m a great cook.”
“You’re great at a lot of things.”
He chuckles, and I imagine him swinging on his chair in his office.
“How will you get in?” I ask, aware that the guards are going to be an issue, as always.
“I’ll park in the basement and catch the lift straight up.”
I bite my lip as I think. “Okay. About seven-thirty. That way they know I’m in bed for the night.”
He grunts, unimpressed. “Okay.”
“Do I need to get anything? Any ingredients?” I ask.
“Just be waiting for me in something sexy.”
“Okay, I can do that.” I blush.
“Goodbye, angel. Have a nice day.”
My heart bursts when he calls me angel.
“You too. Bye.” I hang up and go back to work, and I have to concentrate really hard to not jump on the desk and punch the air.
This is a good day.
The best.