Why does he look so happy? The guilt should be eating away at him. I closed the door behind me and followed him toward his desk.
He placed the mugs down on his desk and then grabbed my arm, pulling me against his chest. “God, I missed you.” He pressed his lips against mine before I could protest. I could have easily gotten lost in that kiss. But I couldn’t stop picturing him kissing Isabella. I pulled away from him.
“James, the blinds are open.”
He winked. “Gotcha. I was thinking the same thing.” He let go of me, walked over to the windows, and began to close the blinds. “It’s about time we bent those rules. All I’ve been thinking about since you started working here is having you on this desk.”
I swallowed hard. “No, that’s not… I don’t think we should bend the rules.” I sat down in one of the chairs and grabbed my cup of coffee, using it as almost a shield.
He walked up behind me and ran his hand down the side of my neck.
I still got chills whenever he touched me. Even though I was mad at him, that feeling hadn’t just disappeared overnight. I still wanted him just as much as I always did. Probably even more since I hadn’t been able to have him in so long.
“Rules are meant to be broken.” His breath was hot against my neck as he began to massage my shoulders.
Fuck that feels good.
“And I know breaking rules turns you on. You’re probably dripping wet right now, just thinking about it aren’t you?”
“Stop.” I shifted forward on the chair, letting his hands fall from my shoulders. “You’re going to make me spill my coffee.”
“Penny, I’m caving.” He walked around me and leaned against the front of his desk. “I need you. I can’t even function anymore. I’m horny as hell.”
“Sure you are.” He had sex this weekend with some hooker. And he had probably screwed Isabella and Rachel too. Asshole.
He lowered his eyebrows. “What, do you want me to beg you? I’ll beg if you want, baby.” He kneeled in front of me and ran his hands up my thighs. “I need you. Now.”
I took a huge sip of coffee instead of answering him. Why was he trying to have sex with me right now? He should have been apologizing. And groveling. He was acting like nothing had happened.
“How was your weekend, James?”
“I missed you.”
I pressed my thighs together to stop his hands from traveling any farther. “Tell me about your bachelor party.”
He sighed and sat down in the chair beside mine. “It was okay.”
“Just okay?”
He ran his hand through his hair. “I think Rob and Matt probably enjoyed it the most. I really just hung out with Mason by the pool.”
“Nothing super eventful that you want to tell me about?”
“No, it was just relaxing.”
Fuck you. “Nothing you want to talk to me about?”
“Um… no? How was your weekend? Did you have fun without me?”
“Not really, no.”
He lowered his eyebrows. “Is everything okay, baby?”
I was getting exasperated. I didn’t want to run around in circles. “No, it’s not. I had a really shitty weekend actually. I tried to call you a million times, James.”
“I didn’t have my phone. What did you expect me to do?” He gave me a playful smile.
“To figure out a way to call me back.”
“I did. And you didn’t pick up.”
“Yeah, because I was sleeping. I tried to call you back and they asked for a password. When I didn’t know it, they hung up and then none of my other calls went through. Where the hell were you?”
“I told you. It was called the Blue Parrot Resort. It’s in Costa Rica. I heard you had a bachelorette party. How’d that go?”
I tried to swallow down the lump in my throat. Is that why he did what he did? Because he thought I was doing the same? I didn’t fuck a random stranger. What the hell was wrong with him? Before I could answer him, his phone started ringing.
“Sorry, I need to take this. I missed all my calls this weekend and I don’t want to get any further behind. Hold on a sec.” He put his hand on my knee, leaned over his desk, and grabbed his work phone. “Hunter.”
He kept his hand on my knee as if he was worried I would flee. He was probably right. I didn’t think this was how our conversation would go. I thought he’d tell me what happened right away and say how sorry he was. Instead, he was acting like nothing had happened.
“I asked you not to…” his voice trailed off and he shoved his free hand into his pocket. “Really?” He looked down at me. “I mean… I doubt it will change their minds, but it would be great if you tried.” A smile had spread across his face. “Thanks a lot, Isabella. Let me know how it goes. Bye.”
Isabella? My stomach seemed to churn. “I thought you asked her not to contact us?” I already knew she wasn’t listening to his request because she had been contacting me via terrible pictures. But I didn’t know she had been contacting him too. I set my coffee down. My hands had started shaking and I didn’t want to spill the coffee all over myself.
James hung up the phone. “Actually, she called me Friday night before I was kidnapped.” He laughed. “And she apologized again… about how the engagement party went. She said that my parents had invited her and that it wasn’t her idea to ambush me. She really seemed sorry. She wants me to be happy.”
Bullshit. I had noticed his pause after claiming she had apologized. Was she apologizing for the kiss they shared last week instead? I took a deep breath. “Okay, but why are you talking to her now?”
“She just told me that she’s going to try to talk to my parents. She wants them to come around.”
“And you believe her?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I want to. My mom loves her. If anyone can convince my parents to come to the wedding, it’s Isabella.”
“Is that it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Is that the only reason you’re talking to her? Because she’s claiming she’s going to help you?”
“Of course.”
“Do you still have feelings for her?”
He laughed. “No. Penny,” he grabbed my hand and sat down next to me again. “If you’re worried about me getting cold feet… it’s not going to happen. I love you and only you. You have nothing to worry about.”
Stop lying. “I don’t want you to talk to her anymore.”
“Isabella?”
“Yes, your ex wife. She’s… toxic.”
“She’s actually been really nice recently.”