What was his problem?
‘Abby will think it’s perfect.’
‘She’s not the only one getting married,’ Alex shot back. ‘This one’—he handed her another card, with a beautiful celestial design on it—‘is perfect for both of them. He’ll like the blue. She’ll like the stars. It’s got nostalgia tied to it.’ She didn’t know the history, and wouldn’t give him the pleasure of asking, but from the visual alone, she knew they would both love it. She hated that she hadn’t seen it first. ‘Also, Erik will kill us if they’re not both recycled and recyclable, so that’s a no to the metallic card and the gold foil. And for your information, while I was sweet talking her, I negotiated a bulk discount on the printing and convinced her to take a week off her production time.’
Well, that was frustrating.
Although it was probably inevitable that a sweet old lady would be taken in by his put upon charm.
Still, after ensuring he had all the correct information, Sarah left him to finalise the order while she sulked in the corner. Of course he was right about the paper too. Erik would be horrified if a hundred pieces of cardstock bearing his name ended up in the rubbish.
‘Do you want to grab a coffee? I didn’t have time to stop for one this morning, and my caffeine withdrawal is going to become very unpleasant very soon.’
He’d almost been late for the ten o’clock appointment on a Saturday and hadn’t had time to stop for coffee? How late had he slept?
‘No,’ Sarah said tersely. ‘We should probably talk though.’ Her arms were folded, partly in frustration, but partly out of the need to keep something solid between them.
‘I’m all ears.’ That smirk was back, and she was desperate to wipe it from his face. ‘I’ll drive you home. We can talk in the car.’
She was not getting into an enclosed space with him.
‘Look, I guess we’re going to have the misfortune of seeing each other a lot in the coming weeks—’
‘Not a misfortune for me.’ Alex’s grin was wide.
‘—so we need to lay down some ground rules.’ Despite her frustration with him, she fought to keep her voice calm and measured. ‘Mainly, Abby and Erik never find out that we…’ The pretty, quaint street, with sun streaming down on them through the trees, felt too pure a place to talk about that night.
‘Groped each other in public before having great sex in a frankly disgusting bathroom?’
‘Not how I was going to phrase it, but sure.’
‘Howwouldyou describe what happened, Princess?’ Alex cocked his head to one side, eyes suddenly curious under furrowed brows.
‘Stopcalling me that,’ she hissed.
‘You know, generally I’m all about consent,’ he drawled, ‘but that’s not going to happen.’
‘Fine, Aleksander.’ She drew out the end of his name, and her sick enjoyment when his eyes flashed was the first time she’d found herself having fun that morning.
‘As for your first request, if either of them ever ask outright, I’m not going to lie to my family. They know that sort of thing isn’t…unusual…for me. And I don’t see them judging either of us for a chance, anonymous encounter. But unless that happens, I’m prepared to withhold some information.’
Relief came in a wave, clearing her mind enough that she realised they’d started walking, and it seemed Alex had steered them towards his car, parked down a small side street. Sarah grimaced when he held the passenger door open for her.
‘I’d rather walk.’ Turning on her heel, she stomped back the way they’d come. Chancing a look behind her when she reached the corner, she found his eyes bouncing up from her ass as he leaned against his car—of coursehe had a sports car—the smirk that seemed like a permanent feature splayed proudly across his face.
Pig.
Chapter 5
SARAH
I Caught Myself | Paramore
‘You mean totell me that the hot guy you said was the best fuck you’ve ever had is Abby’s future brother-in-law, and you’ve waitedfive daysto tell me this information?’
Zoe’s hands tightened on the steering wheel as she navigated the streets leading to Alex’s house, her perfect, petal-pink manicure wrapping round the leather to dig into her palms.
‘I did not say he was thebest—’
