“Just because he’s your boss doesn’t mean you’re not screwing,” Cooper snapped at me, and boy, did it hurt to see that vitriol aimed my way and falling from his lips.
He’d never spoken to me that way before. Ever. Even when we broke up.
Or, to be more precise, when he’d broken up with me.
He’d been kind, calm. His usual collected self. Somehow, seeing him unruffled at that, the most devastating of moments, had made me realize how real his words were.
But now? He was most definitely ruffled.
I’d never seen him like this before—was he…? I didn’t even know. He couldn’t be jealous, could he?
“Justin’s gay,” I spat at him, clearing that up right away. The last thing I needed was him to have an attitude with Justin when I’d recommended not only the agency where Cooper worked, but told my boss to ask for Cooper by name.
Dammit.
My job here was secure.
Justin relied on me in ways few men relied on their PA’s, but as a result, I had a job security that would outlast anything other than a zombie invasion or our deaths.
Still, I had a reputation to maintain. That level of trust had only been founded because Justin knew he could believe in my word, have faith in my opinions, and trust that I’d do my best for him.
Cooper’s reaction was unexpected; I’d never imagined that he’d think Justin and I were an item. His approaching Justin about something of that nature… well, it could derail my career like nothing else could.
Except, at my revelation, Cooper seemed to calm. The bitterness flickering around his mouth, tightening his lips, and making his nostrils flare in a sneer, dissipated. He let loose a breath I could have sworn was relieved, and then murmured, “We’d best not keep the big man waiting.”
I stared up at him in concern but it wasn’t like I could say anything, was it? He didn’t know I’d orchestrated this meeting out of a need to burn the bastard from my heart.
Suddenly, my need for closure seemed pretty ridiculous but what could I do?
He was here now, and I had to play out the hand I’d dealt myself.
Just hoping he’d be as good as I’d imagined—because Cooper had always been great at whatever he put his mind to—I led him from the foyer and back to the conservatory where Justin was working.
Why had he staggered back against the table when I’d told him about my mom?
Like he’d cared that she’d almost died?
They’d been close, my parents and Cooper. My mother had appreciated the way Cooper hadn’t enticed me into bed, had let me take my time with that side of things—not that Cooper was aware my mom had known about our lack of a sex life. Still, I’d shared everything with her since I was a little girl. Why wouldn’t I have done with regards to the man who was pretty much the first boyfriend who mattered?
It had hit me in the gut to see his reaction to my news. Mostly because it confused me.
He’d not called my folks, not once, to see how they were doing. A fact that had compounded how little he’d cared for all of us.
Even after the way he’d dumped me, I’d have called his mom to make sure she was okay. Only the fact she was dead had stopped me.
“Welcome,” Justin declared, his voice booming as he held out his arms in exuberant greeting.
The booming tone shook me from my confused thoughts, however, and I made the introductions between my boss and my boyfriend.
Ex.
Ex-boyfriend, I reminded myself, feeling my cheeks grow hot as a result of my wayward thoughts.
When Justin guided Cooper away, I watched him walk from me as he’d done all those years ago, and as he did, some of my anger leached with each passing step that placed distance between us.
Something had happened to him, I realized as I watched him go.
Something that had… I didn’t know what, not really. But had it preempted his leaving me? Had it caused our split?