“Speaking from experience?” I ask playfully.
“Duh. And I am past that point in my life, you guys. I need a real man, someone who wants the same things as me and who knows how to please a woman. I don’t understand why that’s so hard to find.” She sighs in defeat.
“You need to stop looking for him,” Penelope says.
“What?”
“Haven’t you ever heard the saying that things will happen when you least expect them to?”
“Yeah…”
“Well, perhaps if you stop focusing on finding your husband, he’ll pop up right in front of you. Looking for love is a surefire way to end up disappointed, which you always seem to be nowadays, no offense. So maybe you should let love find you, Noelle. I refuse to believe that you’ll be alone forever. Your heart is too pure.” Penelope smiles across the table at our friend and stuns us all into silence. Usually, her words are full of sarcasm, pessimism, and vulgarity—but maybe she knew that Noelle needed to hear some words of encouragement today.
Noelle sits there dazed by this revelation, and I’m not gonna lie, Penelope’s words strike a chord with me too. The last thing I wanted was to see Damien again, and then all of a sudden, he appeared. Could it be that the timing of all of this wasn’t coincidental? And if so, what am I going to learn from it?
* * *
“Helen?” I call out to my assistant as I shuffle folders across my desk. “Where is the file for the year-end projections?”
“I gave it to you this morning,” she yells back through my open office door.
“Are you sure? I can’t seem to find it.”
I hear footsteps coming toward me and look up from my desk just in time to see Trina, the editor in chief and my boss, walking into my office. “Charlotte.”
“Trina,” I greet her cheerily, even though unannounced visits from her are never a good thing. “How can I help you?”
“Oh, I was just in the vicinity and thought I’d stop by, see how things are going with securing the advertising for the rest of the year.”
“Oh. Well, it’s going. We landed Mercedes, the Honest Company, and Target.”
“Fantastic. But we need something new as well, Charlotte. We need to keep up on what’s hot and trending.”
“Well, word on the street is that Remedy is launching a new campaign, and I think they might be a good fit.”
“The new women’s health line?”
“Yes. They’re taking a stance on taking care of a woman’s needs from her period to her mental and physical health. It’s quite the project.” I take a deep breath. “I don’t know how much longer it will be until they have something solid, but I’d like to keep a spot open for them just in case.” Suddenly, the memory of Damien and Jeffrey playing around with tampons comes back to me. I wonder if the account he’s working on is Remedy? It would make sense, and I instantly make a mental note to ask him about it.
She arches a brow at me. “I think that’s wise. But please have something solid as a backup just in case. I’d hate to lose out on other big clients because we were holding out for them.” She eyes me up and down skeptically. “And if that happens, I will not be happy.”
“Of course.” I gulp down the rock in my throat just as a knock on my door pulls both of our attention to the unexpected visitor.
“Knock, knock.” Damien peeks his head into the room, grinning from ear to ear. And then when he enters completely, I see him holding a bouquet of sunflowers and a brown paper bag from The Chop Shop. Given any other circumstances, this might seem sweet, but what the hell is he doing in my office right now?
“Damien? What are you doing here?”
“Well, it was my turn to bring you lunch, sweet pea,” he says, pleased with using that term of endearment again because he knows I hate it.
“Oh. Well…”
“And who is this?” Trina asks, blatantly checking out Damien in front of me. A spike of jealousy radiates in my chest, and before I know what I’m doing, I’m weaving our lie even further into my life.
“This is my boyfriend, Damien Shaw. Damien, this is Trina, my boss.” I walk over to where Damien stands and wrap my arm around his waist, getting a feel for his abs under his shirt—and dear lord, how many abs does this man have? Eight is the maximum number, right?
Damien reaches out to shake her hand after he shuffles the items he’s holding in one hand, and she reciprocates. “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.” Her eyes drop down his body again. “I wasn’t aware that Charlotte was dating anyone.”
“Oh, have you been keeping me a secret, sweet pea?”
“Apparently not well enough,” I mutter between clenched teeth, but I don’t think either of them hear it. Or they simply ignore me.
“Well, most of us in this position don’t have time for dating, so it always surprises me when one of us can find time to juggle both,” Trina replies cheekily.
“Oh, believe me. I feel like I’m juggling all of the balls right now,” I say, instantly slapping myself in the head in my mind.
Damien snickers. “Yes, and I know that Charlotte would work through lunch if I didn’t bring her something to eat, so—here I am.” He holds up the bag of food again proudly.
Part of me is grateful to him for bringing me lunch, but the other part of me is cursing him for showing up like this unannounced. “Okay then. Well, I guess it’s time for me to eat.”
“Yes, of course.” Trina turns back to Damien. “Nice to meet you. I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of you around here.”
“You can count on it.”
“Keep up the good work, Charlotte. And make sure you have a backup to your backup.” With a stern look, she exits my office and I run after her to shut the door.
Spinning around to take in Damien now, I’m met with a devilish smirk and his body encased in a solid black suit. Fuck, he looks good. “What are you doing here?”
“I brought you lunch,” he says dryly. “And flowers.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s what boyfriends do.”
“Not fake boyfriends,” I counter, pushing off the door and walking back over to my desk, trying to rein in my frustration.
“Well, forgive me for being thoughtful.” He sets the flowers and bag down on my desk, now irritated with me as well.
“I appreciate it, but you meeting my boss was never part of this plan.”
“Is it a problem that I did?”
“Yes,” I say, exasperated. “I didn’t want this little ruse to affect my work life. It was supposed to benefit yours, but I wanted mine to be left out of it.”
“Well, screw me for trying to be nice, Char. I’ll let you get back to work.” He begins to walk away, but now I feel like an ass.
“Damien, wait.” Walking over to him with his back still turned to me, I cautiously put my hand on his shoulder where he’s standing right in front of the door. “I’m sorry.” He turns around slowly. “But seriously…why are you here?”
His brow furrows as he stares down at me, and all I can see is confusion in his light blue eyes. His square jaw lined with short facial hair is tense and his lips are pursed. He’s truly quite handsome and I hate that I’m finally noticing that about him. “I guess I just wanted to see you.”
His answer steals the breath from my lungs. “What?”