Mr Spencer: Chapter 9

I jump around in a panic while Spencer laughs.

Well, he hasn’t seen Edward angry. This is no joking matter.

I look over to the sliding door of the balcony and see it is still open from our time when we were lying out in the sun this morning. I push Spencer backwards, shoving him to the balcony and out of the door. I slam it shut and flick the lock.

“What the fuck?” he mouths through the glass.

I draw the heavy drapes shut and try to act calm.

“Hello?” I call out to them as I walk out into the living room, fixing my robe in place.

Alexander’s face falls when he sees me in a state of undress.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry, Charlotte, forgive me for intruding.” He frowns.

“It’s okay.” I fake a smile. “I’m just not well today.” I wrap my robe tighter around me and glance over at the window.

“What is it?” Alexander asks.

I put my fingertips to my temples. “Just a headache. It’s nothing to worry about.”

I can’t believe I have locked Spencer on the balcony naked.

I can only imagine what he must be doing out there, and I bite my bottom lip to stop myself from smiling.

“I’m going to take a lie down, though,” I say, widening my eyes at Beth. For God’s sake, take the hint.

I glance over to the window, and I can see Spencer pushed flat up against the wall. It must be nearly zero degrees out there. I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing out loud.

“I shall leave you in peace.” Alexander smiles.

“Thank you.” I kiss his cheek. “And thank you for checking in on me, I appreciate your concern.”

He smiles warmly. “Can we have lunch one day this week?”

“Of course.” I begin to guide him towards the door, practically pushing him out of it.

Just leave already.

“Where are you working now?” Beth asks Alexander.

I widen my eyes at her for starting a conversation, and she frowns in confusion.

“I’m still in merchant banking.”

“That’s great! See you later,” I snap, holding my hand out. “I really must get to bed.”

A frown crosses Alex’s face at my sharp dismissal. “Goodbye, ladies.” He walks out and I close the door behind him, immediately putting the chain on. As soon as I can, I turn and run to the sliding door, opening it in a rush.

“What the actual fuck?” Spencer shivers when he walks inside.

He looks up, and Beth’s eyes widen to the size of saucers. Her mouth falls open in shock.

He covers his dick with both his hands. “Charlotte!” Spencer cries.

I put my hands over my mouth, and I burst out laughing.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” I run to get his towel, and I hold it up to shield him from Beth’s bulging eyes.

He wraps it around his waist and glares at me.

I’m still laughing. “You…” I point to the balcony. ”And you didn’t…” I can’t stop the hysterical laughter. “Elizabeth, please meet Spencer.”

She gasps. “You’re Spencer?”

He hunches his shoulders together and throws her a cheeky grin, holding his two hands in the air. “In all my glory.”

She shakes her head. “I have no words.”

I put my hand over my mouth. She’s seen everything.

“In my defence, it was very cold out there,” he tells her.

Beth and I burst out laughing, and Spencer shakes his head. “I can’t fucking believe you locked me out there… naked. My dick could have frozen off.”

We throw our heads back and hoot with laughter. This is the funniest thing I have ever seen.

“I’m glad you two think this is so funny. I’m going to have a hot shower. I’m frostbitten.”

I smile over at him and my heart sings. I really like him.

He narrows his eyes at me, and then, as if silently reading my mind, he kisses my temple when he walks past me.

“Lovely to meet you, Elizabeth!” he calls out.

Elizabeth’s mouth drops open and she slaps me on the arm. “Oh, my fucking God,” she whispers. “Tell me everything.”

I put my finger to my lip in a hush signal and I wait for Spencer to disappear up the stairs.

“I’m confused. I thought you weren’t seeing him until tonight.”

“He was at the ball last night and we organised for him to sneak in here afterwards.”

Her mouth falls open. “He stayed here?”

I nod, with a huge smile.

Her eyes widen. “Did you…?”

I nod again.

She puts her hands over her mouth. “I can’t believe this. And he’s gorgeous.”

“I know,” I whisper. “I have to go to the pharmacy. Do you want to come with me, and we can maybe have a quick coffee?”

“But, he’s still upstairs.”

“I know, but if he leaves, he can’t get back in past the guards. He wants to stay tonight, too.”

She jumps up and down on the spot, grabbing my arms. “Holy fucking shit.”

I put my hands over my mouth and laugh at her reaction.

This conversation seems surreal.

“Just wait here,” I whisper. “I’ll go up and tell him we’re going out for half an hour.”

“Wait, why do you have to go to the pharmacy?”

“We’re out of condoms.”

She bursts out laughing, and I slap my hand over her mouth again. “Shut up.” I look around guiltily.

“How many times did you do it?”

“Three.”

Her eyes bulge again.

I giggle at her reaction. “I know. Look at me all sex kitten-like.” I flap my hands around in excitement. “Back in a minute.”

I head upstairs and find Spencer in the shower. I try really hard to calm my schoolgirl excitement before I see him.

“Hi.” I smile casually as I walk into the bathroom.

He turns towards me and smirks. “You locked me out on the balcony in the nude.”

I smile and lean in to kiss him. “I’m sorry.” I cup his face. “I didn’t know what to do.”

Spencer soaps up his groin. How in the hell is he so comfortable naked? Where does one get this confidence?

“I’ll tell you the first thing you can do,” he says.

“What’s that?”

“Tell Alexander fucking York to never come here again.” He puts his head under the water in annoyance and rinses his hair.

“He was just checking in on me.”

“I don’t want him coming around here.”

I smirk. “Are you jealous, Spence?”

“Yes.” He falls serious. “I am, actually, and I don’t like it.”

This is the first time I’ve seen him angry this way.

“Okay.” I smile softly and lean in to kiss him again. “No more home visits from Alexander. I’m going to go out to the pharmacy now. I won’t be long.”

He frowns. “How long is this going to go on for?” he asks.

“What?” I frown.

“This sneaking around?” Hmm, he really is getting a little shirty here. I haven’t seen this side of him before.

“Not long.” I run my hand down his chest and to his groin. I take him in my hand like he showed me to. “Let’s just have today, okay?” I give him a slow stroke to sweeten the deal. “I want you to myself for a little while longer, that’s all.”

His eyes flicker with arousal. “I’ll be on my back in your bed waiting for you.” He grabs my behind with both hands and grinds me against his dick. His tongue dances through my open lips.

Oh, hell, the man can kiss.

“Okay.” I smile. “I’ll be quick.” I make my way out of the bathroom, turning back to him at the last moment. “What do I buy again?’

He smirks. “A bottle of lubricant and a few boxes of condoms.” He turns the shower off. “Take my card.”

“I think I’m good for it.”

He smiles and wraps a towel around his waist.

I hesitate for a moment, knowing this is probably a stupid question. “Are all condoms the same?”

His face softens, and he steps forward, wrapping me in his arms. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are to me?”

I smile up at him. “Me not knowing anything about condoms is beautiful to you?”

“It is.” He kisses me. “And I need the large ones.”

I widen my eyes. “I knew it.”

He turns me around and slaps me on the behind. “Be quick.”

“So?” Beth smiles against her coffee cup. “Tell me everything.”

I exhale heavily and sip my coffee. “Oh, Beth.” I frown. “He’s beautiful.”

“I can see that.”

“Was it good? The sex, I mean.”

I wince a little. “Well, the first time…” I pause as I try to articulate my thoughts. “Honestly, it was kind of awkward.”

Her face falls.

“Not awkward—that’s the wrong word. He helped me through it. More like limped me through it, actually.”

“He didn’t come?” She gasps, horrified.

I glance around to the other people in the coffee shop and to the front door where Wyatt and Anthony are standing out on the street. “He came, but I know he was being super careful about what he said, and he did because he knew I was so nervous.”

“You told him it was your first time?” She frowns.

“No. God, no. He thinks I did it once before, but my inexperience was obvious. I hope I fooled him anyway.

“He was being sweet, gentle, making jokes and trying so hard to make me feel at ease.”

She smiles and takes my hand over the table. “Lottie, I’m so glad you waited for someone who actually took the time to read your body language.”

“Me, too.” I smile. “But I know what he’s like, and… I’m just not trying to let myself get inside my own head, you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“When we were in bed, I didn’t think about losing my virginity or him or… anything, really. I was just trying to get through it. It fucking hurt.” I widen my eyes. “A lot.”

“It must have. He isn’t packing heat, he’s packing the whole fucking oven.”

I giggle. “And you saw the shrivelled-up version.”

She laughs.

“The aroused version is very angry, let me tell you.”

“Imagine walking around with a thing of that size in your pants. It must get in your way.”

“I know, right?”

“Okay… so, the first time was just okay.”

I smile. “It was good for me, but I know he wasn’t being himself. I still think he liked it.”

“Ah.” She nods. “What about the other two occasions?’

“This morning.” I smile, remembering it all. “But afterwards there was this feeling of… I can’t explain it. The way he was holding me close. It was really nice. And then the last time was different again.”

“How so?”

“He was intense, and the way he kissed me.” I fake a shiver. “God, it’s just good, that’s all I know. It gets better each time we do it. I’m trying to play it cool, though. I’m not asking for any more dates, I’m just going to see where it goes,” I tell her.

“Good.”

“It’s one thing to be a virgin, but to be a clingy virgin is the worst.”

“I agree. But you’ve done it now, and whether this turns out to last or not is irrelevant really. He was sweet and gentle. He put your needs before his.”

I smile. “He really did. You should have heard the goofy jokes he was making to try and take my anxiety away from me.”

“Like what?”

“He spilled my champagne and then took his shirt off to wipe it up. He eventually confessed that it was a strategic move on his part.”

She smiles as she listens.

“Then we were joking around about the sharp crystals on my dress and he was talking about Finding Nemo to be all cute. Then told me he was in the “Guinness Book of Records” for having the smallest dick.”

She laughs. “We both know that’s a lie.”

“We do.”

Her face falls. “Just be careful, Lottie. You know that it may not work out, right?”

“I know that.”

“And it’s okay if it doesn’t,” she reminds me with a smile.

I nod. “At this point, Spencer is just a friend who helped me through a very awkward situation in a really sweet way.”

“That’s true.”

“And if we keep being friends for a while, that’s great. If not, that’s okay, too.”

She grins, looking proud. “Look at you being all grown up and sensible. I’m so happy you are seeing this for what it is. I was so worried you were going to fall madly in love with the first guy you slept with.” She sips her coffee.

“Don’t be stupid.” I fake a smile, and from somewhere deep inside I hear a little voice whispering, Too late.

There’s a crime show of some sort on the television. Someone has just been murdered but the body hasn’t been found, although they are searching high and low for it.

“It was obviously the guy from the apartment block,” Spencer says.

I smirk. “It wasn’t him; he had an alibi.”

“I’m telling you, it was him.” He looks up at me. “I have a sixth sense about these things. I should have been a cop.”

I kiss his forehead. “You poor, deluded man. You would have made a terrible cop because it wasn’t the guy from the apartment block.”

“Just wait and see, Prescott. Just wait and see.”

It’s late at night and neither of us want to go to sleep. That will mean that our date is over. Spencer is well and truly focused on solving this crime, but my focus is on the man next to me who has his head on my chest.

I’m in my nightdress and, of course, Spencer is naked. We have fucked ourselves into some kind of sated bliss.

We are lying here just enjoying the show, and each other. Every now and then he kisses my breast and my fingers run aimlessly through his hair.

This physical touch thing is so real.

I’ve never had it, and now that I do, I don’t want to let it go.

“You know on our first date you told me you had an idea about what you wanted to do with your law degree…”

“Yes.” I play with his hair, wondering where this is going.

He pulls back to look at me. “What was your idea?”

I sigh. “I had this crazy idea of opening a law firm that represented charities for free.”

“What do you mean?”

“Charities need contracts drawn up and legalities looked over, but the fees come out of the money they raise. It can run into the thousands. I had this idea that I could open a practice and represent charities without charging them a penny.”

“Charlotte, that’s a great idea.”

“And a pipe-dream.”

He frowns and waits for me to explain.

“I have no idea how to run a company. I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

“Well, you just decide you’re going to do it.”

I smile. “If only it were that easy.”

“It is that easy, Charlotte. You just decide you’re going to do something and you find a way to make it happen.”

I stare at him for a moment. “Is that what you did? Decide you were going to make it happen and it just miraculously happened?”

“No. I worked hard and educated myself on what I had to do to make it happen. Then I worked fucking harder and harder. You just need to take a chance and back yourself. If you don’t believe in you nobody will.”

I run my fingers through his hair. “Are you going to turn into my life coach now, Spencer Jones?”

“No.” He bites my nipple through my nightdress. “I’m your sex coach. I can’t be everything to you.”

My eyes hold his. “Who said you can’t be everything to me,” I whisper.

The air tightens around us.

That sounded soppy and needy. Why did I have to say that?

“And besides, you would be a terrible coach of anything besides sex because the guy in the apartment didn’t do it,” I add to lighten the mood.

He rolls his eyes. “Good grief, you really have no idea what you’re on about. You’re a terrible fake cop. Perhaps I should take over your whole life.” He goes back to watching the show.

I smirk as I watch the television. Life coach, sex coach… love coach. What else could I possibly need?

Spencer Jones could be my everything. I know he could.

Large arms circle me from behind, and Spencer’s big, dreamy lips kiss the side of my face.

“Good morning, angel,” he whispers sleepily.

I smile and turn my face to kiss him softly. “Morning, Spence.”

Our naked bodies are a tangled mess.

It’s just after 5:00 a.m., and Spencer’s alarm has woken us up. He has to go before my guards get up.

“Maybe we could just run away together instead.” He sighs with his eyes still closed.

I giggle. “That would be something, wouldn’t it?”

He rolls me over so that half of my body is over his. I snuggle into his chest and he kisses my forehead. “Are you sore?”

“Yes.” I smirk. “Who knew that would be a question you would have to ask me so often?”

“Hmm.” He sighs. “I’m not going to get my wakeup sex today then, am I?”

Should I just do it anyway? I want him to leave satisfied.

Stop it!

This isn’t all about him. I need to pull myself out of this clingy mood. I get up and go to the bathroom to break the tension. When I come back, Spencer is still on his back in bed. His honey-blond hair is messed up, and his broad, naked chest is on display with the white blanket pooled over his waist.

“You probably should get going,” I say quietly.

He nods.

Our eyes are locked, and it’s as if he is waiting for me to say something.

I go to the wardrobe and take out his shirt. “I washed this for you yesterday.”

“Thanks.”

After being in his arms all weekend, the thought of him going home feels horrible.

I’m not sure what to do. What do you say in this situation?

As if sensing my turmoil, he holds his arms out for me. “Come here, baby.”

I sit on the bed beside him and he pulls me close into an embrace. I scrunch my eyes closed up against his strong neck.

I don’t want him to go. I’m just getting the hang of all this.

I can be better. I know I could have been better in bed.

Stop it!

I pull out of his grip and stand. “I have to shower.” I bend to kiss him, and then I walk into the bathroom and turn the shower on. My heart is beating hard in my chest. I know this may be the last time I see him, but I’m not asking the question.

I just want him to go so I don’t have to wait for him to ask about seeing me again. This is like slow torture.

I want it over with.

I take a long shower. When I eventually walk back into the bedroom, I find him standing next to the freshly made bed wearing his black dinner suit. My heart free-falls at the sight of him.

“My word, you do look handsome in that suit, Mr Spencer.” I smile softly.

He takes me into his arms and kisses me. “Can I see you again?” he whispers.

I nod and smile against his lips.

And just like that, the day is saved.

“I’ll call you tonight, okay?”

“Okay.”

He studies my face and runs his finger down my cheek and over my bottom lip.

“You are one beautiful woman, Charlotte Prescott.”

I smile, feeling emotional.

“I’ll talk to you later?”

I nod, unable to talk because of the lump in my throat.

With one last lingering kiss, he finally pulls away and walks down the stairs. I hear the front door click shut when he leaves.

I flop onto the bed and smile goofily at the ceiling, running my fingertips over my lips to get closer to his touch.

I walk into the restaurant and see my two best friends sitting at our usual table.

Breakfast time—our Monday ritual.

“Hey, Spence,” Masters greets me.

“Hey,” Seb mutters, studying his phone.

I take a seat and smile smugly.

They both look up and watch me for a moment. They frown together, and then exchange looks.

“What’s wrong with you?” Seb asks cautiously. “You’re being creepy.”

“Ask me where I’ve been all weekend.”

Masters rolls his eyes. “Where have you been all weekend, Spencer?”

“With Charlotte.”

They both sit up, suddenly interested. “What?” Seb frowns.

“I went back there on Saturday night and snuck in.”

Masters frowns. “Why, you old dog.”

“And?” Seb prompts me.

“And she is the most beautiful fucking woman I’ve ever been with.”

“Did you have sex?” Masters asks.

I nod, trying my best to act casual. “Uh-huh.”

“And?”

I lay my napkin over my lap. “And that’s it.” I put my hand up for coffee.

They exchange another look before glaring back at me. “What do you mean, that’s it?” Seb asks.

“I mean, I’m not giving you the details.”

Masters grunts. “We always get blow-by-blow accounts of your sex life.”

“Yes.” Seb bites into his toast. “Don’t you know we’re living vicariously through you.”

“Not with this one.” I smile as the waitress fills my coffee cup. “Thank you.”

“So, was the sex…?” Seb’s voice trails off.

“The sex was…” I inhale dreamily. I get a vision of how nervous she was when we were walking to the bedroom for first time. She was literally shaking. The memory makes me smile softly.

“What is that, look?” Masters pins me with a stare.

“What look?”

“That Mary Poppins, I’m pathetic look.”

I chuckle and get an image of her clinging to me the first time we did it. It hurt her, I know it did, but she soldiered through it… for me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I smirk.

“Are you seeing her again?” Masters asks.

“You can bet your fucking life I am,” I say as I bite into my toast.

“And you’re not going to tell us one single detail about her?”

“Nope. Only that she is…” I narrow my eyes. “She is the most perfect woman on this planet.”

“Oh, yeah?” Seb frowns, clearly fascinated. “What’s so good about her?”

“I don’t know.” I chew my food. “But she makes me fucking nervous.”

“You?” Masters smirks. “When have you ever been nervous with a woman?”

“Never,” I reply. “I was getting all fluttery when she looked at me, and it wasn’t even about the sex.”

“Jesus Christ,” he mutters against his coffee cup. “Here we go.”

“She’s different. So, so different from anyone I’ve ever met.”

“Good God.” Seb rolls his eyes. “What next?”

I get a vision of my angel lying next to me in bed this morning.

I think I lay awake and watched her for half the night; she was too perfect to miss a second of.

Her thick, blonde hair splayed across her pillow, her perfect skin with dimples, and the way her chest rose and fell as she breathed. Damn.

I want to turn around and drive back there right now. I turn my attention to my two best friends instead. “What have you two boring fucks been doing all weekend, anyway?”

Seb looks at me dryly. “Fighting with The Wicked Witch of the West.”

“Ugh. I hate that fucking woman.” I tut. Seb’s ex-wife Helena is the most conniving little slut on the planet. She slept with their gardener and is now bleeding the money out of him, day by day. “Masters, you know some criminals. Get her knocked off for us, will you?” I mutter.

Julian shakes his head. “Don’t think I haven’t thought about it.”

We eat in silence for a few moments.

“What were you fighting about?” I eventually ask.

“She wants Bentley.”

I drop my fork and it hits the plate with a clang. “She’s not taking fucking Bentley!” I snap in an outrage. Bentley is the brown Labrador that Masters and I bought Seb for his birthday one year. He’s adored, and he stays with me when Seb is away. I love that dog like he’s my own.

I point my knife at Seb. “If she takes that fucking dog, I’m not even joking, I will have her knocked off, no questions asked. I might even do it myself.”

Masters and Seb laugh.

“And this is why we thank God that you don’t have an ex-wife, Spence.” Masters laughs. “You’re a nasty bastard when you’re crossed.”

“You don’t fuck the gardener, take the house, fight for maintenance and spousal support, take the fucking dog, and then live to tell the tale.” My blood boils just thinking about it. “God, I fucking hate her.”

Honestly, the woman infuriates me like nobody else on Earth. Why the hell would anyone ever cheat on Sebastian Garcia? He is the sweetest, loyalist man I have ever met. I didn’t like her before any of this, though. I knew what she was like by the way she used to look at me. She wanted me and if I’d have let her, she would have fucked me in an instant.

She never loved my best friend, not even in the beginning.

Luckily, I do.

Of course, Seb doesn’t know any of this. Masters does. He could pick up who she really was, too. She wasn’t exactly subtle.

It boils my fucking blood. How many men did she fuck behind his back before she got caught? The next woman he falls for better be fucking good or else there will be hell to pay. To be honest, I don’t think any woman will ever be good enough for him. Not in my eyes, anyway. My anger pulses through me as I eat the remainder of my breakfast.

“What’s happening on the agenda today?” Masters asks me.

“I’m finally going to sack my stupid PA. All she ever does is piss about on Facebook and bitch about everyone else. The other girls have had enough of covering her work.”

“Ha!” Seb laughs. “I’ll believe that when I see it. You’ve been sacking her every Monday for two months.”

I exhale heavily. “I know, I hate firing people even if they are assholes.” I sip my coffee. “And she is a queen fucking asshole.”

“Get Sheridan to do it,” Masters suggests. “She lives for firing people.”

A sense of unease fills me.

Sheridan.

What am I going to do about that one?

She’s due here in the next couple of weeks.

But I’m not thinking about her right now. I want to think about Charlotte.

I smirk to myself, remembering one story I can share with the guys.

“Charlotte locked me out on the balcony of her hotel room yesterday… while I was naked. My pecker almost froze off. I wouldn’t be surprised if some old lady had a heart attack on the street below.”

“What the hell? Why?” They both laugh.

“I was chasing her around her suite and… get this.” I narrow my eyes. “Fucking Alexander York turns up unannounced, tagging along with Charlotte’s friend, not knowing I was there. The friend let him in.”

They both fall serious. “Is York after your girl?” Masters asks me.

“Maybe.”

“Fuck him.” Seb winces.

“I’m planning on digging a double grave. One for Helena and one for Alexander. I’ll call it the snake pit.”

I’m reading through an email for the second time when I hear my office door open.

“Hello, darling,” the familiar voice purrs.

I look up, startled. “Sheridan?”

She smiles as she turns the lock to ensure our privacy. She walks over and kisses me, her lips lingering over mine for too long before I pull out of the kiss.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

A scowl creases her forehead. “What do you mean, what am I doing?”

“You can’t just kiss me like that.”

She smiles darkly. “I can do whatever I want to you.” She kicks her shoes off, takes her hair down and sprawls on the couch in my office. Why is she damn comfortable around here?

She taps the couch beside her. “Come lie with me.”

“Sheridan.” I sigh.

“What? I’ve missed you. You were weird the last time I saw you.”

I roll my lips as I watch her, knowing it was because I was thinking about Charlotte the whole time I was with her.

How do I say this?

“Is that why you’re back so quick?” I ask her.

“I needed to see what was going on with my man.”

I remain at my desk, despite the way she keeps tapping the couch for me to go to her.

Her phone rings. “Excuse me.” She answers it. “Hello.” She listens for a moment. “No, I won’t be there for another twenty minutes. Stall them.” She hangs up without saying goodbye. Her attention turns back to me. “Let’s go out to dinner tonight. We can paint the town red.”

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I’m seeing someone.”

She smirks. “Since when does that matter to us?”

I stare at her, not saying a word.

She gets up, saunters across the office and places herself in my lap. She tries to kiss me again, but I turn my head away.

“We belong to each other first and foremost, Spencer.”

“This one’s different, Shez.”

She frowns. “Meaning what?”

“Meaning, I’m not going to sleep with you while I’m with her.”

“She’ll never even know.”

“ know.”I’ll

“Don’t be so ridiculous.” She leans down and kisses my neck, and I instantly push her off me.

“Stop it!” I snap.

“Spence.” Her face falls. “What’s going on?”

“I really like this girl. I’m not going to risk fucking it up by sleeping with you.”

She raises her chin in defiance. “Is this the young one?”

“Yes.”

“Are you in love with her?”

I shrug. “I don’t know, it’s only new.”

She smiles, sarcasm dripping from her face. “You can’t do monogamy, Spencer, you’re just not wired that way.”

“I’ve never tried it.”

She laughs. “Exactly. So, why are you trying it now?”

I glare at her.

She puts her shoes on, her temper evident. “You’ve decided you want to be in a relationship and play happy families, is that it?” She fixes her hair. “You want a house in the country with two point four children, is that it?”

“What, like you have?” I roll my eyes. “Sheridan, stop with the dramatics. I don’t know what I want. All I know is I only want to sleep with her right now.”

“Is the sex good?” She sneers.that

“It’s not about the sex,” I fire back without hesitation.

Her face falls and she stares at me for an extended period of time. “That hurt more than it should have,” she murmurs softly.

I drop my head. “I’m sorry.”

“Where does that leave us?”

“There is no us at the moment.”

“But we’re always going to be together. We made a pact seven years ago that we would always come first with one another.”

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.

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.