59

NORA

Liam never responded to my text and I spent the entire weekend sulking about it. Certainly, I hadn't misread the energy between us, had I? Something had changed with us on Friday. He'd shown me a side I hadn't seen in a long while.

I remember how he was so quick to bulldoze his way into the bathroom even when he had not yet realized who was in danger. His natural instinct was to help. And when his eyes finally locked onto mine, and he recognized me, I could see the rage hidden within.

So, why didn't he respond to my simple text? I mean, it wasn't like I had texted him to hook up or anything, I simply asked if he had gotten home safe.

Ugh, that was why I hated feelings. They complicated things a lot.

I caught myself reflexively glancing at my phone, feeling my heart drop to my feet in disappointment. Still nothing.

“Are you okay?” Anna lifted a brow, eyeing me from behind her glasses. I nodded.

It was a wonderful Monday morning, and we were both headed for the weekly debriefs in the boardroom I threw up all those days ago. Naturally, I wasn't even supposed to be there, but Liam was running late and Anna wanted to make sure I was available to note down important points for him.

I frowned. Liam never ran late. Was something wrong? Did he get into an accident? Was that why he hadn't texted?

Fresh panic brewed within me, and I turned my alarmed gaze to Anna. “Did you hear from Liam, uh, Mr. Carter all weekend?”

She looked pensive, then shook her head. “No, he takes his weekends seriously. Doesn't like to be disturbed,”

We walked in mutual silence for a bit, serenaded by noisy chatter from co-workers and the clicking of our heels against the floor. But then Anna broke the quiet.

“You look worried, is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” I lied, “it's just a little unusual that he isn't at work already,”

“I know, right? He hasn't been himself these past weeks. Did you notice?” I shook my head, a little too quickly. Anna hummed. “I wonder if it has something to do with the resort trip. He came back a more asshole-y version of himself,”

She pretended to gag and I chuckled nervously. If only she knew how much I really had to do with everything.

Before long, we fell into a comfortable silence once again, even taking the elevator ride upstairs in peace. Thankfully, there was only one other person in the box, so I didn't have to hyperventilate as much as I did the last time.

My skin prickled with nerves and butterflies flapped their wings in my belly. The last time I was in this elevator, Liam had been right next to me, and when I started to wheeze, he was quick to lead me out.

A small blush crept up my neck and burned my cheeks. I tried to keep my smile hidden so Anna didn't catch onto it. I hadn't known her for long, but I knew she was quite perceptive.

By the time the elevators opened up and spat us out, we had only ten minutes left for the meeting to begin. We made our way towards the large boardroom, stopping short when we noticed a figure dressed in a suit holding up a huge bouquet of roses.

I squinted my eyes. Was that Mark?

My eyes went wide as saucers as I spotted his signature smirk. But before I could answer, Anna was cursing under her breath and powering all the way over to him.

Oh no no no. This was bad.

I know I agree with this, but not in front of Anna or anyone else for that matter. It was one thing to fake a relationship in front of Liam, but the entire building? Shit. I didn't want a reputation as the lady who was sleeping with the boss’s brother. Now they'd all think I slept my way to the top.

Anna reached Mark before he did, and his smile was wide when he finally noticed her. I was too far away to hear what they were saying, but Anna’s hands were flailing wildly, so I knew she was mad.

Thankfully, they seemed to know each other well enough for it to not be a big deal.

I glanced behind me, anxiousness twisting my insides, when I noticed co-workers peeking out of their offices. The sound of their muffled gasps floated to my ears and I sneered in response.

I was going to get so much shit at lunch today.

I finally gathered myself together, plastering on a fake-ass smile as I walked towards the handsome man with a bouquet. Mark looked superb. His crisp dark suit was tailored to his form perfectly, stretching around his bulky muscles like a second skin. His hair was styled to perfection, forest green eyes gleaming with mirth as he looked me up and down.

Wow, Mark could sell the fact that we were in an actual relationship. I almost even swooned a bit from that once over.

“As I was saying, I was just bringing my gorgeous girlfriend some flowers,” he said, pearly whites on full display.

I smiled back, but it was more insincere than his. Anna raised a brow. “Really? You know this guy?”

I nodded, taking the huge bouquet from him. What the actual hell was I supposed to do with all those flowers he was bringing me?

“Wow, Mark Carter has a girlfriend. What is this? A parallel universe?”

“What can I say? I was smitten by this wonderful woman and I haven't been able to look back since,” Mark told her, leaning in to kiss me on the cheek. His scent wrapped around me, calming the anxiety within me for a brief moment.

Then, he moved to my ear, his hot breath fanning against the shell of it as he whispered. “Try to look a little more excited, sweetie,” just as I thought he was going to pull away, I felt something hard softly pinch my lobe, and my eyes flew wide open.

Did he just bite me?

When he pulled away, there was a smirk on his face and a bewildered look at Anna’s. Another emotion flitted through her eyes, something that reminded me of the way I looked at Liam.

Was that longing?

I narrowed my eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it came.

She sighed, rolled her eyes, and walked into the boardroom. The sound of the door clicking behind her was soft, but it was loud enough to linger between Mark and me.

He grinned. “What a show that was.”

“Mark, this isn't funny. I'm already the new girl here, you don't need to single me out this way,” I whispered harshly. “I thought this was between you, Liam, and I?”

“Well, yeah. But we've got to sell it and what better way to do that than, you know, making public statements?”

“Well, I don't like that. Plus, what the hell am I supposed to do with this huge ass bouquet?”

He shrugged, “I don't know, start a flower shop?”

I glared, and he held his hands up, a small laugh escaping his lips. “I can drop it off at your desk if you want. Looks like your meeting’s about to start,” his eyes trailed behind me, lighting up with amusement. “And our target audience has just arrived.”

“What?”

With my brows furrowed, I whipped around, eyes going wide when I saw Liam standing a few feet away from us.