Page 39 of The Work Husband

We finished eating and cleared up, then I said I was ready for bed, but Sam said he’d do a bit more work before he joined me. Normally, after one of us had been away, that wouldn’t happen. Normally, we’d have got into bed at the same time and lain there, holding each other tight, relishing the feeling of being home together.

As I lay alone in the darkness listening to the occasional tap on his laptop keyboard, the warm purring weight of Milton on my calves, I found myself assailed by doubt.

Was trying to make Sam jealous the right thing to do – or was it petty and ultimately self-destructive? Was it him I shouldn’t trust, or was it someone else?

Or perhaps even myself?

NINETEEN

‘So what happened?’ Jamie plonked a coffee on my desk so vigorously the liquid almost slopped over the rim of the mug. ‘Spill the tea.’

‘More like spill the coffee,’ I said, reaching for the mug. ‘This top’s new and it’s dry-clean only. Do you have to be such a slob?’

‘“Thank you, Jamie,”’ he said. ‘“Not only do you make the best cappuccino in Mayfair, you’re putting yourself out to save my relationship. You’re a true friend.”’

I laughed. ‘Thanks, Jamie. I appreciate the coffee. But the other thing…’

‘What about it? Did he go off on one?’

‘Not really.’ I took a sip of the cappuccino, which admittedly was excellent. ‘He didn’t react much at all. I showed him the Insta post and he was like, “That looks fun.” And that was pretty much it.’

In spite of the hot coffee I’d just swallowed, I could feel a lump in my throat.

‘My God. Your man’s got a brick for a heart. We’re going to have to raise our game. Why don’t we⁠—’

‘Jasper,’ I hissed, and Jamie shut up before he could finish making his suggestion. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not – but Jasper’s impending arrival was definitely a bad one.

Our boss was approaching us across the office – actually, approaching was the wrong word. Unless you’d describe a rampaging T-Rex in Jurassic Park as ‘approaching’ its victims.

‘What do you know about Trent Wallis’s wedding being called off?’ he demanded, his voice dangerously low.

For a second, I wasn’t sure who he was talking about: thoughts of Jamie and Sam had been filling my mind to the exclusion of almost everything else, including those of Devereaux Partners’ clients who I wasn’t actively involved with. Then I remembered – the footballer whose stag weekend Jamie had arranged in Prague.

Jamie’s face was a studied blank. ‘What? I just arranged the groomsmen’s suit fittings at Anderson & Sheppard.’

‘Well, you’d best un-arrange them.’ Jasper hurled his phone down on the desk in front of him. Thanks to its silicone case, it bounced rather than shattered, which I felt somewhat ruined the dramatic effect. ‘Gossip Guru reports that it’s dead in the water.’

‘What? Why?’ I asked, although a sinking feeling in my stomach told me I already knew the answer.

Jamie picked up Jasper’s phone with a steady hand and stared at the screen.

‘“My shock stag weekend betrayal, by Rosie-Mae Hunter”,’ he read. ‘Holy shit.’

‘Holy shit,’ Jasper echoed. ‘Is that all you’ve got to say for yourself? After our client was “photographed romping with strippers in a Prague nightclub”?’

‘I mean, I knew about that.’ Jamie’s tone was casual. ‘Obviously, because I was there.’

Of course you were, I thought. Had Jamie been romping too? Or just recording events for use on the Devereaux Partners’ Insta… but he’d never do that. Except he had. He’d done it to me – to Sam.

‘You were there,’ Jasper hissed. ‘Yes, you were. Supposedly making sure our client’s event ran smoothly, not making sure he behaved so badly his exploits got leaked all over TikTok.’

‘Jasper, come on.’ Far from unleashing a grovelling apology, Jamie seemed determined to stand his ground. ‘What do you expect me to do when a dozen coked-up lads tell me they want to make the most of their mate’s last night of freedom? Send them off to bed at midnight with a cup of cocoa? And besides⁠—’

‘Besides what?’

‘Aren’t girls like Rosie-Mae meant to stand by their man when this kind of shit happens? “It was one night of madness; our relationship is stronger than ever.” All that bollocks.’

I could see his point. For Rosie-Mae, a former Love Island contestant now living the dream with marriage to Trent, things like this surely came with the territory. But clearly she was having none of it.