Page 116 of Stanton Unconditional

Fishface looks at me. “What will it be?” she asks flatly. God this woman is a bitch.

“Skim cap.” I raise my eyebrows at her as if to say, yes you, you are a bitch, and I know it.

She nods and takes my money and I turn to see Joshua scribbling on his paper. His eyes flick up and connect with mine, and he smiles sexily. I literally swoon. He only has to look at me and I melt into his eyes. I smile and turn back to the counter and I watch him in the reflection of the fridge door in front of me. He keeps writing and talking, then he hangs up and rips the top piece of paper off the notepad, folds it and puts it in his inside suit pocket. He takes a sip of his coffee and sits still staring at me, then he gently cracks his neck and I smile. Some things will never grow old. I take my coffee and walk over to him.

“Hi,” I smile.

“Hello,” he smiles back.

What I really want to do is slam my hand on the table and scream where the hell where you when I woke up this morning, asshole, but I have to remind myself that this new improved version of myself is non drama queenish, and boy does it suck.

“Did you have a nice day?” I smile as I take a sip of my coffee. He nods. “Yes, we started a new job today, so I was busy.”

I frown. “New job?” I question.

He smiles. “Just a little six week one.”

“Oh,” I nod as disappointment runs through me.

“You?” he asks.

I shrug. “It was ordinary, nothing exciting.”

He smirks as he sips his coffee. “We are heading back upstairs.” His eyes linger on mine.

I nod and smile and he rises from his seat and follows me out. We walk into the crowded lift and stand silently next to each other. He is so tall and big, his body oozes power in that dark charcoal three-piece suit. I can feel the electricity coming from him as my body weakens with want. I wonder if any of the other women in the lift can feel the heat oozing from this fine specimen. As I watch the numbers above the door light up, I silently make a pact with myself. I am not mentioning last night or asking him when I am seeing him again. I need to be strong, even if it kills me, and it probably will because he is acting like he doesn’t have a care in the world and I could quite easily strangle him with a smile on my face. Calm, calm, calm…keep fucking calm. We walk to the lounge seating area and we sit opposite each other.

“Have you been in yet?” I ask the others.

“No,” they all reply flatly without looking up.

Joshua takes out his phone and starts to read and scroll through it. I sit with my legs crossed trying to look everywhere but at him. Bridget and the boys are deep in conversation about Adrian.

“So, is he seeing him tonight?” Abbie frowns.

Cameron nods and throws his hands behind his head. “Yep,” he answers as he leans back in his chair.

I frown. “Huh, who is he seeing tonight?” I ask.

“Nicholas Anastas,” Bridget replies.

“How did that come about?” I frown.

“He texted him this morning demanding to see him,” Cameron says as he raises his eyebrows.

“How hot. I love it when a man demands to see you. Now that’s romance.” My eyes flick to Joshua who doesn’t even hear me and is smirking at his phone. Hmm…take a hint, bastard.

Joshua laughs and bites his bottom lip to stifle his smile as he watches something on his phone and his eyes flick to me. I frown in question. What is he looking at?

My phone beeps a message. I pull it out of my bag.

It’s a text from Joshua. I smirk and open it, it’s a movie. I frown as I hit play, and my eyes narrow at the screen. I smile as I see the camera wobble around and I see Joshua sitting on my bed smiling at me. I press pause and retrieve my earphones from my bag and plug them in so I can hear what is going on.

My eyes flick to Joshua as I put the earphones in, and he smiles broadly at me. Jeez, what’s so funny? I press play again and sit still as I listen to my drunken voice. Oh my God.

“I know, let me do a dance for you,” I slur.

The camera goes to me. Holy shit, I look like a train wreck, my eyes widen in horror and I feel myself flush. I look up and Joshua has just taken a picture of my face. I fake a smile. “Very funny,” I mouth. He laughs and looks back down with his arms folded in front of him. I continue to watch the nightmare unfolding in front of me. Oh no, what am I doing now?