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She cleared her throat, eager to change the topic. "Why was your weekend terrible?"
"The neighbours' newborn kept me up all night with their crying, my roof started leaking, and I'm fairly certain I got food poisoning from my latest takeaway."
"Oof. That's one shitty weekend."
"Tell me about it. And to add insult to injury, Dad is making me tidy up the offices upstairs so Eve can have her own space," he complained.
"What's so bad about that?" Charlie asked.
"He's making me and Eve do it. I don't want to work with her. It's bad enough that she's here. I bet he’s hoping that she’ll stay forever. Ugh, he’s going to pass the business onto her, isn’t he?”
More guilt bubbled up in Charlie's gut. "You don’t know that.”
"No, I do know. He’s always preferred her over me. I’ve worked here for so long and he won’t even let me do the schedule.” Jack’s head hung low. “I don’t want to clean up the offices.”
“I’m sure it won't take too long,” Charlie said.
“I don't care, I don't want to. I know! Can you do it for me?”
Images of her and Eve alone upstairs flashed through Charlie's mind, including multiple in which they were repeating the kiss from Saturday and doing far worse.
She quickly shook her head. "No, better not."
"Please. You'd do me a solid and I'll owe you one.”
Charlie hesitated. She knew she shouldn't give in, for a variety of reasons, but it was just too tempting of a prospect. And if she didn't take over the job, then there was always the risk of Eve telling Jack what transpired in the bar.
She couldn't let that happen.
"You know what, sure. I'll do it," she said even though her conscience was screaming at her.
The whole of Jack's face lit up. "You will? Oh, you're a legend. You're the definition of a friend."
Charlie forced a smile as her guilt grew heavier and heavier with the moment. "It's nothing."
"No, you're saving me so much trouble. You're the best."
"Don't mention it," she said, feeling terribly bad. And yet, she wasn't doing anything to change the situation. She told herself it was so she could talk to Eve in private about the kiss to make sure it never happened, but even she knew that was a lie.
Whether she liked it or not, she was deeply attracted to her best friend’s sister.
Ten
Eve
* * *
Eve coughed violently as she chased the old dust out of the office, genuinely horrified by the state of them. The abandoned desks were littered with papers, boxes, and throwaway things that never found their way to their rightful place. It was a mess worthy of being called a tip.
"This is going to take ages," she grumbled, her gaze flicking to the stairs. Jack was supposed to help her with this task but her brother was nowhere to be seen. Somehow, Eve wasn't surprised. It seemed he was doing everything he could to avoid her, although she wasn't entirely sure why.
She filled an entire bin bag with empty wrappers, paled receipts, and old outdated stationary. In her estimation, it would take weeks to clear all this out.
The sound of someone coming up the stairs made her shake her head. "You're late."
"I am?" a delightfully hoarse voice replied.
Eve's head snapped up as heat rushed to her face. She hadn't expected to be joined by Charlie and she quickly pulled her unflattering messy bun loose.
