Flirting With Magick (28 page)

He ignored my retort. "Anyway, I mentioned you were working under me a few times."

"But that's not true." I frowned. I still wasn't answerable to Sean, not even with his new position.

He grinned widely and winked. "It is if you take out the word 'working'."

"Sean..." I stood up. "That's highly inappropriate."

"Sit down, Abby." He demanded, switching swiftly back into
professional mode. "I'm trying to help you here."

I slumped back down, replacing my arms in their defensive fold.

Sean opened up the folder in front of him. "I'm going to make a recommendation to Chris that, not only have you worked above and
beyond your duties and deserve the next tier up in your pay, but I wil
l also recommend you for a Christmas bonus this year."

"Um, thank you, I guess." I didn’t know what to say. "Why are you
doing this?"

"I think I owe it to you," he replied, "and I owe you an explanation."

"Ohhkaay." I let my arms fall to my sides and grabbed the seat; this should be good.

"When we were going out
—
you and I
—
Bron and I were taking a break."

I nodded, waiting for him to go on.

Sean sat back in the chair and concentrated on the pen he was holding
between both hands. "I liked you when you first started working here
.
We had fun, and I liked that about being with you; it was simple."
He glanced towards the door nervously, even though it was unlikely anyone could hear. My desk was the closest, and I couldn’t make out
normal conversation in the office, let alone a voice as hushed as Sean's
was. "Bron and I got serious really quickly, just after I started, and it
was getting to the point where we weren't sure if we could keep it going
without anyone knowing. Then Ray found out, and she was worried
about her position here. She thought he wouldn't still take her serio
usly
as a manager, so it got kind of stressful for her. She ended up taking on
more than she could handle. She asked for a break in our rel
ationship and organised some work stuff in the States."

That explained the day she stormed out of Ray's office.

I didn’t reply, just waited for him to continue.

"She didn't know we had a lunch date," he told me.

"She didn't? Why was she so narky to me then?"

"It wouldn't have been a personal thing," he replied.

"Oh." It figured, especially now that he’d told me why she was a bit of a stress head.

"Then she gets home from overseas, and I've started things with you, and she's thought about quitting and wants to see me again. So
that's why I wasn't available some days. I only ended up telling her ab
out you after she left here." He looked down at the desk and appeared to study the woodgrain. "She said you and I were a good match."

I wasn’t sure what to say to that. "Why did you ask me out so soon
after she wanted a break? Don't most people give it at least a few months
before dating again?" I did know this from experience; I couldn't even
look at another guy in the first few months after Josh. I concentrated on work and finding a better job, and it was only then that I did the
spell and met Scott. Sean had asked me out within a week or so; hard
ly a workable time to get over someone. Then it dawned on me. "You were still in love with her."

 Judging by the look in his eyes, I was spot on.

"When were you going to tell me?" I asked.

"I swear I was trying to work out when and how to tell you to
cause you the least hurt, but you took me by surprise when you turn
ed up that day." He looked genuinely sorry.

"Sean, it's okay." I found myself reassuring him.

"Thanks." He gave me a lingering gaze. "I'm sorry, Abby."

Staring back into his sapphire eyes, his handsome face still unreadable
; my defenses fell down around me without warning. Sitting in front
of me was no longer the two timing arsehole I despised. This was
funny, friendly Sean, who I would flirt and laugh with and who became
one of my closest friends at work. A man who invited me into his house
,
asked what my favourite wine was, and cooked me dinner. A guy who
let me confide in him about my past relationships. A guy who re
ached out to me because his heart was breaking
.

"It's fine," I said, smiling at him genuinely for the first time since he started back at Avalon. "Do you think we can be friends again?"

"Of course Abby, I'd really like that. I kind of missed it, actually."
He grinned then looked back down again. "So Rachel tells me you got
back with your ex?"

"Yes, we're moving in together in a few weeks."

"Well," he raised his eyebrows, "congratulations!"

***

I had thought I'd managed to hold off any suspicions about the
relationship Sean and I once had at work. We were completely civil to
one another, but it turned out it was obvious that we were no longer
joking around with each other, a fact that Pippa oh too graciously
pointed out.

"Have you and Sean had a lover's tiff?" she asked me as we both spooned coffee into our cups in the kitchen.

"Why do you ask?" I replied.

"Well, you just don't seem to be getting along as well as you
were before he got transferred and you went on holidays." Her tone was accusatory.

"Oh, I don't know." I shrugged. "He's busier now, being in a high
er
position and everything. And I guess the dynamic changes a bit when
you find out your friend is dating the boss."

She raised her perfect brows. "Yes, I suppose it does." She appeare
d satisfied with my response and picked up her coffee. "Even though she's not the boss anymore, and they apparently broke up just before he went interstate."

***

Josh gave the Friday night match a miss, and it was nice to finall
y have a relaxing, comfortable evening in with my boyfriend. He had
some work to do while I snuggled next to him on the couch, watc
hing a detective show on TV, glass of wine in hand. The excitement of my upcoming pay raise kept me smiling, and I thanked the universe for
heeding the spell by donating to charity on my way home from work.

"Hey, hon, guess what?" I figured nothing could spoil this good news, so I decided now was as good a time as any to tell him calmly that I was working with Sean again and that it was nothing for him to worry about.

"Hmm?" He didn’t look up from his iPad.

"I should be able to cover my half of the bond on time. I got a
pay raise today."

"That's great. Congratulations!" He leaned over and kissed my cheek, "but I can cover you if you need."

"Thanks, but Sean's going to make sure it all goes in on time next pay. I'm even getting a bonus."

"Cool." He went back to his iPad.

"That's something else I needed to talk to you about."

"What?" Still typing away, his fingers thudding on the screen.

"It's the same Sean I was dating after you left." Nice touch, Abby;
make it Josh's fault for being interstate. "He's back at Avalon. I just
thought I should let you know."

"Oh." Thudthud, thud, thud, thud. "He's your boss now?"

"No, not really, but he wanted to make it up to me for being such a prick. So he sorted out the pay review. It's no big deal. I just didn't want there to be any issues, especially after last time at Springers."

I could tell I'd hit a nerve as he flinched and glanced at me sideways
, "How long's he been back?" Thud, thudthudthud, thudthud.

"
He got back on Monday. I was going to tell you earlier, but you'v
e
been working back late so I haven't had the chance." I caught the defensive
tone in my voice. Again, I had managed to make it his fault for not
being there.

Josh nodded. He stopped typing and put the iPad on the coffee table,
leaning over to kiss me on the mouth, his tongue jabbing lightly at my
lips. His hands reached around the back of my head, and his fingers
entwined in my hair. He kissed down my cheek and neck, disentan
gling one hand and slid it under my top, unclasping my bra as he pushed me to a lying position on the couch. Soon we were both naked, and I writhed with delight as he dotted featherlight kisses on what felt like
every part of my skin. He
stopped abruptly
, and I bit my lip in frustration
, only to tense up when his fingers dug into my thigh a little too hard. "Sorry..." he murmured, pulling at my ear lobe with his lips, and he was inside me just as suddenly.

"Oh." I gasped out of surprise. He stayed silent, his warm breath
getting faster and faster against my cheek as I waited for him to finis
h
what felt
uncomfortably like nothing more
than him marking his territ
ory.

Moon Phase: Waxing

Engrave a dollar sign into a green candle. As it burns, visualise
yourself having as much money as you require for your desired purposes
.
Keep in mind that the universe is more likely to provide what you ne
ed, not necessarily what you want.

Let the candle burn down and thank the universe.

I WOKE UP THE NEXT MORNING
with what felt like a strange
heaviness in my chest. Beside me, Josh was breathing slowly, facing
the window. Something wasn’t right, and I couldn’t quite put my finger
on it. We had a nice night; we ate in front of the TV, then he got so
me work done while I had a glass of wine. I was honest with him about
Sean, and then we made out before having sex. Well,
he
had sex; I wa
s
a masturbatory toy. Maybe it was how he climbed off me after he
finished and went straight to bed with just a kiss on the cheek. Ma
ybe there was something in the way he now had his back to me.

Maybe it was nothing.

I put my dressing gown on and tiptoed into the kitchen. Josh joine
d me a few minutes later, giving me a polite morning kiss on the cheek before picking up his just filled coffee cup. Something was definitely
wrong. He wasn’t looking at me, and I had to get to the bottom of
this right now.

"Josh, are you having second thoughts?"

He shook his head. "Why did it take a week for you to tell me? You
could have told me over the phone or messaged me."

A week for what? I racked my brain trying to understand what on
earth he was talking about. I noticed his iPad still sitting on the coffee
table and remembered the last thing he said before putting it down.

Of course. This was about Sean. How much more of this did I hav
e
to put up with? I was beginning to wonder if I was making a big mistake.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" My voice reached that
dangerous level just before shouting. "It wouldn't have made any differe
nce,
because this is exactly how you would have reacted anyway! I'm with
y
ou
, Josh! Nothing is going on with Sean! Nothing was going on with Scott! I haven't done anything wrong!"

"Not yet," he replied. "Is there some sort of ulterior motive for the
pay raise? You seem to be doing a good job of not telling me everything."

"And if you keep doing this," I was furious now, "nothing will be going on with you."

"
Fine!" he raised his voice this time, banged the cup on the benc
h,
coffee splashing the countertop, and walked out, leaving me in stunned
, angry silence.

Moments later, Troy appeared at my open door carrying a box, his dark hair still ruffled from sleep.

"I just saw Josh heading out; he said you were upset. What's wrong?"

Tears pricked the corners of my eyes as I threw the cups into the sink. "I just never thought that trust issues would come up, and now
I'm wondering if we're doing the right thing." I forced a smile for him
and wiped up Josh's spill. "What's that?"

"I'm sorry. This is just some of Josh's stuff he wanted from my place.
Just some books and shit." He sat it down near the front door and put
on his best 'concerned big brother' voice. "What's he done?"

"
It's nothing. It was all to do with when we weren't together, anyway
— just a stupid overreaction." I brushed it off with a wave of my hand. Troy didn’t need to know the ins and outs. "You want a coffee?"

He furrowed his brow. "You weren't together? Is that what he fucking
told you? It was before then."

"No, it was when he was in Sydney. I would have thought I was a free agent by then."

His face paled, and just as quickly grew crimson. It was really rathe
r extraordinary. He backed away.

"Oh, fuck."

"Troy?" Panic surged through me as I watched him. There was
something else. "Troy, I was talking about me. What happened before
then?” I felt the blood drain from my face but tried to keep my voice controlled. "Oh my god, you thought I was talking about Josh. What did he do, Troy? Talk to me."

"Oh fuck." Troy started walking in circles, pulling at his hair, his tall lanky frame almost comical in my tiny living room. "Oh shit. Oh
crap," even his bad language was retreating. He sat down on the couch
and put his head in his hands, still tugging on his hair.