The Law of Attraction (7 page)

“You nearly done there, Ed?” James called across from his desk. He was the one who had given Ed the letter to check.

“Yes, sorry.” Ed snapped his attention back to the screen. His eyes were dry and he rubbed them, blinking, trying to wake himself up.

A few minutes later, he was done. “I’ve emailed it back to you. There were just a couple of queries.”

“Thanks.” James smiled. “You coming out for a drink tonight? It’s a Friday tradition to pop down to the wine bar on the corner before we head home for the weekend. It’s good for team bonding.”

“Oh, um. I’m not sure.” Ed had been looking forward to getting home and falling asleep on the sofa while he watched Friday-night TV. The thought of having to keep up his workplace persona for an extra hour or so was far from appealing. His colleagues had been very welcoming—apart from Alec—but Ed felt as though he constantly had to be on his best behaviour in front of them.

“Go on. Everyone comes… even Alec, who spends most of his life chained to his desk. Although I have a sneaking suspicion he just goes home to do more work afterwards.”

Ed glanced at Alec, who was listening in to the conversation.
Not every Friday he doesn’t
, he thought.

Alec’s cheeks tinged with pink as though he knew what was going through Ed’s mind. He cleared his throat and said, “Yes, you should come, Ed. The first round’s on me.”

Ed couldn’t decline now without looking churlish. Maybe spending more time around Alec would help to ease the awkwardness between them.

The bar was all chrome, glass, and black leather, combined with slightly cold lighting that made it feel clinical rather than cosy. The prices on the menu made Ed double-take. He’d been living in London long enough that he shouldn’t be surprised by now, but he was used to cheaper student haunts with happy hours and special offers on pitchers. This place was a far cry from that.

Alec didn’t bat an eyelid as the team placed their orders with the cute waiter. Several of them went for cocktails, and tempting though it was to ask for a Slow Comfortable Screw to see if he could make Alec blush, Ed repressed his instinct for mischief. It was only after he’d requested a rum and Coke that he remembered it was what Alec had bought for him almost exactly a week ago. A flash of recognition in Alec’s eyes told Ed that he hadn’t forgotten either.

“Do you want a double?” Alec’s face was impassive as he added, “I think you’ve earned one this week.”

Disarmed, Ed smiled. “Yes. Thank you.” A warm glow crept through him at Alec’s approval.

“Yes, you’ve done well.” James clapped Ed on the shoulder, and several of the others chipped in, agreeing.

Ed flushed, unable to hide his pleasure at the praise. “I’m glad you think so. Thanks, guys.”

The waiter left the table.

“So Ed,” James said, “tell me a bit about yourself. How did you end up temping at Baker Wells?”

“I’m actually looking for something permanent in employment law eventually,” Ed admitted, looking nervously at Alec, who was watching him as he spoke. Maybe it wasn’t wise to confess that his true interests didn’t lie in corporate. “But at the moment I’ll take any experience I can get.”

James carried on quizzing Ed about his education and then about his family. The rest of the group split off into their own conversations, distracted only by the arrival of their drinks. Alec was sitting opposite, talking with Maria, but Ed was aware of him glancing in his direction occasionally and was sure Alec was only half listening to Maria.

James was open and friendly, chatting proudly about his daughter, Charlotte. He showed Ed some photos on his phone of a smiling toddler with wispy curls, so Ed showed James a picture of his sisters that he’d taken last summer on the beach in Worthing.

The waiter came back to take orders for a second round of drinks, but Ed still had some left, so he declined. He noticed Alec had drunk his first glass of red rather quickly.

“So, are you young free and single, Ed? Or do you have a girl to get home to tonight?” James asked.

Ed glanced across at Alec. Maria was talking, but the lines of Alec’s body were tense, and Ed knew Alec had heard James’s question and was listening for Ed’s reply. “The only girl at home is my housemate, but we’re just friends.” Ed paused and then decided he wouldn’t get a better opportunity to mention his sexuality. “Actually, if I were dating someone, it would be a guy, not a girl, but there’s nobody at the moment. Probably for the best, I don’t have the energy for anything outside work right now.”

Ed registered James’s reaction—not surprise, exactly, but a quick mental shift of gears. He covered it well. “Yeah. This job doesn’t make a private life easy,” he agreed. “Emily’s always complaining she never sees enough of me.”

Ed chanced another look at Alec. He was smiling at something Maria had said. As Ed watched, Alec’s gaze flashed to Ed, and their eyes met for a second. Something there told Ed he was right. Alec had definitely overheard his conversation with James.

“Speaking of which,” James continued, “I’d better head home. It’s my turn to get up with Charlotte in the morning—she’s an early riser and I promised Emily a lie-in tomorrow.” He drained the last of his drink. “Night everyone, have a good weekend. Don’t spend too much of it working.”

Once James had gone, the others began to make their excuses and drift off. Soon it was only Alec, Ed, and Maria left. Ed was still nursing his first drink, but it was almost empty now. He needed the toilet, so made his excuses and left Alec and Maria together. When he returned, Maria had her coat on and was wrapping a scarf around her neck.

She smiled at Ed. “I’m sorry, I have to go and catch my bus. But you can stay and keep Alec company.” Alec still had half a glass of red wine in front of him. “Bye. I’ll see you both on Monday.”

Ed slid back into his seat, picking up his drink and swirling it so the ice cubes clinked against the glass. The liquid in it was mostly iced water now, but he sipped it anyway for something to do.

“Well, this is weird.” He raised his gaze to meet Alec’s in a challenge. Ed was tired of pretending. There was no need to keep up the polite facade now the others had gone.

“Is it?” Alec’s posture was relaxed, but Ed wondered whether it was genuine. He curled his long fingers around the stem of his wine glass and slid them up and down in a way that drew Ed’s eyes and inevitably sent his mind to dirty places. Alec lifted the glass and took a careful sip. “It didn’t take you long to come out at work, did it? Nicely done. And James is the sort to mention it, so word will get around. I assume that was your intention.”

“Yes. Quick and painless. The sooner it’s common knowledge, the better. James didn’t seem bothered.”

“Of course he wasn’t.” Alec’s voice was brusque. “People have more important things to worry about than who you like to fuck.”

Ed raised his eyebrows. “So, how come you’re in the closet, then?”

There was a flicker of anger on Alec’s face, and Ed wondered whether he’d gone too far. He looked at the ice cubes in his drink again. Their sharp corners had melted away into smoothness. If only the jagged edges of his relationship with Alec could be softened so easily.

Ed assumed he wasn’t going to get an answer, so he was surprised when Alec finally spoke.

“Years of habit.” Alec sounded weary rather than irritated. “I’ve been lying to people for a long time, by omission at the very least. Coming out in your first week at a new job is probably easy in comparison—not that I’d know—but it’s not something I could just drop casually into conversation now. It would be the equivalent of tossing a hand grenade into the room. I’d lose my integrity because people would know I’d deliberately deceived them.”

“How?”

“Ask anyone at the office, and they’ll tell you I have a girlfriend.”

Ed felt a lurch of nausea. He didn’t like to think Alec had cheated on someone with him, but he also hated imagining Alec with anyone else, which was ridiculous. “And do you?”

“Not in the way they think.” Alec sighed. “She’s called Belinda. She’s an old friend from Oxford, and she’s more than happy to pretend to be a casual girlfriend for social occasions—especially ones involving free alcohol and nice restaurants.”

“Handy.” Ed kept his voice light.

“So you see, coming out would be a little more complicated for me than it was for you.”

“I suppose.” Ed wanted to know more about why Alec was so deeply closeted in the first place, but he sensed Alec would clam up if he tried to dig. The wine seemed to have loosened his tongue a little, yet only within careful limits.

“You turning up on Monday morning was the last thing I needed.”

“I’m sorry to be such an inconvenience.” Ed tried to make it sound like a joke, but his throat was dry and it came out tight and awkward. “It’s not a barrel of laughs for me either, you know.” He met Alec’s gaze. Alec’s hazel eyes were almost luminous with the way the light caught them. Ed felt pinned, unable to look away despite his rising discomfort as Alec stared at him.

“Maybe if we fuck each other again, we can get it out of our systems?” Alec suggested.

His tone was so conversational that it took a moment for Ed to register what he’d said, but then his heart surged and all the blood in his body redistributed itself in a lightning bolt of arousal. He blinked, wondering whether he’d really heard Alec right. The words replayed in his head on a loop. “You have to be kidding me.”

Alec wasn’t smiling. “I’m deadly serious.” His poker face was impressive.

Ed studied him, desperately hoping his own emotional turmoil wasn’t obvious. He searched for a chink in that impassivity, trying to work out what the fuck Alec was thinking, but there was nothing there to give him a clue. “What on earth makes you think it would be a good idea to go down that road again?”

“Who said it was a good idea?” Alec’s lips twitched, finally betraying something, although amusement wasn’t what Ed had been expecting.

He found himself responding against his better judgement, a smile tugging at his mouth as he replied. “Typical bloody lawyer.”

Alec grinned properly then, and Ed realised it was the first time he’d seen Alec with his guard down. He was so beautiful when he smiled that it made Ed’s chest ache with wanting to see it more often.

“Okay.” Alec held up his hand, ticking his arguments off on his fingers as he spoke. “We’re both adults, we already know we’re sexually compatible, you’ve shown you can be discreet, and we’ve already done it once, so it’s too late to worry about it.”

“We’ve set a precedent, you mean?” Ed raised his eyebrows.

“Exactly. So, what do you say?”

“Who said I need to get you out of my system?” Ed asked, attempting nonchalance.

“Are you hard right now?” Alec’s gaze bored into him.

Ed felt a shameful rush of heat rise from under his collar to the tips of his ears. He opened his mouth to deny it, but nothing came out.

“I rest my case.”

Alec folded his arms, a smug grin stretching over his face, and Ed wanted to kiss it away with fierce, biting kisses. Ed stared at Alec as the seconds ticked by. He felt as though he was poised on the edge of a cliff ready to dive. The water below beckoned, luring him down, but who knew what rocks or monsters lay below the surface? The fall might be exhilarating, but Ed wasn’t sure he’d survive it.

Self-preservation won out over temptation. “No,” he said firmly. “There’s no way it could end well.”

A muscle clenched in Alec’s jaw but he held Ed’s gaze. “I’m not looking for a happy ending,” he said lightly. “Just a mutual relief of tension. It would make a nice change from finding a stranger to fuck.” Something in the tone of his voice made Ed feel an odd rush of pity. How lonely must Alec be to ask this of Ed?

Ed shook his head, trying to stay strong. “It would be way too complicated.” His feelings about Alec were already a clusterfuck of confusion. The last thing he needed was to add to it by fucking Alec again. “I think it would be better to keep our relationship strictly professional.”

Alec’s jaw tightened, but whether it was with anger or disappointment, Ed couldn’t tell. “You’re probably right.” Alec sounded defeated. He looked away from Ed, down at the glass in his hand.

Ed almost wished Alec hadn’t given up trying to persuade him so soon. If he’d been a little more persistent, he might have been impossible to resist.

“I’m sorry,” Ed said softly. Without thinking about what he was doing, he reached across the table and touched the back of Alec’s hand, his fingertips grazing the dark hairs that dusted it.

Alec snatched his hand away, glancing around to make sure nobody was paying them any attention. “It’s fine.” His voice was acid, and two patches of colour burned on his cheeks. “Don’t flatter yourself, Mr Piper. Your arse isn’t that special. I simply thought it might be convenient. My mistake.” He picked up his wine glass and drained the contents before standing and pulling on his coat. “I’ll see you on Monday morning. Goodbye.”

Ed watched as Alec stalked away, his broad shoulders military straight. The door swung shut behind him, and he was gone.

Suddenly overcome with exhaustion, Ed let his head droop. He stared at the rings of condensation that his drink had left on the glass table. “Fuck,” he muttered. Had he messed up his chances of succeeding at this job before he’d even got started? He hadn’t done anything wrong, but working with Alec might prove impossible. Maybe he could ask for a transfer to a different team…. But he couldn’t do that without an explanation, and they might not need a temp anywhere else. No, he was just going to have to keep his head down, get through the next few weeks, and avoid Alec as much as he could.

CHAPTER FIVE

Alec hesitated in the street, debating hailing a cab. His whole body was aflame with humiliation and anger. He put his head back and stared into the murky darkness of the city sky. The air was freezing, and a few tiny flakes of sleet stung his face. He took a deep breath and exhaled a muttered, “Fuck.” He felt a little better, so he did it again, louder this time. “Fucking,
fuck
!”