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  "Not really," he admitted confidently. Such a sexy quality.

  "Well, I'm getting in the shower," I said, as I pulled off my delicate knit top and exposed my silky strapless bra.

  Edwin smiled at me and seductively raised his arched eyebrows.

  "Alone!" I added with a growl, answering Edwin's unspoken question.

  "Didn't you just take a bath this morning?" Edwin recalled, as he freed himself from the doorway.

  "I'm suddenly feeling very dirty."

  CHAPTER TWO

  ~

  THE BIRDS WERE CHIRPING when I awoke in the morning, and I was happy that last night was already in my past. It was Edwin's first day on the job, and I was so excited to be the first to welcome him to my law firm. I went into the office extra early to get a head start on the day, but as the clock approached 8:35 am, my attention span was shot. I promised Edwin I would be the first to greet him when he got to the office and I’d make good on that promise.

  I slipped out of my cubicle and crossed the hall to the spare office where a wall of blue glass windows faced the main road. Leaning against the solid wood desk, I anxiously waited for Edwin to show. When I finally saw his loaded black truck pull up, I scurried to the front lobby to meet him.

  When Edwin made his way through the double doors, I couldn't wipe the smile from my face; partly out of nervousness for him, but mostly because he looked so damn handsome in his new attire. His gorgeous aqua blue eyes gleamed in the early morning sun, in amazing contrast to his gun metal grey suit. I was stunned, elated, but I did my best to keep it together.

  "Abigail Jenkins,” he said. “Nice to finally meet you." He strolled up next to me and reached his hand out for a shake, keeping up his charade. I playfully swatted it away.

  "Cut it out. Come on, I'll show you to your new home." We turned right, stepped past the empty reception desk and skipped by the first office.

  "So this it," I said, pointing to the next room.

  His office was conveniently and yet awkwardly placed directly between the two Partners in the firm. It was a large space, with a long strip of blue-tinted windows spanning the entire exterior wall. A subdivision of new town houses was rapidly being built, just outside his window. A tall bookcase, half filled with chunky books and binders took up a good portion of one of the interior walls. It was an incredible space, but unfortunately the rear of the room was covered in banker’s boxes, stacked five high, not having found a place in our filing system yet. Edwin didn’t seem to notice.

  He walked to his desk, put down his things and turned on the computer. He spun around in his chair and peered at me from behind the huge stack of files already waiting for him. He flashed me a big distinguished grin. "Now what boss?"

  I pointed back toward the front corner office that we had passed. "That's Jacob Miller's office. He's your boss. The cubicle across from his is Maddison Walker's. I’m sure she’ll act like she’s your boss, but don’t be fooled.” My teasing smile didn’t go unnoticed.

  "Oh boy. Maddison Walker."

  "Be nice," I warned him. “She’s good at what she does.”

  Edwin was good friends with Maddison’s younger brother, TJ. Edwin knew that, if you let her, Maddison would walk all over you. In other words, she's a bitch.

  "Well here goes nothing," Edwin said. He raised his sharp, dark eyebrows and smiled, as he brushed past me and approached Miller's office.

  “Good luck,” I whispered, then admired his firm knock on the boss’ door. I ducked away as he shook Miller's hand and followed him inside.

  Before heading back to my desk, which was on the very opposite side of the entire building, I passed by my friend Aliah's desk. Aliah Brooklin was by far my best girlfriend. Her cubicle was only a few strides away from Edwin's door, which was rather convenient, but while most of the staff had already arrived for the morning, Aliah was not among them.

  I strolled around the interior hall, passed the oversized copier room and headed for my desk. When I reached my destination, I pulled out my chair and slumped into it. My cubicle was spacious, planted in the middle of a modern floor plan with extremely high ceilings. A hallway circled around all of the inner cubicles, whose walls reached only 8 feet in height. The ceiling, being much higher, left the interior space a network of inter-office noise. As for privacy, there was none.

  With a sigh, I lifted open the file I was working on and got right back down to business. There were three enormous piles of files, neatly stacked down the length of my desk, and they weren’t going anywhere unless I did something with them.

  The morning was going by quickly and, just as I started to wonder how I managed to avoid Edwin so far, he appeared like magic, quietly passing by my office and disappearing into the washroom. After a minute or so, I heard some commotion across the way and wondered what could possibly be going on. Before I could worry too much, Edwin appeared at my desk-side with a growing look of concern on his face.

  "What's wrong?" I asked.

  He moved his hands away from his pants and I immediately saw his trouble. Shocked, my mouth dropped open and a hysterical gasp escaped my smiling lips. It wasn’t until I saw how agitated he was that I bit my tongue. When I finally collected myself enough to speak, I cleared my throat and pressed my lips together to force away the smirk, as I stared at the dampness on the crotch of his expensive pants.

  "Sorry. What happened?"

  "The damn sink in there. It’s like a glass bowl sitting on the counter. I turned on the water, apparently a little too hard, and it splashed right up the rim of bowl and all over me."

  "Yeah, I can see that. It looks like you wet yourself." I giggled, at his expense, and I could see that he was not pleased with me.

  "They really need to post a warning or something.”

  I couldn’t help but snicker again. “Yeah, that’s real classy.”

  “Enough already. Now what am I supposed to do? I didn't bring a change of clothes and I can't go home. This is my first day!" Edwin wasn’t typically one to be bothered with anything, but this was obviously terrorizing him.

  "Well, you could go tell Miller that you had an accident...” Tears formed in my eyes as I burst into laughter. “I'm sorry, you asked for that. This is too much like kindergarten.”

  Unable to see the humour in it, Edwin's face soured, his eyes narrowed. He meant business. "Seriously Abigail, this isn't funny."

  "Relax. You're overreacting. It's fine, really," I reassured him, knowing he was a sucker for reason. "Why don’t you just hang low for the next half hour or so? I'm sure it'll dry a bit. Then you can go home on your lunch hour to change."

  "Yeah, I can do that."

  "You better make a beeline straight for your office though, before anyone notices. I could just imagine all the nicknames and rumours, if anyone gets a hold of this one," I teased.

  "No one will though, will they Abigail?" he threatened, his eyes darkening.

  I shrugged my shoulders to tease. "You might be safe for now, but you owe me big if you don't want this to come out later."

  "Thanks, I think." Scowling, he bolted for his office covering the wet zone.

  I giggled a little more before I started thinking about the two of us. It was no surprise to me that seeing Edwin at work would be more than a little distracting. Staring off into space, I smiled, and I was gone.

  Edwin and I had lived in the same neighbourhood as children. We went to different schools, his parents being very particular about raising him in a good catholic household, while my parents were a little more liberal when it came to religion. Regardless of his mother's intentions, Edwin and I became good friends at a young age, and it was never a secret that he had always hoped for something more.

  Persistent, he was, and by the time we hit high school, I finally gave in to him. After I let my guard down, it wasn't long before I fell madly in love with him. I can still remember those days like it was yesterday. We were inseparable. Edwin was infatuated with me and I was no less smitten with him. Peop
le called us high school sweethearts, but my sister always said it was more like an addiction.

  All that changed when Edwin decided to go away to an elaborate university in the big city and I stayed behind, content with the local community college. Our lives were leading in different directions and we were both young and stubborn. After being apart for two long years, our only connection being through random emails and the occasional messenger chat, I decided to tell him that he had grown too distant, and maybe I should stop contacting him.

  Though he had a lot going on, less than a month after my last message to him, he called to tell me he was coming back home and transferring to a local university.

  Not long after he returned to Rose Arbour, we decided to buy a house together, as a business arrangement. Strictly business. We were spending every free minute together anyway and it seemed like a smart financial decision. Going ahead with the plan, we purchased a fixer-upper in no time at all and spent the entire summer renovating, pouring our heart and souls into the promising Victorian, making it our own.

  We fell back in love, our flame reignited, but while I was working a full-time job, he was out partying with friends. When I would go out, he'd be at home studying for exams. It just wasn't working for us then and that brings us to now.

  Though our on again off again relationship as a couple has been difficult to keep up with, now that Edwin has graduated from law school with honours, our close friendship is back in business.

  Having successfully articled with a notable law firm, Edwin could pretty much work wherever he wanted. And yet of all the lawyers’ offices, government buildings and corporate headquarters in the City of Rose Arbour, Edwin decided to accept a job at my small firm.

  AFTER MY MORNING FILLED with dreams and smiles, the rest of the day was surprisingly zooming by. It was nearly over when I finally ran into Edwin again, this time at the photocopy machine.

  "Look at you. Bone dry," I teased.

  "I'll bone you one," Edwin said smirking.

  Distressed, my eyes darted toward each of the exits to check for nosy neighbours. "You better watch your mouth. There are ears everywhere in here you know. I'd bet you've already been had."

  He chuckled unconcerned. "It's all in good fun. No one heard me. You worry too much."

  After our brief, unprofessional chat, he hurried back to whatever it was that he was so diligently working at. I was a little disappointed that I only crossed his path for all of two minutes all day and it played out like that, but what was I expecting? I took a deep breath, stacked my papers on the copier and pressed start.

  "Abby," a voice called to me from the reception desk, ringing in my ears.

  I glanced through the doorway to find Maddison Walker standing there next to Taylor, the office receptionist. Maddie's long silky black hair shimmered in the neon light as she scowled at me with her large brown eyes. Such a pretty girl, with a long narrow face, and dark olive skin, and yet it always amazed me that she was even related to Edwin's friend TJ. He's such a nice guy. I'm sorry I can't say the same for her.

  She stalked me like a demon, approaching with an evil look in her chocolate brown eyes. “What about Kerry? I thought you and Edwin weren't an item anymore," she hissed.

  I wasn’t about to bring up that horrid date now. Backing up a step, "We're not," I replied, forcefully genuine.

  She reached her hand to the counter, leaning against it, and blocked my path to the copier. "Oh so you're just doing him on the side then?"

  "Maddie, mind your own business." I pushed her gently aside and picked up my papers from the tray.

  An evil laugh shimmered through the long cavernous room. "I'll take that as a yes then," she sneered.

  I peeked up at the front desk again, where Taylor was listening intently. Her dark brown hair, pulled up in the front, left her no protection to hide from my annoyed gaze. Her plump, pale skin, and friendly smile made you think you could trust her but Taylor was not the lovely older lady from next door, as she appeared to be. In fact, she was the office gossip queen, and she tended to feed off of Maddie's craziness. To make a point I twisted my smile and narrowed my emerald eyes at her.

  Hers turned wide with understanding, as she scurried to her seat.

  "It's not like that, but if it was you'd be the last to find out," I said.

  "Not with his big mouth. You'd think he'd be a little more careful on his first day. But don't worry, your secrets are safe with me," she said, wicked and blunt.

  I rolled my eyes and reluctantly played her depraved game. "And what secret is that?"

  "Oh, you don’t know? It's so obvious. Edwin's still in love with you. It's so cute how you two are playing the cat-and-mouse game."

  I rolled my eyes in disbelief. "Whatever Maddie." I was unwillingly to listen to this insincere snob.

  "Oh, you don't like that? Allow me to rephrase. Hot pursuit. Need I say more?"

  "No you've said enough," I insisted, though I had already stopped listening two seconds ago.

  "If you can't see it, then you're blind. Roll the shades Abigail, you're either doing him or you need to cut the cord." She paused momentarily, retrieved the dagger from my gut, then took another stab. "I see your date with Kerry was obviously a bust."

  "Right, thanks for that by the way," I moaned sarcastically.

  "Kerry's a nice guy. That was all you."

  "Like I said before, mind your own." I was so angry now I could have growled.

  "If you say so. You and Edwin really need to work that out. Just remember who told you first. Then we'll see who your real friends are," she said, smooth and scandalous, before slinking back to Taylor's desk.

  I rolled my eyes at her again, when she wasn't watching, and went back to my desk with my blood boiling. Why had I ever decided to befriend Maddison Walker? Oh yes. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

  "GET READY GIRL, OR we're gonna be late!" Aliah peeked into my desk area with obvious urgency. I jumped a little and it took a second for my mind to snap back into reality. Aliah was dressed in a cute yoga outfit and raring to go. Easily excited, she was always a little high strung.

  I looked at the clock to see what all the hype was about. "Oh shit! I didn't realize what time it was."

  "Then hurry up!"

  I pulled my exercise getup from my bottom drawer and leapt out of my cubicle at full speed. I wiggled into my spandex as fast as humanly possible, and gracelessly scurried back toward my desk, bumping right into my boss, Owen Wallace. Too late to stop the forward motion, I knocked every last loose paper from his hands. Some slammed onto the floor in a pile and others fluttered through the air, scattering in a disorganized mess. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry Owen." I knelt to the floor and shuffled up the scattered papers with him.

  "No worries. It was my fault."

  I smiled at him, knowing he was only being nice. Who was I to argue with the most successful young litigator in the City? When I handed Owen the remainder of his tousled papers he took them from me and smiled. My mind had been running on autopilot for the better part of the day and it kind of threw me for a loop, sending me into a blank stare.

  Aliah was standing behind me now. "Hello? Earth to Abigail. We're going to be late! What's with you today?" She was clearly annoyed with me, but the feeling was mutual.

  I looked back briefly to scowl at her, then flashed my award winning smile at Owen.

  "I don't mean to keep you," he said.

  "Yeah, yeah. Let's go," Aliah said, as she pulled me away. She had all of our bags in her arms and still managed to yank me past Owen.

  He was still standing there, a little stunned, with his pile of messed up papers. I knew the second we disappeared he would be feverishly reorganizing them.

  "I really am sorry," I insisted, with a backward glance before disappearing around the corner.

  "See you Owen," Aliah hollered, as we raced toward the exit. "You're coming with me."

  CHAPTER THREE

  ~

  ALIAH
BROOKLIN ALWAYS GOT what she wanted, ever since she was a little girl. It may have been related to the fact that her father was the head of the City fire department or maybe it was that she was exceptionally good looking. Either way, she did what she wanted, and everyone else had to deal with her wrath if they got in the way of that.

  I turned away from Aliah, who was driving like a madwoman to get us to the Westmount Fit Club for our exercise class. I glanced out my window as she pulled into the freshly paved parking lot, just minutes before class was about to start.

  Aliah clutched the steering wheel, feverishly driving through the many rows of parked cars. The lot was packed and she was clearly not satisfied with the spaces littered at the back of the lot. I watched her eyes darting back and forth as her adrenaline pumped and her anger quickly mounted. Quite frankly, it was amusing.

  "Can I ask what you're doing?" I asked, teasing.

  "What's it look like? I'm finding a good spot!"

  "Well, I thought that maybe since we're going to the gym, it wouldn't kill us to do a little walking."

  "Good point," she admitted, to my surprise.

  Without a second thought, Aliah swung her car around and sped to the back of the lot. She pulled past a few of the open spots and rammed right into the furthest space available. "How's that?" she asked like a smart ass.

  "I didn't say I wanted to walk a marathon."

  "Make up your mind woman. You either want the exercise or you don't." She threw the car into park and turned it off. "Let's move or we're gonna be late!" she hollered like a drill sergeant, as she barrelled for the doors.

  I reached into the backseat for my yoga mat and hurried out of the car after her. I jogged all the way into the Westmount, until Aliah came to a screeching halt and nearly tripped me onto the hard, ceramic floor.

  Gawking at a guy through the glass separating us from the room of weights, she whispered to herself. “Whoa. When did that happen?" Her voice was so soft that if I weren’t standing right next to her, I wouldn't have heard it.

  "What's up?" I asked confused, but she ignored me. My eyes followed her longing gaze until it landed on the sweaty stud exiting the weight room.