Page 14 of Challenging Luke
Trista hopped off the desk and looped their arms together, dragging her in the direction of Ash. Her best friend, not to be left out, linked her arm on the other side, and all three of them walked out of the building.
“Oh my God,” Ash moaned. “Why does my lo mein always taste better when I come to visit?”
“Because you’re eating it with your best friends,” Trista replied around a full mouth of food. If it were anyone else, it would be considered impolite, but anything went when the three of them got together.
“Bentley hates Chinese food, so I only get it when I’m with one of you.”
Monica had to admit she ate it less now that Ash no longer worked with her, and that was probably a good thing. All the takeout she used to live on would’ve eventually caught up to her, and now that she also didn’t have her best friend pushing yoga down her throat, exercise was not existent. Oh, how far she had fallen since her friend left.
“As fascinating as watching you orgasm over food is, I would prefer to hear more about Monica’s real-life orgasms. You know the ones that came from an actual man since those have been practically nonexistent since we moved to Texas and left her.”
“What is this, ‘pick on Monica’ day? I haven’t seen the two of you in months and this is the shit I get!”
“Whose fault is it that we haven’t seen you?” Ash was quick to point the blame. “I’ve asked you multiple times to get together, and every time, something has come up. Other than the birth of Mallory, you’ve been MIA. Too busy.” Ash actually air-quoted the last two words.
Suddenly the egg roll that she had been enjoying just moments before, felt like a lead weight at the bottom of her stomach.
“I thought we were dropping that ...” She picked apart the rest of her egg roll.
“That’s the plan. Now pour us some more wine and tell us all about Rome.”
Monica wasn’t sure that was a safer topic but anything to stop the guilty feeling for being such a shitty friend. The wine was clearly not helping, even though they were into their second bottle already. The first bottle had been gone before the food had shown up.
“His name is Luke and I met him at the hotel bar because, yeah, I was in need of a stiff drink after a long flight. I wanted something to take the edge off, and instead, I found a different way to loosen up. It was supposed to be one night. No names, but as luck would have it, things got complicated. Story of my life lately.” The last part was more of a mumble under her breath.
“Complicated how?” Trista had taken over and filled up their wineglasses.
“Complicated as in he works for the government and was there because the client I was supposed to meet is shady as all hell.” She didn’t keep the sneer out of her tone when she spoke about Alexander. He wasn’t a client, per se, but she didn’t have a better word at the moment. “Asshole” or “dickhead” wasn’t professional.
“I hope you didn’t take this client on.”
As much as Ash wanted nothing to do with the business, it was still her name attached to it. Well, her maiden name, and just because Ash didn’t want to work there, didn’t mean she didn’t care what happened to it. Which is why she fought so hard to make sure her best friend would take over in her stead.
“No, and that’s why I went to Rome to begin with. The guy was arrogant and wouldn’t give up. Meeting him in person was supposed to end things once and for all, but now I have your father pissed at me because of who the guy is, and Luke wants to see how things can play out between us but I’ve been ignoring him all day.”
Wow, she needed to catch her breath. That, and chug her glass of wine. Tipping the glass back, she lost sight of her friends' shocked gazes as she gulped the extra-large glass of red. She was already tipsy and chugging a glass would push her over the edge.
“That’s a lot to unpack.” Ash was the first to pick her jaw up off the floor. “Explain to me why my father would be pissed at you. Other than the usual,” Ash quickly added when she gave her best friend the look.
“Two words. Samuel Silverstein.”
Both Trista and Ash let out whistles. Monica had to commend her friend for being a bigger person than most. At least Ash didn’t snap at her when she said the name.
“How is it possible he’s still causing trouble from prison?” Trista wondered.
“Because my former boss was a slimy fucker,” she told Trista honestly, slurring slightly. The wine was going to her head, and if she didn’t slow down, she was going to be extremely hungover for work in the morning. “The guy who wanted to meet used to work with Samuel, and when he heard Carmichael was planning to retire, he thought I would be interested in picking up where Samuel left off.”
“Hence the government watching the guy,” Ash correctly surmised.
“Bingo. Now your father is mad at me because I said the forbidden name and he doesn’t trust that I have a handle on things. He feels I need to focus more on work and maybe he’s right. As much as I had a great time with Luke, do I really have time to start a relationship? Even a casual one?”
“Yes!” Ash and Trista both yelled in unison.
“I don’t care what my father says,” Ash declared. “You make time for yourself. He had my mother to come home to when he first started the business, so it’s not like he’s one to talk. And the fact that you didn’t just write this guy off and he’s on your mind is enough for me to be sure you need to give him a chance. You don’t want to wake up one day and regret that you let a good thing pass by.”
“Where have I heard something similar before?” Monica tried to hide her smirk behind her glass, but Ash wasn’t having any of it.
“I’m pretty sure my best friends gave me the same advice when I was willing to let Bentley leave so I could help my father save his company.”