Page 9 of With Wine Comes War

“Do you guys know who owns King Construction?” They gave me a clueless look at each other shaking their heads.

“No, should we?” Landon looked confused.

Landon’s the kind of guy I would’ve loved to have found before I married Luke, my ex. Good looking (without being cocky), successful and charming. One of my rules is not to get involved with people I work with though. It has served me well and I’ve retained really great friends as a result.

“Roman.” I held my hands up with raised eyebrows. Even saying his name has a profound effect on me that is part swoon and part nausea.

Ryan blurted out, “Oh shit, we never met him, so we didn’t put two and two together.”

“Never?”Boy, I really must not mix business with pleasure.

Shay said, “No, we were supposed to meet him that one night at your place, but he had a late meeting.” My excitement waned upon hearing that and my shoulders slumped slightly.

“You mean the night the shit hit the fan?” Everyone looked solemn now, and I don’t need to go down this spiral again.

“Can’t dwell on it guys, so let’s not think about it, okay?”I obsess about it enough for everyone.

“How are you and Roman doing?” Shay asked quietly.

I simply stated, “We aren’t.” Then I didn’t wait for pity talk and asked, “But how are you and Owen?” Owen and I were supposed to meet up for a one nighter after the closing of a big deal between their investment company and ours. When I realized Owen might be interested in more than a quick fling, I shut it down before it started and quickly found out Shay had a crush on him, so I encouraged that instead.

She had an ear-to-ear grin on her face and sat up all excited with her hands clenched in her lap. “Wonderful. We’re official. We’re talking about the future but not jumping into anything.” I gave her a hug.I was happy for her and wanted to keep the attention away from my love life, or lack thereof.

“Honey, I’m so happy for you. How’s training going with Grant?” I was supposed to be training her myself, but things just haven’t worked out in any way that I had hoped.

She was practically bouncing up and down in the chair when she shouted, “I’ve already got my first house under contract.”

I screamed because, oh my god, that was amazing and a huge deal.

“I knew you’d be great at this. Get ready to put your name on my office door!” We squealed with excitement.

Ryan whined, “Hey what about my name?” Ryan was an arrogant go-getter. No way was he interested in being just an agent for too long.

“Please, you don’t want an office, you want an agency.”

He laughed and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, you’re right.” He shrugged, trying hard to hide a smile.

“Ryan, how’s the new girl?” Time to see if he’s changed his ways.

“Which one?” He said with a devilish smirk on his face. That’s kind of what I figured but I was hoping he really liked this last one. As much as I’d like to see my friends happy and settled, that life is not for some of us.

“Oh no, again? What did you do this time?” I held in the smile the best I could by putting my hand over my mouth. He looked hurt but his head and his eyes were facing the floor, so I knew he was really trying not to laugh.

“Wait, why am I the one that did something?” He popped up with brows furrowed. I gave him that “tell the truth” look.

He had the guiltiest smirk on his face. “I may have found someone else before we broke up.”

Nice way to say he cheated. I shook my head. Definitely still a manwhore.

“You know how I feel about that crappy behavior.” I reached over and smacked his arm hard.

“Ouch, I know, but I couldn’t help it, she was hot!”

“That’s no excuse.” I yelled. "Then don’t let her think you’re committed, cheaters suck.” He looked like a scolded child as I shoved him playfully away from me.

“I know, trust me, I had your face in my head reprimanding me.” They knew how I felt about cheaters after having been cheated on by my ex-husband for all those years. I took in a deep breath to stave off the memories.

“Good! I hope it was my super bitch face.” I tried to make that face, but he was one of my dearest friends and it’s so hard to stay mad at any of them for long.