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Carter looked from Abby to Spence and back again. “You missed the toast to the happy couple.”
“Well...” Yeah, that’s all Spence had. His brain refused to jump-start after the mind-blowing sex.
“Ellie can’t drink anyway,” Abby said, piping up to fill the silence.
“Yes.” Spence nodded. “Good. That’s right.”
Carter shook his head, looking far too amused by the stilted conversation. “Because that was my point.”
“We’re just...” It happened again. Spence started talking, then nothing. His mind went blank.
Abby touched the back of her hand against his chest. “Walking.”
“Wow.” Carter crossed his arms over his chest. Looked pretty impressed with himself, as if every minute was more fun than the last. “You two aren’t very good at this. Maybe you need practice.”
“What are you talking about?” Abby asked.
The door opened behind them and Jackson slipped inside, sparing Spence from whatever answer Carter might have come up with to Abby’s question. Jackson’s shoes clicked against the buffed hardwood floor as he walked. He’d picked up a piece of cake at some point and now balanced that plate along with his glass. With his fork raised halfway to his mouth he started talking.
“I heard you guys were in here. Where did you...” His gaze switched from Abby to Spence. “Oh.”
Carter snorted. “Right?”
“I give up. Are we wearing a sign?” Abby finished the question by glaring at Spence.
He wasn’t sure what he did to warrant that, or maybe he did, but he knew no matter what had happened in that pantry, this embarrassment was going to be his fault. No way would Carter let this opportunity pass.
“Kind of.” Carter cleared his throat as he pointed at Spence’s chest. “Your shirt is—”
“Buttoned wrong, genius.” Jackson shook his head as he put his drink on the edge of the desk and scooped up a forkful of cake.
After a quick look at Spence, Abby rolled her eyes. “You had one job.”
A guy could not catch a break around here. Spence went to work on fixing the misbuttoning. “Excuse me, but my brain is not working at top-speed right now.”
No one said anything for a few seconds. Spence knew he should jump in and clean up his last comment but what the hell did he say?
When the quiet dragged on, Carter rubbed his hands together. “So, how do you want us to handle this?”
“With a little dignity would be nice,” Abby mumbled as she threw them all a men-suck glance.
“We’re all grown-ups.” Jackson’s gaze moved around the group before landing on Spence. “For the most part.”
“Right. We’ve all had sex. Not together, of course.” Carter was just revving up, speaking faster as he went when he glanced at Abby and his words sputtered out. “What? Are we dancing around the word? At least I hope it was good sex. You were both smiling a few minutes ago.”
“I can think of a thousand places I’d rather be right now,” Abby said in an emotionless voice.
“So that it’s official and since I know introducing myself shouldn’t get me in too much trouble compared to whatever else I might say, I’m Carter Jameson.” He held out his hand to Abby.
She took it as she frowned at him. “We’ve actually met before.”
Carter’s eyes narrowed. “We have?”
Spence thought back to the calls he shared with Carter all those months ago. The complaints about Dad and his behavior. Talks about the kiss and how sick he felt at seeing it. He hoped Carter forgot every last word. “Be careful.”
“I’m Abby Rowe.” She finished shaking his hand, then dropped her arm to her side again. “I work for your company. On the management team, actually. We used to pass in the halls. Not often but sometimes when you were in the office visiting your brothers.”
“I don’t... Oh.” Carter’s eyes widened. “Okay, yeah.”