Page 24 of Rival Hearts

I nodded, and my dad left my office. When he shut the door behind him, I sagged into the armchair again.

It was easy enough to say that the company didn’t define me, but the truth was itdid. It was all I had to show for my existence here on Earth.

I didn’t date, I doubted I would ever have a family, and date nights after forty years of marriage wasn’t on the cards for me the way it was for my parents. They’d hit the proverbial pot of gold with each other and their relationship was beautiful, but it didn’t always work that way.

Settling down, finding a woman… I was far better at running a company.

My mind drifted to Charlotte, but I shut that thought down the moment it appeared. I wasnotgoing to think about her in the same sentence as talking about settling down. She was Gabe’ssister.

My phone rang, snapping me out of my thoughts.

Gabe’s name flashed on my caller ID.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.Or think about him, in this case.

“Hey, man,” I said when I answered the phone.

“What’s up? You’re quiet even on the group.”

We had an IM group with the guys on it, where we sent each other dirty jokes, talked shit, planned booze-filled boys’ nights, and on the odd occasion, talked about a girl. The latter didn’t happen very often since most of my friends were single and living the high life of fucking and forgetting.

“It’s been a hell of a week,” I said. “A lot of shit at work. You know the drill.”

Gabe snorted. “I don’t think I’ll ever know the drill when it comes to you and your company. You Blackwoods are all workaholics. I don’t have a girlfriend because I haven’t found the right one yet. You don’t have one because you’re married to that fucking company.”

He guffawed at his own joke, and I laughed along but I wasn’t amused.

“How has your week been?” I turned the conversation on Gabe instead.

“Easier than yours, I’m sure.”

Gabe didn’t have as much money as the Blackwoods did, but he earned a pretty decent salary working in IT. He’d helped work on some kind of security system for a bank that stopped hackers from getting into a database, and they’d paid him so much money he could have afforded a much higher life if he didn’t drink it all out every weekend.

Booze was expensive.

“I’ve been taking time off to spend with Charlie, actually,” Gabe said. “Showing her the city, seeing the sights, you know? She’s decided she’s staying in Newport, so I want her to feel right at home.”

The moment he mentioned Charlotte, my stomach twisted. God, I’d been such a fucked-up friend. I hadn’t known it, obviously, but that didn’t change the fact that I’d slept with my best friend’s sister.

“You still haven’t had a chance to meet her,” Gabe said.

Right.

“We should arrange something. Maybe go out for a couple of drinks, hang out and barbecue, or dosomethingwhere you’re not always looking at your phone for work. What do you think?”

“About hanging out?”

I could practicallyhearGabe rolling his eyes. I was trying to be evasive.

“About meeting Charlie.”

“Oh, right,” I said. “Sure, whatever you want to do. Let me know, and I’ll see if I can make it.”

“Geez, don’t sound keen.” I heard the smirk in his voice. “I’ll arrange something and let you know. But seriously, don’t work yourself to death before then.”

“Can’t make any promises,” I said with a grin.

“Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re like. You don’t make promises, but I’m not one of the girls you kick out of your bed in the morning.”