Page 85 of The Work Wife

Wes looked around for an escape plan, and even glanced up, as if shimmying up one of the nearby palms would help things.

He didn’t want Holly to find out this way. He certainly didn’t want to be involved in the dissolution of their marriage when he was hoping to get Lance to let them design his building. Still, he hated cheating more than anything, and didn’t want Lance to get off the hook.

“Hey, Lance!” he called, as if the guy wasn’t behind a shrub playing with some stranger’s hair not two inches from her breasts.

Lance backed away from the woman like she was on fire and pasted on his smarmy smile.

“Hey, Wes. Where’s Jamie?”

“She wanted a little extra time on the beach, so I decided to shower first.”

Lance had just found his way out of the bush when Holly spotted them.

“Look, there’s Holly, your wife. Coming this way. She’s probably looking for you.” Wes made his point clear.

“If you keep this between us, I’ll make sure you get the job for our new building. I know that’s the real reason why you’re here. You and your new little hottie sure don’t need this crappy retreat.”

Oh, hell. Wes didn’t know what to do. He stood there staring at the man—a loose description—as he waved at his wife like he was happy to see her. Wes was stunned into silence.

“There you are,” Holly said. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere. I thought you said you were going to play pool.”

“I did. But then I ran into Wes.”

“I’m going to shower,” Wes said as a way to extricate himself from an impossible situation.

“Uh-oh. The honeymoon must be over if you’re taking separate showers. Remember when we used to conserve water, peaches?” Lance said to his wife. “Maybe we should see if we still fit in a shower together.”

Wes held in the groan as Holly frowned at her asinine husband and said, “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Uh. Just that the bathrooms are so much smaller down here.”

Oh, he was really bad at this.

Holly crossed her arms and tilted her head. “And what were you and Wes doing all afternoon?”

Wes could tell by the look on her face that she suspected something was up, but Lance wrapped his arm around her and pulled her away.

“I’ll catch you later at dinner,” Lance called over his shoulder. “Thanks for kicking my ass at pool all afternoon.”

If it had been anyone else, Wes would have blurted out the truth right then, but doing so would mean he and Jamie would lose their chance to bid on the job. This wasn’t just about him and what he thought was right.

He’d promised Jamie he would do whatever it took to get them to number one. He couldn’t blow their chances without talking to her first.

Rather than get caught up in another lie, he held up his hand. “I just saw him on my way back to our cottage. I was with Jamie all afternoon. I’ll see you guys in a little while at dinner.” And with that he left Lance to face his fate.

He didn’t understand why some men couldn’t be faithful.

* * * *

Jamie was still trying to gather the energy to get up and go to the cottage when a shadow fell across her face. Wes was back and he was still wearing his board shorts.

Maybe dinner was canceled and she wouldn’t have to get up.

“We have a problem,” he said as he sat on the edge of the chair he’d vacated earlier.

“I have a spare key in my bag.”

“No. Bigger than being locked out.” She sat up so she could look at him without the sun in her eyes.