His Secret

48. Adrian

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

ADRIAN

Charlotte and I haven’t revisited our fight. After the barbecue, we didn’t speak to each other. She went upstairs while I cleaned up, and when I woke up the next morning, she was gone. She came home briefly in the afternoon just to leave again. It was nearly one in the morning when she walked back inside.

She’s still asleep when I get up for work this morning, and I know we’ll need to sit down and talk soon. Maybe now’s the best time, if there is such a thing. I don’t want to wait until we’re in a happier situation just to drop this bomb.

Throughout the work day, I’m distracted. I go over all possible outcomes and scenarios for when I tell Charlotte the truth. I debate on whether I should tell her everything, but decide it’s probably best if I don’t. Knowing I’ve been sleeping with our neighbor who is also my boss isn’t going to help. She’ll already need to maneuver through the minefield of my coming out, telling her I want a divorce, and possibly having to move back to Chicago. Dropping another bomb would be too much. Plus, I don’t want Matías caught up in this. She’ll tell her dad, who will in turn tell mine, and it’ll become too much to deal with.

At three o’clock, I have a meeting with my team, so I put everything aside and focus on my job. At four, we leave the conference room to go back to our desks, and I spot Matías for the first time today. Based on his expression, it seems like he’s had a stressful day. He rubs his forehead like he’s trying to massage a headache away. His eyes meet mine as he’s about to turn off to go to his office, and he gives me a small grin.

I smile back but let him get to what he was doing.

In my office, I have a phone call with a client, send out a half dozen emails, and then send one more to each member on my team regarding our meeting today.

It’s after five when there’s a knock on my door.

“Come in.”

It creaks open, and Matías fills the doorway. “Hey.”

I stop typing and lean back in my chair. “Hey.”

There are still people in the cubicles behind him, their voices filtering into my office. “It’s been quite the day,” he says.

I nod. “Yeah. Pretty busy.”

He sighs. “I could use a drink. Do you want to get one with me?”

“Yeah. Definitely. I just need to finish this. Give me fifteen minutes or so.”

“I’ll meet you in the parking lot.”

“Okay.”

With a brief smile, he nods and spins around to leave.

I don’t think to tell Charlotte I'll be late. For one, we’re still not talking, and based on her disappearing act yesterday, she doesn’t seem to think we need to inform each other about our whereabouts. Plus, my job sometimes has me home late anyway. It wouldn’t be abnormal.

Twenty minutes later, I meet him at his car.

“So, where are we going?” I ask.

“At first, I was thinking about this place called Ginny’s, but it’s about thirty minutes from where we live, and if we’re gonna drink, then we’ll only be able to drink one before we have to sober up to drive home.”

I smirk. “Nice to know you’re still abiding by those rules.”

“Laws,” he amends with a grin. “Yes. I’m still against drunk driving, as I’d wish everyone would be, but anyway.” He sighs. “This is where you being my neighbor is a problem. I was going to invite you to my house. For a drink or two,” he says with a glint in his eye.

“For a drink.”

“Right, but, well, you live next door, and I suppose your car being home and you not being there would be an issue.”

“Hmm.” After a couple minutes, I shrug. “Let’s go. It’ll be fine.”

He raises his brows. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” I say with a nod. “I’ll see you in a little bit.”

“Okay.”

He climbs into his car and takes off, and I follow behind just a couple minutes later.

The only good thing about being in the closet, is that there’s no way she’d suspect anything weird if I say I’m going to my boss’s house. Or even if I just said I’d be at the neighbor’s.

When I pull into the driveway, I lock the car and walk through my front door. I hang the keys on the hook nearby before jogging upstairs.

Charlotte isn’t home. Considering I had the car all day, that’s interesting .

However, it works out for me now. I head back downstairs and walk outside and across the yard.

I ring Matías’s doorbell and he opens it just a few seconds later.

“All good?” he asks as he takes a step back.

“She’s not home.”

He inclines his head slightly, but doesn’t say anything else.

We both remove our shoes and suit jackets, while Matías removes the button-up shirt as well.

“I have a little bar over here,” he says, walking into his living room.

I follow behind, noting the warm tones in his furniture and decor. Brown curtains that are just a shade darker than the couch. Brown and beige pillows are placed along the cushions and beige, wooden tables hold candles and small decor items. There’s a row of three pictures behind his couch that look like landscape photos taken in the fall.

“Nice place,” I tell him as he opens a cabinet at a wooden bar against the wall.

“Thank you.”

I dig my toes into the soft, white rug under my feet. “So, whatcha got over here?”

I make my way to his side, and he pulls two glasses from the bottom shelf, handing one to me. In a little shelf on the door, he points to a few bottles of liquor—gin, whiskey, and vodka.

“I also have wine.”

I shake my head. “Whiskey is fine.”

He pours mine first, handing it to me. “I know you’re not gonna drink it straight. Give me a sec and I’ll grab something.”

I laugh. “I suppose I’m mostly a beer guy, but I don’t drink a whole lot these days, so plain whiskey is a little scary.”

We go into his kitchen where he pulls a can of Coke out of the fridge. “This good?”

“Yeah.” I take the can and pop the top, pouring some into my glass.

He holds his glass up and I clink mine against it. We take a sip before I put it down on the counter and step toward him.

“I know you invited me over for a drink or two.” I put my hands on his hips. “But I think I remember you saying you had an idea for later.”

Matías sets his drink down. “Yes, but that’s a different place. Hopefully you can get away on a weekend night.”

“Okay, well, I’m intrigued. Now, are you gonna kiss me?”

He smirks before leaning in and touching his lips to mine. One of his hands is on my lower back while the other is at my neck. His tongue slides into my mouth, and my hand moves to his ass.

Our kissing escalates to lots of touching and grinding. He turns and pushes me against the counter, kissing along my jaw.

“I really did plan to let you have a drink or two,” he murmurs between kisses.

“Mmhmm,” I say, my fingers drawing down his back. “We still can.”

“I was going to talk to you, too,” he says before biting into my neck.

I gasp and let out a shuddering breath. “Yeah, we can. Later.”

“Okay then. Let’s go upstairs.”