Spencer sat at his desk in his home office, staring at his monitor. He had so much work to do. Each time he tried, his mind drifted back to Trina.

Focus. He forced the thought through his veins, straightened in his seat, and put his fingers on the keyboard.

He refreshed a few social-media pages. Half-heartedly played a game involving color matching and popping candy or cookies or something, then switched to his email.

There was an email from his lawyer, with a total of hours billed for the week on Mia’s claim.

He hit Reply and typed, Thanks for the heads-up. Push the case.

He went to hit Send, then paused. What was he doing? What would he get out of this?

The satisfaction of knowing he was right. That he won. Was what this cost him worth being able to say So there?

He deleted the draft and dialed Christian instead.

“I bill double on Saturday,” Christian said in lieu of an answer. “Or are you happily bleeding money in my direction now?”

Spencer gave the receiver a sardonic smile. “I’m done hemorrhaging cash over this. I want to put a settlement offer on the table.”

“Couldn’t find the proof you needed?”

Spencer had it. If Trina was willing to step forward, he’d take her help. Some hills weren’t worth dying on, and this was one of them. “I’m willing to go as high as two million up front, and half my salary—no benefits—for the next five years. Start low and work your way up when if she pushes.” And Mia would push.

“If she says no?”

Spencer smiled. “She won’t. I’m going to fax you over some information that will hint to her I can prove I’m in the right. Oh—one other thing. As part of the settlement, she signs away her right to do anything like this in the future. She’s done. Once I settle, she forfeits any other claims.”

“You got it, boss.” Christian sounded more amicable than he had in weeks.

Spencer disconnected. It felt good to have that out of the way. Better than he expected, considering he caved.

But he didn’t. This wasn’t the right way to think about the situation. He’d stood his ground, but he didn’t spite himself in the process.

He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. If only getting Trina out of his head would be so simple.

He needed to get away. Maybe spend the rest of the weekend at the beach house. There was too much work, though. If he could catch up tonight, he’d reward himself tomorrow.

Now was as good a time as any to go back to life as usual. Life pre-Trina, anyway.

Too bad the ache behind his ribs didn’t agree. It would take a while, but he had that.

****

TRINA NEEDED TO GET out of the house. Bleach fumes gnawed at her brain, and the conversation with Tristan made her want to climb the walls.

She yanked a brush through her hair enough to pull the long strands into a ponytail, tugged on some jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt that didn’t smell like disinfectant, and pushed herself out the door.

The air was cool but not unpleasant, and nipped the heat from her face. She breathed deeply a few times and decided to walk, instead of drive anywhere. She’d explored the neighborhood when she first got here but didn’t spend much time appreciating the local shops. It would be a shame to leave without seeing some of them.

She strolled toward a café on the corner. As she got closer, the rich scent of coffee mingled with sugar and made her mouth water. The chalkboard on the sidewalk promised chocolate croissants, which sounded perfect.

She ducked inside, placed her order, and found a table to sit at. The place was mostly empty. Was that typical for a Saturday afternoon? Probably. It was pleasant.

It would be nicer if she had someone to share the experience with. Spencer slid back into her thoughts without permission. Sexy, fun, and cuddly. How was someone with that kind of build cuddly?

But she’d managed to stop thinking about him for almost half an hour. New record. She should start keeping a tally and reward herself at milestones. No thoughts of Spencer for an hour? Gold star. Two hours? New vibrator.

The thought made her smile, then brought more unwelcome images to the front of her mind. The way her skin came alive when he glided his fingers between her legs. How incredible it felt with him buried inside—

Her cheeks flushed hot from the memories, and she stared at the foam on her latte, willing the vivid thoughts away.

“Trina?” A voice interrupted her lust-tainted moping.

She looked up to see Mason standing next to her table. She forced a smile into place. “Hey. How are you? Have a seat, if you have time.”

“I’ve got a few minutes. Thanks.” His grin was nice. No expectation. No threat. He dropped into the chair across from her.

“I’m so sorry if I got you fired.” The apology flew out. She needed to get that out of the way up front.

He tilted his head and studied her with a frown. “I wasn’t fired. Why would you... What?”

“I might have talked to Human Resources about some stuff I overheard Doug saying about me. I filed an official complaint. But it only came up because someone told them you and I were dating, and they were worried you had coerced me into it, and I told them you definitely didn’t, but the next day you weren’t at work.”

His smile was back, but tinged with sadness. “It wasn’t you. I promise. My dad’s having some health problems, and I’m moving home, to be with my family.”

“Thank God.” She cringed. “Not for your dad. I’m so sorry to hear that. But I’m glad you weren’t fired.”

“Me too. And I’m glad you went to HR. You don’t deserve the kind of shit you were getting. I hope it’s better.”

She shrugged. “I’m not dealing with it anymore.”

“Good.”

“Because they fired me,” she said.

“Oh.” He huffed out the word. “Why? You’re good. I’m not only saying that because I’m biased.”

The words tugged something in the back of Trina’s head, but she couldn’t grasp it, so she shoved the thought aside. She wasn’t in the mood to get into details about Spencer, though. “A lot of reasons. It’s no big deal, though. I’m going back to Utah.”

“Cool.”

Silence fell between them, and she picked at her croissant. Now she remembered one of the reasons they broke up. They never had anything to talk about. Funny how that was never an issue with Spencer. Even when there was a lull in conversation, it felt comfortable.

“Do you ever think about us?” Mason blurted out.

The question caught her off guard. She shook her head, feeling bad about the admission. He obviously was, even if she didn’t.

“Yeah. Me neither.” His chair scraped against the tile when he stood. “It was great seeing you. Good luck with everything.”

“You too.”

She lingered a little longer in the café after he left, but the encounter stayed in her thoughts even on the walk home. She wasn’t thinking about Mason directly, though. Spencer was back in her thoughts.

Go figure.

Would that be her in two months? Wondering if Spencer missed her, when he’d moved on with life and she was still moping over her first?

She didn’t think that was the case. A strong confidence inside said Spencer was struggling with this as much as she was.

Mason probably told himself that about her, too.

Either way, she missed Spencer. More than she thought was possible. She swallowed past a lump in her throat. At this rate, it would be a year before she earned that vibrator.

She wanted the thought to make her smile, but it hurt more.