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Dylan had a long day. The meeting with Sydney had left his mind whirring. He worked through lunch on a different project. And work kept him late.
Then to show up here, to find...
He wasn’t jumping to conclusions. He also wasn’t blind. Sydney was in a great mood when she greeted him. Josh looked entirely too at home in her living room. The two people who parted very bitter ways last night seemed to be getting along great now.
Dylan couldn’t ignore the slap-in-the-face feeling that came with this. Worse, no one was saying anything. “Am I interrupting?” he asked.
“Not at all. Come in,” Sydney said.
“Sure.” He settled into a chair.
Josh’s position on the couch and the paperwork spread out around him implied he and Sydney had been cozied up, doing... something.
Dylan fought the urge to be the possessive who flew off the handle. “What did I miss?” Either everything or nothing, given that there were no protests of this isn’t what it looks like.
Sydney stood at the edge of the living room, looking between them. She crossed one arm across her chest, to grab the other. At least she had the grace to know this was an awkward situation. Josh didn’t look fazed. “I was served a Cease and Desist for a patent infringement,” she said.
The news worried Dylan on her behalf. He was also more than a little hurt she’d gone to Josh. “You could have called me. Or asked Liam about it.”
“He hasn’t contacted me yet.”
“Oh.” Dylan would deal with that later.
“And Josh was more or less here when I was served, so he got caught in the beam of my initial panic.”
That didn’t make the situation better in any way. “I’m sorry... Did I miss something? We ended last night with him telling you to pretend we don’t know each other—not the least romantic thing to tell someone after sex, but probably in the top ten—and today he just happened to be here when you were served.”
“I had the afternoon off, for the chiropractor.” Josh finally spoke. “I stopped by, after—”
“Nope.” Dylan snapped out the word. “I don’t want to hear it from you.” With Sydney, he didn’t have the same gnawing concern she’d feed him bullshit. Which was a disconcerting feeling. He’d never mistrusted Josh before now.
“He wasn’t here when I was served,” Sydney said. “He showed up a few minutes after. I swear to God, it was one of those coincidences. He said he was here to apologize. I didn’t want to hear it, but he saw me freaking out and offered to help. I might not trust him when it comes to keeping his commitments, but he grew up in that law firm, and if he says he’s got an answer, I believe it.”
Dylan didn’t miss the hurt that flashed across Josh’s face, and smugness surged inside. He could be the bigger guy here, but he wasn’t up for that. He gestured for Sydney to come closer. “You should sit. It’s been a long day.” This setup still didn’t sit well with him.
Sydney drew within arm’s reach, and Dylan tugged her to sit in his lap. Her warm weight pressed against him. This might have been a bad idea, with the way his body was reacting. He didn’t let his dick talk for him, though. Usually. “What was this about a C and D?”
“Patent troll is claiming Sydney stole their idea,” Josh said, before Sydney could reply. “I was showing her why it wasn’t a big deal.
So nothing was going on. That didn’t stop Dylan’s jealousy the way he wanted. “Why did you two break up?” It was a tangent, and it was a little manipulative. He wanted to remind them why they weren’t together.
He’d heard snippets about their split. It wrecked Josh. He’d never pried for details before, though.
Sydney leaned into him. “Josh should tell you.”
“You’re the one who did the breaking, though. Am I right?”
“I was the one who said we were done. I wouldn’t say I was responsible for all of the breaking. And after last night, I’m not sure he realizes even now why I walked away.” Her sneer was audible.
Dylan wrapped an arm around her waist. Whatever happened this afternoon, he probably didn’t need to worry about it. He still wanted answers.
“I did come over here to apologize.” Josh sounded defensive.
“For...” Sydney dragged the word out.
Josh sighed. “She broke up with me because there was a really big moment—”
Sydney cleared her throat
“—and it wasn’t the first one—that, due to a series of unfortunate events, I missed.”
“You missed them all. After about three months of dating, you never made a single important date.” Sydney’s aggravation was growing.
Dylan wrapped an arm around her waist, for comfort, as much as to be possessive. He was building a bigger picture about her past with Josh, and he didn’t have concerns about her intentions. Josh’s, though...
Dylan would hate to choose between a friend and a woman, and he’d regret if the choice was obvious and he’d never seen it coming.
“It wasn’t all.” Josh’s protest was weak.
Sydney clenched her fist. “It was all. My birthday. Your birthday. Our graduation party. Dinner with my boss at the time. Our anniversary. Every single one of them because something came up that Laurie Hunter needed help with, and it was so critical, it had to be Josh helping, and it couldn’t wait.”
“What was the final straw?” Dylan was morbidly curious. “Not that I’d blame you if it was waking up one morning and realizing he was an asshole.
Sydney focused her pointed glare on Josh.
He ducked his head. “We were supposed to go to dinner, and then ring shopping after.
Ring shopping? An invisible fist clenched around Dylan’s chest.
“We’d agreed not to call ourselves engaged until I was wearing the ring,” Sydney said. “Instead of picking one out, I sat in the restaurant alone for a fucking hour, nibbling on bread and drinking my weight in water. There was no call. No hint as to where Josh was. And no answer when I tried to get a hold of him.”
“I was taking notes in a last-minute critical deposition that ran over. I wasn’t comfortable interrupting.”
Dylan was still processing that Josh and Sydney had been essentially engaged. “You couldn’t say, give me two minutes to call my all-but fiancée and tell her why I’m late?”
“Or better, you couldn’t have told your lovely mother to get another fucking intern to take the notes?” Sydney leaned forward, anger dripping from her words.
“It was an critical client.” Josh’s protest was stronger than it should be.
Sydney stood, face twisted in anger. “They were all critical, weren’t they? Every time Laurie needs you to do something, it’s a critical thing that she only trusts you to handle. And it happened frequently enough that you missed every important date we had across more than a year. You bitch that she treats you worse than anyone else there, but apparently her fucking firm would collapse if you weren’t around to meet with every important client who walks through her doors. I guess that explains why you were pulled from my contract negotiation.”
Actually, it probably did, just not in the way she thought. Had Laurie Hunter worked to keep Josh and Sydney apart, for some reason?
“It’s my career.” Josh’s voice rose.
Sydney growled. “I was supposed to be your fucking wife.” She was shouting now. “And it’s not your career. You don’t even want to work there.”
She had a good point, but Dylan wasn’t going to interrupt. Sydney had this on her own. It was sexy-scary in the best way possible. It was easier to lean in that direction, than acknowledge that her rage may mean she still had feelings for Josh.
“I’m not going to half-ass a job just because it’s not my final stop,” Josh said.
Ouch. Wrong answer.
“No. You’re just going to half-ass a relationship with the woman you said you wanted to spend your life with.” Sydney’s face was red.
If Dylan didn’t step in now, would this come to blows? He was having trouble finding any sympathy for Josh at this moment.