A Billionaire BWWM Romance 5: The Other Man (4 page)

“
Evan?
Evan Lockwood…my ex,” she snapped. Meg’s jaw
almost dropped.

“
This
just got interesting,” she winked. Julie slapped her arm.
“Ow…I’m just saying that things might turn around
for you.”

“
Turn
around? Like what? I might decide not to marry Steven and run to my
ex? The same man who played me like a fiddle?” Julie argued.
Meg shook her head.

“
Remember
how I’m always saying that your life could use a little more
color?”

“
I
think my life has plenty of color thank you very much,” Julie
protested, rolling her eyes. “What could he possibly want
here?”

“
Well,
you are a real estate agent. Maybe he’s out looking for some
good deals in the market,” Meg reasoned. By this time, Evan was
slowly walking towards them. “Listen, have some cake. And
obviously he’s coming here. Play it cool. He probably just
wants a house,” she added before walking away. When she walked
past Evan, she turned around and smiled at Julie who was now just
standing like a zombie holding some punch in one hand and cake in the
other.

“
I
hear congratulations are in order,” he offered when he got to
where Julie was.

“
Evan,”
she replied.

“
Julie,”
he grinned as he looked down at her.

“
What
are you doing here?” she asked as she looked at him.

“
A
hello would be good…at least appreciated,” Julie forced
a smile and nodded.

“
Hi
Evan. What are you doing here and in my place of work no less?”
she asked sarcastically Evan looked around briefly.

“
Can
we talk in private?” he asked. She rolled her eyes and then
shrugged.

“
Fine.
We can talk in my office,” she snapped as she led him through
the crowd and to the more quiet office area behind. They were quiet
as they walked into her office. “So, what is the big idea,
Evan? How come you decided to crash my engagement party?” she
asked as she sat down in her chair. Evan sat across from her and
looked at her.

“
I
don’t know how to tell you this, so I’m just going to say
it,” he started.

“
I
would rather if you just did actually,” she demanded as she
looked at him. She was tracing her index finger in the rim of her
glass. She watched as he reached for his back pocket and pulled out
his wallet. He opened it and pointed to a picture of a baby.

“
That’s
Ruby, my daughter. She’s eighteen months and that,” he
explained as he pointed to a photo on the right. “That’s
my girlfriend Sonya.” Julie looked up at him and shrugged.

“
Okay,
why are you showing me this?”

“
Well,
three months ago I asked her to marry me and as it turns out I can’t
get a marriage license because I’m still married,” he
told her. Julie raised an eyebrow.

“
Okay,
I’m not trying to be rude or anything. I’m just trying to
find out where I come into play in all this,” she said.

“
Well,
as it turns out Julie, I am still married to you,” he answered.
Julie looked at him surprised and lost for words. She looked at him
and shook her head.

“
I’m
sorry…what?” she asked as she looked at him.

“
We
are still married, Julie,” Evan repeated. She shook her head
and then looked at him again.

“
What?”
she cried, this time even louder. She was in a dream, a really bad
dream and she had to wake up. This was not happening. She looked at
him and then buried her face in her hands.

“
Julie,”
Evan said in a low voice. She looked up at him and put her hands up.

“
When
did we get married?”

“
Well,
I am not sure myself, but there was this one time we went to
Vegas…remember?” he asked. Julie shook her head and
groaned.

“
Come
on, we couldn’t have been that drunk,” she protested. He
looked at her and frowned before he nodded. “No, no, no! This
is not happening,” she cried.

“
There’s
more,” he sighed looking at her.

“
You’re
killing me here, Lockwood,” she said as she ran her fingers
through her hair. “So, what is it? What could be more than the
fact that I am married to my ex?”

“
I
wanted to get an annulment, but as it turns out, there are so many
logistics involved,.” She shook her head and buried her face in
her hands again.

“
This
is so not happening right now. Why to me?” she mumbled.

“
I
have hired a lawyer, he is the best at what he does,” Evan
said. She looked at him and shrugged. “Here’s his card,
but I’ll leave my number too, just in case…you know, if
you need to talk to me about anything,” he offered as he put
two business cards on the table. She looked at him and shrugged.

“
Fine,”
she whispered. Evan looked at her for a long minute before he stood
up to leave.

“
I’m
really sorry to drop this on you especially today,” he
apologized. Julie just shook her head as Evan walked towards the
door.

“
Hey
Evan,” she said in a low voice. Evan stopped in his tracks and
turned around to look at her.

“
Yeah?”
he asked as he looked at her.

“
How
long…how long have we been…married?” she
stuttered, trying hard to force the last word out of her mouth.

“
Seven
years,” he said. Julie shook her head and banged her forehead
against her desk several times before Evan stopped her. “Don’t
be so hard on yourself. I am in the same boat and knowing me, I
probably suggested the whole thing,” he added. Julie looked at
him and smiled.

“
Stop
trying to make me feel better,” she said without looking up.

“
Trust
me, we’ll pull through, but right now I suggest you have a long
talk with your fiancé. It’s best he hears this from
you,” he said before he walked out. She shook her head and ran
her fingers through her hair again. She looked at the cake and
gobbled it up before she downed the punch.

“
Doesn’t
quite hit the spot like a good vodka or tequila, but right now, this
will do,”
she
thought as she leaned her head against the chair’s head rest.
Slowly, her trip with Evan to Vegas was starting to come back to her…

“
Come
on babe, it’s just alcohol,” Evan said as she looked at
Julie whose eyes were wide.

“
Well,
it’s on fire,” she said, pointing to the shot glass.

“
That’s
because it makes it more fun. Come on…drink, drink, drink,”
Evan began chanting as their friends urged her on.

“
Wait
the glass is hot by now,” Julie complained.

“
Fine,”
Evan said before he blew out the flame and lit another shot glass
“Come on, you have to take it now,” he demanded as he
handed her the glass. Julie smiled and then closed her eyes before
she flashed down the contents of the shot glass.

“
Oh
my God!” she screamed as she felt the warm sensation burning
its way down her throat. She looked at him and smiled. “That
hits the spot,” she giggled excitedly. The group laughed. They
had traveled with Barb and Ken, their closest friends from college.
Julie looked at Evan and smiled. “This trip was a great idea,”
she said. Evan smiled and took a long sip of his beer.

“
Best
road trip ever!” he and Ken toasted in unison before they
clinked their bottles together. They did it so hard that Julie was
actually scared that the bottles might break.

“
So,
what’s next?” Barb asked, looking at the three.

“
I
don’t know really? None of us can drive…how about we
just turn in?” Julie suggested.

“
Hell
no! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Evan replied..

“
Fine
but where do we go? I’m not in the best state of mind to be
thinking of anything,” Julie said. “Honestly I don’t
even think I can,” she added.

“
I
got a crazy idea,” Barb volunteered.

“
Okay,”
Ken said as he draped an arm around her shoulders. “What is
it?”

“
Let’s
go check out the crazy wedding chapels. Maybe we can find one with
Elvis presiding and take a few photos,” she said. The four
looked at each other and shrugged.

“
Why
the hell not? And it’s only a few blocks away. We don’t
have to drive,” Ken agreed looking at Julie.

“
He’s
got a point there, babe,” Evan admitted looking at Julie.

“
Fine,
you guys win. Let’s do it,” Julie said. “But we
can’t post anything on Facebook. My dad is on there. I’d
hate for him to see me drunk,” she told them as they got out of
the bar.

That
was the last thing Julie remembered. The only other thing that came
to her mind was waking up in the hotel room with Evan. Ken and Barb
were on the floor…passed out or that is where they decided to
have their escapade and Julie and Evan might have been too drunk to
hear them. She didn’t really care. All that mattered was the
fact that she had completely lost four hours of her life and she
couldn’t account for them. The only thing that was sure was
that in the four hours she couldn’t recall, she and Evan made
vows to each other…

“
I’m
so fucked,”
Julie
thought as she looked at the two business cards on her desk. She took
a long, deep breath just as Meg walked into her office.

“
Hey,
you’re missing out on your own party,” Meg said smiling
at her. Julie looked up and gave her a tired smile. “What’s
going on?” she asked. She knew that look all too well. Julie
shrugged. “Come on, I know there is something bothering you.
Out with it,” Meg pressed.

“
Apparently
Evan and I are married,” Julie confided as she leaned back in
her seat. Meg’s eyes grew wide.

“
What?”
Meg asked surprised. Julie nodded.

“
Oh
yeah. Trust me I was more surprised than you are at this moment,”
she said.

“
What
the hell are you talking about?” Meg asked. Julie shrugged and
shook her head.

“
I
just found out that I have been living the last seven years of my
life as Mrs. Lockwood,” she explained.

“
Seven
years?!” Meg asked Julie could tell that the surprise was
growing. “How the hell did this happen?”

“
Vegas.
One too many shots and a wedding chapel. Maybe some guy dressed up as
Elvis Presley married us for all I know. The important thing is I
have to take care of this ASAP,” she groaned. “And to
think I didn’t even have any idea,” she added shaking her
head.

“
Are
you saying that you didn’t even have a dream about it? Because
I heard people dream about stuff like that, you know, because of your
subconscious or something of the sort,” Meg said. Julie laughed
and shook her head.

“
Nothing,”
she answered. “I would have probably taken care of it a long
time ago if I knew…damn it, this sucks. I have to tell
Steven,” she added as she rested her chin on her desk. She
looked like a sad dog whose owner had just left her. Meg looked at
her and gave her a sad smile,

“
I
think this is the best thing for him and you. For both of you,”
she said. Julie sat up and then rest her chin on her hand.

“
I
know. I just don’t know how he’ll take it,” she
confessed.

“
Come
on. Steven is a sensible person. He’s probably the most
sensible person I have ever met,” Meg reassured her. “There
is no reason why he wouldn’t understand this,” she added.
Julie’s eyes were suddenly full of hope.

“
You
think so?” she asked.

“
Well,
yes. But then again, I am your best friend. It is my job to always
tell you what you want to hear,” Meg said with a smile. Julie
wanted to throw something at her. But everything on her desk was a
potential homicidal weapon. “You have crazy eyes right now
Juelz,” she teased.

“
That’s
because I want to kill you right now,” Julie joked. Meg smiled.

“
I’m
just trying to lighten the mood,” she said.

“
You
are failing miserably at that,” Julie grumbled. “You
should never
ever
be
a motivational speaker. Stick to your day job,” she added. Meg
laughed and pushed her cake slice to Julie. “Now you are trying
to make me pissed off and fat, aren’t you?”