Total pages in book: 16
Estimated words: 15318 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 77(@200wpm)___ 61(@250wpm)___ 51(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 15318 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 77(@200wpm)___ 61(@250wpm)___ 51(@300wpm)
Peter’s breath caught in his throat as the realization crashed into him with the brutal force of a hurricane. It should have been frightening, and it was. And it wasn’t. It was a relief too. All the uncertainty of the past few days was gone, turning into a clear goal. He knew what he wanted.
And Peter Hayes always got what he wanted, damn it.
“There has to be another solution,” Peter said, his mind racing as he considered and discarded possibilities. “We’re fixers. We are the best at fixing our clients’ problems. We can fix this one.”
A wrinkle appeared between Justin’s brows. “I don’t know how you would fix something like that.” He looked at Peter with... what was that soft feeling in his eyes? “But if there’s anyone who can find a solution, it’s you.”
The expression on Justin’s face—the faith—made him feel powerful and powerless at the same time. Peter wanted—needed—to prove him right. To fix this impossible situation. Find a loophole that would allow them to be together without it ruining their careers.
A loophole.
Peter straightened up, his heart starting to beat faster.
“Workplace relationships aren’t always frowned upon,” he said. “There are exceptions.”
“Yes, married couples.” Justin flushed. “Which we most definitely aren’t.”
Shaking the sudden image of Justin with Peter’s ring on his finger from his mind, Peter cleared his throat. “You’re forgetting something. There’s also a soulmate bond.”
“What?” Justin said, blinking.
“We can claim that we’ve discovered that we’re soulmates thanks to the spell. That way it isn’t our fault—and it will make it clear that it’s a new development, so no one will think that you sucked my cock to get promoted to my personal associate.”
A tick or two of silence ensued. Justin’s expression was somewhere between astonished, horrified, and amused. “You want us to pretend that we’re soulmates?” he said, chuckling. “Are you out of your mind? You can’t fake something like that!”
“Why not? People don’t have to verify and register a soulmate bond. As long as we claim that we are, no one will doubt it. That way, our professional reputations will be mostly unharmed—and we can carry on.”
“Carry on fucking.”
Peter nodded.
Justin gave him a pinched look. “You’re unbelievable. You don’t feel uneasy about lying about something so monumental? What if—what if you meet your real soulmate?”
Peter scoffed. “You know I don’t believe that bullshit. Besides, I practically know where my ‘soulmate’ is, and I have no intention of meeting them.”
“You—you have a soulmate?” Justin blinked a few times, looking... Peter was excellent at reading people, but right now he couldn’t possibly be right. Surely Justin wasn’t crushed. But he looked crushed.
“You didn’t say anything,” Justin said faintly. “You acted normal since the spell was cast.”
“Well,” Peter said. “I started feeling the anxiety only last weekend.”
Justin narrowed his eyes. “That’s why you had me research how many people work in this building.”
Peter brushed his hand against Justin’s cheek, unable to resist the impulse to touch him. He wanted to touch him even when he wasn’t fucking him.
“Smart boy,” he said, in a tone aiming for sardonic and landing much nearer fond.
A deep wrinkle appeared between Justin’s brows. “And you stopped feeling antsy on Monday? What about at night? Surely—” He cut himself off. “Peter,” he breathed out, looking at Peter with wide, bright eyes. “I felt this terrible pull all weekend and stopped feeling antsy on Monday too.”
They stared at each other.
“That would be ridiculous,” Peter said roughly. But now that he thought about it, the antsy feeling had disappeared shortly before Justin’s arrival at the office. “It’s likely a coincidence.”
“If it’s a coincidence, that would be a hell of a one,” Justin said. His lips parted, something like uncertainty flashing in his eyes. “You said you knew how to find your soulmate?”
“Yes. I have a list of people who could be my soulmate. It’s somewhere on my phone.”
“Let’s look at it, then.”
Peter studied him. “Why? It doesn’t matter to me.”
Justin dropped his gaze. “We should look at the list. Maybe there are—maybe there are people more suitable for you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Peter said with a scoff.
Justin blinked slowly at him before a small, fragile smile curled his lips. “So it wouldn’t be so terrible if I was your soulmate?”
Peter hesitated. That felt like a trick question. If he said that it would be terrible, he would hurt Justin—and the mere idea was intolerable—but saying no felt... too risky. He would make himself vulnerable, and he’d never liked that. He hadn’t gotten to the top by allowing himself to be vulnerable.
But this was Justin.
Over the past two years they’d worked together, Justin had seen him at his worst. He’d seen Peter angry and snappish, he’d seen him stressed and exhausted to the bone as they worked on difficult cases. He’d seen him drunk on an occasion or two, drowning in guilt after winning cases for corporations against good people who needed the win more. (People said he didn’t have a conscience. If only it were true.)