by BWWM Club
He grabbed the crystal and brought it over to his bed. He didn’t bother getting a glass, what was the point? The glass wasn’t going to fill all the ounces he wanted to drink. The top popped off and Josh put the bottle to his mouth and took a swig. The whiskey burned, but it felt good, reminding him that he was alive. The warmth spread down his throat, fanned across his chest and sat in his stomach, burning like an ember. He took another swig.
And another.
And another.
Until there was nothing but an inch left and the furniture before his eyes. He set the decanter down on the floor, plopping his back down on the bed. For the first time in months, his body felt numb. Josh didn’t worry about the meeting next week to try and fix his Vice President's fuck up, he didn’t think about his mother or Garrett. He thought about Greece, Rome, and Spain. The three places he wanted to visit most in life.
A laugh bubbled in his throat. With all the money he had, he should be able to take any and all the trips he wanted, but he'd let the company run his life and now he was lost, sinking deeper and deeper into loneliness. Sure, he was almost fifty and he was rich. Young women threw themselves at him. He might be hopeless, but he wasn’t desperate. He knew better than to date someone that much younger than him. He worked too hard for his billions.
The room spun as the alcohol infiltrated his system. Every second that ticked by, the more his body fell into the mattress, sinking into the soft cloud. Darkness crept along his mind, shutting his brain down. Alcohol might not be the best way to handle things, but sometimes he needed something to put him on his ass.
Would a woman deal with this? Not his drinking; e didn’t have a drinking problem, he might drink twice a month. But would a woman deal with the stress that came with is life? She’d have to be crazy in love with him to deal with it.
But who would love someone that worked all the time? No one could because he wouldn’t be around enough for the person to fall in love with him. It was a never-ending circle. He knew something had to change and soon.
“Remember, you have to align your own stars, no one can do it for you, or you’ll remain in darkness.” One of the last things his father had said drifted through his mind before he closed his eyes. He didn’t understand it then, but he did now, because he lay in a dark room with dark moments hanging around him, and he wondered what the star would be.
Because right now, life was an empty fucking side of the sink, kicking his ass.
Chapter 3
Ginger
It hurt being far away from Kendrick, but she already felt relieved, like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. It had been a year since she'd moved to New Orleans and every day Ginger had been becoming the woman she used to be. Her boys were going to school and she lived right in the French quarter in a beautiful three-bedroom apartment. It had French doors that led out to a balcony that overlooked Bourbon Street.
Her sons thought she was crazy when they'd seen what it overlooked. They'd said no, but she loved it. She sat on porch every night reading a book, sipping wine, and listening to the roaring crowds of people having fun. It made her feel young again and, in her mind, there was nothing more beautiful than youth enjoying their life before they got too old and sat on their balconies drinking wine.
She couldn’t pass the apartment up. It had been her dream and now she was living it. She had never felt so happy. She'd let go of the past—some days were better than others, but anything was better than the amount of pain she'd felt before. Kendrick knew she loved him endlessly and that would never change.
Jamal and Heath were right. This had been perfect. They'd uprooted their lives for her, changed schools, lost a few credits that didn’t transfer, but they didn’t care. They'd just wanted her to be happy. She wasn’t sure what she'd done to deserve them, but she was thankful. Now she worked in a prestigious law office. She had decades of experience as a paralegal and the owner, Garrett Williams, had hired her on the spot when she'd come in for the interview.
Things were looking up.
“Hey, Ginger?”
She paused the dictation machine and removed the headphones from her ears. She smiled when she saw Garrett. He was looking a bit tired lately, and stressed, but it wasn’t her business to meddle. “Good Morning, Mr. Williams.”
“Good Morning, Ginger. How many times have I told you to call me Garrett?” He leaned against her desk. His blonde hair seemed to have more gray in it, showing his age.
“Plenty, but you know damn well, I won’t,” she said a bit cheekily. “How can I help you today, Mr. Williams? If it’s about the notice of motion, I almost have it done.”
His eyes bugged out before he started laughing. “I can always count on you to get something done in a record amount of time. No, no, it’s not that. I have a friend coming in to see me, and I was hoping if it wasn’t too much trouble, you’ll fix up the conference room with the usual? He loves coffee, so a nice big pot would be great.”
She rolled the chair from under the desk and stood, running her hands down her outfit. She wore a dark purple skirt with an orange blouse tucked in. The colors didn’t really go together, but she loved color and wanted to get back to wearing what made her feel happy. “Absolutely, Mr. Williams. Do you want anything from the café? Scones or donuts?”
“You’re the best, Ginger. I don’t know how I survived without you.”
“I don’t know, either,” said with a wink and grabbed her coat and purse. “Anything specific from the café?”
“You know what I like. He'll be here in…” he checked his watch. “An hour. Do you think you can be back before then?”
“Absolutely.”
“You really deserve more than this job, Ginger.” She heard him say, but she smiled, not thinking anything of it. She pushed the heavy wooden doors open with her hip and the sun shone in her eyes as she stepped outside. She breathed in the fresh air and took the sunglasses out of her purse. Once the rays were blocked, she checked her watch. She had time for a walk. It was a beautiful day, not too warm, and the breeze was just right, ghosting over her skin, making the temperature perfect. Her heels kissed the sidewalk as she walked down the street, bypassing old benches and wildflowers.
It was amazing how much she'd changed just by moving. She almost considered moving on, maybe going out on a date, or signing herself up for one of those dating websites. Every time she thought about it, her nerves got the best of her and she backed away from the idea, but she was tired of being alone. She wanted love. She'd been alone for the last twenty years and after her sons had made her move, her heart felt ready. It wasn’t about Kendrick anymore. It was about her.
And fear held onto her, tight. She hadn’t been on a date since she was nineteen. She didn’t know how to talk to a man or where to start in being sexual with him. Her cheeks heated when she thought about the last time she'd had sex.
The door to the café opened and she stood to the side, waiting for the person to come out. He did and wow…he was handsome. He held the door open for her. “After you.”
And a gentleman? That never happened. “Thank you,” she said in a coy voice. The stranger had thick dark hair. The sides were shaved and the top was long, but slicked back in a way that looked very stylish. He had hazel eyes that had a gold ring around the pupil as the sun hit them. He had salt peppered throughout his hair, showing that he was older, but not too old, probably in his forties. He had full lips and a five o’clock shadow and it made her wonder if he'd woken up too late to shave. He had high cheek bones and wore dark jeans and a light green T−shirt. The wind took that moment to pick up and his scent blew into her face.
He smelled clean, like he just got out of the shower, and pine invaded her body, sending her skin into a disarray of…desire? She wasn’t sure. It had been so long since she'd felt it. She stepped through the door, making the quick decision to glance up at the handsome man. Their eyes locked and her heart pounded against her chest. She opened her mouth t
o say something, but someone bumped her, knocking her out of the trance she was in. She turned away and walked towards the counter to order. She tapped her fingers on the old green linoleum and peaked over her shoulder, but the man was gone.
She exhaled, but not from relief. She should have said something, like hello, but her insecurities got the best of her again. He was the color of ivory and snow, so pale against her dark skin. He probably didn’t like that, she knew a lot of men didn’t, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate the beauty of all skin tones, and Ginger really appreciated his.
“Hi, how can I help you?” A cheery woman greeted with a smile. She had on a dark green hat that said ‘the café’ on it, in all lower case.
Ginger smiled. “Hi. I’d like a box of your Colombian roast coffee and twelve donuts. Six chocolate glaze, four scones, and two chocolate donuts. I’d like plenty of hazelnut creamer as well.”
She handed over the company card and ten minutes later she was out the door carrying coffee and donuts. Her eyes searched for the man that had held the door open not fifteen minutes ago, but he was gone and for some reason she felt a significant loss, like she'd missed out on an amazing opportunity. If nothing else, she could have met a new friend.
New Orleans was everything she dreamed it would be and she wanted to make the best of it, starting with meeting people and making friends. She really wanted to give this place the best effort she could after being stuck in the past for so long. Seeing the stranger wasn’t going to come around anytime soon, she started walking back to the office. A few minutes later, she was there, but she couldn’t balance the box of donuts and the box of coffee.
She tried to lift her knee to hold the coffee, but her skirt wouldn’t allow it and the donuts almost tumbled out of her hand. She yelped, staying completely still to try and gain her wits about her. Right as she took a deep breath, the door opened, and her lungs stopped working.
Handsome stranger.
“I know you,” he said, holding the door open for her again, taking the box of coffee out of her hand.
“Hi. Gosh, thank you again. Seems you’re always opening doors for me.”
“A lady deserves the door opened for her.”
He wouldn’t be able to tell because of how dark her skin was, but blood rushed to her cheeks as she made her way inside, brushing against his arm on accident. She heard him inhale and the hairs on her arms stood from the electricity that passed between them.
“Ginger! You’re back,” Mr. Williams said with a smile as he buttoned his suit.
“Am I late? I’m so sorry. It didn’t think I took that long…”
“No, Josh here is just early.”
Oh, man. The man she'd seen at the café was her boss's friend? That made him off limits for sure. Ginger turned on her heels, strode toward the conference room and set the donuts on the table. Josh came in behind her, setting the coffee down next.
“You are—”
But Josh was interrupted when Garret came through the doors. “How rude of me. Josh, this is my favorite paralegal—the one I was telling you about—Ginger. Ginger, this is my good friend Josh.”
“Ah, the favorite paralegal. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
She pushed a piece of her hair behind her ear. “Good things, I hope.”
“All good things.” He reached his hand out, taking her hand in a soft, yet firm, hold. His thumb rubbed the skin between her thumb and index finger. “Josh Hart.”
“Ginger Lanton.” She introduced herself. She hadn’t changed her name back to her maiden name because her sons had their father’s name and she wanted to feel connected to them.
“Josh is the owner and CEO of Hartline industries,” Mr. Williams stated with pride.
Her world tilted. There was no way. This couldn’t be happening. “Hartline?” she whispered, fighting back tears. Her chest started to heave, she couldn’t hold her panic. It was impossible. Hartline industries was based back in Georgia. Kendrick’s death came running back into her mind, a memory that was never suppressed, but pushed aside so she could start her life over. She shook her head.
She hated Hartline Industries. She was supposed to have received a settlement from them for her husband’s death, but they'd never taken responsibility. The company hadn't replaced the recalled cords that had been responsible for keeping workers safe. Her eyes narrowed as a tear fell. She was standing right in front of the devil himself, and she had no idea what to say. Ginger had waited for years—decades—for this moment. She'd practiced what she would say over and over again, but nothing was coming to mind. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the man that had captured her attention for the first time in twenty years. Of course it would be someone who she shouldn’t find attractive.
“Ginger? Are you okay?” His hazel eyes softened as his hand touched her elbow. He seemed concerned. That was cute; since when did Hartline ever care about people?
“Don’t touch me,” she whispered, yanking her arm away. The limb fell at her side, but it missed his touch, something she really didn’t like. She never disliked her body more than she did right now.
“Ginger, what's going on with you? This isn’t like you,” Mr. Williams scolded.
She stared at her boss with new-found eyes. “I can’t believe you would be friends with this man, Mr. Williams. His entire company is a fraud. They don’t care about people.”
“What are you talking about? Josh is one of the most caring people I know. Apologize to him.”
Josh held out his hand to stop Garrett from speaking any further. “It’s fine, Garrett. People are allowed to feel what they feel. I don’t understand why you feel like that, but I can’t make it better if you don’t talk to me. I don’t know what I did.”
“Of course you don’t. You probably don’t ever remember anything you were supposed to do.”
“I’m not following, Ginger. I’ve only been CEO for two years, since my dad died,” he explained, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
A bit of relief flowed through her body and relaxed her mind and heart. The pain didn’t hurt as bad and she knew that she was overreacting. She shouldn’t be so unprofessional, but she couldn’t help it. She had no idea that she would hear that company’s name ever again. It had been dead and buried along with her husband. Hartline had written her and her sons off so quick that it seemed like Kendrick had never worked there at all. “Like father like son, then?” she snarled.
“Ginger, if you can’t compose yourself I’m going to have to ask you leave for the day.”
“No, Garrett, that’s unnecessary. Ginger, please sit. Tell me what’s going.” Josh sat, crossing his foot over his knee. He looked so professional and so composed and that only pissed her off further with his perfect hair and perfect smile and perfect freaking everything.
She hated it.
She loved it.
She hated it more.
She pointed her finger at him. “Your company had twenty years. Twenty years to talk to me. You had me suffer. Why should I tell you anything and give you more of my time when you obviously don’t care? You took twenty years of my life. I don’t want to give you any more.” She clutched her hand to her chest, trying to get her raging heart under control. Everything hurt so bad. It was like Kendrick was dying all over again.
“Twenty years? What is she talking about, Josh?”
“I don’t know. My dad was in charge of the company then. I have no idea.”
“You killed him!” she screeched at the top of her lungs, bolting out the door. She grabbed her purse and coat, running out the door until she reached her car. She unlocked it and slid inside. She wailed, letting the pain and agony out. Ginger lay her head on the steering wheel, sobbing. She missed Kendrick—yes, of course she did—but it wasn’t the same heartbreak she'd felt a year ago.
This was anger and unresolved pain. These were feelings she'd pushed aside when the lawyers had dropped the case and said they had n
o legal ground to act. She'd never understood the business world; how it could be so unkind and unforgiving to people, to the people that were loyal and dedicated to them. She wanted to bring justice to Kendrick’s death, but that had been brushed under the rug along with everything else.
Now…now the man that caught her eye, that made her heart skip a beat, and made her want to feel again, owned the company that killed her husband. How does someone get over that?
It was simple. She couldn’t. Ginger didn’t think she could work for Garrett anymore. She really loved her job and liked Garrett, but what was the old saying? Birds of a feather flock together? Wouldn’t that mean he was just as bad as Josh was?
Tap. Tap. Tap.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when someone knocked against the window. She wiped her tears, trying to compose herself. Her finger pressed the button of the window when she saw it was Mr. Williams,probably there to fire her.
“Mr. Williams.” Her tears filled her voice with emotion.
“Ginger.” His eyes were soft, not angry or mad.
“If you want to fire me, I understand,” she said with a nod, balling up some tissues before dabbing them under her eyes. Her makeup was ruined.
He bent down, shaking his head. “I want you to come inside and sit with me in the meeting I have with Josh. His father was a real piece of work, but Josh isn’t. I want to show you the kind of man he is.”
“I don’t know if I can. It’s been a long twenty years, Mr. Williams.”
He opened the car door and took her hand, helping her stand. “I don’t know what happened, but maybe whatever you're about to see will let you be comfortable enough to tell him what’s going on.”
“I’m really not a crazy person. Hartline really affected my family, Mr. Williams. I never thought I’d have to face it again.”