Winston Brothers Box Set

by Lewis, Stacey

  Running my fingers through my hair in frustration, I lower my eyes to the floor and attempt to explain. “I might have cornered her in my office and tried to initiate sex when she first started…” I trail off, because hearing myself say the words makes me cringe, and Fallon’s gasp makes me feel about twenty times worse. I would punch myself in the dick for being such a douchebag, but I’m a little partial to that particular part of my body.

  “You’re an asshole. No wonder she looked like she wanted to vomit.” The hint of amusement in her voice makes me look up from the floor and up at her.

  “It was a mistake, and one I’ve already apologized for, though it sure doesn’t seem like she forgives me.” I don’t want Fallon to know how much Ava affects me, but I also know there’s no point in lying to her. Even if I don’t tell her, she’ll get it out of me. She has this way about her that makes keeping secrets impossible.

  “Okay, so you apologized, everything was good, and now this morning when you tried to talk to her she was different?”

  I nod my head yes, wishing I could take back all the shitty words I had said to her. If Dad was still here, he’d be disappointed as fuck in me.

  “Yeah, and I’m pretty sure she’s, but she refuses to go home.” I yank my hair again. “There’s this strange pang in my chest.” I press my hand against the aching spot, but don’t tell Fallon it’s the same pang I felt when I woke up, realizing the mystery woman from bar left me alone in my bed. God knows that would be a whole ‘nother story.

  “Pang like you feel something deeper for her? Or just a pang like you feel like a total jackass for acting the way you did?”

  I shrug, unable to tell her which one it is. I’m not ready to admit to myself or anyone else that I’m interested in Ava. “I feel bad for what I did, okay?” I straighten, adjusting my tie and forcing myself to loosen up a bit. “It’s not like I meant to hurt her.” At least, I don’t think I did. “I’m a little off right now, between you and my brother having a baby and Dad dying. It’s just a lot to take in.”

  Fallon crosses the room to stand almost toe-to-toe with me. She has a slight waddle to her walk now that makes me smile, and I gaze down at her, knowing how lucky my brothers and I are to have her in our lives.

  “Let me talk to her.” I start to protest, but she cuts me off. “Girl talk. She’s probably more likely to talk to someone who isn’t her boss that tried to solicit her for sex.”

  What she’s saying makes sense, but I want to be the one she confides in, even though I don’t understand why it’s so important to me. I don’t want to, but reluctantly I nod my head in agreement. “Okay. I’ll let you try talking to her, but you have to tell me what she says.” Narrowing my eyes playfully, I point my finger at her to show that while I’m teasing, I’m also completely serious. I want to know everything Ava says to Fallon.

  “Oh, you’ll let me, huh?” Fallon rolls her eyes, but the smile on her face shows she’s amused, but when her eyes meet mine, her expression turns serious. “I’ll tell you what I can, but if she confides in me, about anything, I won’t break her trust. If you ask me to, I’ll sic your brothers on you.”

  I hold my hands up in surrender, because if she complains to Reed about anything, he’ll kick my ass all over the building, and I’d rather not have that happen. God knows the man is already on me about everything else. “Fine.”

  We leave my office just as the bathroom door down the hall opens, and my head turns so fast I feel a sharp pain in my neck. But, it’s not Ava’s beautiful eyes that meet mine. No, it’s Andi’s dark ones instead. My shoulders sag in disappointment. Fallon’s hand cups my cheek, and when I turn back to face her, she’s giving me a warm look that’s full of affection. “I’ll go check on her.” She glares over at Andi, who’s giving us both a smug look. “If Andi was in there, Ava’s definitely going to need a friend.”

  Fallon walks away, passing Andi on her way to the bathroom. I hear her mutter, “Bitch,” under her breath as she does, and I snicker at the pissy expression on Andi’s face. No one here likes her, but since she hasn’t done anything to get herself fired, my hands are tied. It’s a damn shame and unfortunately, you can’t fire someone just for being the office gossip queen and a bitch.

  As Fallon walks into the bathroom, I’m left standing there hoping like hell there is some type of redemption for me. After letting the mystery woman walk out on me, I can’t let Ava do the same. Even if I’m basing my reaction to her on this strange feeling her presence and smile gives me. I can’t give her up. I can’t give this feeling up.

  I have to have her, even if it’s not in the way I want to.

  She makes me feel alive.

  She makes me feel, period.

  Chapter Eleven

  Ava

  I should be happy Ryker and his brothers are at some meeting offsite that I don’t have to attend, but I miss having him around, even when he’s being a complete jerk. The work he left for me to do isn’t doing anything to take my mind off everything going through it either.

  “Hey,” a soft voice says, and I jump in my chair, not realizing anyone was standing beside me. I was too lost in thoughts about Ryker and the fact that I might be pregnant. My period still hasn’t come, and the more days that pass, the more worried I become that it’s more than just stress causing me to be late. I wish I could remember just what happened that night with Ryker so I could put my mind at ease, but if I haven’t remembered yet, I doubt I’m ever going to.

  “Ava?” I look up, startled for a second time, to see Fallon standing next to my desk with a concerned look on her face. “Are you okay?”

  I try to smile up at her in reassurance, but I think it comes off more like a grimace instead. “Yeah, sorry. Just daydreaming, I guess.” Crap. It’s probably not smart to tell the CEO’s fiancée you’re staring off into space instead of working. “I mean--”

  Fallon waves off any excuse I try to make with a laugh. “Don’t sweat it. I completely understand. All the numbers and statistics make me want to think about anything else too.”

  My shoulders drop a little in relief. I’m so glad my mouth didn’t get me in trouble. Lord knows, I get into enough as it is.

  Before I can say anything else, Fallon tells me why she’s here. I don’t usually see her, well, if you don’t count my barf fest the other morning. She stays on the floor Reed’s office is on, which is the floor above this one, and unless there’s a meeting I need to be a part of, I don’t venture up there.

  “Are you hungry?” She’s looking down at me hopefully, and the thought of telling her no makes me feel bad. Fallon is just so friendly.

  Feeling bad doesn’t stop me; I still try. “Um, I don’t think so. I brought my lunch today.” I hope that will be the end of it, because I’m so lonely I don’t know if I turn her down a second time. Marie is avoiding me at the moment; she has been since our talk a few nights ago. Gabby’s brother is in town and she’s been spending time with him, so she’s been scarce too. Having someone to talk to is tempting.

  Fallon clasps her hands against her chest and bounces a little on her heels. “Please?” she begs. “Reed and Ryker are at that meeting, and I hate eating alone.” Looking down at her stomach, she frowns when she meets my eyes again. “People like to judge me for what I put in my mouth, I think. Either that, or they’re staring at my finger and noticing I only have this engagement ring. Judgy jerks.” She pouts a little, and I can’t help but laugh.

  “Okay, I’ll go.” I give in easier than I expected myself to, and that surprises me.

  My agreement makes her happy, and she grins down at me, her whole face lighting up with pure joy. “Yay!” she exclaims, grabbing my hand with hers and practically dragging me out of my chair. “I know the perfect place.”

  * * *

  We walk into a small diner not far from work, and it’s clear Fallon has been here a lot. The minute she walks through the door, at least five people shout hello to her and she reciprocates, knowing each one by name. I s
mile as they eye me curiously.

  She leads me to an empty table toward the back and takes the seat across from me. “This place has the best cheese fries.” Excitement twinkles in her eyes, and a second later her stomach growls loudly, causing a pink blush to creep up her cheeks.

  She laughs softly. “Sorry, he is definitely hungry today.” Her hands rub at her swollen belly, and I can’t help but smile as she does it. I haven’t forgotten there might be a chance I too could be pregnant.

  The waitress comes over to take our orders, and after perusing the menu, I decide to get the same thing Fallon does: a bacon cheeseburger and cheese fries. It’s not like I need the extra calories, but it’s the only thing on the menu that doesn’t make me feel like barfing when I thought about eating it.

  As soon as the waitress comes back with our drinks, the questions start.

  “So, Ava.” Fallon’s studying me closely. “What made you apply at Winston Industries?”

  Suddenly, I’m wishing I’d turned down her lunch offer. Her first question might be pretty easy, but what’s she going to ask next? I’m a crappy liar, and she’s so nice and sweet, I’m not sure I could lie to her, even if I wanted to.

  Knowing I have to say something, I answer truthfully. “I really liked the fact that it was a family-run company. There are so many big corporations out there, and working for someplace family-owned seems like a good idea. You’re much less likely to get lost in the shuffle.”

  “Good answer!” She’s beaming at me again, and I can’t help but smile back at her.

  Wanting to make this not so all about me, I turn the question around and ask her, “What about you? What made you start at Winston Industries?”

  The look on her face turns dreamy, and I know before she answers that it has something to do with Reed. “Reed basically created my job for me. My parents died when I was younger, and unlike the Winstons, we didn’t have a lot of money. In fact, my dad worked for their dad, Clark, and while they did have life insurance, it wasn’t enough to pay for college. I got loans to help, but I was still going to have to work. One night, I was telling Reed about the places I’d applied and how skeevy some of the managers were, and two days later he was telling me he had a job for me.” She smiles just thinking about it, and continues. “I know the only reason Clark agreed to the job was because they wanted to take care of me and knew I’d never agree to them just paying for school. Clark would’ve done that in a heartbeat though. Honestly, I’m still a little shocked he didn’t just do it and ask forgiveness afterward.”

  I watch as her hand goes to her belly and she looks down at it like she doesn’t quite believe it’s there, then her eyes meet mine again, and I can see the tears filling them. She blinks quickly to keep them from falling, but one still does. Fallon wipes it away with one knuckle, then continues on.

  “I’ve loved Reed since the moment we met, even though I didn’t really know what love was then. Not romantic love anyway. We’ve always been close, but so scared to take that chance. Then, Clark got sick, and wanting to see us together, he came up with this plan where Reed would have to have a baby if he wanted to run the company. The last thing I wanted was for him to lose the company his great-grandfather started, so I volunteered to be the one who gave him that baby, even though I was sure my heart would be broken.” She shrugs, sniffling just a little as she remembers how their story began. “It worked out better than anything I could have ever imagined. Now, I have Reed, and he loves me. We’re having a baby, and we’re going to get married.” More tears fall, and her voice is barely a whisper when she finishes, “I just wish Clark was here to see everything he worked so hard to make happen.”

  My mouth is wide open and I can do nothing but stare at her in shock. Holy shit! That’s a crazy story. I’m not even sure I believe it’s true, but it has to be, right? Reed and Ryker’s dad sounds like he was insane, but it also leaves me envious, because I don’t know many times I wished I had a dad that cared as much as his obviously did.

  “I can’t … I don’t … Wow. I don’t know what to say to that.” I’m flabbergasted, completely shocked. Through it all, they got their happily ever after? How?

  Fallon laughs, her smile growing wider as she doubles over while holding her belly, and the waitress chooses that moment to bring our food. The smell of the burger and cheesy fries makes my mouth water. I didn’t think I was that hungry when we came in, but man, now I’m starving. We both dig right in, eating in silence—well, almost silence, minus the sounds of slurping and food being swallowed.

  After devouring more than half her burger and a good portion of the fries, Fallon finally wipes her mouth with a napkin and stares me down. “So.” She looks like she’s trying to figure out what to say, so I give her time. I feel giddy as I wait to discover what it is that she’s going to ask me. After a few seconds she continues, “Now that you know all about me and my nutty life. tell me about yours.”

  She says it like it’s a demand, but I can tell she really is just curious, and after all, she did just tell me her entire life. So before I know it, I’m spilling everything about myself—not including that night with Ryker or the consequences it might have brought on. I can’t share those deets yet, but everything else, well, it’s fair game.

  “Well, I live here in Chicago with my two best friends. Gabby and I have been friends for pretty much forever. We met in kindergarten and she was determined we would be BFFs, so we are. Then, when we went to college, we met Marie. She was my roommate freshman year, and she just fit in so seamlessly with the two of us.”

  Fallon’s nodding like she understands completely. “I didn’t have a lot of friends growing up, not girls at least. I was always worried Reed would fall in love with one of them and my heart would be broken.” She smiles. “I do have this one friend though, Mel. Her antics make my life look sane and calm.” I bug my eyes out at her and she laughs, holding up one hand. “I know! Trust me. Some of the things she’s told me have to be fake, but even if they are, they’re beyond entertaining. I met her and Reed the same year, and it’s been the two of them for me ever since. I can’t even imagine my life without them.”

  “That’s how I feel about Gabby and Marie.” My voice trails off as I think about the distance between Marie and me right now, and of course, Fallon picks up on it.

  “Everything okay?”

  I shrug. “I’m not sure. Like I said, Marie fit seamlessly into my friendship with Gabby. We were the female Three Musketeers, but lately, something has been off.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Fallon sounds genuinely interested, so I explain. “Ever since I started at Winston Industries, she’s been weird. Like…” I stop to think about how I want to explain it, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. “She keeps warning me about Ryker and his brothers, telling me I need to be careful and that they aren’t what they seem. I dunno, it’s like she’s terrified of them, and I don’t know why.”

  A shadow crosses her face, and I regret saying what I did. Now she’s probably going to run to Reed and tell him about my crazy friend and how she knows something about them she shouldn’t. Fallon must read my express well because before I get the chance to say another word, she’s covering my hand with hers and squeezes gently.

  “Hey. Don’t worry. I’m sure it’s nothing. Maybe she went out with one of them? They used to be pretty big manwhores. Well, Reed did anyway. Ryker and Remy I’m not sure about. They’re not as brazen about their conquests as Reed was.”

  I nod, trying to relax and possibly change the subject.

  “You said your parents died when you were young?”

  Oh. My. God. Immediately, I want to take back the question because why the hell did I just ask that? She’s not going to want to talk about that. Talk about a mood killer. I want to slap myself for being such a shit co-worker.

  She shrugs. “Yeah, it’s been a long time now. I don’t really talk about it much, other than with Reed, but they were in a car accident. I was out with
Reed when it happened, and when we came home, his parents were waiting to tell us. I’m not going to lie, it was hard, especially when Reed’s mom passed away a year and a half later. Poor Clark didn’t know what to do with the four of us, but he managed.”

  “I’m glad you all had him.” My voice is sad, and I know she can hear it. Since she confided in me about her parents, I feel the compelling need to tell her a little bit about mine.

  “My parents were never married.” She straightens when I start talking, and when I look up at her, she’s staring at me intently. “It sucked for my mom, because I know she loves him with everything she has, but she had so many plans before they met. She wanted to finish college and travel the world…but then she got pregnant with me. I’m not saying she wasn’t happy, because she was, but she expected he would be happy too, and they would live this big huge happily ever after.” I drop my head to look down at my hands, blinking away my own tears this time.

  Fallon’s quiet voice asks, “That’s not what happened?”

  I laugh, but there’s no humor in it. “Not even close. My dad was married, but he and his wife couldn’t have kids. I’m not sure he even wanted them. When my mom told him she was pregnant, he asked her what she wanted him to do about it, and that’s when she found out about his wife. She was heartbroken, and suddenly all those plans she had were gone before they could ever become anything solid.” I stop to take a shaky breath. “I know she never regretted having me, but I wish she hadn’t let my dad come back whenever he wanted. He used her so much, and when he was done, she was left sad and depressed and pretty much unable to function. I hate him for that.”

  My words make her gasp, and when I look back up, she’s covering her mouth with one hand while tears trail down her cheeks. Before I can reassure her, she jumps up and squeezes into my side of the table. She wraps her arms around me and hugs me tightly. “I’m so sorry, Ava. That’s an awful way to treat someone.”