“Viola fired me, Henry. Do you know what that means?”
“That they are idiots?”
“That, too,” she said with a slight smile. The first one since the insanity had started. “What it means is that I have an apartment with a ton of bills, one pregnant roommate who has yet to get a job or even attempt to, and another who works at a coffee cart. How the hell are we going to afford to stay? I should be used to it by now, though. It’s the way my life goes. Always has and apparently, always will.”
Aubrey’s head dropped into her hands and she breathed deep. Wiping her eyes before she sat up, she simply said, “Okay, new plan. Get home, talk to Ben and Mackenna when they get out of school, and get a new job. Quickly. If that fails like everything else, I guess my parent’s attic is still up for grabs.”
The tone of her voice held no real hope. That was because she didn’t have any. She knew that she was being dramatic, people lost jobs all the time. But how many of them lost their jobs with reporters following their every move and had a brother with a baby on the way that they needed to make sure were taken care of?
“Don’t worry, we can figure this all out.”
Easy for him to say. He didn’t have to worry about money or about losing a job he loved or about being called a mole and a whore in the papers.
~*~
Aubrey used her cell to call ahead to her apartment building. If there were still a horde of media, she would rather keep driving in circles. Thankfully, the apartment manager apologized for the earlier display of lack in security and assured her that the problem was taken care of.
Outside of the apartment gates were still swarms of reporters with cameras, but behind it, not a single one. The town car was let in, and the gate promptly closed behind them, allowing Aubrey to breath easier. They were actually going to be able to walk without incident up to her apartment.
Bruce opened the door but declined the invitation to come up with them. He said something about errands and to call if they needed to go anywhere. Henry thanked him and Aubrey gave him a hug. He awkwardly patted her on the back before pulling away.
Henry took her bag from her and linked his hand with hers, leading her up the stairs to her apartment. There were no reporters, but the sheer number of eyes staring at them from behind curtains as they passed by was enough to set off Aubrey’s irritation again.
Her fingers clenched and unclenched, and she would have little left of her teeth if she didn’t stop grinding them. It was only the wince she happened to catch on Henry’s face that made her stop.
“Sorry,” she said, lifting his hand to see if she broke the skin with her fingernails.
“It’s okay, I understand. Come on, let’s go in.” They had reached her door. Aubrey unlocked and opened it, letting Henry in. She turned and glared at what most would consider nothing but an empty corridor, but she knew behind each stupid curtain, a neighbor saw the look she was sending out. She hoped they were all ashamed of themselves.
Once the door closed behind her, the weight of the day over took her. She didn’t want to think or do anything. She knew there were a million things to think about and plan and do but she was exhausted. Kicking off her shoes, she walked across the room, grabbed Henry’s hand, and led him to her room. Once her bedroom door closed, she stripped down to her bra and panties and climbed into her unmade bed.
Looking up at Henry, she patted the bed next to her and turned on her side, curling into a ball with the covers pulled tight to her chin. She heard the rustle of his clothing and felt the dip in the bed when he joined her.
“Aubrey?” he asked gently, a slight sound of worry in his voice.
“I know. I just need to sleep. Sleep with me? Just for a little while?”
“Okay, for a little while.” He kissed her shoulder and snuggled close. The warmth that he provided when he wrapped himself around her was enough to comfort her and lull her to sleep.
Sometime later, Aubrey woke to Henry’s voice. He was talking with someone in whispered anger. She felt the bed shift as he stood and his footsteps thudded against the floor in what she assumed was pacing. She didn’t want to turn and let him know she was awake. She didn’t want to be awake. She just wanted to go back to sleep for just a little longer. She didn’t want to think about anything for just a little longer.
Aubrey closed her eyes, hoping to force her body into submission but it was no use. She turned over and looked up at Henry, his muscular frame pacing her room with one hand holding his cell to his ear and the other gesturing wildly. It would have looked completely normal had he still been wearing his suit. But doing so in his Superman boxers made her giggle.
Henry’s eyes cut to hers and he gave her a small smile. Someone was talking on the other end, and when Henry’s smile disappeared, she knew that whatever he was hearing wasn’t what he wanted.
“I don’t care that we did to land the company. What I care about is HOW we got them. We are not a corrupt business. We do not lie and cheat to gain clients. If they can’t trust us, then we might as well close our doors now while we’re ahead.”
His pacing stopped, but the irritation etched on his face grew into rage. His quiet angered words were nothing compared to the bark that came out next. “Tell that bitch that she will never work for Maximus. I don’t care if you already hired her, fire her, and pack your own desk while you’re at it!”
Henry stabbed at the screen of his phone with his finger before throwing it across the room into the chair that held his clothing. He sat back on the bed and ran both hands through his hair, gripping and pulling when he had a handful.
“So I take it Maximus Gaming had an interesting day at the office, too?”
“It was Jenna. She made a deal with my acquisition’s guy for a job if she could get Keith to switch companies. She called him last night, and he set up the teleconference for this morning. I am so sorry, Aubrey. I don’t know how many times I have to say it, but I will. Over and over. I wonder how many other deals we made that weren’t on the up and up. I thought he was a better person than that.”
“It isn’t your fault. It’s Jenna’s. I can’t believe I worked with her for so long and didn’t know how vile she could be. She thought I was after her job. I didn’t want her job even though I could do it ten times better than she could. I like doing the research and coming up with fun ideas for marketing. I thought I was pretty good at it, too. Too bad both companies I was able to pitch to didn’t sign with us.”
Henry let out a sigh. “Again, sorry about that.”
“Don’t. I knew working at Viola and you owning our biggest competition would cause problems. I just thought it would be a relationship issue, ya know, not being able to talk about the biggest part of our day could really kill the communication and all. I supposed I should go grab the damn paper and start looking through the want ads.”
“Or we could stay right here for a while and pretend that the only problem we have is the limited amount of time before your brother and Mackenna get home.” Henry hovered over her on the bed and leaned down slowly, hovering with his lips just above hers.
“I think that’s doable,” she said then pressed her lips against his.
Henry’s hands worked her body into a frenzy, bringing her to the brink only to tease her by pulling back. He tickled and licked her ribs, causing her to crumble in a fit of erotic giggles before he finally pinned her hands above her head and looked at her with such passion and want in his eyes that even he could no longer fight it.
Aubrey opened her legs, letting Henry’s body fall between them. With a swift movement of his hips, he sank himself deep within her, eliciting a moan from deep in her chest. With her arms positioned above her, all she could do was stare at him, feel him. He leaned in again, kissing her and at the same time released her hands. Aubrey quickly wrapped them around his body, caressing his back and touching him wherever she could reach as he rhythmically brought their hips together. The passion built inside of her with every wave of his hips
like an ocean lapping at the sand in a storm, getting faster and stronger as every second passed until it finally crashed.
Aubrey’s scream tore through the apartment and both of their breaths were labored as their bodies calmed from the storm. He leaned in again, kissing her softly, and something in the way he looked at her made Aubrey’s heart soar.
“I suppose we should get up. Things to do and all,” he said while still hovering over her.
“I suppose we should,” Aubrey looked at the clock and saw they still had hours until Ben and Mackenna came home, “or we could go back to sleep for an hour.”
“You mean lay here with you wrapped up in my arms for another hour and pretend that the world outside that door doesn’t exist? Let me think about that,” he said with a grin then rolled off her. Henry’s arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her to him. The paper would still be there in an hour, Ben and Mackenna still would be at school, and Henry was there, in her bed, holding her close. She was going to take every little bit of happy she could get. She hated the feeling gnawing in her gut that said to enjoy it now, because just like everything else, it wouldn’t last.
~*~
When Aubrey woke, her arms instinctively reached over to the space beside her. When she felt the cool cotton beneath her fingers instead of Henry’s warm skin, her heart raced. Had he left already? She knew it was too good to be true, but she at least expected him to wait to say goodbye.
A tear slipped from her eye as she thought about everything that had happened between them that day. What had she done? She lost her job and created a PR nightmare. Maybe she was more trouble than he thought she was worth. Aubrey looked over to her dresser to see the box that held Henry’s comic book. She still hadn’t been able to give it to him. Now she never would. What a waste of money. Money that she realized should have been saved for a rainy day because it sure as hell was storming.
The ache inside of her was all consuming. A little monster was digging at her chest with razor sharp claws from the inside out. It was shouting at her, over powering her mind with words like failure, stupid, idiot. She threw away her career for a man. A man that threw her away when things got tough.
The single tear that had rolled down her cheek was soon accompanied by another and another until Aubrey sat, naked and alone in her bed, sobbing.
Her bedroom door was thrown open, and much to her surprise, Henry ran in, jumping onto the bed, only to envelop her in his arms. The two rocked back and forth, her still sobbing even knowing that Henry was still there, and him shushing her and caressing anywhere he could reach.
Once she had calmed down, Henry pulled back and looked her in the eyes with such gentle worry. “What happened, baby?”
“I thought you—”
Only she couldn’t finish the sentence. She looked away, ashamed of her reaction. She had thought the worst in him instead of taking the time to actually look for him. She was an idiot.
“You thought I what? Left?”
She nodded in response, and Henry sighed.
“Aubrey, look at me.” When she didn’t comply, Henry moved his position to put himself in front of her. “I am not going anywhere. I’m right here.”
She nodded again, still unsure of her voice, and hugged him. She had been wrong, but that heart wrenching, stomach clenching feeling wasn’t something she ever wanted to feel again. She couldn’t let him get any closer than he already was.
“Come on, I ordered lunch. There’s pizza and wings in the kitchen. There’s supposed to be a Batman marathon on the cartoon channel today. I can introduce you to one of my past times while we eat.”
Aubrey looked up to see the hopefulness etched on his face.
“I guess we can do that. Or you can watch your men in tights, and I will scan the want ads.”
“I figured you might say that. The table also has four different newspapers covering a twenty mile radius.”
“Thank you.”
Aubrey gathered her clothing and got dressed again. She wanted to stay in the city. She wanted to find another job that day, but knowing her luck, and the parade of paparazzi that had been following her, job hunting might not go so well.
She grabbed the comic book off the top of her dresser and turned to Henry. “Here, I got this for you,” she said and handed it over, and then walked out of the bedroom. She still wanted him to have it, but she didn’t want to make it a big emotional scene like the one she originally envisioned. They had had enough heart to hearts in last few days, and she didn’t need another that would put Henry Maximus any deeper under her skin or in her heart.
Chapter Eighteen
Aubrey had started to plate their lunch on the paper plates she kept in the kitchen cabinet. They hadn’t gotten any real dishes yet except for a pot and a frying pan. She was perfectly okay with disposable. It cut down on dishes and arguments in the house over whose turn it was to clean them.
“Thank you,” Henry said from the doorway. She turned to him and saw that he wore a guarded smile. He could tell she was pulling away, she just knew it. She was actually a little glad he had noticed. That way he could protect himself from the inevitable, too. She never wanted to see him hurting. She never wanted to be the cause of his pain. It would crush her. Better if they both keep enough distance to protect their hearts, but stay close enough to be happy. There had to be a way.
“You’re welcome. Here, have some lunch.” She smiled at him and handed the plate over. She didn’t want to end what they had. She hoped he understood that. Henry walked forward with a slight look of worry and took the plate from her. She leaned over and kissed his cheek as he went by.
“Do you want me to call Mr. Fredrickson? I can explain what happened. Maybe he will hire you back.”
“No. It wouldn’t do any good.”
“Shouldn’t they know about Jenna? Shouldn’t they know that you didn’t sell the company out? You don’t want that on your resume. It isn’t true.”
“We both know it isn’t. This is just how my life goes, Henry. I’m used to it. If you plan on sticking around, you should get used to it to. Nothing good lasts long when I’m involved. Nothing.”
“Bullshit. Stop the pity party and get angry. You got screwed over by Jenna. You should want her to pay for it. And what we have is good. And hear me when I say, I. Am. Not. Going. Anywhere.”
“Pity party? Great. Thanks. Call him if you want, but don’t be surprised when he tells you to pound salt.”
“One day you will realize that this isn’t your life. Failure isn’t what or who you are. You only fail if you stop trying and stop picking yourself back up. Are you at least going to call Bridgette?”
“What is there to say? We weren’t as close as I thought. She would have come to say goodbye if we were. She didn’t. I’m not going to call and beg her to be my friend. It hurt enough realizing she wasn’t. Why put myself through that again?”
“Have you learned nothing? Don’t push her away, too. Maybe she has a good reason. Give her a chance. Give yourself a chance, Aubrey.”
“Fine.” Aubrey agreed and walked back into the bedroom, shutting the door behind her. She sat on the edge of the bed with her phone in her hands. She would call because she told Henry she would, and she wanted to be the person he believed her to be. But first, she had to get her head and heart in a place where no matter what Bridgette had to say wouldn’t hurt her. The longer she sat there, the more she realized she wasn’t going to be able to do that. With a deep breath, she scrolled through her contacts and pressed call.
The phone rang once, twice, and a third time. Maybe Bridgette wouldn’t answer. That would give her an answer and keep the embarrassment to a minimum. But then, on the fifth ring, she picked up.
“Hey,” Bridgette said in a soft voice.
“Hey,” Aubrey replied.
“Look”—
“Wait, just listen, okay? I need to know why you bailed on me. I need to know if we were actually friends or just co-workers who hung out once in a w
hile. Where were you?” Aubrey asked, barely holding the tears back. Damn it, she hadn’t wanted to get emotional.
“I couldn’t. When the floor went crazy with the news, I tried to get down to the conference room but when Mike came up he gave me a ton of phone calls and told me if I stepped foot in the conference room I was as good as fired, too. I’m so sorry, but I couldn’t risk that. I wanted to call you, but he was watching me the whole day, and then I saw all the news clips and stuff, and I thought that maybe you would want to be left alone. Aubrey, please know I don’t believe what they are saying. You believe me, right?”
Relief flooded through her. Bridgette hadn’t given up on her. “I do. What the hell am I going to do now?”
“I don’t know, but you will figure it out. You worked your way up faster than anyone I have ever seen. You will do it again. And now you have a hot ass man by your side to be a shoulder when you need to scream and cry about starting over. And you can call me whenever, and we can still go dancing together. Just because we don’t work together doesn’t mean we’re done. You’re stuck with me now,” she said with a laugh.
Aubrey thanked her and told her once her life settled down they would get together and hung up. She walked out of the room with a smile. She knew she should thank Henry for making her call, but the smile he gave her when they locked eyes told her no thanks was needed. He understood.
“Come on, I have an entire series to introduce you to.” He motioned with his head to follow him into the living room.
Aubrey grabbed her plate off the table and one of the papers. She followed him over to the newly finished futon couch that Ben and Mackenna had been fighting over. It was actually quite comfortable. “Guess Mackenna can do something right,” she said with an eye roll.
“Oh, is this the couch they were fighting over?” he asked, shocking Aubrey that he actually remembered the conversation.
The Billionaire & The Barfly (Coming Home) Page 18