by Piper Lawson
“Don’t joke about that.” I grabbed the desk of cards and shuffled, the cards falling neatly between my hands until I dealt some off the top.
“It’s true. We all go eventually.” She took her cards and surveyed them, her blue eyes sharp despite her soft gray hair.
“What else did my mother want?”
She tossed two mini Oreo cookies onto the plate between us. I glanced at my cards and matched her bet before dealing another card.
“To know if I was coming for your brother’s wedding. Have you thought about it?”
I considered the blue envelopes sitting on my kitchen counter.
“Not much to think about. I just got a second invitation, though.”
She added another Oreo. I put in three. She studied me before matching my bet.
“Why?”
Guilt twisted my stomach. “I might’ve told him I didn’t get the first one.”
“Charlie,” she chastised. “You won’t go, even for Jimmy? You were close.”
“We still are. Sort of.” Matthew was five years older, so we hadn’t had much in common as kids before I’d left home. James had two years on me and we were closer. I’d seen my brother once in the last year. “But it’s just a wedding, Grams. And Matt told me they invited more than a hundred people. Jimmy’s not going to care if I’m there.”
Grams narrowed her eyes. “You can’t let these hurt feelings shape you forever.”
She tossed five more Oreos into the center and I raised a brow. I glanced at my cards, then matched her bet. We both showed our hands.
“Straight.”
“A pair,” I conceded. She raked in her winnings, eyes sparkling. “Nothing’s stopping me. I just don’t know if I want to go.”
“Because you’re avoiding your family or that man?”
I shot her a look.
“When I met your grandfather, I was a Rockette.”
I smiled. “I know, Grams. I bet he was a handsome salesman and swept you off your feet.”
“No. He worked in tickets. I had a way to jump the line and give free tickets to my friends. The first time he met me was a confrontation. Said he took it as a personal affront. I asked what he was going to do about it. He said he’d take it out of my wages. I said I didn’t make enough. He replied, ‘Then they’ll take it out of your costumes, too.’ I told him I’d be going on stage naked, and he said that was fine by him.” She chuckled. “He wasn’t afraid of a fight, that man. Took him ten years to become head of sales. His grit helped every bit as much as his charm.”
I watched her, fascinated. I’d never heard that story. “And how did you know he was the one?”
“Because he was always there,” she said simply. “The other ones came and went. But John and I kept coming face to face every day until we couldn’t ignore it anymore. The universe wanted us together.”
I remembered their feisty banter. Even at eighty-odd years old they’d teased each other, right up until the end.
“I’ve never met a man with as much character as Grandpa. And I’m never going to.”
Grams shot me a sympathetic look. “They can’t all be good. But they’re not all bad either, Charlotte.” I winced at the use of my full name. “There’s no man in your life that gets your blood up?”
The conversation with Avery earlier drifted through my mind.
“There,” she said triumphantly. “That look in your eye.”
“It’s not a look, Grams. It’s an eyelash.”
“Who is he?”
“No one.”
“Nobody’s no one,” she chastised.
Grams got up to use the bathroom and I stared at the wall.
What would he be doing tonight?
Truth was, I didn’t know much about how he spent his evenings. I’d stopped asking more than a year ago when he never answered my inquiries.
But now I knew he had a sister. One he was close to, provided for.
And that he helped people on the weekends. Weekends I’d always assumed were spent drinking with school friends. Or out with some woman he wanted to take home.
But now I wondered.
Grams returned and settled into her chair.
I picked up the deck of cards, shuffling them easily. Then nodded to the plate between us. “Are you ever going to eat your Oreos or just lord them over me all night?
“Charlie. You look radiant today.” Martin glanced down at my feet as he passed me the cookie.
“Whoa. What’s this?” I scanned the salad-plate-sized treat riddled with chocolate dots.
“An artistic impression of you, in chocolate chips. Naked, because that’s how you were born to be. There’re even chips for your nips.”
Now that he mentioned it, I could see a female outline.
“An artist and a poet. You’re going to make some woman very happy.”
Like always, he refused the bill I offered.
Like always, I waited until he’d turned around to stick it in the tip jar.
Last night after getting home, I’d spent some time updating my social networks and opened a new pair of lemon Miu Mius that’d arrived at my door.
After that, I’d ended up thinking about work. Avery’s words about moving up the food chain.
He was right, and wrong. If he wanted to take the spot a hundred more senior people should get, he’d need help. My help. We’d have to get…unconventional.
I needed to get in the mind of the man pulling the strings, not the one whose desk was now ten feet from mine.
I took the stairs up to the exec floor, cookie in hand.
My job didn’t involve much time on the top floor, but it’d have to be your first day not to know the corner suite belonged to the CEO. The one with the giant administrative desk like a wall.
The desk that had a sign saying “Will return at 2 pm”.
Behind that desk was the tall, heavy-looking wood door that led to the inner sanctum. I drummed my nails on the desk.
This had seemed like a great idea when I was in the cafeteria. Now…
Let’s be honest. I was a few weeks from leaving for the last time anyway. Technically I’d already been fired. What the hell do I have to lose?
I waited for someone to pass. Then dashed inside.
“Damn, Mr. R.”
Redpath’s inner sanctum resembled the set of a Bond movie. Leather furniture, designer lights, a bar at one side. I could all but smell the cigars.
The bar didn’t hold any alcohol. Now it was decorated with abstract crystal shapes that probably cost more than my monthly rent.
You wouldn’t have to pay me to come to work if I had this guy’s digs. I’d thought Avery’s office was nice, but this was something else entirely. Plus, it was so quiet.
I eyed up the chair. Big, plushy, leather. I wonder if it’s as soft as it…
“Oh, yeah.” I sank into the buttery material. I squirmed to get comfortable, putting my feet up on the window ledge, the only thing I could reach.
An inbox piled high on the desk drew my attention. I flipped through the files there, pausing on the first one marked “CONFIDENTIAL.”
I opened it. Nothing.
The next one.
Boring. Securities filings. Something about HR policies.
A knock at the door nearly had me dropping the files. “Excuse me, Mr—”
The door swung wide, revealing my boss’s stunned face.
“Shut the door!” I hissed, flipping the file closed on the desk.
He complied. “Charlotte. What are you doing?” he demanded under his breath.
I held up the half-eaten treat.
“In Redpath’s office?” It sounded like I’d just announced I was making my bid for president.
Before I could respond, new voices sounded outside. Avery moved faster than I’d ever seen, grabbing my arm and pulling me after him into the coat closet. I shoved the last of the cookie in my mouth as my feet shuffled to the back of the small black space. When I ran out of room, I grabbe
d the railing overhead like I was riding the subway.
Avery crowded in after me, closer, until my back hit the wall.
His body took up so much space it took me a second to realize I was standing on something slippery. Maybe an empty garment bag. My heels slid and my grip tightened on the railing overhead.
“Thank you for meeting me, Mr. Redpath,” a voice uttered.
“Let me hang this up. It’s hot as hell in here,” the CEO’s voice boomed outside.
Fuck!
The door of the closet opened, letting a beam of light in. Avery pressed me harder against the back of the closet, his body shielding me from the light. It might have been a moment or an hour before the door closed again, leaving the slimmest slice of light from the crack in the frame.
“There’s a full investigation into anyone who might have assisted the former CEO,” came the other voice, muffled by the door.
My heart raced as Avery’s chest flattened mine.
I couldn’t see anything. But all my other senses were heightened.
Guys are supposed to smell like sweat and dirt. Pine trees and rope, if you ask cologne manufacturers.
His collar brushed my nose, and I could say without a doubt that my boss smelled like a bad idea. The kind you have after two drinks, when your body wakes up and your inhibitions pass out. The kind that keeps you up all night, tells you every second that this is what you need.
My eyes adjusted and I made out the curve of Avery’s lips, parted. His chin and jaw, tensed and inches from mine.
Avery’s fingers found the back of my neck.
To calm me down.
But the feel of his touch on the sensitive skin there did anything but calm me. That brush of his flesh over mine was intimate.
I should’ve been thinking about getting caught. Not the fact that our bodies were touching.
Not counting how many inches were between my parted lips and his.
You ever have one of those Matrix moments? Where you realize that everything you thought you knew was a lie?
This was mine. Suddenly, I got why Avery hadn’t wanted me to touch him the day before.
Because holy hell, we were electric.
Just standing here, sharing his air. His body heat.
We were barely touching, but every nerve in my body was starved for the feeling of contact.
“It’s not just the data. It’s the optics. A married CEO had an illicit affair with a woman in another bank. He leaked client information. Confidential information.”
“These things need to stop happening here. No more slip-ups. Everything we do going forward must be crisp. Disciplined. Above reproach. We have rules. And— What the hell is on my carpet? It looks like crumbs.”
Ohhh shit.
“Did you bring something…crumbly in here, Banks?”
“What? No, sir.”
“Has someone else been in here?”
Sweat beaded on my forehead, and it was only partly from the conversation outside. The closet had zero ventilation. Combined with the non-breathable fabric of my top and the fact that my skirt felt two sizes too small, it was unbearable.
Nono. Don’t let me pass out here. My knees buckled, but a strong arm fastened around my waist.
The black spots faded from my vision, allowing other sensory information in.
That’s when I realized my hips were trapped between something very hard…
And the drywall separating Redpath’s den from the executive conference room.
Holy fuck. Unless my boss got off on risking losing his job? The fact that I was the filling in an Avery-wall sandwich had him seriously aroused.
Which was hot.
I mean, fucked.
(But also…hot.)
I shivered—an involuntary spasm—and jerked my head up. Avery let out a grunt as I hit him in the chin.
My hand went over his mouth. Instinct.
I have bad instincts. Because now his warm, firm lips brushed my palm. All I could think about was his hard body pressed against me, and the mouth I loved to hate against my skin.
“The board wants to restructure,” I heard clearly, returning my attention to the conversation. “If we can’t turn things around in the next six months, we’ll have to consider downsizing the corporate banking portfolio. Permanently.”
“So no more corporate banking.”
“Not the way it looks now. Not with two dozen associates, support staff, and an entire floor of the building, no.”
My eyes widened.
“I’m late for a lunch with marketing. Take this downstairs for me, will you? I’ll be back.”
The office door shut, and I released a breath, wiping the sweat that’d beaded on my forehead.
Avery elbowed out of the closet. I shook off the tingling in my body and followed. The brightness of the office had me blinking.
I crossed to the door and he made a noise behind me. I turned and saw him facing the window.
I cleared my throat. “We need to get out of here.” My voice was strangely low.
He turned to face me, his expression unreadable. Finally he nodded.
I pushed on the door handle. Slow. We weren’t in the clear yet. With it two inches open, I stilled. Redpath’s assistant was facing the other direction but had settled herself back at her desk and was starting to turn toward us.
It was too late to back down, so I strode out as casually as I could.
Her sharp gaze narrowed on us. “What are you doing in there?”
“Leaving some files for Mr. Redpath,” I said smoothly. “He requested them in our meeting this morning.”
“It’s true.” Avery’s calm voice sounded at my back.
“All right, Mr. Banks. I’ll let him know you were here.”
We made it to the stairwell and I collapsed against the wall, my heart racing. My eyes fell shut and I panted.
When I opened them, I saw Avery’s head receding down the stairs from the exec tower. His strides were tight and stiff, and I swore under my breath.
I caught up with him on the landing at our floor. I grabbed at the sleeve of his jacket as I stepped between him and the door. “Avery. Say something.”
I expected the storm in his blue eyes before I felt it.
“I don’t have words.”
“I was trying to help. I went to investigate. To try and find an edge that might help with your promotion…” I trailed off and his jaw tightened.
“You might get off on risking everything,” he muttered under his breath, “but this is my career. I can’t afford to lose it.”
He started to push past me and I put a hand on his chest.
Instinct.
Avery glanced down at it, his body stiffening.
His nostrils flared as his gaze swept down my face, landing on my mouth before it snapped back up.
I resisted the urge to take my hand off his chest. Because I thought he’d leave; not because I wasn’t ready to let go of the hard muscle I’d first felt in the closet a few minutes ago.
“I get that. I do. But that’s how you learn things worth learning, Avery. You take risks.” I swallowed. “And now we know they’re looking to axe corporate. I guess I’m not the only one looking for a new job…”
“I’m not looking for another job.” This time he did brush past me and reached for the door handle.
“What?”
Avery turned. “I’m not looking for another job.” His voice was stubborn. “If what we heard is true, then this department needs leadership. Unlike Hollister, I’m not about to abandon my post when things get rough.”
He disappeared through the door, leaving me breathless in the stairwell.
I should’ve been thinking about his words.
Instead I was remembering the feel of his body pressed against mine in the closet. Which led me to an inconvenient and impossible reality…
For the first time, I wanted something from Avery Banks other than for him to leave me the hell alone.
9
This Isn’t Awkward at All
“What’s this day really about? Anyone?”
Redpath stood in front of us, hands on his hips.
Humiliation?
“It’s about survival. It’s been a difficult month—” I could see him wince, thinking about the fact that although Hollister’s fraud had slipped from page one to page two in the news, it showed no signs of losing steam “—but we’re all going to survive.”
He wore a t-shirt and shorts and, although he wasn’t a big guy, every part of him was muscled.
I eyed the outdoor obstacle course they’d bussed us to this morning. Where I’m from, this was where we’d send teenagers who did meth and stole cars.
All the notice we’d gotten was a cryptic note a few days before saying to clear schedules this morning and dress in casual clothes with athletic footwear.
Rose glanced over at Payton, hands on her hips. In her khaki shorts and white t-shirt, Rose looked even more like a Girl Scout. “You’re green,” she said, her voice concerned.
“I don’t think I can do this,” Payton murmured, shaking out one leg, then the other. Her Skechers didn’t look like they’d ever seen action.
“Don’t you have shorter pants? You’re going to die in those.” I nodded toward her full-length leggings.
“I just moved in with Max and haven’t had a chance to unpack yet.”
“A reminder that everyone who finishes gets a day off,” Redpath shouted through a megaphone from his raised wooden platform. At least he seemed in his element. For the two hundred staff spread out in uniforms ranging from t-shirts and shorts to jeans, it was like the Hunger Games and we were District 13 (the financial district).
I glanced at Payton, who sucked in a deep breath, her brown eyes squinting into the sun.
All I needed to do was get through the course made up of ropes, walls, monkey bars, and what looked like a mud pit. I could use the damned day off, and there was nothing Avery could do about it.
“Checking out the competition?” Payton asked as I scanned the crowd.
“I might have a shot at this.” We didn’t have a lot of athletes in our department. There were a few runners and a couple guys who did CrossFit. But since it was summer, a lot of people were on vacation.