Guarding His Heart

by J. S. Cooper

  “Dad.” I was angry. “I didn’t.” I paused as I heard something falling. I looked towards the door and saw Hannah running out of the office. Oh shit! How much had she heard? “Dad, I didn’t take Hannah there on purpose. You are really overstepping here.”

  “Son, I know you’re enjoying a dalliance with your assistant, but I wouldn’t see it as more than that.”

  “What are you talking about?” I frowned angry. “You need to stop talking about Hannah like that.”

  “You can’t turn a whore into a housewife, Leo.” He shook his head. “Hannah has been using you.”

  “What?” I frowned. “What are you talking about?”

  “Unfortunately, this means we can’t fire her, but at least you should know you’ve been set up.”

  “What?”

  “Come.” My father sighed as he walked to Hannah’s computer and turned it on and brought up her email.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Look.” He clicked open a file. “The IT dept sent it to me last week. I tried to call you, but you ignored my calls. The girl has been setting you up.” I stared at the screen and froze as I saw the emails I’d sent to her personal email forwarded to her work email with the subject line, for HR. I could feel the blood draining from my face. She’s set me up. She’d been planning to take me to HR? How could she do that to me? Had everything been a setup? Had she been planning on seducing me from the beginning? I thought back to the nurses’ outfit. Why did she have a sexy nurses’ outfit with her in New York? It didn’t make sense. I knew then that everything had been a sham. Hannah had had a plan to get revenge on me because I’d taken her job. I thought about the way her body had trembled as I’d fucked her. Had that all been a lie as well?

  “I’m sorry son.” My dad shrugged. “But at least we got the deal with Martin Corp.”

  I stared at him wordlessly, not sure what to say.

  “Remember next time, don’t shit where you sleep or eat.” His eyes narrowed. “There are plenty of girls out there son.”

  “I’m not worried about it.” I shook my head as I felt my heart hardening. I was done with Hannah and I was done with even thinking about being in a relationship. I knew then that I’d wanted more than friends with benefits with Hannah. I was glad I’d never told her that though. I was done letting women into my heart. I was done being used. I was done with Hannah once and for all.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Hannah

  It had been a week since I’d heard Leo and his father talking about his deliberate plan to take me to New York in an attempt to get Rob Martin to make a move and ruin the deal, so they could get a lower price for the company. To say I was devastated was an understatement. I’d been in such shock that I hadn’t even wanted to go back to the office, but I had. I’d gone back to my desk and waited for Leo to come out and tell me some lie about how he’d never intended for any of it to happen, but he never did.

  I think that hurt me more than anything. He didn’t even try and explain it to me. He didn’t even try and make me feel better. He’d been successful with his plan and he’d gotten some sex out of me and now that he’d been found out, he was cold and uncaring.

  He looked at me with such dismissive eyes that I wanted to slap him. I hated him so much. I wanted to quit so badly. I had applied to several other jobs already, but hadn’t heard anything from anyone yet.

  “Hannah, please come into my office.” Leo’s voice sounded cold through the intercom.

  “Coming.” I grabbed my pen and pad and walked into his office silently. I stared at the desk we’d made love on the week before and looked away. How had everything gone south so quickly? How could he have used me like that?

  “I need you to go and get some sandwiches for a picnic I’m going on tomorrow.” He stared at me unblinking.

  “What sort of sandwiches, Sir?” I asked politely, while screaming inside. He’s been giving me menial tasks since that day and I hated him for it.

  “You can decide. I know you like to have a sense of power.” He said snidely.

  “I guess that’s all I’m good for.” I responded tightly. “Sandwich orders and short skirts.”

  “That one could be a little shorter.” He stared at my legs. “Pull it up.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I said pull it up a bit higher.” He paused. “Or do you need to go and get a tape recorder first? Will you hear me if I say it into a recorder?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” I bit my lower lip to stop myself from crying. How had I ever thought he was a nice guy?

  “Get your tape recorder and I’ll you let you record all the things you want to hear.” He stood up and walked over to me. “I’ll tell you that I’ll give you a $100 if you sit in my lap. A thousand dollars if you take your top off and push your breasts in my face. Better yet, I’ll give you ten thousand dollars if you let me fuck you in my chair. What do you say to that?”

  “You’re a pig.” I gasped. “How dare you?”

  “Sorry, would twenty thousand work then?” He shouted. “I’ll pay you twenty grand to give me a blow job right now.”

  “How dare you.” I slapped him across the face. “You son of a bitch.”

  “Me?” He laughed. “Me? I’m the bitch?” He pushed past me. “Get out.”

  “I’m going, you don’t have to ask me twice.” I left the room close to tears and ran down the corridor. What was his problem? Why would he treat me like this? He was the one that had hurt me. He was the one that had used me. I hurried into the elevator and a girl stopped and looked at me.

  “Hannah?” She surveyed my face and paused.

  “Yes, do I know you?” I frowned and looked at her in confusion.

  “Not yet.” She walked back into the elevator. “Can I go down with you?”

  “Whatever.” I sighed as I stared at the pretty girl in front of me. Who was this? If she said she was Leo’s girlfriend, I was going to scream.

  “You look upset.” Her voice was soft. “Has Leo been rude today?”

  “So you know Leo?” I looked at her long curly hair and searched her first.

  “Yes, I’m afraid I do.” She smiled. “I’m Lucky, by the way.” She held her hand out for me to shake.

  “I’ve heard your name before.” I tried to remember from where.

  “I’m Zane’s wife. Zane is Leo’s best friend.” She rolled her eyes and sighed. “And when Leo’s down, Zane feels like he has to be there for him.”

  “Well bully for him.” I gave her a weak smile. “Can I help you? I have work to do.”

  “I was hoping we could chat.” She paused. “I shouldn’t be here. If Zane knew I was here, he’d kill me and Leo too.” She reached out and touched my arm. “But I think that I can help.”

  “Help what?” I shook my head. “Are you here to ask me to quit?” My voice rose as we left the elevator.

  “No, no, no.” She looked at me horrified. “I think I need to explain some stuff.”

  “Explain what?”

  “Sorry, I’m making a mess of this, aren’t I?” She sighed. “Let me start from the beginning. When I met Zane, my husband, he was a player. He was literally dating several girls in front of me. He wasn’t interested in love. He was alpha. He was protective. He liked me, but he didn’t want to admit it and he didn’t want a relationship and he told me several times.”

  “Okay?” I waited for her to continue. “And?”

  “Leo’s the same way. He was hurt when he was younger and now he’s being an ass. You know how guys are. They get hurt once and then they act like it’s the end of the world.”

  “What does that have to do with me?” I was starting to get annoyed.

  “You hurt him, Hannah. I don’t know the full story. I don’t know what you planned to do with those emails, but something tells me you weren’t going to go to HR with them. Or if you were, you changed your mind. I refuse to believe you would sleep with him because you wanted to get him fired that badly.”r />
  “What are you talking about? What emails?” My head started pounding.

  “The emails Leo sent you. The flirty ones about wanting to sleep with you. The ones he sent to your personal email. The ones you forwarded to yourself to hand it to HR.”

  “Oh.” Something went off in my brain. “How do you know about them?” I froze. “Oh my god, does Leo know about those emails? That I sent them to my work email? Oh shit.” My heart dropped as I realized what he must have thought if he’d seen that email.

  “Yes, Leo knows.” She sighed. “And he’s been getting drunk every night and taking my husband out with him. Now, I love Leo, but I like to have my husband at home at night.” She smiled. “We have two babies and I want him to change some of those dirty diapers.”

  “Leo’s been getting drunk?”

  “He’s really upset that you would set him up like that.”

  “But, I didn’t intend to send them anywhere.” I sighed. “I’m not even sure why I forwarded them to my work email anymore.” I looked at her with an anxious face. “No wonder he thinks I’m a bitch.”

  “You really hurt him.” She nodded. “He feels like you were just using him.”

  “But he used me.” I wailed. “He took me to New York and…” My voice trailed off as I realized how stupid that sounded. I knew in my heart that Leo had not set me up on that trip. He had tried to warn me to stay away from Rob. Oh why hadn’t I listened?

  “Leo would never do that, to you or any other girl.” Lucky shook her head. “He’s one of the good guys. He might talk a good game, but he has a heart of gold.”

  “He must hate me.” I sighed. “I can’t believe he thinks I would try and use him and then report him to HR.”

  “You know men, sometimes they think with the wrong head.” Lucky giggled and slapped her hand across her mouth. “Sorry, that wasn’t appropriate.”

  “Don’t worry.” I smiled. “You’re right. What am I going to do?” I sighed as I realized how badly I’d fucked up.

  “That’s why I’m here.” Lucky beamed. “I was hoping you would come to a picnic at my house tomorrow in Los Feliz. It’s just a small affair, but Leo will be there and I’d love for you to come.”

  “I don’t know.” I said thoughtfully. “I don’t want to ruin your party if he starts shouting at me.”

  “I’ll make sure he doesn’t shout.” She smiled. “I’d love for you to come and feel free to bring a friend.”

  “I’m not sure bringing my friend Lisa would help much.” I laughed.

  “Did you just say Lisa?” She grinned at me.

  “Yeah, why?”

  “My best friend’s name is Leeza.” She grinned. “It’s like fate. You and Leo are meant to be together.”

  “I don’t know about that.” I sighed and smiled at her. “Even if he forgives me for the mistake, he still only wants to be friends with benefits.”

  “Trust me, a guy who’s this upset and getting drunk every night wants to be more than that.” Lucky squeezed my hand. “I know you don’t know me, but I like you already. I have a good feeling about you and Leo. I’d love, love, love it if you came tomorrow.”

  “Well, if it means that much to you.”

  “It does.” She nodded and pulled out a pen and pad from her handbag. “Here’s my number and my address. The picnic will start around noon, but feel free to come earlier or later.”

  “Thank you.” I smiled at her gratefully. “I really appreciate it.”

  “You’re welcome.” She gave me a quick hug and grinned at me. “I can’t wait to see you tomorrow. I should leave now. I left Zane with the kids and I’m sure they’ve messed up the house by now.”

  “Okay,” I laughed. “It was nice meeting you Lucky.”

  “It was great meeting you as well, Hannah.” She nodded. “Tomorrow will be great.”

  “I hope so.” I mumbled.

  “I know so.” She smiled. “Trust me, I know so.”

  I walked back into the office to find that Leo was gone. I sighed as I waited at my seat. I needed to talk to him before the picnic. I needed to explain to him that I had never meant to send the email. I needed him to know the truth. I walked into his office and sat at his desk and opened his notepad so that I could leave him a note. I was about to write, but I didn’t know what to say. What I had to say couldn’t be written down in a few words. What I had to say had to be done face to face. I needed to look into his eyes when we spoke. I needed to look into his eyes and figure out how he truly felt about me. The time for games was over. I understood why he was guarding his heart, but he either needed to let me in or we would both just have to move on. I walked back to my desk and sat down, suddenly feeling sad. I was scared that Leo wasn’t going to let me in. I was scared that I’d fallen for a man that would never be able to let me get close to him. I was afraid and I didn’t know what to do.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Leo

  “Uncle Leo,” Skylar ran up to me and gave me a big hug. “I’ve missed you.”

  “Hey, Sky.” I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Your dad here?”

  “Yes, daddy is in the back with Uncle Zane and Robin is in the kitchen with Aunty Lucky.”

  “Awesome.” I smiled down into her cute little face.

  “I’m playing with the babies.” She made a face. “It’s boring.”

  “I’m sure it’s not that bad.” I laughed.

  “You want to play with us?”

  “Not right now.” I shook my head. I loved David and Ruby-Lane, but I wasn’t really a baby person. “But, I’ll come back and talk to you soon. I need to take these sandwiches to the kitchen and then I need to go and see if Zane and Noah need any help.”

  “What help would they need?” She frowned. “It’s Aunty Lucky that’s cooking.”

  “Well, they might need help drinking the beer.” I winked at her and she giggled.

  “Oh, Uncle Leo.” She ran over to the babies. “David, your Uncle Leo is a goofball.” She squeezed his cheeks and I walked into the kitchen.

  “Hey Lucky.” I gave her a quick hug and kiss. “Hi Robin.”

  “Hi Leo.” They both gave me a quick smile and I was glad that we were all able to get along as well as we did.

  “Need any help?” I asked as I walked out of the kitchen. “No? Oh okay?” I ran out as they threw kitchen towels at me.

  “Leo.” Zane grinned at me. “You made it.”

  “You knew I’d be here. Free food always calls my name.” I grabbed a beer from the cooler and sat down. “So any burgers done?”

  “No.” Noah shook as his head as he flipped something on the grill. “I think it’ll be another fifteen minutes.”

  “I’m starving here.” I groaned and chugged some beer.

  “How you doing?” Zane stared at me through narrowed eyes.

  “I’m fine.” I shrugged and looked away from him. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “Lucky’s banned me from guys night for a month.” Zane sat across from me.

  “Man, you’re so whipped.” I shook my head and took another sip of beer. “And that’s why I’ll never be getting married.”

  “Uh huh.” He rolled his eyes. “Try not to chug them so fast.”

  “I’m fine.” I was starting to get annoyed. “Anything I can do?”

  “No.” He stood up. “Just relax.”

  “I’m relaxed.”

  “You spoken to Hannah yet?”

  “No.” I got angry just thinking about her. “I told you that I’m done with her.”

  “Done sounds so final.”

  “It is final. She’s a snake in the grass. A snake that’s been waiting for the perfect opportunity to bite.”

  “Dude, really?” Zane rolled his eyes. “So melodramatic.”

  “I’m not being melodramatic. I’m just telling it like it is. She’s a snake.”

  Zane shrugged and walked away and I took another sip of beer. The last week with Hannah had been so awkward. And yesterday, ye
sterday I’d been so angry and turned on that I hadn’t even known what to think. She made me so mad when I looked at her, yet I was still attracted to her. She still had me wrapped around her little finger. When I’d seen the sadness in her eyes yesterday, I’d wanted to comfort her. I’d wanted to apologize for the things I’d said and done, as if I’d been in the wrong. I’d been so angry with myself that I’d left the office and gone back after I knew she’d be gone. I wasn’t sure how much longer I’d be able to deal with her on an everyday basis. It was so hard to look at her and not want her. It was so hard to not ask her what she’d done the night before. My bed felt lonely and my life felt empty. I wasn’t sure how she’d been able to affect me so much already. I barely knew her. Shit, we’d only been friends with benefits for a short period. Yet, she was all I could think about.

  I was so angry with myself for letting her in. Beep Beep. I pulled my phone out and saw an email from my dad and I opened it quickly, the blood draining from my face. There was a video escalating through the office of Hannah and I having sex on the desk. It appeared to have been an accident. One of us had accidentally hit the record button on my computer and the IT department had watched it and shared it with some other people in the office. My dad was furious, but he said the video meant we could fire Hannah, as it was obvious from the video that the act was consensual.

  I deleted the email and sat down, not knowing how I felt. All I knew was that I didn’t want her to leave. Not like this. Not with us angry at each other. I wanted to understand why she’d sent the emails to her work email. I wanted to know how she could kiss me and make love to me with eyes full of light and emotion if she was using me. I pulled out my phone and decided to send her an email.

  To: Hannah Will

  From: Leo Maxwell

  Re: Dirty Video

  Hannah,

  I think you should know that there is a pornographic video of us having sex on my desk escalating around the office. A couple of people have seen it, but my father is taking care of it. I just thought you should know.

  Leo Maxwell