He pulled out some gourmet sandwiches and fancy chips—much fancier than anything I could afford on a college student’s budget. There was some kind of veggie salad and these layered pink pastries for dessert. There was way too much food here for just two people, though.
“I didn’t know what you liked,” he said apologetically. “I didn’t think you were a vegetarian, but this is LA, so if you are, here’s some of the salad and—” He had to stop talking while I kissed him on the mouth. “What was that for?”
“You got all this extra food just in case I might be a vegetarian? You seriously have to be the best boyfriend in the world.” I gasped and clapped a hand over my mouth. “Not that you’re….I mean…I’m not assuming—”
“Hush.” He kissed me. “It’s okay. It’s more than okay. I want to be your boyfriend, Chrissy. I don’t want to be with anyone else, okay?”
I looked up into those gorgeous eyes. He held my gaze steadily, letting me read whatever I needed to there.
“Really?” I whispered. “I’m not very good at this. I usually get tired of people after a few dates, but I’m not tired of you. I really like being with you.”
“Really.” He laughed softly. “I’m not tired of you, either. So, let’s eat.”
I ignored the tears that came to my eyes. I didn’t know why “I’m not tired of you” shouldn’t make me so emotional, but it did. “I’m not a vegetarian,” I said, grabbing a sandwich that obviously had meat hanging out of it. “But I do like grass-fed and organic food when I can get it. So, you get the sprouts, Gardner.”
“Not me,” he said, pulling out another sandwich. “I held this one back. Chicken bacon ranch, baby. Chicken. Bacon. Ranch.”
“Ooh, that sounds good!” I said. “Get me that next time.”
“No problem.” He pulled half of his chicken bacon ranch sandwich off and put it on my plate, then took half of my sandwich onto his. I was so touched I got weepy again.
We ate in silence, enjoying the view of the desert in the approaching twilight. After he’d downed half his sandwich, Adam asked, “So, if you’re my girlfriend, what about your parents?”
“What about them?”
“Shouldn’t they know about us?”
I hesitated. “For the most part, I keep my private life away from my parents. They like to pretend that I’m still the innocent little girl that I was ten years ago. But I don’t think that’s our biggest problem. Do you?”
“No, I guess not.” He sighed and tossed down his sandwich. “What do you think your dad would do if he found out I’m dating you?”
“Well…he’ll try yelling at me first,” I said. “When that doesn’t work, he’ll threaten you, but he’s all bluster. I mean, can he really fire you? Don’t you have a contract or something?”
He thought about it for a second, “Yeah, but he can still make it hard for me. I don’t want to end my career before it’s even begun.”
“So what do you want to do?”
“I want to take out a billboard on Hollywood Boulevard saying that Chrissy Monroe agreed to be my girlfriend.” He laughed and kissed me. “But maybe we should wait a little while so I can figure it out.”
I shrugged. “I’m okay with that. I don’t want you to lose your job. I mean, who would buy me gourmet sandwiches?”
But while I was touched by his billboard comment, I was a little hurt that he wasn’t willing to brave my father’s wrath and let him know I was dating him. I mean, it had been a long time since I had asked my father’s permission to date anyone. And I wasn’t sure I believed that my dad could really run him out for such a personal reason. Besides, what could my dad have against Adam, anyway? He was basically my dad’s heir apparent, since Jack and I weren’t interested in the business. Really, what could be better than him dating me?
On the bright side, he brought me wine and pastries, so there was that.
Chapter 14 – Adam
I told you that I wasn’t engaged to Bianca, right? She’s a crazy bitch and needs to stay away from everyone, especially me.
It took Jack almost a day to answer my message. I tried to be patient; I mean, he was out in the Pacific with nothing but intermittent satellite access, so I couldn’t expect him to answer right away. But it was hard to wait. I had a lot I had to deal with, and I really felt like I had to have this conversation with Jack first.
Yeah, you told me.
I glanced up, making sure neither Gary nor Bianca were standing in my office doorway. I had just been feeling bad vibes all around—Bianca had been walking around looking smug for days, and Gary had been “forgetting” to tell me important things, like when meetings were changed. Things were just weird, but if Gary knew about me and Chrissy, he hadn’t said anything about it to me, or to Chrissy. And I was positive that he would.
So, are we cool then, bro? I mean, you know I wasn’t fucking around on anyone, right? You said you thought I was a good guy—is that still true? I need to know, because I have more shit to dump on you!
I knew it might be a minute, or it might be a day or more, before he got back to me, so I pulled out my files for a project I was just beginning. The Monroe bid, which I had pulled together, had been accepted, and since it was a government contract, it actually helped us that Bianca was considered an executive. One of the other execs was Hispanic, so we had a pretty good women and minority ratio.
Still, if it were up to me, we would scope out the grad schools and hire more young execs, or at least managers, with diverse backgrounds. I could think of a few from grad school who would do great work and shake things up around here—which was the opposite of what Gary wanted. Gary was a strong leader, but he was old school, and wasn’t thinking about trends, globalization, or the impact of technology.
Oh well, it was his company.
Yeah, we’re cool. Sorry. I had some residual anger over what I thought you’d done, but I’m over it. So, have at it, bro. Dump the shit.
I laughed. It felt good to be back on even ground with Jack. I was crazy about Chrissy, but Jack had been my best friend since we were kids.
I would just have to wait to figure out what I meant by crazy about. I just knew that our current situation was becoming less and less workable. I wanted something more. I didn’t know what, but something.
I’m dating Chrissy, and your parents don’t know.
The pause before he answered was so long that I figured they must be out of satellite range. I sighed and gathered my paperwork together. I had to file copies of the bid and contract with legal and HR, and bring the list of approved subcontractors with me to the meeting with the project manager from the county, plus hard copies of the tax documents I’d already faxed to prove we were an honest company, not shafting shareholders, not selling our secrets to the Russians, etc.
I checked in with Elaine on the way out the door. “Tell the boss I’m headed over to the county to turn in all the paperwork on the new justice center. I don’t know how long it will take, but it’s the government, so probably a lot longer than it needs to.”
She laughed and promised to pass on the message.
An hour later, nobody was laughing.
“Look.” I shoved a hand through my hair. “I had the same paperwork from Accounting that you do, and I didn’t see any discrepancies.”
“I know what you’re saying.” The county project guy, Hanson, was trying as hard as I was to be patient. “Maybe it’s nothing, but what could it hurt to get an audit? Just tell them it’s one more hoop the government wants you to jump through. The fact is, some of these numbers don’t add up, and the way things were moved around, you could make the case that it’s deliberate.”
“Am I going to lose this bid?”
“Not necessarily. Bring us an all-clear from an independent auditor within thirty days, and we’ll move it forward. It’s pretty standard stuff.”
“Standard.”
“Yeah, totally standard. But, Gardner? Arrange for the audit yourself, okay? As an executiv
e and a shareholder, you have that right.”
“Shit, you think someone is embezzling or something.”
“Obviously, I have no idea. That’s just one of a hundred possible explanations, the most likely one being stupid human error. But it is one. I don’t know, man, but I do know it has to be done within thirty days if you want this contract.”
“Okay, I get it. Thanks.”
As soon as I got out of his office, I pulled out my phone. “I need to speak to Chad, please. Or Steve. This is Aaron Gardner. You know what, forget it. Tell them I’m coming by and I need to see them. It’s an emergency.”
****
It took me all day to deal with this and seriously important projects got put on the back burner. It was irritating and frustrating. Chad told me that his firm could run the audit if I had a majority of stockholders consent to it.
“It really is business as usual,” he told me. “I mean, not always, but a lot of institutions need to make sure their contractors and subcontractors are legit and there’s nothing that can bite them in the ass later. I don’t think anyone will give it a second thought if you tell them the county is asking for it.”
“Hanson seemed to think there might be some malfeasance involved.”
“I doubt it, but since it’s always a possibility, they have to check. Just get those consents and call me when it’s time to get started. I can have a team—and by team I mean me and Steve—there first thing in the morning.”
When I got back, I locked myself in my office and started calling board members to get their consent for the audit. I had no idea whether this was proper procedure, but if Gary called me out on it, I would plead ignorance—which was true. I would tell him I didn’t know how else to do it, especially since we were in a time crunch. I called Chad back and told them to come on out in the morning.
So now the question was, did I tell Gary? If there was something illegal going on, Gary should know. Unless Gary was doing it, but why would he sabotage his own company that way? He was hugely successful without having to falsify anything.
I didn’t know, but I was getting damn sick of keeping secrets from Gary.
By six I had a splitting headache, and all I wanted to do was see Chrissy. Not to have sex—and we wouldn’t be having sex for a few days anyway—but just to find some peace.
****
I called in and told Elaine I’d be in late because I had to check in with the county. Which was abstractly true, because I really stopped by Chad and Steve’s office to drop off the consents that had been faxed in to me. I knew that once they showed up, there’d be no keeping the audit under the table, and that was fine. I’d deal with it. I could just play dumb, because hey, this was just business as usual, right? Everybody said so.
I let the guys leave for my office, and I took the long way back, stopping at Starbuck’s on the way. That would give them a good 45 minutes head start. I’d get there just as the Accounting department was pulling all the docs and records that the auditors would need. It would all be good.
I strolled in ready to walk right into my office, and I almost made it. Gary’s door opened and Bianca walked out, smoothing her hair. Her clothes were a little messed up, but before I could give that any thought, I heard Gary’s voice yell from inside the office.
“Get me Gardner!”
Uh oh. He sounded pissed.
“Right now, God dammit!”
I smiled at his Elaine. “No need,” I said casually, although my heart was racing. “I’m right here.”
I strolled past looking like I didn’t have a care in the world, but I knew I was about to get reamed. The audit had already started—I could see Chad and Steve set up in the conference room.
“Hey, Gary,” I said, sauntering into his office. “What’s up?”
It’s normal procedure, I reminded myself. Business as usual.
“What’s up, you asshole, is that you are fucking my daughter behind my back!”
Chapter 15 – Chrissy
I only went to the beach house because I was bored. Adam was working, Raina was working, Mom was working, I’d done my volunteering at the Human Society, and I was restless and irritable. Probably because it was the second day of my period and I still felt achy and out of sorts. And I didn’t like the thought of having no sex with Adam for three more days.
I was becoming an addict, and withdrawals were a bitch.
I unlocked the house just as the phone buzzed to tell me I’d gotten a text.
Adam told me you two are dating.
I closed the door behind me and dropped my purse on the table.
Okay…
I already told you I’m okay with that. But I haven’t answered him back yet. I just wanted to know your thoughts on it.
I breathed in the ocean smell that remained in this house even when it was shut up. But there was something else here too…perfume, or air freshener? I looked around and realized it wasn’t as dusty as it usually was when nobody had been here.
I sat down at the small kitchen table where a bunch of folders were spread out. I had no idea why there would be folders here—nobody came here to do work.
I really like him, I texted. He asked me to be his girlfriend. But he’s afraid that Dad will freak out if we go public.
You can’t exactly keep it secret forever, right?
Who says it will be forever?
Because seriously, if this was just a summer thing that would end when I went back to school, we could probably keep it under wraps.
Do you want it to be?
Trust Jack to ask the awkward question.
Maybe.
LOL.
Well, he could LOL all he wanted, but that was all he was going to get from me. I wasn’t stupid, I knew he talked to Adam as much as he talked to me.
I started flipping through the folders lying on the table.
What the hell?
Half an hour later I was back in the car, folders stacked beside me, flying down the interstate. I was crying, but I couldn’t stop to fix my makeup. I didn’t know what I should do, but all I could think was I had to get to Adam.
****
I hadn’t been to my dad’s office in years, and it took me a few minutes to find the right building in the industrial park. I ran up to their floor and was about to fling open the door into the Monroe complex when the door opened. It was Adam. Thank God. I threw myself into his arms and started sobbing.
His arms came around me immediately. “I was just coming to find you. What’s going on, sweetheart? Why are you crying?”
It took me a few minutes of crying against his chest, but I finally got myself under control and looked up at him. “Why were you coming to find me?”
He reached down and slipped his phone out of his pocket. “You weren’t answering any of my texts. And I couldn’t wait, I had to see you right away.”
“Why?”
“Bianca told your father about us,” he said grimly. “It wasn’t the way I would have had him find out. I was planning to get a few projects in order and then go to him and tell him myself.”
“You were?” I was still sniffling, and he pulled me tight against him. “So what happened?”
Adam chuckled a little. “He reamed me, as we predicted. He said something like, ‘you’ve been fucking my daughter behind my back.’”
I gasped. “He said that? He said it like that?”
“Yeah. Sorry. I shouldn’t have told you that part.” Adam shook his head. “I’m an idiot. I’m sorry.”
“What did you say to him?”
“Um, I said, ‘No, I’ve been dating your daughter for several weeks, and I didn’t tell you because you insisted that we all keep our private lives out of the office.’ And then I said something like, ‘If I ever had occasion to see you socially, I’d have mentioned it.’”
I looked up at him in awe. “You said those things to my father? Wow.”
Adam laughed ruefully. “Well, I don’t think he was quite as impressed, and
he did yell at me for about an hour, but he didn’t fire me or reassign my projects. I totally expected that. And hey, I got a weird text from Jack.”
He thumbed across his phone for a few seconds, then turned it to show me.
That’s awesome that you and C are dating—she’s had a total thing for you for years. Just be good to her or I’ll kick your ass. But be careful around my dad—something’s not right with him these days, and I’m not sure you can trust him. I don’t know—it’s just a feeling, but then, I’m 5000 miles away, so what the hell do I know?
I swallowed. I hadn’t known anything was going on with my dad. Maybe I was just too wrapped up in Adam to see things clearly.
“Funny thing is,” Adam mused, “when he called me into his office to yell at me about you, I thought he was going to give me the smackdown about something else.”
“Like what?”
“We have a bid on hold because of some discrepancies in the financial records. I started an independent audit this morning without telling him.”
I dropped my chin. “Can we go into your office?” My eyes began to water again and I had to wipe them quickly. “I have some things you need to see.”
“Sure,” he said, taking my hand. “Just—let’s try not to let your dad see us, okay?”
I laughed through my tears. “Okay.”
We walked into the complex and Adam led me off to the right. I passed an office and glanced in to see a stunning young woman lounging arrogantly in an office chair. She glared at me as though I had just stomped on her kitten.
“That must be Bianca,” I spat.
Adam looked back at me and rolled his eyes. “Yes, but don’t let her bother you. She can’t hurt us.”
“You don’t understand,” I said as he led me into his office and shut the door. “She already has.”
“What?”
I handed him the folders. “This makes a lot of sense of the audit too. Just read what’s in there.”
It took Adam about five minutes to read and understand the contents of the folders. He didn’t say anything when he was done, just met my eyes with fury blazing in his own, and said, “I’m not covering this up.”
Loved by the LumberJacks_A MFMMMM Reverse Harem Romance Page 91