by Alice Ward
“No,” I said, quicker than I meant to.
She set her tablet on the seat next to her. The limo glided to a stop as we approached an intersection. Rochelle remained passive, still as a statue and looking at me.
“What?” I demanded.
“How many years have we known each other?”
I shrugged. “I can’t recall.”
Of course I remembered. It was six. Rochelle was my first publicist, and I hoped she’d be my last. I didn’t need to run the gamut of media relations specialists to know she was the best. Not only did she do her job well, I trusted her. That was saying a lot. Aside from her, the only person I would ever share a secret with would be Julian.
“Something’s up with you. Could it be… a woman?” She smiled at her own joke. In the time that we’d been together, Rochelle had never seen me with the same woman twice. She understood my need to put my career first. Like me, she’d also put everything on the back burner to focus on her job.
I refused to laugh at her sarcasm. “What do you mean?”
The grin fell off her face. “Is there a woman?”’
I didn’t like the way Rochelle’s eyes felt on me. I quickly turned my face toward the window. We were still twenty blocks away from the press conference’s location. “Why did you say that?” I asked the window.
She took her time. “Because you seem distracted. I was joking.”
I’ve met someone. The words lay on my tongue, ready to fly out and announce themselves to the world the moment I decided to release them. But I wouldn’t do it. Telling someone else about Riley made her existence in my life too real… too permanent. Too impossible.
“There’s no one.”
The words were more acrid than I expected them to be, burning my mouth on the way out and leaving a thick smog in their wake. I could make Riley mine. If only I wanted to. She was willing. I could see it in her eyes, see it in the way she nearly fell apart each time I touched her. All it would take would be a few words, and she would be mine.
But I couldn’t do that. I didn’t have the time. I didn’t have the need. And I most certainly didn’t have the long-term desire. My fascination with Riley was most likely a passing thing.
Rochelle cleared her throat. “Then let me ask you this. If there’s no one, what’s going on with you? Is everything all right?”
I whipped my eyes back to her. “Yes. I’m just mentally preparing myself for the press conference.”
Rochelle nodded, but I could tell she wasn’t satisfied. The woman was keenly astute and clever. At times, she read me like a book. Sometimes I could manage to evade her detective work, but not always. Sometimes, whether I liked it or not, I could be far too easy to dissect.
If Rochelle picked up on my mood this easily, I wasn’t doing things right. I was allowing myself to be distracted by a woman. I’d made myself a promise years ago to never allow a relationship to consume me. I’d seen that happen to my parents, with extremely bad side effects involved. People lost themselves in intimate relationships, usually for the worst. I was better than that.
I had to be better than that.
I closed my eyes and rubbed them with my knuckles. Cutting Riley completely loose wasn’t the answer, but limiting time spent with her could be. I’d pushed things too fast. I took us away on a romantic weekend when I shouldn’t have. The result was that I not only probably gave her the wrong idea, but I also did the same for myself. I’d shown myself a hint of what life could be like with a woman, and I liked it. I liked it far too much.
Now it was time to get back to work and rein things in.
That meant not getting in touch with her that day. Or the next. Or the rest of the week, at all. When Friday came, I could hit her up and see what was going on. Until then, there needed to be some clearly drawn lines.
My whole body tensed up at the thought, my nails digging into the leather armrest next to me. Two days of exploring Riley’s body nonstop only had me hungry for more. I didn’t know how I was going to get through five days without her. There was always the option of going out and picking up another girl. Plenty of women would be thrilled to share my bed for a night. But that didn’t appeal to me right now. If anything, getting my hands on another woman’s body would just make me want Riley’s more.
I needed to find another way to release the pent-up energy. And there was only one other method that tended to work. Pulling my phone out of my pocket again, I shot John a quick text.
Notify me of any troublemakers tonight. I’ll be close.
Satisfied, I tucked the phone away. A good fight would be just what I needed. If I was lucky, I might be able to get my hands on two assholes in one night.
Rochelle sat watching me again. I crossed my legs and sent her a nonchalant look back. “Yes?”
She shrugged and looked away. “Nothing.”
“What?” I demanded, starting to get annoyed.
A smile snuck across her lips as she turned back to me. “You’re an awful liar, you know.”
“If I’m that bad, how did I get so rich?”
She chuckled. “Oh, you’re good at lying when it comes to business. It’s when it comes to your personal life that you’re bad.”
I could feel my jaw practically unhinge.
Rochelle’s smile stretched into a full-faced grin. “I hope I get to meet her soon.”
***
I hadn’t planned on going to Enigma. Hell, I hadn’t planned on going anywhere. I thought I’d work on a project that had been sorely lacking my attention. Then I’d work out until I was too exhausted to do anything but fall into a dead ass sleep.
But here I was, heading up the steps to the VIP lounge and happy to see Julian sitting at the balcony rail, sipping a drink, scowling at something on the main floor. I laughed when he jumped as my hand came down on his shoulder.
“Who are you about to kill, and can I help?” I asked with a grin.
He didn’t respond, just kept scowling down at the floor, then chuckled and looked up at me. His sudden change of mood was confusing. “Forget your meds today?” I asked and took a seat across from him.
He grinned and looked back down. “Nah. Just enjoying the view.”
I followed his sight line and spotted a gorgeous blonde handing some pissed off looking dude a towel. The man stood, and I could see that his crotch was wet. I looked back at Julian, who hadn’t taken his eyes off the blonde.
“Pretty.”
He nodded and slid his eyes over to me, piercing me with his gaze. “Off limits,” he barked, “I’m helping her out.”
The waitress had set my usual drink onto the table. I lifted the glass to my lips and took a long drink. “Helping, huh?”
He narrowed his eyes further. “Yes, helping. Hands off.”
I lifted my hand in mock surrender. “I hear you. Want to talk about it?”
He scoffed. “No, Dr. Phil. I think I’m good.”
I laughed and looked back down to the floor, then glanced back over to Julian to see him practically salivating over the blonde. She lifted a tray over her head and the hem of her dress rose. Julian groaned, and I laughed again.
He scowled over at me. “You seem to be in a good mood,” he said and took a long drink, then signaled to the bartender for another round.
I kept the smile plastered on my face. “Life is… um, interesting.”
Julian snorted. “You buy that bumper sticker?”
“Yep, and the t-shirt.”
Silence fell between us. Not an awkward one, we’d known each other too long for that. But it felt empty, like there was something hanging between us that needed to be said. I glanced at him again, tempted to tell him about Riley. Fuck. I needed someone’s advice. Why not my best friend’s? But I wasn’t ready. Besides, I was a fucking dude. Dudes didn’t talk about feelings and shit.
Instead, we talked about football and the new MLB baseball team, the Beasts, and how we both wanted to get season tickets. We talked business. Women. Normal locker room shit. Riley’s
name sat on the edge of my tongue, but I couldn’t say it out loud just yet. Not even with Julian.
“You okay, man?” I asked Julian as he stared back down at the main level.
I found the same blonde waitress he was watching. Helping out. Yeah, right. But I wouldn’t push it. Julian clearly wasn’t ready to talk about a girl either.
He flicked a glance at me. “Yeah. I’m good.”
I smirked, then all humor fled as I watched him watching the girl. I missed Riley.
And I hated that I missed her. Lifting my drink, I downed it in a single gulp, and stood up. I clamped a hand on Julian’s shoulder. “Let’s talk soon. I’ve got some things on my mind too.”
He seemed to do a double take and looked up at me, brow furrowed. “Want to head to the office?” he offered. “I’ve got time now.”
I looked at my watch. “Not now. Later this week, maybe.”
He stood and held out a hand. “Anytime, anywhere.”
I shook his hand and strode off toward the steps, checking the time again. Heading down, I glanced back at Julian one last time. He was still staring at the girl.
And I had a feeling that both of our lives were about to change.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Riley
I settled into the plastic chair with an exhausted sigh. Every part of my body ached, but my calves hurt the most. Taking a moment to myself, I closed my eyes and stretched my legs out under the table. At least I was alone in the bakery. With the day done, all the customers and other employees were gone. It was just me, a dirty floor waiting to be swept, and a cash register waiting to be counted.
Opening my eyes, I stretched my arms above my head and looked out the window. Being busy all week long had been good. It afforded me less time to think about Xavier.
I thought he’d call by now, or at least text. The Xavier I thought I knew the week before wouldn’t have, but the Xavier I saw over the weekend? He was the kind of guy who didn’t let you out of his sight, the kind of guy who checked in every morning and called every night to make sure you got home safe.
What happened to that guy? Did he only come out on the weekends? On the full moon?
I could have just texted Xavier myself, but I didn’t know what I’d say. Hey, what’s up? I couldn’t ask him to meet up right then because I was up to my eyeballs in work.
He could have been busy. Just like me. The whole week had been kicking my butt. In an attempt to make up for angering Dan over the weekend, I’d picked up two extra shifts. Add those to my waitressing shifts, and that meant the last two days had been doubles. I was close to falling over. But at least I’d caught up in the money department. All my bills would be paid on time this month and I’d have some cash to put into savings. Remembering that made me feel a little bit better about my whole life.
Taking the bills out of the drawer, I started counting. I wrote everything down as I went, in an extra attempt to get the numbers right. Once I finished, I counted the bills all over again, checked my totals, and made a drawer for the next day. I put the fresh drawer back in the cash register and deposited the rest of the money in the safe in the office. Now all that was left was the floor. After I cleaned that, I was out of here.
As I walked back to the front, debating what kind of cleaning music I should jam out to, my phone beeped. I hurried over to my purse and took it out. Xavier.
Hey, did you see my wristwatch while we were at the cabin?
The initial euphoria I felt over seeing his name pop on my phone vanished. Instead, annoyance took its place. This was how he chose to get back in touch after four days of silence? By asking me if I’d seen his wristwatch?
And who even wore watches anymore? Rich, stuffy businessmen, that’s who. Like Xavier. A guy who could probably afford to buy every watch in the world, plus some more.
Nope. Sorry. I texted back.
I realized how cutting I sounded and composed a second text. I’ll look in my bag when I get home. Maybe it got picked up with some of my stuff.
I might have been annoyed, but being absolutely caustic wasn’t going to do me any good. The text messages sent, I got started on cleaning. I kept the music off, though, just in case Xavier texted me back.
My phone stayed silent as I swept and mopped the floor. I was just finishing up the last corner when Dan knocked on the window. Stepping carefully over the still wet spots, I unlocked the front door for him.
“Careful,” I said. “The floor is kind of wet.”
“It looks good in here,” he said, going over to the counter and checking the printout from the day’s sales. “I came to get the deposit. Gonna put it in the bank bright and early, before I go to Costco tomorrow.”
“Great.” I went back to my mopping. We were quiet as I finished up and Dan got the money from the office.
“I’m all done,” I announced.
Dan looked up from his phone, glanced around the front of the shop, and nodded. “Did you clean the bathrooms good?”
“Yes. I put those tabs in the toilet to soak overnight.”
He put his phone in his pocket and looked away from me. “I’m out.”
Draping my purse over my shoulder, I followed him toward the front door. Just as he opened it, a man rounded the corner. I froze and did a double take. It was Xavier.
I stood in the open doorway, surprise sealing me to the spot. Xavier stopped a few feet away, gave me a quick look, then glanced over at Dan. My manager, noticing something was up, lifted his chin. “Can I help you?”
Xavier inclined his head toward me. “I’m here to escort Riley home.”
Escort. Now I felt like we were in the nineteenth century.
Xavier chaperoning me home was news to me, but I kept my mouth shut.
“You’re Dan?” Xavier asked.
“That’s right.”
I cringed, anticipating the shit storm that could very well be approaching. I opened my mouth to stop it, but Xavier barreled ahead, doing what he damn well pleased, just like he always did. “I hope you’re not working Riley too hard.”
The dim lighting did nothing to hide the way Dan’s chest puffed up. “We pride ourselves on hard work here. And we reward it.”
“Do you?” Xavier asked, his voice like ice.
“Excuse me?”
Heat flooded my body, and I shut my eyes tight. This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. Xavier just went MIA for half a week, and now he was here, trying to defend my honor?
“Let me ask you this,” Xavier said. “Do you pay your employees the appropriate amount of overtime? Time and a half?”
“I know what the legal overtime is,” Dan growled. “And who are you to come in here and ask me about how I run things? What do you do?”
“I run a multibillion-dollar corporation,” Xavier coolly answered.
I’d heard enough. Not only had I never been so embarrassed in my life, I felt pretty sure I was about thirty seconds away from being fired. Moving quickly, I stepped between the two men. “I really need to get home.”
Dan ignored me and leaned to look past me to Xavier. His eyes narrowed, the disgust evident on his face. “Who are you again? Her boyfriend?”
Xavier’s mouth opened, but only silence followed.
“Right,” Dan answered. “I think I’ve heard enough.” He turned and walked down the sidewalk. A long, tense exhale left my chest. It wasn’t the exit I was hoping for, but at least I hadn’t been canned. Not yet, anyway.
“Asshole,” Xavier muttered from behind me.
Anger flashed through me so quickly it was a surprise I didn’t black out from the intensity of it. Spinning on my heel, I faced the arrogant man in front of me. “Are you kidding me?”
Xavier looked at me in confusion.
“You just embarrassed me in front of my boss! And maybe got me fired. And why? Because you had to come over here and make sure I didn’t have your stupid watch?”
His nose wrinkled. “I don’t care about a watch.”
Now it was my turn to be confused. “Then why did you come here?”
“To see you.”
“Oh.” I let his words sink in. As they did, some of my anger faded away.
“Come over.”
“Now?”
“Yes,” he murmured. “My car is right over there.” He nodded his head at an idling SUV just down the block.
Even though I was mad about what just happened, I took a deep breath to clear my head. Did I want to say no to Xavier? Could I? He held out his hand, the invitation to go with him clear. As if drawn by a strong magnet, my fingers threaded through his. He smiled, and we walked to his car and climbed in. The driver said good evening, and I nodded back.
“I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” Xavier said as he took a seat next to me.
“I get that.”
“But I did.”
“Uh-huh.”
Xavier turned his face toward the roof of the car. “That man is even worse than I thought he would be.”
My anger was back. “So what? What if he is? That’s my problem. Let me deal with it. I don’t barge into your office in the middle of the day and tell you how to run things.”
“That would be amusing.”
His lighthearted response punched me in the gut. I fell back against my seat and stared out the window. I felt too defeated and too tired to stand up for myself anymore. In between work and Xavier, it seemed like I was always fighting a questionable and chaotic war. But was it even worth it?
“Riley.”
I didn’t look at him. I couldn’t look at him. If I did, he’d win me over with whatever apology or cocky declaration he was about to spew. And being won over by Xavier was dangerous. He might be there that night, but what about the next?
“I haven’t heard from you all week,” I found myself saying, still not turning back to him. “And now you show up, chewing out my boss and… and...” Words failed me. I didn’t even know where I was headed next.
A long silence followed. My eyes burned and my stomach twisted into a knot. Maybe I should have just asked Xavier to take me home. Even if he was really into me, his behavior was too much. I couldn’t risk my job for him.
His voice permeated the darkness of the backseat. “You’re mine. I won’t let anyone abuse you. Ever.”