“But when I agreed to this stuff, it was supposed to be business types of things, not personal outings,” I whined.
“Same difference. None of his family lives here, so you ride an hour there, do the whole reunion crap, pretend to be his date, and come home. Why is it such a big deal?”
“How am I supposed to pretend to be anything other than a friend to Max? I don’t know him any better than I know Willum. This stuff being business related is what makes doing this easy. No one really knows anyone else. I mean a few people may, but not since birth. Come on, Jase; surely you get where I’m coming from?”
“Not really. You’ll understand when you meet them. They don’t know him any better than people at a business function because they spend no time together—hence the reason he can get away with bringing a girl with him they’ve never met. They’ll all act like he’s talked about you for months because they won’t know any different and won’t want to look like they’re not in the know. Just trust me.”
“Couples touch, Jase.” I quirked my eyebrows at him and waited for him to realize what I was saying.
He stared at his plate, contemplating a response, before saying, “He won’t touch you.” His voice was low and gravelly, and I detected an edge of protectiveness which I’d hoped for. Every day I spent time with him, my feelings grew deeper, but he never broached the subject and never made any move to be anything more than my friend. He continued to push my outings with his buddies, so I tried to accept my role in his life.
“You don’t think people will find that odd?” I quipped.
“Have you spent much time around people with a lot of money?” he questioned.
“No, not the kind of money you guys have.”
“People don’t marry for love. They often marry for convenience, connection, or appearance. You’re well educated, drop-dead gorgeous, well spoken, and brilliant. No one will question Max being with you. They might, however, question why you’re with him.” He laughed at his own words, although I still didn’t buy it. “Look, Gia, if you don’t want to go then tell him no. But I think you’re making a mistake.”
I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest, refusing to eat any more. “Fine. I’ll go. But if he touches me or things get weird, I’m coming after you.”
“Deal.” He winked and stuffed the last bite of his sandwich in his mouth.
I just shook my head and smiled back. The truth was, I loved this man. I’d only known him a few months, but in that time, he’d taken my heart and breathed life back into it like it was a balloon that needed inflating. He was my confidant, my friend, and holy hotness Batman, just a beautiful man. One look into those stormy gray eyes and I was a goner.
As we got back into the car, I buckled my seatbelt to prepare for the ride to work. Our lunch outings were becoming more frequent, but I tried to make sure I was back within my allotted hour every day—today being the exception since I was late coming in. I didn’t want people to think I was treated any differently than anyone else because of my friendship with Jase. I meant it when I said I wanted to work my way up, and other than today, I hadn’t missed any time.
He took his eyes off the road for just a moment and put his hand on my knee. I prayed he’d leave it there, but he was simply trying to get my attention. “What are the kids going to do while you’re off gallivanting around with Max?”
It was the first time he’d really inquired about them, and it caught me off guard. He knew I’d had to take Emmy to the doctor but hadn’t asked any questions. “Um, well, I assume they’ll stay with Miss Pearl. Why?”
“Can I take them for the day instead?” he stared straight ahead. The vein in his neck pulsed a fast beat as I stared at him, wondering what his motivation was and how I’d hide Emmy’s unnatural fatigue.
“I guess that’d be okay. Are you sure you want to do that? Having them an entire day when you’ve never had them alone for an hour is a lot. Do you know what you’re getting yourself into?”
“Nope, not a clue, but I thought it’d be fun to get to know them, hang out, and give Miss Pearl a break. The last couple times I’ve been over, she hasn’t looked all that well.”
I slapped my hand on the door. “I said the same thing. I’ve asked her about her cough, but she blows me off. I think there’s something going on, but she won’t admit it.” It worried me he’d noticed the change in her, too. It had been going on for a couple of weeks now, but she wasn’t letting it stop her.
“Do you think she’d let Derrick come with us?”
“I don’t see why not, but I’ll have to ask. What are you going to do with them? You know Emmy still naps, right?” I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face. He had no clue what he was getting into—four kids under the age of five, by himself—it was suicide…figuratively speaking of course.
“I have an idea, but you’ll just have to wait and see. I’ll figure something out so Emmy can nap if she needs to.” The smirk told me whatever he had up his sleeve would win them over for life. Part of me worried about allowing him to get too close, but I convinced myself I’d never hesitate to bring a female friend around them so Jase being a male shouldn’t change that. The difference, no matter how hard I tried to deny it, was I had feelings for him, and he could easily start dating someone and just walk away. They didn’t need another man disappearing.
“I’ll ask Pearl tonight when I pick the kids up after work and let you know what she says.”
We walked into the building, and he escorted me back to my department before heading up to his own floor. As he was leaving, I called out to him, “Are you ever going to show me your neck of the woods?” I’d delivered mail all over the building, but the executive floor was pretty well sequestered. We dropped the mail with their receptionist—yes, the floor had its own—and she delivered it to the big wigs.
“I’ll take you to my house tonight if you want to see it?” He looked confused, and my mail mate, Nancy, snickered next to me.
“Not your house, although that would be cool, too. I meant your floor, goofball. I’ve never seen your office.”
He blushed as though he might be embarrassed he’d thought I was talking about his home. “Go tell Dale you’re going upstairs, and I’ll send you back in a bit.”
My boss didn’t care where I was going or what I was doing. He did as little as possible and interacted as infrequently as he could get away with it. So as long as we emptied the mailroom daily, he didn’t really give a hoot what we were doing, but I told him anyhow. He just gave me a head jerk, essentially dismissing me.
I sidled up next to Jase and rode up the elevator in silence. When we stepped off, he took my hand, and I followed him past the girl who normally stops me at her desk. She gave me the stink eye just as Jase turned his head. It took everything I had not to stick my tongue out at her, but I refrained and just smiled instead. Kill ’em with kindness.
I was in awe. Everything about this floor was different than all the others. There were very few people, the offices were huge, and they all lined the perimeter of the floor. The seven offices seemed to be of equal size—enormous—in a C shape behind the reception desk. She sat in front of a solid wall of frosted glass, and in the middle of the C appeared to be a group of administrative assistants, one for every manager on the floor.
I almost choked on my own tongue when Jase’s assistant, Allison, introduced herself to me. She was a bombshell and could easily score a job as a Victoria’s Secret model. I wanted to hate her, but she was genuinely nice and obviously very good at her job. From what little I was able to decipher from their two-minute conversation, she could’ve very well been the one running the company, and Jase just be her cover. I consciously kept my mouth from falling open in wonder and made a mental note to befriend Allison.
His office was just as inspiring as his assistant. Located in the corner of the uppermost floor, two walls were solid glass and the view was breathtaking. I stepped to the window, ignoring everything else around me, and stared out at t
he bustling city beneath me. Unless I got right up to the edge, all that was visible was gorgeous blue sky. I’d never get anything done in this office.
“So what do you think?”
I turned to face him, but the pictures on the desk caught my attention. I picked up the one next to his monitor, and after staring at it dumbfounded, I stole a glance in his direction. His smile shone bright, his eyes warm, and that cute little scar that begged to be touched seared into my memory. The picture in my hand was of the two of us at the Literacy Gala. I’d never seen it before, but he had his hand on my lower back, we were both holding glasses of wine, and I’d looked up at him. I didn’t know when the moment had happened or what we were talking about, but the admiration for him was painfully obvious on my face, and if I didn’t know better, I would have thought we were a couple in love.
“It was my favorite of the evening.” He didn’t know what to say, and I didn’t push. I was beyond flattered he had a picture of me on his desk. Behind it sat the only other personal picture in his office, and it was of him and his friends on some luxurious yacht. It was probably a couple of years old if I had to guess, but they all looked the same, just more mature.
I set the frame back down and answered his original question. “I love it.”
~~~
Pearl gladly handed over the kids for the day to Jase, but I still didn’t have any idea what he planned to do with them for hours while I went to this family picnic with Max. I was a little edgy but had talked to Emmy repeatedly about telling Jase if she was too tired or if she started to hurt. She blew me off in typical three-year-old fashion. When he showed up, the kids were bouncing off the walls, excited, and my heart melted at the thought of Jase spending the day with my babies. He looked so young and carefree standing in the doorway in khaki shorts, a fraternity T-shirt that had seen better days, and tennis shoes. He had some sexy legs—I couldn’t stop staring at his calf muscles.
“Gia, what are you looking at?”
“Huh?” I scrambled out of my dazed state and tried to recover with some grace but totally flopped. “Nothing.” I waved my hand, but he knew I’d been checking him out.
“You look great. Is that a new outfit?”
“No, this one was mine. Pre-pregnancy but still cute and kind of timeless.” I figured capris were still in style, so I paired them with a white button-down tank top. The soft yellow was fun and spring-like. I thought it was safe—conservative—but when I bought it, it had a huge price tag. I didn’t want to stand out.
He kissed me on the cheek after he told the kids it was time to go. “Have fun with Max today.”
“Wait. Where are you taking them?”
Four sets of huge eyes stared up at him in anticipation. “Water Wally’s,” he shouted with excitement, and the kids went crazy jumping up and down.
“Jase, you can’t take four kids who can’t swim to a crowded water park.” I felt horrible crushing his idea, but it wasn’t safe. “And what about Emmy’s nap?”
“Somehow, I knew you’d feel that way. So I took care of it.”
“You took care of it? What does that mean?”
“I mean I took care of all of it. I didn’t know if they’d have swimsuits or those cool little water shoes, and I doubted they knew how to swim.”
“And?”
“I solicited some help.”
“Jase, enough with the cryptic messages.” I was a little irritated, and I could tell it hurt his feelings, but my kids didn’t know how to swim.
“I rented out the park for the day, including all the lifeguards and cabanas.” He looked down at the twinkling eyes in front of him. “My friend Allison helped me pick out swimsuits, towels, and water shoes for everyone.” That cut deep. The beautiful assistant had picked out stuff for my kids. They’d made arrangements for my children so I could go off with some random guy to make money. I tried to keep my feelings from showing and listened as he continued to talk to the bouncing bundles of energy in front of him. “My buddies are going to meet us there—Holland, Willum, Drake, and Allison. We’ll start with swim lessons, but we have floaties just in case, and then the park is ours for the whole day.” He’d thought of everything, and I wasn’t a part of it…but Allison, the blonde bombshell, was. “And if anyone needs to rest, there are plenty of places to lie down in the cabanas.”
My feeble attempt to perk up was pitiful. “That sounds like fun, huh, guys?” They didn’t need me to perk them up—they were already running out the door.
“Come on, Jase. Let’s go!” Megan could be a bossy little thing.
The fake grin on my face hurt, but I just had to hold it long enough to get him out the door.
“You cool with this?” he asked, knowing something was wrong, but I’m sure he assumed it was because I was worried about them. If I were any kind of mother, I would have been, instead of being jealous of another woman hanging out with a man who wasn’t mine—with my children.
I lied through my teeth and muttered the words he wanted to hear. “I’m good.”
“Try to have a good time today. We’ll see you tonight for dinner. My treat,” he called out behind him as he left.
Max walked by him to pick me up as Jase caught up with the kids. With a high-five in passing, neither one stopped. It would take a monumental effort to recover from the Allison blow, and I wasn’t sure I’d be able to pull it off.
“You okay, Gianna? Are you sick?” If a voice could ever turn someone on, it would be Max’s. It was thick and rich, manly with a hint of sex appeal. Max was an anomaly—he came from old money, but he looked like he’d pull out a skateboard at any moment. He still wore his bangs longer than the rest of his hair, which he had to flip out of his face regularly, and had this tan that made him look like he lived outside instead of in an office making scads of cash.
I had to put Jase out of my mind. I had a better chance of one of his friends being interested than him. Holland still texts or calls me just about every day—he asks my opinion on everything and treats me like his own personal sidekick. I think he’d spend every waking moment with me if I didn’t have children, but I wasn’t ready to add another regular face to the mix. “Yeah, I’m good.” I donned my game face, grabbed my pocket book, and walked out the door.
“So tell me what I’m in for today.” I found Max easy to talk to, and he was easy to be around, not to mention easy on the eyes, so hanging out with him wasn’t a chore. His personality was as laid back as his hair.
“Boredom.” He paused and I laughed. “My family does this stupid picnic once a year, and it’s mandatory according to my mother. If I didn’t love her, I’d tell her to shove it, but I’m a mama’s boy so that’s not really an option.”
“So if you do this every year, why did you need me with you?”
He raked his hand through his bangs before he spoke. “My parents are trying to arrange an engagement for me.”
I was horrified and in total disbelief. “What? Does that even happen anymore?”
“It does in my family. Men are expected to marry, and much sooner than I have. For me to show up without a date would’ve been bad. The list of potential mates, all of whom will be here, is a mile long—and so is my list of reasons for not wanting to date any of them.”
“So what might they be?” I found his irritation with his parents wanting to marry him off humorous.
“The number one reason?” He looked serious, but his tone was light.
“Sure.”
“I’m gay.”
If I’d had anything in my mouth, I would’ve spit it all over the windshield. “Seriously?”
“Yep, and I’ve been in a relationship with Kip since college.” He smiled when he mentioned his boyfriend’s name.
“Do your friends know?” I was stunned, not judgmental.
“Of course they do.” He laughed.
“So why don’t you tell your parents?” I was confused.
“They know,” he said matter-of-factly.
“What a
m I missing?”
“They know. They don’t care. They’re fine with me carrying on with my ‘thing.’” He used air quotes to describe his relationship. “But I need to marry properly for appearances. There are lots of women out there who are more than happy to accommodate my need for an outside relationship.”
“Your parents don’t really believe that, do they?”
“Every word.”
Instantly, I felt sorry for Max. I didn’t know what it was like for anyone else to have expectations for me, only for me to have them of myself. I never had to compromise who I was to make someone else happy. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. No offense.”
“None taken. But please, don’t take offense when the only time I need your help is to ward off my family. Other than being friendly, there’s no need to pretend we’re anything else.”
“Wait. So you want your family to believe I’m one of those women?” I asked horrified. “No way!”
“Oh, come on, Gianna. This is common where I come from. My mother married my father under similar circumstances.”
“Your father’s gay, too?”
He snickered under his breath. “No. My father has another family. He was in love with a woman my grandparents didn’t approve of, so he kept her on the side. My mom has always known about her. I have half siblings I’ve never met. It’s not a secret, but we don’t sit around and talk about it at family dinners or anything.”
I guess everyone had a little bit of weird in their lives they were trying to hide. For me, it was my past, and Max had this. I had too many of my own skeletons to cast judgment on anyone else.
“You’ll love my mom. And I promise she’ll love you.”
He was right. I could have put his mom in my pocket and taken her home with me. She was infectious. The moment she laid eyes on me, she knew I wasn’t legit and spent the next four hours telling me how much she appreciated what I was doing for Max’s image, even if we never got married. When I told her about the kids, she shocked the snot out of me, pulling out her phone to look them up on Facebook. She didn’t understand how a woman my age didn’t have social media but decided she loved that about me as much as she loved my ready-made family.
Fallen Woman Page 8