“What?”
“It’s personal.”
I laughed. “I’ve tasted every sweet inch of your body, Talia. That’s personal, this is just some shit you don’t want to share.”
“Exactly. You’re not my boyfriend Luke and you don’t want to be so stop acting like I owe you anything!”
She was right. Mostly. “What if I do? Want to be, that is?” Wait, what the fuck did I just say? I didn’t feel sick or panicky, my heart rate was as normal as it ever was around Talia, instead of near heart attack level at the idea of being someone’s boyfriend. It was a title I avoided at all costs.
Judging by the shock in her honey brown eyes, I’d shocked Talia too.
Talia
He didn’t mean it, of course he didn’t mean it. Luke was nobody’s boyfriend and he probably said it just to get a rise out of me. That’s why he said the majority of what came out his mouth, at least to me. He was screwing with my head, at least he was trying to. But he wouldn’t because I wouldn’t let him. So I tried to shake it off. I tried hard but every time there was a moment of silence, his voice was there all deep and sexy and uncertain. What if I do? Want to be, that is.
Who says that right before a three and a half hour drive? Luke, that’s who. And the worst part was that he looked and sounded so sincere when he said the words that I panicked and peeled out of the parking lot, driving like a bat out of hell as I reminded myself that Frederico had been a fantastic fucking liar too. He’d made me believe a lot of shit that I shouldn’t have. I refused to make that mistake again.
Pretending that he didn’t say anything was the only course of action, especially since I was on my way to his office to make him regret he was ever born. When I divided up the tasks for Luke and I for both the wedding and the Northwest Adventure Classic, I gave myself more tasks in deference to his job as CFO, even though I was working double duty myself. And even after all that, he still didn’t do it all.
Fucking, men.
I signed in and went up in the elevator, giving a sigh of relief that Scarlett wasn’t at her desk. If I had to deal with that crazy bitch right now, she might end up flat on her ass. I pushed inside his office and found it empty. “Luke?” Maybe he was working out or in the bathroom.
“Oh!” Scarlett was coming from the back of Luke’s office, where the bathroom, gym and lounge were, a smug smile on her face as she drew my attention to her fingers. Fastening the buttons on her too small blouse.
I knew that smile and I knew what it meant. I figured it out about a half a second before Luke came out, adjusting himself. As angry as I was—and believe me I was fucking fuming—I felt a sense of relief that I was right about Luke all along. Not that it helped the fracturing inside my chest or the boiling of my blood, but a deep sense of satisfaction that I hadn’t been blindsided. Again.
“Uh, Talia, hey.” He held a hand up in greeting like I was his fucking buddy. Well I wouldn’t give his guilt or her smugness any response at all.
I had more pressing business at the moment. “You haven’t done the fucking tuxedoes, Lukas! The one thing I asked you do as early as possible so you wouldn’t forget and you fucking forgot!” I shook my head, disgust and anger my overriding emotions. “You hardly had anything to do and still you couldn’t do it. Thanks, Lukas.” My phone buzzed and I stared at him, ignoring the hurt while I dug it out of my bag.
“Be reasonable, the wedding isn’t for-,”
I turned my back to that asshole because Blake was calling and he never called. Something was wrong. “Yeah?”
“Talia, I called you at the office but you weren’t there. It’s Poppy, her water broke and she’s screaming for you.”
Labor. Just what I needed. “You remember the plan?”
He huffed out a laugh. “You sent me an updated copy yesterday, so yes.”
“Great. I’ll be there soon.” With the phone still in my hand I turned to find Luke and Scarlett wearing the same expressions as before. Guilt and pride. Well I didn’t want either and with a shake of my head, I left.
My head was held high and my shoulders square. I refused to let the disappointment I felt outshine my glee at not falling for his bullshit.
I only made the stupid mistake of falling for the man.
Luke
Dammit! I couldn’t believe Talia walked out without giving me a chance to explain that as bad as it looked, it wasn’t what she thought it was. It looked damn bad as I was sure Scarlett had meant it to for whoever had entered my office, because I hadn’t been expecting Talia specifically. It just pissed me off that she didn’t want to even hear my side of things and more than that, it cemented my idea that relationships were utter shit.
“It’s not too late to change your mind,” Scarlett purred, brushing her fingertips along the cleavage she insisted on showing off every fucking day.
I scoffed at that. “I don’t think so. Tomorrow you start in the accounting department and if I see you on this floor for any reason, you’re fired.” I’d had enough with her subtle flirting and innuendo but I ignored it because I wasn’t Blake. Now I see that, once again, big brother was right.
Scarlett pushed her chest and ass out, pouting in that way that women think is sexy but really fucking isn’t. “Unless someone tells.”
Ah, the threat. “Not very original, Scarlett. Because I was trying to be nice since you were a halfway decent assistant but now, you are fired.” I walked over to my desk and pressed the extension for HR. This was exactly why I didn’t fuck my assistants. Women were mercenary creatures who would seek revenge in the most cutthroat way imaginable.
“Fire me and you’ll find yourself in the middle of a sexual harassment lawsuit,” she threatened outright this time.
“You know that is an excellent idea. I’ll have my lawyers file a lawsuit against you immediately and Exhibit A against you will be the video recordings I started the moment you walked into my office. Uninvited.” Just because the world thought I was nothing more than a rich playboy with a head for numbers, didn’t make it true.
The year-round tan she maintained couldn’t hide the way her skin turned white at my words. She sucked in a breath. “That’s illegal.”
“Not when you’re not where you’re supposed to be. My office is off-limits unless you get explicit instructions to enter. You did not have it.” I gave her a satisfied smile that matched the one she couldn’t help but flash at Talia, making everything worse.
Roberta entered looking harried in that way that all HR Directors do, flashing a nervous smile at me and then Scarlett. She took a seat, scribbling as I gave her a detailed account of what happened. “Sir?”
“You heard right, Roberta. She’s to be fired effective immediately.” Roberta opened her mouth to ask a question just as my phone buzzed on the desk. “One second. What’s up, Blake?”
“Poppy’s in labor.” He sounded confused and I can only imagine why. Talia. She knew and left without telling me.
“I’m on my way,” I told him and ended the call. “Blake’s fiancée is in labor, Roberta. If you have any questions give me a call and start collecting resumes for a new assistant.” I fumed all the way down the elevator and to my car, cursing Talia as I made my way to the hospital and up to the maternity ward waiting room. I couldn’t believe it. That call must have been Blake and she’d looked right at me and hadn’t said a damn thing.
Everyone was in the waiting room, including Blake. Lacey and Walker sat together and Maple was next to Blake offering words of comfort. “Where’s Talia? She was in my office when you called.”
Both Maple and Blake wore matching expressions of shock but neither responded to my outburst. “She’s Poppy’s birth coach,” Blake said looking a bit dazed. “She was doing a lot of screaming. And swearing.”
“Well I hear childbirth hurts a bit, brother.” I didn’t need to be a sullen bastard right now, not when this was Blake’s time to fall apart and make unreasonable demands. “So what can I do, buy cigars? Diapers? Remind you of
what she’s going through in there.”
“I did that already,” Maple offered with a mischievous smile.
“You can tell me what’s up with you and Talia.”
Dammit, I had to open my big mouth, didn’t I? “Who knows. She walked in on something that looked fucked up but it wasn’t at all what it was. She didn’t give me a chance to explain, just started bitching because I forgot to do the tux fittings. And then you called and she didn’t say a fucking word. Sorry Maple. She just looked at me all disgusted and walked out.” Both hands raked through my hair. “She was going to let me miss out on the birth of my niece or nephew because she’s angry.”
“Blake has enough to worry about.” Maple stood just as Fred returned with a cardboard holder full of coffee cups. “You come with me and Fred is going to tell Blake all about the day his wife gave birth to their first child.”
“You got it sweetheart.” The old man smiled at her, absolutely smitten, and kissed her cheek before handing cups out.
Maple waited until we were outside in the small memorial area of the hospital that was filled with benches and flowers before she spoke. “Let me get this right, her best friend who’s more like a sister to her is in labor and she should have waited for a man who doesn’t want commitment from her or anyone else, to explain why he was fucking his secretary?” She shook her head while I was still trying to come to grips with hearing her say ‘fucking’. “So cliché, by the way.”
“I didn’t fuck her. I wasn’t fucking her because I don’t screw my assistants.”
“But you never shut her down, am I right?” I nodded and she shook her head. “Well that’s just stupid, son.”
I laughed and leaned back in the bench, crossing my legs at the ankle. “Don’t hold back, Maple.”
“Why should I? You might not have been banging that secretary but you don’t want anything with Talia, so why are you so bent out of shape? Why not just call it good, right now?”
That was a good damn question, one I’d refused to even try to answer when it came to Talia. “Maybe it’s because we’ll be dealing with each other from now until eternity and it would be nice of things weren’t awkward as hell.”
“Maybe? Don’t bullshit a bullshitter, kid. You like her and you’re runnin’ scared. Another thing you and Talia have in common, actually.”
I frowned at that. “Talia doesn’t do scared. Or vulnerable.”
“Wrong. They just happen so infrequently it just seems that way but I’ve known Talia since she was a girl. She’s as much mine as Poppy is and I know her like it. She hasn’t said so, but I know the look of someone who’s about to do a runner.”
Run? “Where?”
Maple shrugged and looked up at the sky. “Who knows? The world is a big place. I’m not telling you this to make you feel bad, Luke. You’re a good boy, anyone who knows you can see that.”
“Except Talia,” I snorted.
“Wrong again. She told Poppy as much when she was warning her off you. Said you were good underneath all this,” she motioned to me from head to toe. “She was right.”
“So if you’re not trying to make me feel bad, why tell me she’s going to leave?” Probably to scare the shit out of me because that’s what my racing heart felt. Talia couldn’t leave. We weren’t dating and we never would be, but that didn’t mean I was ready to be done with her. I wasn’t.
“So that you can feel better about how things played out between you knowing she’ll be out of your hair soon. I’d say six months, maybe less.” With that she stood and waited for me to gather my thoughts and escort her back inside.
How in the hell I was suppose to gather anything when all I could think about was not seeing Talia again, I had no idea. But I couldn’t keep Maple waiting forever. “It doesn’t make me feel better, but I appreciate you trying Maple.” I kissed her cheek. “Now let’s go great-grandma.”
“Bite your tongue, young man. Don’t think I won’t hurt you just because you love my other girl.” The old woman howled with laughter when I nearly tripped over my feet on the way back inside.
“I could’ve taken you down with me, you know that right?”
She smiled and I realized in that moment how much I enjoyed Maple’s company. More family was definitely not a bad thing. “I do, but I got a loving man at home to nurse me back to health. Do you?”
Damn, burned again by the old lady. “Can I call you Grandma?”
“You can call me that when you put a ring on Talia’s finger.”
Luke: 0. Maple: 3.
Talia
“Blake are you ready to meet your adorable little daughter?” Blake stood wearing an unstoppable grin and in that moment, I could see exactly what Poppy saw in him. His goodness shot out of him and not even his expensive suits and haircuts could overshadow it.
“A daughter?” I nodded. She was beautiful with wispy blond curls like her father and blue-green eyes like her mother. A perfect blend of the two.
“Yep. Come on back so you can count fingers and toes. And they said something about the umbilical cord.” I gave a fake shudder to shake off his nerves. “She’s fine, they both are, and now they’re waiting for you.”
Blake fell into step beside me. “Thank you, Talia. For everything.”
“None necessary, Poppy is like my sister and I would do anything to see her happy.”
“I know,” he sighed as though he were uncomfortable with his own display of emotions. “And I appreciate it more than I can ever say.”
“Good, because you don’t need to say it.” I stopped outside Poppy’s door and gave him a shove. He smiled back at me and then stepped inside, smiling bright enough to render the fluorescent lights unnecessary. I went to the decontamination room next door to remove the scrubs over my clothes and wash my hands before heading next door. To Poppy and her daughter.
It was surreal but I meant what I said to Blake, to see Poppy have everything we ever dreamed off, was almost as satisfying as if it were my own family.
Everyone had made it to the room by the time I stepped inside, staying near the door now that my role was over. Blake leaned on the bed, holding Poppy close and staring at his little girl with so much love it was hard to watch.
“Guys I want you to meet Autumn Arden Sayers.” Poppy glowed as she held the little bundle up, handing her to Maple for the first cuddle.
“You named her after my brother? Should I be offended,” Maple asked in a sweet sing-song voice as she checked out Autumn.
“Well if he hadn’t left me OAA then I never would have met Blake, so we thought it would be a nice gesture. Another family name to carry on.”
“That’s sweet,” Maple said, sniffing the baby’s hair and I had to agree. It was incredibly sweet.
“There’s one more order of business,” Poppy said giddily and I braced myself. “I want you to be Autumn’s godmother.”
I sucked in a breath because even though I should have, I hadn’t been expecting it. I figured she might choose Lacey since she would be married soon and have a stable home if the unthinkable happened. I had two choices, accept it knowing I was planning to leave town or I could decline in front of everyone and hurt my best friend. “I’d love to!” Because why start saying no when I never could before?
She beckoned me forward and I gave her a gentle squeeze. “I know something is wrong and we’re going to talk about it. Soon.”
We wouldn’t but this wasn’t the time or place for that conversation. And based on the loved up look she wore now, Poppy wouldn’t be returning to work anytime soon. Maybe we would be having that conversation sooner rather than later. “We’re going to go and give you guys some family time. Make sure she gets plenty of rest,” I told Blake who gave a grateful nod.
With my work done, I practically ran out of the hospital and made a beeline for my car. I heard Luke’s footsteps well before I reached my car and I braced myself to deal with him. “That was a real shitty thing you did, Talia. Are you so petty you’d let me miss t
he birth of my niece?”
I unlocked the door and tossed my bag inside before I glared at him. “Contrary to what you all seem to think, Lukas, my life does not revolve around your fucking family!” Slamming the door provided me no satisfaction so I peeled out of the parking lot and I didn’t look back, not even when tears began to burn my eyes. Not even when they began to blur my vision.
I did what I always did. Looked forward, not backwards.
Lukas
“How many different damn ways can you remake a tuxedo?” We’d already been in the shop for an hour and we were no closer to making a decision than when Blake, Walker and I walked in. “Can’t I just wear the tux I already have? Either of them?”
“No. Poppy has something very specific in mind so that’s what we’re doing.” Blake, once again, coming to his bride-to-be’s defense. No shock there.
“It would be nice if she knew what that was,” Walker offered, laughing as he strutted in front of the mirror in a three-piece suit. “Maybe I’ll get this for my own wedding.”
Blake and I both froze but it was Blake who spoke. “Strange since I don’t recall you asking for my permission.”
“Or mine.”
He looked at us in the mirror and smirked. “Stranger still you think I should considering Lacey is an adult woman capable of making her own decisions. Besides, who said I did the asking?”
He was fucking with us, I knew it. “After everything I would think you’d at least pretend to give a damn about our feelings.” I’d been pissed at first when he hooked up with Lacey but they were the real deal, just like Blake and Poppy.
“Fuck you, Luke. Did you ask Poppy before you started fucking her best friend? And you Blake, did you ask Maple or Talia for permission? Better yet, did either of you talk to Lacey before you went dropping your cocks all over town? I didn’t think so.” He disappeared into the dressing room and once again, I felt like an ass.
Naughty Takeover: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Boardroom Games Book 3) Page 9