by Susan Cairns
“We’re back to that?” I ask, releasing my arms from around her back. I take a couple of steps back so I can prop myself on the corner of my desk.
“Yes, we’re back to that! You acted like a jealous child who doesn’t know how to share! Not that you have to worry about sharing with Adam, but you could have ruined both of our careers,” Taylor raises her voice, practically yelling, her arms back out to her sides.
“Could have?” I ask, wondering if she was able to smooth things over with Mark.
“Yes, could have. After you ran off to throw your temper tantrum—thank you for acting like a two-year-old, by the way—I talked to Mark and made sure he wasn’t going to tell Miranda about what went down. Thankfully he blamed it on his dickhead nephew and not you.”
“Really? Because I’m pretty sure it was me who was being a dick.”
“Yes, but Mark caught on pretty fast. Adam was using the meeting as a way to talk to me again.”
“So you did sleep with him?” I ask with a sterile tone and a stony expression.
“And now you sound jealous again, so now I know what your problem was last night and Mark was right.”
“I’m not jealous. I just don’t think a business dinner is the time or place for someone to be pawing you.” I pause, and catch Taylor rolling her eyes just as I realize what she said. “Wait, what did Mark say?”
“That you had a thing for me, but I didn’t believe him.”
“Why?”
“Because we work together, for god’s sake,” Taylor says dramatically, flinging her hands out.
“Who cares if we work together? There’s nothing that says we can’t date.”
“Let me guess, you read the employee handbook too?”
“It was part of my welcome packet, of course I read it, but that was before I even met you.”
“So you don’t see anything wrong with this?” She motions between us again.
“Not if you don’t.”
“What about our age difference?”
“Now you’re just making excuses. Since the moment I saw you, I knew there was something between you and I, and then when we met, it was undeniable.”
“It’s you and me,” she says, ducking her head shyly, her cheeks turning bright red.
“You’re correcting my grammar? Really?”
She responds with a shrug.
“Get over here.” I motion with my head for her to come forward.
She takes a couple of steps, moving in between my open legs then placing her hands on my chest.
“I get that this could get messy, but we don’t have to let it. If you want, we can leave it alone and pretend this never happened. But I don’t want that, and I don’t think you do either,” I say, pulling her in tighter so our lips are only a whisper apart.
“I don’t,” she breathes.
“Then let’s see where it goes. We don’t need to make any commitments or promises—”
“Except that this”—she lifts her hand from my shoulder and motions between us—“cannot happen again, not at work. I can’t take the chance of someone seeing or hearing and have it blow through the office like a wildfire.”
“I agree. So let’s keep it outside of work—”
“And work functions,” she cuts me off again.
“For now. But eventually, if this goes somewhere, we’re going to have to tell people.”
“Maybe by that time I’ll have another job. Maybe I should start looking now,” she says, looking past me and focusing on the ceiling.
I shake her a little to bring her attention back to me. “We’ll cross that bridge when it comes, but I’m glad to hear that you hope this is going to go somewhere.”
“I didn’t say that,” she states, snapping her eyes to mine, her forehead creased.
“You did if you’re thinking about finding a new job.”
“You read too much into that.”
“Did I?” I wiggle my brows at her before capturing her mouth with mine.
Taylor pulls away again. “Hey, didn’t I just say that this cannot happen here?”
“You did, but that’s not going to stop me from kissing you behind closed doors.”
“Anyone could walk in.”
“So?”
“Reid...” She rolls her eyes. “Oh my god, you’re hopeless.”
“I think you might want to think about locking the door when you come in here from now on.”
“Yeah, like that won’t raise any questions.”
“If it does, I’ll just blame it on a faulty lock.”
“Now your office door is broken and locks automatically when it’s shut.”
“It’s believable.”
“You’re insane, you know that?”
“I might have been told that once or twice.”
Taylor tries to step back, but I tighten my hold before she can get away. “I think we should probably get to work now. We have to leave for Berk’s in an hour, and I know Miranda is going to want a rundown on how the meeting went.”
With a long sigh, I release her then cross my arms. “About that… what are we going to tell her?”
“That everything went great, Mark’s happy with your ideas, and he can’t wait to show you his locations.”
“Is that true?”
“It is. Trust me, if he didn’t feel that you could make things better for his company, he would have told me right before he called Miranda and told her how you acted last night.”
“Well, I guess it’s a good thing I impressed him, huh?”
“Very good. Now tonight, you’d better be on your best behavior.”
“Aye, aye, captain,” I say. saluting Taylor.
“Get to work, smartass.” She taps my arm with her open palm. “I have to go deal with some e-mails then set up a quick meeting with Miranda.” Taylor backs toward the door, grabbing the handle when it hits her back.
Before I can add another word, Taylor spins, opening the door in the process, and slips out. I uncross my arms then scrub my hands over my face. That wasn’t exactly how I saw things going, but I’m glad it’s out in the open, or at least it is between us. Now I need to figure out what the hell to do about Jennifer. I feel like a dick. We had such a great weekend, and last night she calmed me down when I needed it. Fuck, there’s no good way to dig myself out of the situation I just created. I guess for now, I’ll start looking for a place, just in case. At least until I see where this thing with Taylor is going. And now I sound like an even bigger douchebag.
After arguing our way through the building and out into the parking lot, we’re finally in my Jeep and ready to roll out to Berk’s. Taylor’s pouting, so I have to use my GPS to find our way there even though she knows exactly where we’re going. She’s such a sore loser. But two can play at this game—if she’s going to give me the silent treatment, I’m going to fill the car with noise. Since the GPS is on, I’m going to sing. I take a minute to think of something that should truly drive her nuts and settle on “Shake It Off.” Seems fitting.
With no warning, I belt out the chorus, purposefully making my voice out of tune and off key. I keep my face forward but peek at Taylor out of the corner of my eye. She’s trying her damnedest not to crack a smile. She’s doing a shit job of it, turning her head toward the passenger window so I can’t see her. It doesn’t matter though, because I have no intention of stopping, not until she joins me and ends this ridiculous silent treatment. It doesn’t take long at all. As soon as I screw up the words to the verse, she sings along, trying to get me back on track.
Looking at her, I smile. “Come on, you can do better than that! I’m fucking up all your girl’s lyrics.”
“You are, but I’m not singing without background music. And bravo, you broke me and it took you less than ten minutes.”
“It’ll never be my intention to break you. I just don’t like it when you’re not talking to me.”
“So when we first started working together, how’d you handle that?”
“It wasn’t easy, but we weren’t in this position, so there was nothing I could do about it.”
“Oh, so you kissing the shit out of me changes things?”
“Please don’t ever use the words kissing and shit in the same sentence again,” I request with a shiver.
“What? You should be over the moon that you make me feel like that.”
“No, I don’t ever want to be the reason you shit your pants. That’s fucking disgusting.”
“Come on, Reid, you’re what, forty? Pretty soon you’re going to be shitting your pants and there’ll be nothing you can do about it,” she says with a giggle.
“Are you calling me old?” I ask, frowning with mock outrage.
“No, I’m just saying that you don’t have many years before you’re shitting your pants, so you better get over it disgusting you.”
“Oh, well that makes it better,” I say sarcastically.
“I’m just pointing out facts,” Taylor says matter-of-factly.
“Well, I’m glad I got that kiss in earlier so I have something to remember.”
“You’re really going to end it before it begins?” she asks with humor behind her words.
“Are you saying you’ll change my diapers when I start to shit my pants?”
“Hell no, but I’ll hire a very good nurse to help you with it.”
“Well, I guess I have that to look forward to. Make sure she’s hot, will ya?” Taylor’s arm flies across the console as she backhands my upper arm. “Hey now, no domestic abuse or we won’t make it to when I’m shitting my pants.”
“Okay, enough with the shitting and with ending something that’s just started.”
“You really do like me, don’t you?” I ask, wanting a serious answer. I mean, I know she’s attracted to me and we have this connection I can’t describe, but I’m not sure how deep it runs.
“Can I answer that later?” she answers with a question. Never good.
“You need some time to think about it?”
“No, I just can’t answer you before we’re about to walk into a work meeting.”
“So you want to show me instead, don’t ya?” I wiggle my eyebrows.
“Reid, will you just follow the GPS and get us to Berk’s so we can do what we’ve gotta do?”
“Yes, boss,” I say and do what I’m told.
We pull into the Berk’s lot a few minutes later and I’m kind of surprised by the location. It’s literally in the middle of Williamsville, not on a country lot but in a populated area. Which of course is good for business, but I’m not really sure how Mark has the room to showcase all that he has to offer. Now he’s really got me wondering about the new location.
As I slip out of the Jeep, Mark comes walking out the front door, heading right toward Taylor. He greets her and whispers something in her ear that makes her smile, then he shakes her hand before turning to me.
“Reid, good to see you again.” He extends his hand. “I was wondering if you were going to throw in the towel after last night.”
“I really need to apologize for that,” I say, giving his hand a firm shake.
“No need. Like I told Taylor, it was my dipshit nephew. I should have left his ass at home,” Mark says, losing the professional demeanor then letting out a booming laugh. “Once he figured out what was going on, he did everything in his power to make you lose it. The only advice I can give to you is to not let it happen again. I’m not sure your other clients will be so forgiving.”
“I agree, and I don’t plan on it happening ever again.”
“Good.” His eyes go to Taylor and he gives her a wink. “Now let me show you around so you can get a feel for what you have to work with.”
Mark leads us into the shop, which is cluttered with the usual nursery merchandise. Gnomes creepier than the ones in my mother’s garden are staring at me from every direction as we walk through the store, heading toward what I can only assume is the back room. But I’m so wrong. When Mark opens the door, I’m blown away. Instead of stepping into an office, we step outside into one of the most amazing gardens I’ve ever seen. Over our heads are lights strung across the patio area, below our feet is a natural wood deck outlining a seating area with a rug, outdoor sectional couch, chairs, and a fire pit. Opposite the door is a water feature that rivals any I’ve seen on HGTV. He has lush plants hanging off and around a flagstone structure that has a waterfall streaming down the middle into a koi pond.
“Wow,” I say, looking around and taking it all in. “This was not what I expected to see when you opened the door.”
“Good, that’s the reaction I was going for.” He chuckles and so does Taylor. “This is the place I bring clients who want to discuss creating an oasis in their backyards.”
“This is definitely one way to convince them to hire you, that’s for damn sure.”
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Taylor asks from beside me. “This is exactly why I got a quote from Brian. One day I’ll have something like this at my house.”
“I told you, Taylor, just say the word. You’ve done so much to help us get this place in working order, it’s the least I can do for you.”
“I’m not letting you redo my backyard for next to nothing. I’m saving up, and when I have enough, you’re the first person I’m calling.”
“So stubborn,” is Mark’s reply.
“You’re doing this to your backyard?” I ask, still sounding in awe.
“It’ll be a little different. I have a pool in my yard, so they had to work that into the design, but yes, eventually something like this will be mine.”
“You have to show me the plans. I need to imagine what it’s going to look like.”
“I can show you right now. Let’s go to my office.” Mark motions for us to follow as he throws the door open.
When I turn to head back through the door, I see Taylor looking at me with a beautiful smile, one that I return even though it could never compare to hers. Following Mark, we head back to the front of the store but instead of going back to the main door, we hang a right at a rather large group of creepy gnomes. Mark’s office is in the right front corner of the store and is jam-packed with shit. There are files piled practically to the ceiling on every flat surface.
“Sorry, it doesn’t usually look like this, but I’m trying to get things sorted so I can move to the new location,” Mark says as he clears off the two chairs.
“Don’t worry about it, we understand,” Taylor says for both of us.
I give her a skeptical look, but she shakes her head at me. If his office looks like this now, I can’t imagine it’s much better normally. I’ve seen a lot of people use that excuse.
“So let’s get down to business,” Mark suggests as he steps out of our way and moves behind his desk.
Pulling out the notes in her portfolio, Taylor gets ready to share the presentation we came up with before our disaster of a dinner meeting last night. The one we were supposed to share but didn’t because of my fit. She hands me the stack of papers, and I start to read off the items we think would make this business one of the top landscape design firms/nurseries in Buffalo.
Chapter Twelve
Taylor
This morning I was pissed off and ready to kick Reid’s ass. But now I’m sitting in his Jeep, as we drive back to the office from dinner, with my hand in his resting on his thigh. Since day one I’ve been attracted to him—I mean, he’s fucking hot! But then I got to know him and saw he’s also funny, passionate, and an all around great guy. That really fucked with my plans of making him look like Mirada’s biggest mistake. It also fucked with my head big time, which of course Casey saw right away. At twenty-five, I didn’t have one ounce of need to settle down with a guy. I didn’t want to. Guys my age are immature and only think they want long term.
Now though, I think I can admit I’ll fall in love with Reid Mariano any day and that’s really fucking with my head. I don’t do the long-term thing, I never have. I want to focus
on establishing myself in the corporate world first, so what is it about this man that makes my heart beat faster and slower at the same time?
Rolling my head to the left, I study Reid’s face in the darkening twilight. Tonight was so much different than last night. After a quick drink we met with the client and her husband to discuss the salon and where they see things going. Things were very comfortable and at ease between the four of us. If you were on the outside looking in, you might have even thought it was a double date—until I whipped out my folio and handed Reid his notes. Notes, I might add, that he added to. I was completely blown away. I guess he worked on a campaign for a spa company in Chicago and became painfully—his word—familiar with marketing a salon brand. Marie, the salon owner, and her husband, Henry, were awestruck, as was I. Today Reid became the whole package for me. At this point, he could be the worst fuck ever and I wouldn’t care because he’s got everything else I’ve ever wanted. And sex can be taught, trust me. I’ve had to play teacher many times to guys who were all about instant gratification for themselves, not giving two shits about me. But somehow, I think sex with Reid will rock my world to the core and I can’t wait.
“So tonight went well?” Reid asks, breaking the silence in the car.
“Yeah, they loved you. If you go into the rest of the meetings like you did today, this transition will be seamless for you.”
“I never doubted that. You painted a very good picture of me.”
“I didn’t tell them anything that wasn’t true,” I say, and Reid lifts my hand to his lips kissing the back of it.
The car goes quiet again. I think both of us are trying to figure out what will happen when we get back to the parking lot. At this point, I’m hoping the Reid who showed no fear this morning takes over and ravishes me, making it so I have no choice but to tell him to come home with me, because at this point, that’s all I want. I feel as though I’m trying to will the idea into his brain. Every time I glance at him, he looks back at me with a smile and I hope the same heat is burning inside him.