by Alexis Anne
I pressed my forehead to hers and looked into her eyes. “I won’t work with her. It will just be tomorrow morning and then I’m sending her on her way. And you,” I kissed her again, pulling her up into my arms so I had one around her waist and one up her back and into her hair, “are marrying me this weekend. The only woman who matters to me is you. The only woman I have ever loved is you. I’m sorry I’m such an idiot sometimes.”
I wanted Ashley out of my life as badly as Eve did. All I felt was dread when I thought about Ashley. The past had no place in my life.
Eve finally smiled a little. “I wanted to beat the crap out of her for coming to our house.”
Hearing Eve talk helped me relax. If she was talking, she was starting to feel better, which made me feel better. “I’m actually surprised you didn’t.”
She grinned for a moment, but then it disappeared. “She thought this was your house. She came here expecting to find you single.”
“But I’m not, so it doesn’t matter,” I assured her. I didn’t care what Ashley thought.
Eve looked into my eyes like she was digging beneath my layers, looking inside for the answers I wasn’t giving her no matter how desperately I tried. “I just thought you should understand. You’re going to be with her tomorrow, so you should know what she was thinking.”
“Do you want to come to work with me tomorrow? You are more than welcome to sit in on our meeting. As my wife you will have an interest in all things related to Spencer, Hamilton, and Associates. It wouldn’t be weird to have you there at all. I know Greg would love it…” Probably too much.
She smiled again and I knew the two of them were going to be so much more trouble than I realized. “No,” she shook her head. “I have plenty of work at my own job tomorrow. I trust you…”
“You just don’t trust her.”
“Not even a little bit.”
I couldn’t blame Eve. I knew if the situation were reversed I’d probably be sitting in on that meeting. I’d love to see Eve try and stop me from glaring at Sebastian the entire time. So the very fact she was feeling comfortable enough to let me handle Ashley made me feel a glimmer of hope we’d get through the next twenty-four hours without anyone being punched, maimed, or shot at.
Maybe.
“Darlin’, of all the people on this planet there’s only one you. I’ve never met anyone who drives me crazy like you do and I can’t live without you. I’m not the same person without you in my life. I need you.” I ran my fingers through her hair and pressed her closer to my body. “Marry me?”
She smiled and her brown eyes danced, “Do you know you’ve asked me to marry you fourteen times?”
I loved that she knew exactly how many times I’d proposed in the last six weeks. “And it’s still not enough.”
***
“They’re waiting in the conference room.” Lisa informed me the moment I walked in the front door. She looked skittish, which was an unusual look on Lisa. Normally she was sassy and blunt, but today she looked like she just wanted to crawl under the desk and hide.
“Is Greg in a mood?”
She rolled her eyes and tapped her pen on the desk. “To say the least. And that woman who is with him… she’s a piece of work.”
Well, that answered my next question. Ashley was already here. It baffled me how everyone seemed to see things in Ashley I couldn’t. She had an uncanny ability to play me in just the right ways, manipulate me and keep me in the dark until it was too late to do anything about it. I never could figure out how or why she did it, most likely because I didn’t care.
To me, Ashley was a friend I had a convenient relationship with. It served its purpose and nothing more. I was always honest and up front with her about my feelings (or rather, the lack thereof). I didn’t focus on why she treated me so differently, because it didn’t matter. She wasn’t my girlfriend and our relationship wasn’t the most important thing in the world to me. It wasn’t even in the Top Ten. I cared about her as a friend… but most things concerning Ashley I just brushed aside and forgot about as soon as they happened.
It was quickly becoming clear to me that might have been a mistake. What I used to think of as a casual friendship with benefits was having a very profound effect on my life.
The most important part of my life.
Lisa held up a coffee mug. “I just cleaned this. The princess would like a cup. A little cream, no sugar.”
I raised my eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
Lisa chuckled. “The first mug I gave her wasn’t clean enough. I hadn’t gotten up the gumption for round two, so… you get to be the lucky winner. I hear you’re the reason for her visit, so, have fun with that boss.”
I took the mug and shook my head. It seemed Ashley was hell bent on making my day miserable.
After gathering both her coffee and mine, I dove into the mess that was my life. Ashley was sitting at the head of the conference table. Her red hair was loose and styled over one shoulder in a soft wave. She was wearing a heavy amount of makeup with dark red lips that complimented the shade of her hair. She had on a cream pencil skirt and matching blazer that buttoned in a dozen tiny buttons up her middle. A bright blue blouse peaked out from underneath, skimming along the cream skin of her breasts. She did have a fabulous rack, not that I cared anymore.
I set the mug down in front of her. “Don’t make my staff clean cups for you. It’s not their job.”
She smiled up at me sweetly. “I’m sorry. But it was dirty and I don’t work here.”
Whatever. I wasn’t in the mood to start a fight over coffee, so I turned away, intentionally moving toward the seat beside Greg. “Morning.”
“Morning Buttercup. How’d your night go?” Greg was playfully batting his eyelashes at me as he rested his chin on his hands like he was a silly girl interested in gossip.
“Fuck off.”
That just made him grin and wink at me. “I knew you two would be all gross and in love after I left. It’s just what you two crazy kids do.” Greg said it loud enough so Ashley could hear.
I rolled my eyes and ignored him. The last thing I needed to do was make things any more awkward than they already were.
I set my bag down in an empty chair and picked my mug back up to swallow a few sips of the liquid caffeine. I kind of wished there was some whiskey in there. It might make dealing with Ashley a little easier.
“Alright, let’s get down to business. The big boys have some real work to get back to.” Greg said with a toothy grin.
Ashley sighed and grabbed a manila envelope from her bag. “Here is the paperwork. Long story short, I want, and need, to work this deal with Steele. Since you hold one of the patent rights along with me, I need to know how you want to proceed.”
I glanced quickly through the paperwork. Steele was more than a little interested in The Nugget. They desperately wanted it. My best guess from some of the wording was that they had another product that would integrate with ours. Instead of developing all this technology on their own, possibly infringing on our patents, they wanted to acquire it for free use.
“Let’s just sell, Ash. Why do you care about a job with them?”
I had a job, she had a job… what was the big deal?
“I want to come back to the States. I’m tired of being a nomad and working on different contracts for different companies around the world. I’m tired of selling everything I create to the highest bidder. I want to build a life and this is a good offer.”
“Have Steele buy me out while preserving the offer for you to go work for them. I don’t see why they would have an issue with that.”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I believe, at this juncture, they are worried about complications. They are looking for the smoothest transaction possible.”
Which made sense. If they acquired The Nugget and both engineers who worked on it, they would have a pretty air-tight situation. No loose ends. But I would also happily sign away whatever rights they wanted.
“
Buy me out.”
She flinched a little and her jaw stiffened. “I can’t.”
Well, this was an interesting development. Ashley had easily made twice what I had over the years. “What do you mean you can’t?”
She shifted in her chair and fiddled with the papers in front of her before she lifted her green eyes to mine. I saw a lot of things when I looked into her eyes, but the most obvious was sadness. Ashley was incredibly sad.
“The details of my financial situation are none of your business, beyond knowing I cannot buy you out,” she said quietly. “I do not have the means to at this point in time.”
I stared her down while I studied her. There was so much she wasn’t telling me. True, she was nothing more than a friend, but I did care about her. “That’s all you’re gonna say?”
She searched my eyes for a moment then shrugged, “You aren’t the only one with a complicated past, remember?”
No, no I wasn’t. There was a very good reason Ashley and I had gravitated toward each other. Troubled souls recognized each other. She recognized my fuckedupedness before we actually met. At first it had been such a relief to meet someone who understood. I never had to explain myself to Ashley—she got it because she lived it, too. Maybe that was why it was so easy to avoid conversation with her, there was just the silent understanding of who we each were and nothing more. And maybe that was why she was so good at manipulating me. One screwed-up person knew exactly how to play another screwed-up person. That was probably why I always kept her at arm’s length—I knew it drove her crazy.
God, we were awful for each other.
“I have no interest in changing my position here at the company. If you want to sell The Nugget, I’m on board. Otherwise, I can’t help you.”
The door opened and one of our interns, Rob, stepped cautiously inside. He looked like he’d rather have walked into an actual lion’s den. “I’m so sorry to interrupt your meeting. Greg, they need you in maintenance.”
“I’ll be there when I get there,” he hissed at Rob, who cringed.
“They said they can’t wait. They need you now. It’s serious.” Rob was looking at his feet, and I was pretty sure he was shaking.
“Fuck nuts.” Greg swore and slapped his hands down on the conference table. “Sit, Rob.” The poor intern flinched and looked around at the table. Greg rolled his eyes and pointed at a specific chair right between Ashley and me. “There, in that chair. Sit there and pay attention. Don’t let either of these morons move or leave, and remember every single word they say.”
Rob nodded emphatically, “Yes, sir.”
I sighed, “Greg, we’ll be fine. You don’t have to intimidate Rob.” Seriously, we were all adults. He could lay off.
“Nope, I promised Evie I wouldn’t leave you two alone. Rob here will fill in for me until I get back. Right Rob?” He leaned across the table, “You don’t want to mess with me right?”
Rob shook his head, “No sir.”
Greg nodded. “That’s right. And if you think I’m bad, just imagine what Jake’s fiancée will do to you if you fuck up.”
Rob’s wide eyes shot over to mine. I shrugged. Obviously no one cared what I thought in this situation.
“That’s right, you know who Eve is and what she’ll do to you. So just do your job son, and everyone will be fine.” Greg was so dramatic. But then he turned on me. “I’ll be right back.”
“Go put out your fire, boss.”
With one more glare in each of our directions, Greg finally left.
Rob looked down at the table. I was pretty sure he wanted to crawl under the table. Poor guy didn’t ask to get dragged into my drama. He was just the kid who drew the short straw in the intern pool.
“Breathe, Rob. Nothing’s going to happen. We’re almost done here.”
He glanced up and smiled a little. “Just doing my best to listen carefully.”
I rolled my eyes and looked back at Ashley, “Is there anything else?” I asked.
She was sitting quietly as if she were running her options through her head. “I’m surprised. I really thought you’d at least want to see The Nugget through. It was a brilliant piece of work on your part.”
A very small bit of regret flitted through the back of my mind. “Thank you.”
“You used to say all you wanted to do was put good things into the world. The Nugget is good, Jake. Really good.”
“I did my part. It’s enough.”
“Is it?” She was pushing me on purpose.
“Yes, it is. There is more to my life than a single product. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I do good work here, too.” I gathered the papers back together and slid the folder back across the table.
“Of course. I didn’t mean to imply your work here was frivolous, but the things you and I have worked on… come on, Jake. They don’t even compare. You are meant for more than a boring job making mediocre products for the American consumer.”
I didn’t know if I should be insulted or honored. It was a beautifully backhanded compliment. “What happened, Ash?”
She transformed so fast I would have missed it if I’d blinked. “I don’t think the past ever truly leaves us alone, no matter what we do.”
It was such a cryptic statement. One I hated hearing since I was betting on leaving my own past behind. “I sure as hell hope you’re wrong about that.” We stared at each other for a while, neither of us really willing to say anything else. It was a subject we typically avoided. The past was something neither of us needed to spend time around, no matter how much it haunted us. “Does it have to do with Charlie?”
Ashley looked out the window and took a deep breath before looking back at me. I could tell by the tension in the air my guess was right. “The short answer is yes,” she said quietly. “But as I’m sure you’ll understand, that barely covers it.”
I could honestly say I felt really bad for Ashley. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
She smiled sadly, shaking her head and looking up at the ceiling. “Nothing a little money couldn’t take care of. It should get me some peace for at least a few more years.” Then, in another complete about-face, Ashley smiled brightly, threw her shoulders back, and grabbed the folder off the table. “So,” she drawled while putting the folder away, “if they agree to buy your rights and still take me on, you’ll sign over?”
“Absolutely,” I agreed as the door opened and Greg came storming back inside. Talk of the past was over. We barely talked about it to each other, so we certainly weren’t going to keep talking in front of Greg.
“What are you agreeing to, Buttercup?”
“If she gets Steele to buy me out and take her on as lead engineer, I’ll sign over my rights.”
Greg slapped the table. “Excellent. Angel Face and I will work out the details while you’re on your honeymoon. Don’t worry about a thing.”
Ashley glared at him. “I don’t need your help, Greg. I can handle this.”
“No,” I interrupted. “That’s a great idea. Greg knows what I want and what works. You can coordinate with him until I get back. I will be out of pocket for two weeks and you should be able to have a new proposal in hand by then.”
I liked this idea a lot. It would make everyone happy. It got me out of my last tie to a past I no longer wanted, it gave Ashley the opportunity she clearly needed, and Greg was taking me out of the equation, which would make Eve very happy. Greg might even get to piss Ashley off a few times in the process. It was a win all around.
“What was the emergency?” I asked as Greg threw himself into a chair.
He scowled, “Idiot intern left the chuck in the lathe.”
“What?” I practically yelled it.
“Don’t worry about it. It shot straight at the wall and no one was in the way. There is, however, a beautiful dent in said wall now.”
“Obviously he was one of your hires.”
Greg huffed and turned to Rob who was still sitting and staring at the table. “What
did they say while I was gone? Repeat it back. Word for word.”
Rob stared at Greg with huge eyes. He stammered, “They talked about doing good work?”
Greg rolled his eyes and waved the boy out of the room. “I was kidding, junior. They didn’t do anything stupid or say anything crazy?”
Rob shook his head.
“Good, now leave.”
Rob ran away from the storm cloud that was our conference room. I wanted to join him.
Chapter 9
~Eve~
Greg and I had decided to meet from time to time for greasy food and beer in the middle of the day. Pete and Shorty’s was one of Greg’s favorite places to eat and we both loved the burgers. It was kind of, sort of, a halfway meeting point for us, so it worked.
I dropped into the wooden booth. There was already an order of tots and a pitcher of amber-colored beer. “Spill it. Give me the dirty details fast and hard,” I ordered as I took a giant gulp of liquid heaven.
He grinned at me as he popped a tot in his mouth. He always had the most mischievous glint to his blue eyes. It made me wonder what really went on inside his head. He seemed like such a blunt, open book, but I was absolutely positive Greg was always holding back.
“It went fine. No claws were used… there may have been some name calling—probably on my part.”
As if I had any doubt. “So far so good. Keep going.” I chugged the first quarter of my beer. I’d spent the morning keeping busy with work, but I’d been tense and nervous. The idea that Jake and Ashley were talking this morning was constantly playing in the back of my mind. Beer was a relief.
“Jake told her no-deal unless it included leaving him out of it. She tried a few different angles, but your boy held his own. He did good.”
“So that’s it? She left and we’re done?” I couldn’t believe it would be that easy.
It wasn’t.