by Paris Hansen
The only thing that made the week more bearable was the amazing date he’d planned for Andi a couple of days earlier. Recreating their first date had been a bit difficult given the fact that so many things had changed in the last twenty years, but it was all worth it when he saw the look on her face. Without Andi, the previous four days would have been torture.
Four days of waiting and wondering. Four days of hoping that Price and Quinn hadn’t already gotten to Archer during the break. Braeden knew Price had to be pissed that Andi broke up with him. Not only did he lose the girl, but she’d dumped him over text message, which had to sting.
With everything Price and Quinn said in that room, Braeden wouldn’t have been surprised if they tried to retaliate against him. They had to know or at least suspect that he and Andi were together. Everyone around the office seemed to know even though Braeden had no idea how the news had gotten around so fast.
Checking his watch, Braeden realized it was ten minutes past his meeting time. He looked up at Archer’s secretary to see her give him an apologetic smile. It’s not like he could be mad given that it was his boss who was late for the meeting, but it still irritated him. He had things that needed to get done so he could head home to Andi. They were spending the evening together, watching a movie she rented from one of the machines in front of the grocery store.
“Hey Braeden, sorry for the wait. His conference call ran late, but he’s ready to see you now. Go ahead and go on in.”
“Thanks, Cynthia. If you’re gone before I come out, I hope you and the husband have a great weekend.”
“Thanks, Braeden. I hope you and the lovely Ms. Reese have a great weekend as well.”
Braeden shook his head as he walked toward his boss’s door. He had no idea how everyone knew about him and Andi, but he didn’t mind. He’d parade her around the office in a heartbeat if he could. Knocking on Richard Archer’s door, he waited for his boss to call out for him to come in before he turned the handle and pushed the door open.
“Braeden come on in,” the older man said as Braeden poked his head into the room. “I was a bit surprised to see you’d requested a meeting. Is everything okay? Is there something going on with your latest case?”
Taking a tentative step forward, Braeden entered his boss’s office, closing the door behind him. It was true he rarely met with the big boss one on one. Usually, if they met, it was his entire team that went over the case with the managing partners. Even though Braeden was in the running for the next senior partner position, he wasn’t close with any of the other partners, not even the one sitting in front of him. Part of it was because he liked to do things his own way and fly under the radar, the rest of it was because he wasn’t terribly fond of his friend’s dad, even if the man had changed over the last couple of years.
“The case is going well, sir. I asked to meet with you because of something that happened at the Christmas party,” Braeden said as he took a seat in one of the guest chairs on the other side of Archer’s large oak desk. “A conversation was overheard that I think you need to know about.”
“Okay. Are you the one that overheard whatever it is that has you so upset?”
“No. Unfortunately, it was a guest that heard the conversation between Mr. Quinn and Matthew Price. She was up here with me and happened to walk by Price’s office at the right time...or wrong depending on how you look at it.”
“Is this guest reliable?” Archer asked, skepticism clear in his voice.
“It’s Andi Reese, Declan’s twin sister. She’s as reliable as they come. Plus, she was here as Price’s date. She’d have no reason to make up a story like this.”
Braeden tried not to let his annoyance come through in his tone. He couldn’t blame Archer for asking the question. For all his boss knew the person in question was some floozy Braeden had brought back to his office for naughty reasons. Not that he’d done anything like that in years, but his boss didn’t know that. Plus, there were a lot of people that Braeden would have probably laughed out of his office if they came to him with a story like the one he was about to tell. He could only imagine that number was far higher for his boss.
“Alright. What did she hear?”
As Braeden recounted Andi’s story, he watched to see if his boss gave away any signs that he knew what Quinn and Price were up to. Anger passed over Richard’s face as he listened to the account. His hands fisted on top of his desk, his face reddening with every passing second. By the time Braeden finished telling him everything, he thought his boss’s head might explode.
“I’ve turned a blind eye to what Alexander Quinn was up to for a long time. Sadly, it looks like I might have let things go too far. It’s unconscionable that he’s bringing junior partners into the mix and promising them positions he has no right to. And to bring the Reese girl into the situation like that. The man has a daughter her age for Christ's sake.”
Braeden didn’t know what to say, so he sat silently watching his boss shuffle through some papers on his desk. The older man continued to mumble to himself before he finally got up from his desk and started to pace.
“This business has always flourished under a competitive nature, but they’ve gone too far. It seems it’s no longer about winning fair and square but about destroying your enemy at any cost. That’s not the kind of atmosphere I want to encourage. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I would have continued to sit back and let things happen behind my back until it was too late. You’ve given me the push I needed to finally start an investigation and find out what Quinn’s been up to all these years.”
Braeden sat up straighter in his chair. “I’ll help however you need me to, sir.”
“I know you will, son. I appreciate your offer. For now, I need to set some things up so please keep this information to yourself and ask Ms. Reese to do the same. We don’t need any of this to get back to Quinn or Price. Is she still seeing Price?”
“No. She broke it off with him before Christmas. They weren’t that serious and well….we’re together now.”
“Congratulations, son, I know she means a lot to you.”
“She does, sir. She means the world to me. I worry the news might push Price to do something rash,” Braeden admitted.
“I always thought there was more happening between you two than just a friendly competition. I didn’t realize it was this bad though. I’ll have someone keep an eye on Price, but please be mindful yourself. I’d like to think we don’t have anyone in this firm that would do something crazy, but it sounds like I’ve been fooling myself for years, so what do I know.”
“I’ll let you know if I hear of anything else or if Price does anything.”
“Thank you, Braeden. I’ll let you know what we discover on this end as well. I have an investigator that I’ve used for years that’s completely loyal to me. He’ll get to the bottom of Quinn’s scheme quickly. I promise you that.”
“Thank you, sir. I’m sorry I had to be the one to bring this to you.”
“You did the right thing. Now, why don’t you go ahead and take off for the weekend. Tell Ms. Reese thank you for me. I’m sure it couldn’t have been easy coming forward with what she heard.”
Braeden nodded, then said his final goodbyes to his boss. He still had a ton of work to do, but it could wait until Monday. For now, he wanted to head home and see Andi. His case and the bullshit that Price had stirred up were not nearly as important as spending time with the woman he loved.
✽✽✽
Andi
“You know it would be so much easier if you just lived here.”
Andi shook her head and smiled. It wasn’t the first time in their very short relationship that Braeden had brought up her living situation. The man was relentless in his pursuit to make the serious things in their relationship happen as quickly as absolutely possible. It wasn’t that she didn’t understand where he was coming from, but it was too soon to make life-altering plans. At least for her, it was.
After the
first time he brought it up, Andi learned her lesson. Instead of arguing her point, she avoided the topic altogether. She’d told him at one point that they could talk about it when they hit the one-month mark, but as they got closer to that milestone, she started to wonder if that was smart. They had so much history between them, not all of it good. Shouldn’t they work through that before pushing full steam ahead into something that could implode just as easily as it could go well?
She realized she was looking at her relationship like it was inevitable that things would go wrong, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. More than anything, Andi wished she could be as optimistic about their chances as Braeden was. He had no doubts about their future together. Braeden was in it for the long haul; their past be damned. Andi wasn’t sure she’d ever be as confident as he was, even though she wanted to be.
Part of her wondered if she shouldn’t just give in and let Braeden’s optimism carry them both. Maybe then she’d spend less time in her head wondering if they were doing the right thing. When they were together, she didn’t waste time questioning anything but instead cherished the feeling of being in Braeden’s arms. If only she could spend every minute of her day enjoying what they had, her life would be a hell of a lot easier.
“I’m glad you could come over tonight. I was worried you were going to say you were too tired again,” Braeden said as he took her overnight bag out of her hand and ushered into his house.
“I’m sorry I had to bail on you yesterday. It’s been crazy at work with Declan gone and people out sick. If it weren’t Friday, I probably would have taken another rain check, but since I don’t have to work tomorrow, I figured I could make it work.”
Andi kicked off her shoes and hung her coat up on the only free hook by the door. She’d felt terrible canceling on him the night before, but she didn’t have it in her to do anything more than head home and go to sleep. Not having the energy to make anything or pick anything up on her way home, she’d even ended up skipping dinner, which was unusual for her.
“I hate that you have to work so much, babe. Hopefully, everything will calm down soon and not just because I hate not seeing you.”
Laughing Andi stepped into Braeden’s waiting arms. She gave him a quick kiss before burying her face against his chest. Being wrapped up in his strong embrace was precisely what she needed. Andi knew she wasn’t the only one that benefited from it either.
“I hate not seeing you too. Do you think that will ever change?” Andi asked as she looked up into his eyes.
“No. I think if it was going to change, I wouldn’t have spent the last eighteen years pining for you. We would have both been able to move on at some point. Sorry to break it to you, babe, but you’re stuck with me forever, no matter what.”
“Eh...it could be worse,” Andi said with a shrug of her shoulders.
“Hey,” Braeden feigned outrage, but she could see the lightness in his eyes. “You better take that back.”
He started to wiggle his fingers at her as she stepped away from him. She knew she was in trouble, that he wouldn’t hesitate to do the one thing she absolutely hated. Backing up another step, she held her hands up in the air in surrender.
“I’m sorry. I take it back. Please don’t tickle me. You know I can’t stand it.”
Braeden took a step forward causing her to retreat another step. He continued the process until she was against a wall and had nowhere else to go. Smiling down at her wickedly, he leaned in until his lips were brushing against her ear.
“You’re lucky I’m feeling sympathetic to the fact that you’ve had a rough week. Otherwise, I’d tickle you until you cried out for mercy just for being a brat.”
Andi sighed, partly from relief, but partly because his whispered promise turned her on. There was something wrong with her if she was getting hot and bothered by the prospect of being tickled. Of course, her reaction probably had less to do with what he was going to do and more the crying out for mercy part. Also, his sexy as hell voice did a number on her any given day, so that didn’t help matters.
“Alright trouble let’s get some food in you and watch some TV. I promise we'll have a nice relaxing evening. No tickling or shenanigans.”
Braeden took her hand and led her through his house into the kitchen. While they made the quick trip, Andi couldn’t help but wonder how she’d gotten so lucky. Her boyfriend was the sexiest, sweetest, most considerate man she’d ever met. Sometimes she wondered if she deserved this second chance with him after the way she’d broken his heart. Every time she started to think that way, she had to shake it off. She couldn’t let it burrow into her head causing her to worry even more than she already did.
As soon as they reached the kitchen, Braeden picked her up and set her on the counter so she could watch him make her dinner. The way he could pick her up like she weighed nothing at all, was sexy as hell. The fact that he could cook was even sexier; especially since he could make more than just the bachelor staples. While he put together their dinner, they chatted about work. She knew he was still worried about everything going on in his office. She wished there was something she could do about it all.
“I think I’d much rather be working my ass off covering for a bunch of sick people instead of walking on eggshells while waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“Oh no. You still haven’t heard from Gabriel’s dad?”
Braeden shook his head. “It’s been difficult to focus all week. Price and Quinn have rarely been at the office, and I haven’t heard a peep from Archer. I get this feeling that something’s coming and I don’t think there’s anything I can do to stop it.”
“I feel like this is all my fault,” Andi admitted.
She knew Braeden would tell her it wasn’t, but she couldn’t help how she felt. If she hadn’t met Matthew, there was a chance their rivalry would never have reached the tipping point it was at. Not to mention no one would have known about Matthew’s dealings with his boss.
“All of this would have gone down eventually with or without you. Did your involvement with that asshat escalate the timeline? Probably. But it also brought to light that there is more happening than any of us realized. Don’t feel guilty for any of the bullshit that’s going down right now.”
“I can’t help it.”
“Well if you need something to feel guilty about, how about the fact that you tried speed dating in the first place instead of coming to me.”
“Oh, hush. How was I supposed to know you were still interested in me? It’s not like we’ve talked about us in the last six years. For all I knew, you’d moved on.”
“Whatever. I think I made it pretty clear at the hockey game that I was still very interested in making you mine.”
Andi shook her head and laughed. “How can you say that? You didn’t even speak to me the whole time we were there? Not even when we were standing around waiting for Brooklyn and my brother.”
Braeden scoffed as he turned to look at her. “Are you serious right now? I didn’t even look at a single girl while we were there. Even the ones that tried to flirt with me as they walked by. I didn’t give them the time of day. You were supposed to notice that.”
“I’ll tell you what I noticed that night,” she announced. “I noticed how much my body still reacted to being close to you. Riding in the backseat with you was pure torture but in the best way. I noticed my heart raced whenever you looked at me. I was very, very aware of you that night, but I didn’t think about the fact that you ignored everyone around us.”
“It’s okay. We’re here now. That’s all that matters,” Braeden said matter-of-factly. “Why don’t you pour us some wine since dinner is almost ready.”
Relieved by the change of subject, Andi got down off of the counter and did as he asked. She also grabbed some plates and silverware for them out of Braeden’s well-organized cabinets. Once she was done, she stepped up behind him as he finished up their dinner. She wrapped her arms around his waist resting her head against his
back.
“I wish I’d realized sooner that you still loved me. I wish I hadn’t wasted so much time when I could’ve had you back.”
“Sadly, wasting time is something we’re both good at. Hopefully, all that stops now,” Braeden said as he placed a hand on hers.
She gave him a light squeeze, then stepped back so he could finish what he was doing. No more wasting time. That was an idea she could certainly get behind.
Two hours later, they sat on Braeden’s ridiculously comfortable couch binge-watching reruns of Big Bang Theory. Andi was curled into his side, her legs covered by a fleece blanket. Braeden absently ran his hand over her shoulder and her back while they laughed at the antics of the characters on the screen. Before she could stop it, she was yawning deep and loud.
“We should get you to bed,” Braeden said as he picked up the remote. He switched off the TV and the cable box before turning to face her.
“I’m okay,” she told him although exhaustion was making her limbs weak.
“Let’s go to bed. I’ve got a great idea on how to help you fall asleep,”
“I don’t think I have the energy for sex. I’m sorry.”
Braeden laughed. “Oh baby, you don’t have to worry about a thing. I’ve got you covered. Come on now; let’s go.”
Braeden stood up from the couch then pulled her up. For a moment, she thought he might pick her up and carry her, but he must have seen the disapproval in her eyes because he ended up wrapping an arm around her waist instead.
“What time do you need me to set the alarm for?” Braeden asked as they made their way down the hall. “I’ve got an appointment at nine, but you can stay as long as you want.”
“What kind of appointment do you have on a Saturday morning?” Andi asked before walking into the master suite bathroom so she could brush her teeth.
“Meghan and I are getting pedicures in the morning.”