by Parker, Ali
"Nope. We're gay. Can't you tell?" He lifted his eyebrow and glanced across the table at Damon. "Women nowadays. Jeez."
Damon chuckled and lifted his glass to the girl. "Thanks for the offer, but no thanks."
"Wait. Are you?" The girl shifted her eyes back and forth between Damon and Ben.
"We don't kiss and tell." Damon finished his drink and pulled out his laptop as she walked away, mumbling about how all the good ones were taken.
"You're welcome." Ben tapped the table between them.
"Thank you?" Damon popped open the computer and ran his finger down the screen to open the programs.
"Yeah. I was saving you."
"From what? A hot woman?" Damon smirked and turned his attention back to the screen.
"No, from making a mistake. You're with Bethany now, right?" Ben coughed. "You know that's a big ass mistake in the making, right?"
"We had this discussion already, and you didn't save me from anything. I proposed to her. I'm a lot of things, but a cheater isn't one of them." Damon brushed his fingers across his lips. "Why is it that our tax people never seem to work as fast as the audit side?"
"The rules change too often. You know that. Cut them some slack."
Damon sat back as Ben reached across and closed the screen. "We're old friends, right? Frat brothers?"
"Yeah. So." Damon reached for the top but paused.
"So I'm telling you as someone who cares about you, you need to set this thing up with Bethany well. She's not only an intern at the firm, she's-"
"I know. Stop fucking reminding me," he growled, wishing like hell he could pick them up and move to a foreign country where no one knew either of them. That would solve everything in their relationship, maybe, but the host of other problems it would create was almost stifling.
"She wants to move in together, which is the next step in the relationship, but I'm not sure I'm ready for that just yet." Damon picked up his glass and lifted it, trying to get the server’s attention.
"You proposed. I'm pretty sure you don't get to not be ready for anything. Next steps are blown out of the fucking water thanks to the ring you gave her."
"What's with the tone, Ben? You don't even know her." Damon leaned forward a little as aggression pumped through his center.
"Hey. I'm just worried about you." Ben leaned back and lifted his hands in a show of surrender. "You know I'd support you in any crazy, fucked up adventure you wanted to go on, but this... it's nuts. Period."
"I agree, but it is what it is." Damon shrugged and opened the laptop. He'd proposed too soon, but like any great opportunist, he wasn't willing to let go of the one that would eventually become the right partner for his lifestyle. She was everything he wanted and then some. She'd grow into the rest, and most likely mold him into the man she wanted him to be. It would just take time and a whole lot of fucking frictions from what he could tell.
"It's not what it is. This is marriage. It's a really big deal." Ben lifted his hands again. "I know, I'm just saying."
"Well, don't. I'm fine. We're not moving in together for a while. We both need to grow into our relationship a little more. I'm happy with the moves I've made. I love her."
"Do you, or are you infatuated with her."
"Is there a difference?" Damon chuckled. "You're drunk and emotional. Stop projecting that sappy love shit on me. Bethany and I are good together, and everything is going to work out perfectly."
"How do you know?"
"Because I'll force it to."
"Even if that upsets her? Women don't like that alpha male shit too long. It's good in the beginning, but then you better start softening."
"Not happening." Damon clicked a few buttons. "Go get some sleep and leave me in peace. My relationship with Bethany is great."
"Where is she?"
"In the room." He glanced up. "Why?"
"I'm pretty sure that's her getting into that cab." Ben pointed out the window as Damon's heart almost stopped in his chest.
"What the fuck." He slipped out of the booth and took his phone with him. The cab was gone by the time he walked out of the hotel.
A valet turned toward him and smiled. "Need me to get your car for you, Sir?"
"No. Where was that girl headed?"
"Um... I don't know." He turned back toward Damon with an odd expression.
"Right. Of course you don't." He turned and walked down the long sidewalk that led toward the parking lot as he called her.
"Hey." Her voice was thick as if she'd been crying.
"Where are you going? It's fucking eleven o'clock in a big city."
"I'm getting some Tums. My stomach is killing me, and they don't-"
"Why didn't you text me to get them."
"Because you were busy." Her bark was worse than her bite.
He pulled the phone from his ear and let out a long sigh. She didn't see him as anything more than an asshole. Otherwise, she would have come down and asked him to go with her, or for her.
"Be careful. I'll see you when you get back. Stop by the bar and let me know you're safe."
"Right. Will do, boss." The phone went dead.
A growl left him that had an elderly couple moving to the other side of the sidewalk. Why did women have to be so damn sensitive?
Ben walked out of the hotel. "Everything okay?"
Damon slipped his facade into place. "It's great. She's just running to the store."
"Ah. All right, boss. See you in the morning. Good talk."
Ben turned and walked back inside as Damon lifted his face toward the sky and tried not to condemn her to an ass-chewing when she got back. Why in the world she would leave the hotel without telling him was a mystery.
"She's an independent, strong woman. It's one of the many things you love about her," he huffed as if combating his thoughts. "You do. You love her. Period.”
Chapter 74
Bethany
He wasn't in the room the night before when she got back, and she didn't have the desire to go after him. A sadness settled on her that still held her tightly as she woke Saturday morning. The text from Ben she'd failed to see the night before showed that the team decided to meet up at six that morning. It was almost eight by the time she woke up.
Damon wasn't anywhere to be found, but his suitcase was open, and the smell of his skin was on the bed next to her. She got dressed quickly and called Ben as she walked from the room. Her issues with Damon would have to be solved later that evening when she could get him alone for a heart-to-heart. Hopefully kissing and making up would be a part of it, but nothing was happening in the bedroom until she got him to come to the table on why he was being such an unbearable ass.
"Good luck," she muttered as Ben picked up the phone.
"Hey, Bethany. Sorry about the late text. No worries about not making the six o'clock pow-wow, it was a different team anyway."
"I feel like crap for not making it. I fell asleep early. My stomach was killing me."
"Yeah, Damon told me."
"Is he down there with you guys?"
"No, and most of the team has already headed over to Zarpeth's main office. I was cleaning up a few things. You want to meet me downstairs, and we can take a cab together?"
"That sounds great. I need to get a coffee."
"There's a shop at the bottom of the client's building. It's a nice underground food court thing."
"I'll be downstairs in ten minutes." She jogged down the stairs, not paying a bit of attention to her heels. She'd learned to run in just about anything during college seeing that being late was something she was good at. She'd gotten better over the last few years, but the issue still seemed to linger.
She checked her phone to see if Damon left her a message and found nothing. A text from Jake said that he'd been to the doctor and he was healing nicely. She texted back quickly congratulating him as her chest constricted painfully. Why hadn't Damon asked about her stomach, or commented on leaving early?
He was pul
ling back and didn't seem to care that she had no choice but to notice.
She swallowed her emotions and walked out of the stairwell to find Ben standing near the door. The dark purple blouse she had on accented her gray skirt and jacket well, leaving her to feel professional and well put together. Too bad her insides didn't reflect all that confidence.
"You look pretty today. You sleep well?" Ben asked as he moved up beside her.
"Thanks. I slept well once I fell asleep." She forced a calm expression on her face and tried to hold back the tears that kept threatening to blur her gaze. She needed an hour to let herself go before facing a room full of strangers that were supposed to be her colleagues over the next few months.
It was going to be fine. Everything was going to be fine.
"You're going to like this team. Some of the guys have been slacking off a little, so expect some tension when you walk into the room. Damon's going to come in and talk to the team at nine. He's pissed about some of the things that have slipped through the cracks, and rightly so. It's going to get ugly before it gets better," Ben chuckled and got into the back of the cab.
"Awesome," Bethany muttered and got in beside him, not at all in the mood to make small talk with the portly senior. He was a good guy, but a close friend of Damon's. There was nothing she could say that wouldn't make its way back to her wayward fiancé.
"Did you get to meet the new Senior Manager on the job? Damon hired her this last week. An old friend of his that Kent likes a lot."
An old friend of his from when?
"No, but it's been a long week. You know I started my master's program on top of everything else." She stifled the need to pepper Ben with questions. She'd find out what she could from observation and then hit Damon up for the rest of the info later that night.
"I did know that. I'm not sure how you're doing it, but you know I'm here if you need anything, right?"
"Yeah. Thanks for that." She leaned back and closed her eyes, hoping to shut down the conversation. Ben started to hum something softly under his breath and didn't say another word until he held the door for her at the large high rise in downtown.
* * *
"Let's just start by saying that I'm disappointed." Damon glanced around the oval table they sat at.
Bethany had yet to get over the shock of having Philip on the team and seated next to her. They hadn't had more than a minute to say hi to each other before Damon walked into the quaint conference room and caused the mood to shift dramatically.
The pretty blond across the table was new to her and had to be Damon's childhood friend, who scary enough looked like a softer version of his ex, Bridget. Sickness rolled through Bethany's stomach as she tried to keep her concentration on Damon. There was no reason to let his words smack her around seeing that she wasn't part of the team that had failed to do their job well.
"Patrick. Why don't you stand up and introduce yourself, and tell the team what's going on so that they understand fully the shit storm that your team is pulling them into."
A dark-haired Hispanic guy stood up and smoothed his shirt as his hands shook.
"Right. I'm Patrick. I'm the manager on this engagement, and as with a lot of large manufacturing clients, we're having some serious issues with inventory. In our firm, and every firm really, the interns and new staff work the inventory counts. Ours was done incorrectly, and yet we didn't catch it during our review process. After investigation of the situation, it doesn't seem that we were dealing with collusion or fraud, but it's a very sticky place to be right now." He slipped his hands into his pockets. "Most of the team was pulled apart, and you guys are the new members that are hopefully going to help us pull this ship back on course."
Damon spoke up. "Patrick is the only one from the team that isn't looking for a job, and that's because he wasn't involved. Don't mess this up. We're under the closing arguments for a government audit. It's ugly, and you need to be on your toes. Period."
"How about we introduce ourselves, boss? Would that be all right?" Ben spoke up from across the table, and Damon nodded.
"Yes. Do that." He moved back to the door and opened it. "I'll be in the office at the end of the hall if you have what I would consider an emergency.”
The smile on the blond across from Bethany was almost sickeningly sweet. They had more than a friendship from what she could gather. The way the woman watched Damon left her with very little question over it. If they hadn't been together, then the woman wanted to and was left wanting. A whole host of emotions danced around inside Bethany's stomach as everyone went around the room. Finally, it was the blond’s turn.
She stood and pressed her hands to the table. To say she was in shape and made for the suit that fit her snuggly would have been an understatement. She was like a softer version of Erica, but something was off.
"I'm Delilah. I'm the newbie out of all of us, I do believe." A chuckle resounded along the members at the table. "I'm the Senior Manager on the job, so you won't see too much of me, but I'm here if you need anything. I have six years of experience in audit from one of the big four accounting firms and am happy to be here now. My desk is in Damon's office for this weekend, so make sure if you need something, that it's worthy of interrupting him. Setting up an appointment with me might be the best way to do things, and use your chain of command. I should should hear from Patrick as your manager more than anyone else. That's all. Thanks!"
After a few more introductions, Bethany made hers and Patrick dismissed the team to grab a coffee, take a bathroom break and meet down the hall in their workroom for the weekend.
Philip moved up behind her as they walked out into the hall.
"I'm seriously in shock that Damon would allow me to be on the same team with you." Philip laughed and crossed his arms over his chest.
"Me too. Maybe he didn't find out until this morning." She shrugged. "Or maybe he doesn't care. I've never been anything but faithful, so there's no reason to question me."
There was no way in hell she was going to discuss her disintegrating relationship with the one guy that would be waving his 'next-in-line' ticket to date her. That would have been a tragedy waiting to happen. She had to be on guard over whatever was happening between her and Damon. Otherwise, they would keep pushing at each other until one of them walked away.
It was the last thing in the world she wanted, but he seemed to feel differently.
"That's a good thing. Either way, I'm glad to be back." Philip smiled and nodded toward the coffee stand. "Want something?"
"Yeah, but I’ll wait. I see you cut your hair." She pushed at his shoulder and laughed as he shook his head.
"Don't start with that. I'm still a little salty over it." He turned to go into the coffee bar as Bethany walked toward Damon's office. There was no way she was starting the day without first talking to him for a few minutes about the night before. There had to be a way to let him know just how hurt her feelings were without starting a fight.
She rubbed the empty spot on her hand where her ring should have sat and couldn't help but think through how fucked up it was that she couldn't share the good news with people. He had to lay the foundation?
"Then lay it," she grumbled and lifted her hand to knock on his door. The feminine voice beside her stopped her dead in her tracks.
"Hi, Bethany. Something I can do for you?"
She turned to face Delilah. There was no reason not to give the girl a chance at a solid work relationship, and seeing that she was the Senior Manager on the job, she would be the one writing Bethany's annual review.
"I was just stopping by to talk with Damon for a minute."
"Mr. Bryant?" She lifted her eyebrow as if to question Bethany's casual reference to Damon.
Heat bubbled up from the center of Bethany's stomach and coated her chest and neck in warmth. She couldn't exactly spout out that she was part of the family, one of Kent's kids now. That would fuck things up for them when they told everyone that she was Damon's fiancé. There was
no way she could use that either.
"Yes, Mr. Bryant."
"Right, well, one of my jobs is to protect Mr. Bryant's time, so maybe I can help you instead." She tilted her head to the side, and the kind look she had plastered to her face in the conference room moments ago was all but gone.
"I don't think so, but thanks." Bethany turned and reached for the door.
"And why not? Something I should know?" The woman was persistent.
"No. I just-"
"Bethany. I'm Patrick. Damon's told me so much about you. Says you’re Kent's new protégé and might put him out of a job." He chuckled and extended his hand. "There a reason we're having a pow-wow around Damon's door?"
"Mr. Bryant?" Bethany asked cheekily and glanced over at Delilah, disliking the woman already.
"No, we just call him Damon. His father is Mr. Bryant. He'll tell you that." Patrick laughed as the door behind Bethany opened.
"Is there a reason why you guys are having a meeting out in the hall by my damn office? All I can hear is the three of you," Damon barked softly as anger brushed across his handsome face.
Bethany smiled at Patrick. "That's my cue to leave. Nice to meet you."
"Sorry, Damon. The girl wanted to talk with you for a minute, and I just asked what she needed." Delilah's voice followed her down the hall as she made a beeline to the bathroom and walked in, plopping down in a stall and pressing her hands to her face.
"What the hell is happening?"
Chapter 75
Damon
Bethany walked into the bathroom; her shoulders rolled in slightly. She was hurt. Fuck.
Of course she went to the one place I can't get to her.
Did she not remember him holding her the night before as he apologized for their long evening apart? He was stressed. Did she not get stressed and pull back from all of humanity until she figured things out? Surely she did. Why wasn't he granted the right just to be who he was instead of who she expected him to be? That change would come over time, but fuck, it wasn't instantaneous.