Devastated (Anger Management Book 1)

by R. L. Mathewson

  Chapter 15

  “I’m dying,” Kylie said, finally coming to terms with her impending demise because it was time.

  There was a heavy sigh beneath her and then, “You’re not dying.”

  “Tell that to my head,” Kylie mumbled against the firm chest that she had her face pressed against while the man who was most likely going to fire her as soon as she was able to stand up without dying continued to absently rub her back.

  For a moment, a very brief moment, she considered making another attempt to climb out of this tub and put some much-needed space between them, but since that hadn’t ended well the last time, she decided that it was probably for the best if she just stayed where she was for now. Later, much later, when her head was no longer pounding, and her stomach wasn’t threatening to lurch every time she breathed, she would freak out about the fact that she was curled up in her boss’s arms. But for now, she was going to stay where she was, praying that she somehow survived this.

  “First hangover?” her boss asked, as he shifted to get more comfortable only to murmur, “Sorry,” when the move caused her head to spin and she was forced to grab hold of his large biceps with a whimper.

  “And last,” she promised, earning an incredibly sexy chuckle as the man who never seemed to do anything more than glare continued to rub her back, something that would have normally made her uncomfortable but for some reason, most likely the fact that she was dying, she didn’t mind.

  “How are you feeling?” Hunter asked, sounding completely relaxed.

  “Wonderful,” she mumbled dryly, as she released her hold on his biceps so that she could curl up more comfortably in his arms.

  “I’m guessing that you don’t drink much,” he said, waiting until she was done shifting so that he could continue rubbing her back.

  “Not much,” she agreed even as she came to the decision that she was never going to drink again.

  Granted, she’d never planned on drinking in the first place since she’d seen first-hand what it could do. But last night, she’d found herself saying yes when she normally would have said no, and it was all because of the man currently holding her. It was stupid, really stupid, but she hadn’t been able to make herself say the words that would have had him giving her that condescending look that she hated so much.

  It was the look that her ex gave her when he found out that she didn’t drink, along with that patronizing tone that he used whenever he took it upon himself to explain why she didn’t drink whenever anyone asked that had her saying yes last night when she should have said no. The thought of him giving her that look had her doing something incredibly stupid. He was her boss and it honestly shouldn’t have mattered what he thought, but last night, it mattered, and she had no idea why.

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Will it involve more alcohol?” Kylie asked, because she wasn’t sure that she could even be in the same room with alcohol without throwing up at this point.

  “No.”

  “Thank God,” she said, sighing with relief until he asked his question and she decided that perhaps she was feeling better after all.

  There was a slight pause and then, “Did you know that you’d be released from the contract and paid in full if I violated the terms of my house arrest?”

  “I figured that out a while ago,” Kylie mumbled around a yawn, tempted to close her eyes and-

  “Then why didn’t you let them arrest me?” he asked, making her frown as she turned her head so that she could look at him as she asked, “Why would I do that?”

  “Most people would,” Hunter murmured, as he reached up to push her hair out of her face.

  “I would never do something like that,” she mumbled, as she lay her head back against his chest.

  “No, you wouldn’t, would you?” he said with a soft smile and a sigh before following that up with, “Can I ask you something else?”

  “Sure,” she said, shifting to get more comfortable.

  “What happened last night?” he asked, absently tracing circles on her back.

  “I drank too much?” she said, sounding hopeful.

  There was a heavy sigh and then he was giving her shoulder a patronizing pat. “I think that’s an understatement,” he said, making her lips twitch despite the fact that she felt like crap. “But, that’s not what I was referring to.”

  “The card game where I wiped the floor with you?” she asked innocently with the hopes of distracting him from the question that she didn’t know how to answer.

  “You didn’t wipe the floor with me,” he bit out even as he gently rubbed her back.

  “I really did though.”

  “I let you win.”

  “You have a tell,” Kylie said, deciding to take pity on him.

  “Lies, Miss Stone, all lies,” he said with a long-suffering sigh that had her biting back a smile.

  “You glare,” she said, deciding to take pity on him.

  “I always glare,” Hunter pointed out, which made it impossible for her to hold back another smile.

  “True,” she murmured in agreement, “but when you have a losing hand you glare at your cards.”

  “I see,” Hunter said after a slight pause before asking, “And when I have a winning hand?”

  “You look smug,” Kylie said, deciding not to point out that he also looked incredibly sexy when he did it since he was her boss and that was just inappropriate.

  Then again, she wouldn’t be able to tell him that even if he wasn’t her boss. She wasn’t good with men, never had been, and probably never would be, which was more than fine with her, because-

  “And you looked terrified when you came running into my office last night,” he said quietly, reminding her why she never let anyone get close.

  *-*-*-*

  “Thunderstorm,” the small woman in his arms said with a shrug and if he hadn’t been there to see the look of terror on her face last night, he probably would have believed her.

  “Thunderstorms,” he murmured thoughtfully as he continued rubbing her back.

  For a moment, he considered pushing her for more, but by now, he knew enough about the stubborn woman in his arms to know that pushing her wouldn’t help. She’d shut down and he didn’t want that. He wanted her to tell him all those things that she was keeping from him. But most of all, he wanted to know what had sent her running, scared out of her mind, into his office last night.

  And he would find out, he decided as he gently brushed her hair behind her ear so that he could watch her as she worried her bottom lip, most likely wondering if he’d bought into her bullshit excuse. He hadn’t, but for right now he would let this one go.

  “Are you ready to get out of the tub yet?” Hunter asked, running his fingers absently along her spine as he sat there, enjoying the feel of her in his arms more than he ever thought was possible.

  “Maybe,” Kylie said, but made no move to climb out of the tub, he noted with a sigh as he shifted the small bundle in his arms and moved to climb out of the-

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Mr. O’Mallery,” she mumbled weakly, as she went pale, and he decided that perhaps it would be for the best if they stayed here for a little while longer.

  “Hunter,” he said, wrapping his arms around her once again and held her close.

  “I’m not really sure that’s appropriate,” she mumbled against his chest.

  “Well, neither was asking me how it felt to shove my-”

  “Hunter it is,” Kylie said, making his lips twitch.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to interrogate me again?” he asked innocently, earning a one-eyed glare that had him biting back a smile. He briefly considered telling her that he’d never met any of those women that loved to email him every day, but quickly decided against it since watching her read them every morning was his favorite part of the day.

  “I’m sure,” she mumbled against his chest.

  “Are you sure? Because you seemed to have a lot
of questions last night.”

  “No, no, I’m good,” Kylie whispered weakly.

  “Because I’d be more than happy to answer any questions that you might have about-”

  “If you bring up anything that happened last night, I will be forced to kill you,” Kylie said, slapping her hand over his mouth as she shifted so that she could shoot him the cutest fucking glare that he’d ever seen in his life.

  It was in that moment that he decided that hiring her was the best fucking decision that he’d ever made.

  Chapter 16

  “I’d like to hand in my resignation now,” Kylie mumbled weakly while she watched as a large horde of zombies tore apart the unfortunate man that hadn’t done enough cardio before the zombie apocalypse.

  “I don’t think that’s an option,” Hunter pointed out as he grabbed another folder off the neatly organized stack that she needed him to look through before she went to the post office.

  “I’m willing to take my chances,” Kylie said, nodding solemnly as she tightened her grip on the blanket that she’d been curled up in all morning as the horde of zombies went looking for dessert.

  “And what would you do if you quit?” Hunter asked, tossing the folder on the couch cushion between them before grabbing the next folder.

  “Most likely avoid having nightmares about zombies ripping the flesh from my bones?” she suggested, sounding hopeful as she picked up the discarded folder and added it to the neatly organized stack next to her.

  “You’d miss me, Miss Haven, and we both know it,” he said, and sadly, that was actually true.

  So, she didn’t argue.

  “I-I should probably get to the post office before they close,” Kylie said, licking her lips nervously as she glanced at the stack of files that he still needed to go through.

  “Probably,” he murmured absently, as he skimmed the next file.

  “A-and I should probably go to the grocery store,” she added as she told herself to stop thinking about just how much she liked being in Hunter’s arms last night.

  “You probably should,” the man that she would never be able to look in the eye again said absently, as he skimmed through another file.

  For a moment, just a brief moment, she considered telling him just how very sorry she was only to decide against it since she would probably have to tell him what she was sorry for and she honestly had no idea where to begin.

  One thing was for sure, she was never drinking again.

  Maybe she should have taken him up on his very generous offer and taken a sick day. Then again, maybe she should apologize for accidentally kneeing him in the balls this morning, she thought only to immediately dismiss the idea since it would mean bringing up the fact that she’d slept in his arms last night, which was something that she was fully prepared to pretend never happened.

  No, it was definitely for the best if she sat here, making a list of all the things that she was pretending didn’t happen last night as she waited for Hunter to finish so that she could-

  “Is the Bay Corp file in your pile?”

  “It’s not there?” Kylie asked, frowning down at the large pile between them before shifting her attention to the pile stacked next to her and searched for it only to come up empty.

  “It’s probably on the desk,” she said, getting up to go look as Hunter absently murmured, “Probably,” as he continued working his way through the rest of the files.

  Relieved to have something to do, she walked over to the desk. After a quick search of the files she had stacked on top, she turned her attention to searching the desk drawers even as she couldn’t help but wonder about the man sitting across the room and had to admit that she had no idea what to make of him now. While any other boss would have fired her for last night, he hadn’t. He’d also taken care of her, held her until she could get out of the tub without getting sick even though it hadn’t ended well for him, made sure that she was okay, let her curl up on the couch to work, kept her company and-

  “Shit!” he snapped when she found the thick stack of folders with her name written across the top in the bottom drawer and felt her stomach drop when she saw what was written on the face-sheet.

  Everything.

  “You had me investigated,” Kylie said hollowly, as she stood there, staring down at the thick folder as she realized what last night had been.

  An interrogation.

  “Yes,” he said, as she flipped open the cover and was forced to grab hold of the desk when her legs threatened to give out.

  “Why?” she whispered hollowly, feeling sick to her stomach as she stood there, staring down at everything that she’d thought she’d left behind.

  “I wanted to know who was working for me.”

  “I thought we were supposed to be honest,” she said, throwing last night’s rules back in his face as she looked up to find him watching her with an expression that she couldn’t quite read.

  “You’re right,” Hunter said, nodding in agreement because this went beyond a simple background check.

  “Then why did you do this?” Kylie asked, shifting her attention back down to the proof that she was never going to be able to get a second chance.

  “Because I wanted to know just how badly you’d planned on fucking me over.”

  *-*-*-*

  “Okay,” Kylie said, slowly nodding as she stared down at the interview notes that his men had typed up from their interview with her parents, as Hunter stood there, waiting for her to cry or-

  “What are you doing?” he asked, frowning when she suddenly pushed away from the desk and walked away, leaving him with no other choice but to follow her.

  “Finishing our game,” Kylie said flatly as she headed towards the kitchen.

  “I believe it’s my turn to deal, right?” she asked, grabbing the bottle of rum he’d left on the counter last night before grabbing a fresh bottle of Coke from the fridge and two glasses from the cabinet.

  “Fine,” he said, watching the muscle in her jaw pulse as she sat down and picked up the deck of cards they’d left on the table last night and began shuffling.

  “Twenty,” Hunter said, winning the first hand.

  With a nod, Kylie picked up the rum, poured a healthy amount into a glass, followed by some Coke before she picked up her glass, took a large sip and bit back a wince as she asked, “What do you want to know?”

  “When did you start drinking?” he asked, thinking back to the comment her parents had made about constantly finding her passed out drunk, surrounded by empty bottles she’d stolen and couldn’t help but wonder why they’d said that when it was obvious that Kylie had never taken a drink before last night.

  Shrugging, she said, “Last night.”

  “I thought we were being honest,” he said, throwing her words back in her face, because if she was willing to play this game, then so was he.

  “Oh, did you want to know the first time that I took a sip of alcohol?” she asked, blinking up at him.

  When he nodded, she said, “I was six years old and my parents thought it would be fun to get us drunk. So, they filled my favorite red plastic cup with beer and filled a green cup for my little sister. When I refused to take a sip, my father punched me in the side of the head hard enough to slam my head into the wall where I split my ear open. The second time that I refused, my mother called me a stupid bitch, grabbed me by the back of the neck while my father forced the beer down my throat. Would you like to know what happened when I coughed it back up?” she snapped as she reached for the cards and dealt the next hand.

  “No?” she asked when he said nothing. “But that’s the best part!”

  “Your loss,” Kylie said with a shrug, that muscle clenching harder in her jaw as she dealt the next hand. “From that day forward, I swore that I would never drink because I was afraid that I would turn into them,” she said, as she gestured for him to look at his cards.

  Watching her, he gestured for another card. She quickly tossed a card to him. �
�Stay,” he said, not bothering to look down at his cards as he waited for her to continue.

  “Good call,” Kylie said, nodding absently as she took another card without looking at her hand and then another and then another. “Guess I lost,” she said, still not bothering to look at her hand as she picked up her glass and said, “Next question.”

  “When were you diagnosed with a personality disorder?”

  “Never,” she said, picking up the cards and angrily dealt the next hand.

  “According to your parents you were, and they had to kick you out when you refused to take your meds,” Hunter said, checking his cards.

  “Yeah, they’re real saints,” Kylie said, not bothering to play this hand out before reaching for her glass. “Except for the fact that they kicked me out because I finally stood up for myself. When my mother went to hit me because I wasn’t moving out of her way fast enough, I’d had enough, grabbed her arm, twisted it to stop her from hurting me and for the first time in my life, she backed off even as she threatened to get her gun and kill me. When my father came home, my mother told him that I’d attacked her. He told me that I had thirty minutes to get out or they’d call the police.”

  “Then why did your ex-husband make the same claim?”

  “Because I made the mistake of trusting him and he decided to use it against me. He was afraid that I was going to tell his family all the sick things that he was doing, but unfortunately for him, I decided to get a psych evaluation knowing that he would try using the rumors my family started against me in the divorce. The psychiatrist gave me a clean bill of mental health before he informed me that I had PTSD and clear signs of child abuse, but that was it. If you’d like to see the report for yourself, I have a copy upstairs in my suitcase,” Kylie said, meeting his gaze with a furious glare as she took another sip. “Next question.”

  “What about your sister?”

  “She’s exactly like them.”

  “Why doesn’t the rest of your family want anything to do with you?”

  “Because they believe everything my parents said about me.”