Fake Pet

by Jamie Knight

  He looked a bit embarrassed. “No, just suits. These don’t have a matching jacket, I figured that would be casual enough.”

  “What if you have to slide?”

  “Slide?” He raised his eyebrows in confusion as he looked down at me.

  “Never mind.” I put my arm in his and we set off walking down the street towards the baseball diamond.

  “Ray, have you ever played softball?”

  “No.”

  “Not even as a kid.”

  “No.”

  “Okay. Well, we’ll put you in the backfield and I’m sure someone will loan you a glove.”

  “Oh!” he practically squealed. Ray stopped and pulled a shopping bag up in front of my eyes. “I bought one!”

  Curious, I stopped too—much to Mr. Pugsly’s annoyance and he pulled a bit till he was able to reach the bush he wanted to sniff. Reaching inside the bag, I pulled out a brand-new leather softball glove. It was black with silver accents and he had them embroider “Ray” onto it with silver thread. I had to hold back my laughter, it was so fancy. It was just like Ray to try to be fashionable even at a family softball game.

  “Is it all right?” he asked, looking into my face and trying to read my thoughts.

  I gave him a big smile. “Perfect, just needs to be broken in.”

  Arm in arm, we walked the last few blocks to the field in silence. I wondered if Ray was nervous about pretending to be my fiancé for my family, but somehow, I doubted it. He was able to be so charming when he wanted to be. Charm should go over well.

  As we came up to the chain-link fence that ringed the field, the players in the middle of their warm ups took notice. There were a few catcalls and whistles. Some of the players ooed and awed. I figured they would all tease me; this was the first time I had ever brought a man to a game.

  Will and Danny were standing by the pitcher’s mound. “Hey,” one of them yelled. “It’s the tall guy! Hey! Tall guy is the fiancé!”

  Next to me, Ray started to laugh. “Your brothers are a handful,” he said.

  “You have no idea,” I agreed.

  Jakey was waiting for us at the entrance of the dugout. He had his massive arms crossed over his chest and a frown on his face. The look he was giving us both stopped me in my tracks.

  “I thought you said he wasn’t interested,” Jake snapped at me. “And how did you go from not dating at all to engaged in one weekend? Doesn’t that seem a little fast?”

  I felt my stomach start to roll. My younger brother was mad. Usually, I shared everything with him, but somehow, I was never able to tell him what had happened with Ray, mainly because Ray was my boss.

  Ray stepped forward and dropped my arm. He reached out his hand to my brother and waited for Jake to take it. They shook briefly.

  “Your lovely sister and I dated briefly a few months ago. I made the mistake of letting her go, a mistake that I fully realized this weekend at the conference where your ex saw us. Yes, the engagement is quick, but I never want to relive the feeling of being without Eileen. So, why should we wait? I hope you and your family can forgive me for my stupidity and come to realize that Eileen is the most important thing in the world to me. I will endeavor to make her the happiest woman in the world.”

  It was a pretty speech and Ray’s words left my heart fluttering in my chest. If only it was true. Still, I grabbed his arm again and beamed a giant smile at him.

  Jake straightened up and scratched his chin. “I see. I’m just surprised that Le Le never told me about you dating.” He gave me a hurt glance, but I couldn’t think of what to say to make my brother feel better. I had made a mistake. “You seem like a decent guy, Ray, and I hope that you do treat my sister right. If you don’t there will be consequences.”

  “What’s this nonsense? Why are you holding up my game?”

  My father came out of the dugout and barged his way by Jake. Seeing Ray, he stopped in his tracks.

  “Are you wearing slacks?!” Dad snapped.

  “Yes,” Ray said startled, “but I bought a glove.” He held up the shopping bag as proof of his determination to fit in.

  My father eyed him and chewed his lip for a second. The look in his brown eyes was dark and somewhat scary. It was the same look he had when he was going to rip a witness apart on the stand in the courtroom. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and tapped his foot.

  “I heard your speech, Mr. Silver. I have no intention of discussing this now, because I have a field full of players waiting on your two and a rival team I am itching to beat. Let me just say that I prefer a more traditional man for my daughter. One who would have consulted me before asking for her hand.”

  Ray huffed in a breath, but my dad raised a hand to stop his words.

  “As far as I am concerned, you do no have permission to marry my daughter or date her. But that could change. Let us see if you can catch a ball. Take the position in left field and don’t ever were slacks to a game again!”

  Dad pushed Jake towards the dugout. I gave Ray and worried glance and we followed.

  The next hour was a shit show. Ray was horrible at spots and had very little understanding of how the game was played. I couldn’t watch him all the time, because I spent most of the game pitching, but when I did, I caught him trying watch every player at once. It was like he was trying to learn all the positions as quickly as possible. It made him distracted and he missed a catch that went right over his head.

  “Damn it, Silver,” my dad yelled from the dugout. “You have one job—catch the ball! Concentrate on that!”

  The rest of my team giggled at Dad’s words. Worried, I shot a glance at Ray, but he just smiled and waved at me. He wasn’t letting the teasing get to him.

  Our team’s turn to bat came and I had to wave to get Ray to follow me off the field. He trotted up to me looking confused and worried.

  “Your dad said to stay out there.” He pointed back to left field.

  “Yes, but now it’s the other team’s turn in the field and we get to bat, but don’t worry, I’m sure Dad will let you sit this one out.”

  “Silver, your up first,” my dad yelled as we approached the dugout.

  Oh shit!

  I slapped my hand into my forehead then turned and grabbed Ray by the arm. My dad just wasn’t going to let him have an easy time.

  “Have you ever batted before?” I asked hurriedly as Will slammed a bat into Ray’s hands.

  Ray ran his hands over the length of the wood. “No, but I have experience with hitting things.” He gave me a lopsided smile and a wink.

  That was not reassuring.

  I clenched my hands together as Ray walked over to the plate. Mr. Pugsly pulled at his leash until he could rub against my ankles and give me comfort. Reaching down, I scratched behind the pug’s ears keeping my eyes on the field the whole time.

  The rival team’s pitcher pulled back and let the ball fly. Ray swung, missed and the ball slammed into the catcher’s mitt. Ray shrugged at his miss and looked over to me as if to say, “It’s okay, I’ll get the hang of this.”

  The next time he swung, he knocked it out of the park.

  I think everyone was surprised, even Ray. As our team screamed with excitement and watched the ball fly, Ray stood at home plate, gripping the bat like a teddy bear and holding it to his chest.

  “Ray,” I yelled, waving my arms to get his attention. His blue eyes found mine. “You have to run!”

  He shrugged, not understanding what I was telling him. I pointed to first base and each base after it.

  “Run around the bases!”

  He nodded and took off at an easy jog. I wasn’t quite sure what Ray did to keep his body perfect and fit, but it was obviously not running, and I was glad that my brothers’ attention was still on the flying ball.

  Dashing out of the dugout, I met Ray at home plate. He touched his foot to the plate and then grabbed me and picked me up. We jumped together like we had just won the game. I leaned down and showered hi
s face with kisses as he held me up in his arms.

  “That was so good, baby!” I cooed. “You did perfectly!”

  Ray pulled me to his muscular body, and I slid down till we were stomach to stomach. My lips found his—hot, ready, and breathless. My hands wound into his black hair, pulling his face down to mine so I could kiss him deeper.

  “Eww! Gross!” Will screamed behind us.

  “Yeah! Get a room!” Danny chimed in.

  The rest of the team joined in on the teasing.

  I pulled back and took Ray’s hand to lead him into the dugout. My father met us at the stairs. He nodded once towards Ray. “Good job, Silver,” Dad grunted. “Glad to see that you aren’t useless after all.” And, that was all the praise he was going to give.

  With Ray’s help at bat, we won the game. At that point, Dad decided that he was okay.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Ray

  Kane and another man where in the lobby of the executive floor when I got out of the elevator Wednesday morning. I had an inkling of who this new guy was, so I pulled at my cuffs until they were at the perfect length under my black silk suit jacket and made sure that my hair was in place. It was always desirable to make a good first impression.

  Christian Keeley didn’t seem to share my feeling about good looks. In fact, I was pretty sure the man hardly looked into a mirror at all. It wasn’t that he was hideous. He was tall and blonde, with a regal looking nose, and none of the narrow horse-face that his sister, Sloane, had. But it was the lopsided beard and thick glasses that really gave the appearance of disheveledness. Plus, Christian was wearing a t-shirt and black jeans in the office—utter blasphemy in my mind.

  He and Kane were drinking coffee at one of the wooden tables. Christian practically put his full face in the cup as I approached and said good morning.

  Kane gave me one of his beaming smiles. “Ray, I would like to introduce our newest partner, Christian. Chris, this is Ray, McKenzie Tech’s CFA. He’s a wiz with our money!”

  Christian didn’t offer his hand over or take mine when I held it out to shake. He glowered at me from behind his coffee cup.

  “I prefer Christian. Please don’t shorten my name,” he glowered.

  Before Kane could apologize, I spoke, “Hello Christian, it is a pleasure to have you join our team. Are you enjoying your tour of the executive floor?”

  The man looked around nervously; His eyes flitting from object to object, never staying on one thing for more than a second.

  “It’s fine.” Christian shrugged. “But I don’t really care about the top floors or whatever greenery you have. I want to see my work space. It’s too bright up here.”

  Kane’s wide smile never faltered. He patted Christian on the back like he was a teenager—a gesture the other man seemed to abhor—and turned to me.

  “I need to speak to Ray alone for one second, Chris. Just enjoy your coffee and the sunlight up here for a bit. I’ll be right back.”

  Christian frowned; he glanced over at the line of windows that ringed the coffee bar/lobby and blinked uncomfortably. The man was definitely out of his element.

  Kane stood, put his hand on my shoulder and pushed me towards his office. He stopped a second and turned back. “If you would like, Christian. I could call your sister up here to finish the tour.”

  To my delight, Christian turned positively green in the face and frowned. “Good God no. I’ll wait for you.”

  “Very well,” Kane said. He closed his office door behind us and started laughing. “Oh boy, is that kid going to be fun to work with! If he wasn’t a genius, I would kick him out.”

  I laughed along with him. Kane walked towards his desk and I followed, then took one of the chairs in front of it.

  “Ray, I got something interesting in the mail this morning.”

  He pulled a large manila envelope out of a stack of papers and pushed it towards me. My heart sank. It was a carbon copy of the one I received Monday.

  “What the hell?!” I hissed under my breath.

  Kane unbuttoned his jacket and sat down across from me.

  “I take it you are familiar with the contents?” he asked. I nodded. “Am I also to assume that someone is trying to blackmail you?”

  I sighed and sat back a bit in my chair as I looked the envelope over. Like yesterday, it had no labels or writing on it. There were no stamps or postmark. Someone in the building must have put it into Kane’s mail.

  “Someone wants me to admit to bribing Eileen to perform at the Leather and Lace Ball,” I told him. “I don’t know who, but it seems to be one of the employees. This is the second envelope, and both would have had to have been hand delivered. Plus, whoever it is hit me up on Watercooler the other day. But when I tried to trace the username it was for a made-up employee.”

  “Ugh, Watercooler,” Kane moaned and ran a hand through his hair. “I need to get rid of that stupid thing. It’s caused nothing but trouble.”

  I pressed my finger to the envelope and slid it over the desktop a bit. “I suppose that this is the blackmailer’s attempt to get me fired.”

  “Indeed.” Kane drummed his fingers on the arm of his leather office chair. “You should be thrilled that they sent this to me and not HR. Obviously the blackmailer doesn’t know that I don’t care, but HR would, and with the strict no dating policy, I would have to at least scold you. And really there is no telling what they would do to Eileen.”

  “You should really get rid of that policy,” I grunted and pulled at my cuffs again. “It’s hypocritical for you and Ashton both.”

  Kane shrugged. “Legal says it is necessary.” He drummed his fingers again. “So, what are you going to do about this?”

  “I’m not sure. Honestly, I was hoping that it was a one-time attempt, but this escalation has me worried. Who else has this freak been sending these photos too?”

  “Have you told Eileen?”

  “No.” I shook my head. “She and I are at a precarious point in our…uh…relationship. I know she has pet tendencies in her, but any kind of negative reinforcement and she’s going to crumble into herself and take everything we have with her. Kane, I don’t want to lose her again. She just needs to realize that this is what she is really like too and be okay with it.”

  Kane nodded knowingly. “Is there anything I can do to help you find this creep?”

  I thought for a minute. “Can I have access to the security cameras? Maybe I can follow the envelope. When is the mail delivered to you?”

  “I have no idea.” Kane barked a laugh. “It just seems to always be there on my desk in the morning. A huge stack that never gets any smaller. Ask Valerie down in the mailroom for the schedule of delivery.”

  There was a knock at the door and Melissa poked her head inside. Her face was pale, and she looked worried. Kane waved a hand at her to come inside.

  “I’m looking for Ray,” she told us. “You have several…large guests.”

  Kane and I shared a glance. I had no idea what she meant.

  “Where did you put these guests?”

  “They’re in your office. They wanted to see you right away and refused to tell me what about. I told them that I would get you as soon as possible.”

  “Okay then.” I got to my feet and grabbed my briefcase. I also pulled the envelope into my hands.

  Kane stood as well. “Do you want me to join you?” he asked.

  “No, I’m sure this isn’t related to that. Probably just some new clients that are interested in our services or something.”

  I talked Melissa and headed to my office as quick as possible. My office door was cracked open and the inside was filled with the Davies boys. Eileen’s very bulky brothers were cramped in my narrow office; all three of them looked irate. My stomach dropped when I saw them, and I realized who else had received mysterious envelopes this morning.

  Oh fuck.

  I pushed the door open more, plastered a smile on my face, and walked into the small room with as m
uch confidence as I could muster. Inside I was praying that they didn’t hit me in the face. I could hold my own in the rare fist fight I had been in, but against three former defensive linemen I was hosed.

  “Good morning gentlemen,” I said. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your company? Did Melissa offer you coffee?”

  Jake Davies was sitting in my office chair, like he was in command, with his feet up on my desk. The scowl he had on his face was enough to sour milk. Will and Danny were standing behind the chair in front of my desk. Both of them had huge frowns and their arms crossed in front of their wide chests. I had to shuffle to get by them. There was no where for me to sit—in my own office—so I stood awkwardly in front of my plants and gently, slowly, put my briefcase on the floor.

  Will, who was closest to me, spotted the manila envelope in my hands and grabbed it. He opened it, quickly shuffled through the pictures, and then glared at me with hatred in his eyes. A look passes between him and his siblings.

  “I would ask if you are passing those heinous things out, but that wouldn’t make sense,” Will said. “You seem like too smart of a man to have a death wish.”

  I dropped my shoulders and decided to try the truth. “I’m being blackmailed and I’m sorry that whoever is doing it has involved your sister.”

  Jake leaned forward and dropped his feet to the floor. He reached his hand out to Will, took the envelope from him, and looked through it himself.

  I looked at his brothers, who hadn’t relaxed an inch. I sighed. This was not going well.

  “Did your father get one?” I asked, feeling acid rise up in my throat.

  “No,” Danny answered. “When Jake saw the first one, he called me, and I intercepted it before it fell onto our dad’s desk. Otherwise he would be here.”

  “And you would be dead,” Will finished.

  I found that I could breath again. “Thank you,” I mumbled.

  None of the men gave any indication that they heard me. Will and Danny continued to glare at me while Jake inspected the pictures. I stood awkwardly and waited.

  “There is one thing I want you to understand first,” Jake started. He set the pictures down and looked up at me. “Our sister is not a hooker. She is not for sale. Whatever she needed money for, you will tell us. We will get your million dollars from her and give it back to you. Understand.”