"Kendal. What the hell are you up to, man?" Damon's voice was filled with warmth. The two men hugged and patted each other on the back, the scene before Bethany a little shocking.
"Man ... this fucking life won't give me a break." Kendal turned his back to her and pointed to the building. "I'm the campus adviser for these boys, and damn if they aren't always getting into trouble."
"Yeah. We need to know what's going on, but first." Damon pulled at Kendal's arm to force him to turn. "This is my girlfriend, Bethany. I hear you've already met."
Kendal turned, his face showing plainly the shock he was in. He extended his hand as a smile lifted his lips. "This is the best-looking guy in Dallas? Quite the plot twist if I say so myself."
Bethany let out a forced laugh as Damon put a tight arm around her shoulders. "I guess you could say so, Dr. Tarrington."
"Please, Kendal outside of class." He glanced at Damon. "This girl is half your age, you dirty old bastard. What are you thinking?"
"She keeps me on my toes, and she's only a few years younger than me." Damon laughed before glancing down at Bethany, his smile fading. "We'll catch up another time. She's worried about a good friend of hers. What's going on?"
"I honestly don't know yet. I was told to wait here, and the minute they finished swabbing the place I would be brought forward to answer questions."
"Who was hurt? Was it an overdose or what?"
"I don't know, but I'll be the one to call the boy’s parents. I know the police were called about an hour ago, so whatever happened most likely just happened."
"Is someone dead?"
"No. They would have mentioned that. I know one of our students has been taken to the hospital via the ambulance, but who or why ... no clue." Kendal shrugged and ran his fingers through his brown hair as he looked back toward the complex.
"I'm almost surprised you’re teaching still." Damon reached out and squeezed the other man's shoulder, Bethany a little shocked by the warmth between them. When Damon had referred to Kendal as a good friend, she thought he was using the term loosely.
"Yeah, well, I love it. Can't let a couple of scandals rip your dreams from you." Kendal shrugged and kept his gaze on Damon.
"They ever prove your innocence?"
"Yeah. The girls finally relented, but you know how that goes. They watch me like a fucking hawk now. I had to give Bethany here the same speech I give everyone. I would never date a student, and yet ...” He shrugged and let out a long sigh.
She wanted to ask questions, but it wasn't her business, and honestly, it would just leave things too familiar between them. She liked knowing that she would be working for someone on campus that respected Damon, but being friends with him herself didn't seem like a good idea. They needed to keep things very professional to make sure no one in administration questioned him where she was concerned. She would never want that.
"Fuck them. I'd be shocked if there was ever a girl that could melt your resolve where the rules are concerned." Damon scowled.
"I've not found one yet, that's for sure."
A cop walked toward them, and Kendal moved forward.
"Which of you is Dr. Tarrington?"
"That would be me." Kendal raised his hand as the cop motioned him forward. "If you could come with us. We've got a few questions for you and needed to fill you in on what to tell the boy's parents."
"Good guy," Damon spoke, his eyes moving along the crowd. He turned and pulled Bethany into a warm hug, kissing the top of her head. "You okay?"
"Yeah, just too much lately. I pray nothing happened to Jake. I should have turned my phone up louder or something. If anything happened to him ..."
"I doubt it's him, Beth. Let's just wait until we find out before we move into full-blown panic." He kissed her hair as she looked around the crowd.
"I just wish I could find someone I know that we could talk to. Someone that could give us information quickly. Like now." She pulled from Damon's hold, her stomach in knots. Surely if it wasn't Jake, he would either be walking around or would have responded to seeing the missed calls from her on his phone.
***
The sun was barely breaking over the edge of the sky when Kendal walked back with the cop, stopping in front of Bethany.
"Hey. They have Jake's phone, and they're saying that for some reason, he was texting you before the accident."
"Oh shit." She clasped her hand over her mouth, her knees going weak at the fact that it was Jake. "What happened? Is he okay? Shit. I knew something was wrong."
Damon moved in, offering his arms to keep her standing. Bethany choked on a sob as tears began rolling down her face. She tried to rein them in, not wanting to appear weak or become useless to them in any way.
"Yeah, they aren't letting us talk about it, but I will tell you that he's in critical condition in the hospital. It's looking good, but anything more than that is off limits. I need to call his parents, but the cop is going to want to question you and what your relationship is with him."
"I got her," Damon spoke, taking Kendal's attention and assuring both him and the cop that they would do whatever necessary to help.
"I'll be back in a few minutes. Don't go anywhere, okay, kiddo?" The cop nodded, turning his attention to Damon. "Keep the phone with you too. We're going to want to look over her text messages."
Damon nodded as Bethany turned toward him, her lip trembling as she tried to pull herself together. "I hate it when people call me kiddo. Do I look like a kid?"
"No, baby, but he's an old man. We're both kids to him." He reached out and ran his fingers down her hair. "It's going to be okay. Let's finish this shit, and we'll go find where your friend is at the hospital."
Bethany nodded as her phone buzzed in her hand, scaring her. She lifted it toward her face, the number a private one.
"I need to take this." She moved from Damon as he let her go. The sun busted through the dense fog of early morning and warmed her skin. She let out a long breath and answered the call.
"Hello?"
"Bethany. It's Krista."
"Oh my God. Where the fuck have you been? Jake has been in an accident, and I have messages on my fucking phone that implicate you in whate—" Krista cut her off.
"Shut up. I need your help. I'm at the police station, and you're my one call. I need you to call my dad and tell him I need his lawyer."
"What? Why? What the fuck is going on?"
"Look, you're my only friend. Just make the damned call, please?"
"Why didn't you call him?"
"He won't talk to me. My number is blocked from his phone."
"What the fuck am I supposed to say?"
"Tell him to send his lawyer to the Dallas police station downtown. Tell him I'm being charged with either attempted murder or first-degree manslaughter. It depends on whether Jake pulls through or not."
"Oh my God. Did you... Did you..."
Damon's arms wrapped around her from behind as the earth shifted beneath her. Was this shit for real? Krista tried to kill Jake? Why? No way this was happening.
"I'm on a tapped line. Just call my father."
The phone went dead, and Bethany turned, her senses dulled, her body numbed to all external factors. She glanced up at Damon, his mouth moving, but she couldn't make out a word he said.
Was love so powerful that when denied it could rear its ugly head and leave violence as its only outlet?
What kind of person was capable of that type of malevolence?
The kind of person that loves for the very first time and loses that light; the darkness their last reprieve, their only option.
Chapter 36
One Week Later
"You look like you've had a long week." Linda, Damon's secretary, spoke from the open door of Bethany's office.
"You could say that. Just wondering how the hell life got so complicated all of a sudden." Bethany shrugged, leaning back in her large leather chair and crossing her legs.
It had been a week si
nce the night in front of Jake's apartment complex. Krista's lawyers hadn't been able to get her bail posted due to the knife Jake was stabbed with being found without much effort. Her fingerprints were all over it, and she wasn't even trying to deny her guilt. But she wasn't confessing either.
Bethany had gone to both the police station and the hospital several times over the last week. Damon had been beside her for most of it. Matt had taken a turn, taking her to the hospital, but Jake had yet to wake up from the medically induced coma. The doctors said he would make a full recovery, but it would take some time to get back to being himself.
"Well, I have some good news, or at least I think it's pretty cool." Linda leaned against the frame of the door, her long blonde hair in a high bun. She had twenty years on Bethany, but she was beautiful, in a professional way.
"I could use something to brighten the day."
"Damon got your new office together. I just kicked the contractor out because it's all done." She smiled and crossed her arms over her chest.
"I think it's going to look weird having an intern on the executive floor." Bethany shook her head and stood. "But ... I'm excited."
"You’re only an intern until you get out of school, I'm sure. You could push that and be an associate without much effort. Kent is soon to be your father."
"Yeah ..." Bethany sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and slipped down into her thoughts as she stared at the multitude of papers on her desk. No one was going to accept her and Damon being together. They had kept it completely on the down low because she wanted him to. Why it didn't seem to upset him was beyond her. Was it enough that he was good with it?
"Okay, well ... When you're ready come on up with your personal effects. I've scheduled the guys to come by later this afternoon when you're on campus and move everything else. If you want things done in a certain way, make sure you leave instructions on your chair for them."
"I can do that. Thanks for your help." Bethany came to and watched Linda leave. She had come to like the feisty secretary a little more than when she had first started a few weeks back.
Something about being so close to Damon during the workday seemed wrong, taboo. It was hard enough to concentrate with him stopping by several times a day, but knowing that he was just down the hall made it more difficult. Bethany groaned softly before collecting her purse and packing up her laptop.
"Might as well get this over with ..."
***
"Bethany, come this way. Your timing couldn't be better." Kent walked toward her as she exited the elevator on the executive floor.
"Hi, Kent. Can I drop this stuff off in the new office first?"
"You bet. We'll swing by there, and then I'll introduce you to Erica."
"Erica?"
"Yes. She's the chief advertising officer for the firm." Kent stopped outside the door of the new office and moved back a little as Bethany walked in. The room was large like Damon's, the desk sitting on the far end with a small table and several chairs around it in the center of the room. The windows were floor to ceiling, the view of the clouds breathtaking.
"Advertising? I'm surprised that an accounting firm would need an advertising officer." Bethany put her stuff in one of the chairs around the small meeting table and turned.
"Most of our clientele is obtained by word of mouth, but we have logos and ads just like everyone else. Erica does a great job of keeping us straight, but she's a little much, if you catch my drift."
Bethany chuckled as she nodded. Artsy types always got on her nerves, but somehow Matt was managing to change her perception little by little.
"Are you sure you want me to have this office? I'm just an intern. This feels incestuous."
Bethany flinched at her own choice of words, the phrase slipping out before she could pull it back. The truth of the matter pressed against her again. Why couldn't she just be comfortable with it like Damon was? They weren't blood. It wasn't that big of a deal.
Why the hell did it feel like it was?
"About that. Let's go ahead and move you up to a senior associate, and I'll take the heat from the board should we get any. Your GPA from UT is enough to support the promotion, and the fact that we have plans for you going forward will be part of our support." He moved into the office, crossing his arms over his chest as he tilted his head. "You did tell your professors that you were going out of town this upcoming weekend with us for the wedding, right?"
"No, but I figured I would just push hard today and tomorrow. School doesn't officially start until next week. I'll get all of my final preparations for them done and be on the plane Friday morning."
"Good. Jamaica wouldn't be right without you there. Your mother wouldn't be happy at all." He chuckled and nodded toward the window. "That view is so beyond heavenly as the sun rises or sets, especially when you're here."
"I'm thinking with the profession that I chose that seeing both might be a possibility." Bethany smiled and moved to the window, looking out at the city.
"What might be a possibility?" Damon's voice caught her attention, his presence sending a thrill of anticipation through her. Would he forever be able to do that? He was captivating no matter how hard she tried to deny it. She continued to look out the window as if he didn't matter. A smile touched her lips as he spoke with his father for a few minutes. The window reflected the two men, and the likeness between father and son was obvious.
Damon's dark gray suit fit him like a glove, the white button-down beneath his jacket only bringing out his tanned skin and dark features.
"Being here morning, noon and night." Kent chuckled.
"Nawwww ... We're hiring more people this year, remember? That's our initiative. Give these brilliant young minds who work for us some family time."
"And what about you, Son? You need some too."
"I'm working on that. I'll bring Beth to your office shortly. I want to talk with her about the new Kissinger tax files." Damon turned his back to her, the jacket blocking the view of his perfect rear.
"Already making the poor girl work on taxes?" Kent laughed again as Bethany turned around and crossed her arms over her chest.
"I actually like taxes. Don't tell anyone?" She smiled.
"Yes, you don't either. Scary." Kent shivered and walked out into the hall. "Make it soon. I have Erica in my office, and the sooner she meets Bethany, the sooner I can stop looking at ads."
"Better you than me," Damon muttered and reached out, closing the door to the office. He turned and lifted an eyebrow. "I honestly thought you might consider telling me to fuck off with this request."
"What request?" she asked before taking a step back, her back pressed to the glass wall behind her. The fitted black skirt and pink shirt left her feeling feminine but professional.
"The request that you move up here to my floor." He walked toward her, his movement languid, but the look in his eyes said that he was anything but relaxed.
"I do think it's a little ridiculous. People are going to talk." Bethany pressed her hands to the glass to keep from reaching out for him. They would forever play games with one another. It was too much of a turn-on not to.
He stopped in front of her, his eyes moving over her face as if he were studying her. "I hope they do. I plan on making sure we break your office in good. If you moan loudly enough, then the talk won't be cheap, but well seeded."
"You're corrupt." She reached out and pulled him close, losing the battle but winning the war as he pressed her against the window. His hands slid up the glass on either side of her face as he leaned down, brushing his lips against hers. His hips shifted as his body pressed in tight.
"You like it." He dragged his nose along the curve of her jawline until he pressed a soft kiss against her ear. "You’re staying with me on this trip."
It was so hard to breathe all of a sudden. "We're all staying in the same hotel. Is that what you mean?"
"No, and you know it." He groaned softly against the side of her neck, his hand getting lost in
her hair before he turned and pressed his lips to hers, hard.
His tongue was so wet and thick. The press of it against hers left her panting, the sexy bastard against her turning her into nothing more than a needy whore within minutes of him walking in.
What a great day it would be to finally return the favor.
She slid her hands into his jacket, over his hips and gripped his ass. He pulled back from the kiss, his eyes glossy as he pressed his forehead to hers.
"My father's waiting on us, but all I can think about is what color your panties are." He nipped at her mouth as she gasped, stiffening at his sensual attack.
Bethany blinked slowly, tilting her head as he moved back a little. She licked her lips; his eyes followed her every move.
"You assume I'm wearing panties." She smirked and ducked under his arm, unwrapping herself from him and walking toward the door. "You coming?"
"As soon as my cock stops throbbing." He leaned against the glass, his attention seemingly on the scene before him. "Wicked bitch."
"You would have me no other way." Bethany opened the door and glanced over her shoulder. "I have to meet this Erica chick and then pack my old office. Did you really want to show me a tax file or were you bullshitting?"
He turned and pressed his palm to the front of his slacks. "I'll bring the file to your office in an hour or so. Good luck with Erica. She's a tiger. You guys should get along beautifully."
"Is that sarcasm?" Bethany laughed.
"It very much is. Get out of here before I check your claims."
"Is that a threat, Mr. Bryant?"
"It's a promise, baby ... A promise I know you'll be thinking about until I make good on it."
She had no words. He had once again sucked the air from the room. Bethany turned and walked into the hall, working hard not to fan herself as her skin burned as if on fire.
Yes ... Being down the hall from him was going to be the death of her.
Mister Big Stuff: A Single Mom Friends to Lovers Novel Page 46
