When You're Back

by Abbi Glines

  “Just eat, Reese. I’m not going to come across the table and grab you. I’m just eating before my food gets cold.”

  Right. OK.

  I watched as he picked up his burger and took a bite. It looked so good. I pushed my concerns aside and did the same.

  We ate in silence, and I decided this was OK. Not weird at all. And the burger was the best thing I’d put in my mouth. The fries were also fulfilling my fantasies. When I had almost finished, he spoke again.

  “You hang out at home alone last night? Since your man was off getting coffee with his cousin?”

  He’d gone to get coffee with her? I had thought she was crying. They’d stayed out late having coffee? “She was upset. He was trying to comfort her,” I said, pushing the food away. I wasn’t hungry anymore. Not even the temptation of the strawberry cake appealed to me.

  “Uhhh, she didn’t seem upset when I saw them. I even saw him laugh. Shame he left you at home at night. It was your first day at work. He should have been there with you.”

  “Stop it,” I said, standing up and putting distance between us. I didn’t want to listen to him voice my own fears. It was enough for me to hear them in my head.

  He closed his box and leaned back in his chair to look at me. “You don’t deal well with the truth, do you?”

  “I’m fine with the truth,” I replied, my voice rising. He was getting to me. He was making me angry again. He was good at that.

  “Then why does me telling you what I saw and how I think it was wrong upset you? I’m just speaking the truth. Any man who has you at home should keep his ass right there with you.”

  No, no, no. I was not listening to this. He was saying these things to make me doubt Mase. I would not doubt Mase. I’d done that once and almost ruined everything. “He felt bad for leaving me. He apologized over and over and even made me breakfast this morning. Mase is a good man. He loves me. Stop trying to make me doubt him.”

  Captain stood up and kept his heated gaze on me. He wasn’t smirking now or looking like he was about to say something else snarky. It was the first real expression I’d seen on him. “I’m not trying to upset you. I’m trying to show you that not all men are what they seem to be. No one is, sweetheart. I’ve seen it too many times. And the first time I looked into your eyes, I saw a pain I understood. Before you opened your mouth and enchanted my hard, bitter soul, I wanted to protect you. I can’t help that.”

  I didn’t have words. He had to go. This was not an innocent lunch. “Leave, please,” I said, pointing at the door.

  He didn’t argue. He simply nodded his head, turned, and walked out.

  I stood there staring at that closed door for several minutes. He was dangerous. I couldn’t let him get near me again. I didn’t want his honesty. I didn’t want his truths. I just wanted Mase.

  Mase

  Something was bothering Reese. From the time I’d picked her up this afternoon, she had seemed off. Her smile didn’t meet her eyes. She also seemed clingy. Not that I was complaining. But she didn’t let me get far from her. We had showered together and had sex on the bathroom counter before moving to the sofa and curling up together.

  She was currently sitting in my lap with her arm around my shoulders and her head on my chest. The guilt about last night was still digging at me. Was that why she was acting so differently? She was worried I’d leave her again? Did she think she had to hold on to me? I fucking loved it when she clung to me, but I didn’t want her doing it because she felt like she had to.

  I wanted her to know I was always hers. No need to cling to me. I wasn’t going anywhere. I trailed my fingertips over her bare thighs, thinking about all we’d been through and how far she’d come.

  She had grown so much, and I would never forgive myself if my stupid actions took that away from her. She was mine, but I was just as much hers. No one else would have me this way.

  “I love you,” I whispered into her hair.

  “I love you, too,” she replied, and traced a heart on my chest with her finger.

  “I won’t leave you again,” I told her. I needed her to believe me.

  She didn’t reply. Instead, she continued tracing that heart on my chest over and over.

  “You own me, Reese. Know that, baby. Know that I’m yours.”

  She stopped tracing on my chest and tilted her face up to look at me. “What if, one day, you’re not mine anymore and you can’t help it?”

  What did she mean by that? “I can swear to you that you will always be it for me. No one fits me like you. No one makes me feel whole. No one else ever will.”

  She smiled and pressed a kiss to my chest. “I want to believe that.”

  Well, fuck me. I wanted her to believe that, too. I thought she did. Had my one stupid mess-up last night made her doubt that? Doubt me?

  I cupped her face and held her so that she was looking directly into my eyes. “Do you see me? This man in front of you will love you until the day he dies. You’re my one, Reese. My one.”

  She relaxed in my arms and leaned into me. “OK.”

  OK? Ha! That was all she was going to say? OK?

  “Does that ‘OK’ mean you believe me?”

  She nodded. “I believe you. I always believe you.”

  Pulling her tight against my chest, I held on to her. This was my home. She was where my home would always be. It was time I took the next step and proved to her that I was all in. Forever.

  Reese was talking to her father on the phone this morning. She didn’t have to go to work until nine, so she had called her dad to catch him up on things. Checking in with family wasn’t something Reese was used to doing. I expected him to want her to come visit again soon, and I needed to prepare the ranch for my absence. She wasn’t going without me again.

  “Yes, I love it there. Piper, my boss, is really great. And I learned to brush down the horses,” she said, chatting away happily.

  Just hearing her made me smile. I hadn’t been sure how I felt about him walking into her life like he had at first. I’d been afraid he was out for something. But he hadn’t been. He’d honestly wanted to know his daughter. Reese had needed that more than I even realized. The horror from her past seemed to be fading away for her, though I knew it would always be a part of her in some way. She just wasn’t letting it define her life. She didn’t use her mother and her stepfather as excuses not to achieve more. Reese believed in herself.

  After I dropped Reese off at work, I went to Momma’s. I hadn’t talked to her since the Aida thing. I knew Aida’s truck was gone, but I didn’t ask about it. Seeing her gone was more of a relief.

  Major’s truck was still there, though. He’d been gone all day yesterday, but apparently, he hadn’t left town. I parked my truck and headed inside.

  Major was drinking a cup of coffee and eating again. “What do you think this is? A bed-and-breakfast?” I grumbled, walking inside to go kiss my momma and get myself a cup of coffee.

  “Don’t be hating. There’s plenty for you, too,” he said with a mouth full of food.

  “Good morning, son,” Momma said.

  “Morning, Momma.”

  “Reese at work?” she asked.

  I nodded and took a sip of the hot liquid.

  “Did you tell her your cousin has the hots for you?” Major asked.

  If we hadn’t been in Momma’s kitchen, I’d have put my fist in his face.

  “Major,” Momma warned.

  He held up both hands. “Just asking.”

  “Aida went back to her parents’ house. She took off from college this semester, and they’re going to force her to make it up this summer. Her daddy is not happy that she took off to come here,” Momma explained. “But she’s young, and she’ll learn. Let’s just put this behind us.”

  “So you didn’t tell Reese, did you?” Major asked, grinning.

  I glared at him over my coffee cup.

  “I wouldn’t have told her, either. It’s creepy, if you really think about it.”
>
  “Would you shut up?” I growled.

  He stood up with his empty plate and headed to the sink. “Sure. I’ll shut up. I got a job to get to.”

  “Job?” I asked, surprised.

  “Yep. I’m working on building the addition to Stouts and Hawkins. His new guy overseeing the project, River Kipling, hired me. If this one is as successful as the one in Key West, then Arthur is sending him to Rosemary Beach to build another, and I’ll be going, too. Find me one of those hotties I’ve heard so much about.”

  The idea of River Kipling moving to Florida, far away from Dallas, was very appealing.

  Reese

  Piper walked into the office an hour after I had arrived, carrying two cups of coffee. “Good morning,” she said brightly.

  As weird as it was to imagine her married to Arthur, a man who could be her father, I really liked Piper. She was down-to-earth, and I’d watched her with the kids she trained. She was kind. I felt guilty now for thinking Arthur had married her for her beauty and youth while she’d married him for his money. I didn’t get that vibe from Piper.

  “Good morning,” I replied, taking the coffee cup she handed to me. “Thank you. I need this.”

  “Everyone always needs a good cup of coffee.” She took one of the leather seats across from the desk. “So, tell me, how are you liking this job?”

  I loved working here. I felt I was being productive. “I’m enjoying it very much.”

  Piper sipped from her cup and smiled at me over the rim. “Good,” she said. “I’m very happy with your work. Everything you’ve done you’ve given one hundred percent. You work like you own it and it means something to you. That’s hard to find in an employee. I hope I can keep you around for a while.”

  “Thank you,” I replied, feeling my chest swell with pride. I had been so worried I wouldn’t be able to do this job correctly, but here she was telling me she was impressed with my work. I could do this. Mase was right. He believed in me, and I needed to start believing in me, too.

  “Now that you’ve shown me you can handle the daily tasks, I need to add one more thing to your list. My husband has a guy working on building and expanding the menu to include seafood at his steakhouse here in Dallas, which he has already done successfully in Key West. River Kipling. He’s asked for some help filing his receipts and bills. Until the expansion is complete, Arthur needs to use my extra filing cabinet to organize all of that. We’ll need you to file the paperwork that River brings in, and he’ll occasionally ask you to make phone calls on his behalf while he’s on-site.”

  Oh, no. How could I tell her I didn’t want to work with River? She’d just said I was doing a great job and wanted me around for a while. I couldn’t refuse to do this. Besides, he would just be dropping stuff off every once in a while. Not a big deal. I was making more out of this than I needed to.

  “OK, sure,” I replied, not feeling sure at all.

  She gave me an approving smile and took one last drink of her coffee before standing up. “He should be by sometime before lunch to go over things with you. I told him you’d be expecting him.”

  Today? Already? I needed more time. I nodded. It was all I could do.

  “Great. Well, back to work. I have a student arriving in about five. Enjoy your morning, Reese.”

  I think I muttered something about her enjoying her morning, too, but I wasn’t sure. My mind was on dealing with River . . . or Captain. I needed to tell Mase about this. He needed to know that I’d be seeing River more often—but then what? He would be furious, and I’d probably lose this job.

  I liked my job. I wouldn’t get a better one. Having this on my résumé was going to introduce me to more opportunities.

  At some point, I was able to get my mind off of Captain long enough to focus on my calls and e-mails. I brushed down two horses for Piper and made another pot of coffee and brought her a cup. Just before I was ready to take my lunch and after Piper had left to eat with her husband, my office door opened. I knew without looking up who it would be.

  Same messy hair in a ponytail, same smart-ass grin. I only gave him a glance before I looked back down at my computer screen and finished reading an e-mail. Or at least tried to.

  “Are you mad about this arrangement?” he asked, walking over to set a bag on my desk.

  I couldn’t ignore him; Piper had asked me to help him out. I forced myself to look at him. “What do you have for me?” I asked, inwardly cringing.

  He smirked. “First, I have some of the best Mexican food in Dallas for you. Once we eat, we can get to the other stuff.”

  He had brought me food again. This wasn’t just friendly—I knew that. He was trying to flirt with me. But I was Mase’s, and this wasn’t going to work. “I’ve already eaten,” I lied.

  Captain shook his head as if he was disappointed in me. “I’m not a fan of liars.”

  Ugh. This man pissed me off. “Let’s just get to business. What do you need me to file?” I wasn’t going to play this cat-and-mouse game or whatever it was he was trying to do with me.

  He opened the bag and pulled out the most delicious-smelling taco in the world. He unwrapped it before taking a bite and sitting down in one of the chairs across from me. What was he doing, trying to torture me? “It’s my lunch break. Thought I’d share with you, but since you want to pretend like you’ve already eaten, I’m sure you won’t mind if I eat in front of you. I’m starving.”

  Fantastic. I tried to breathe through my mouth so I couldn’t smell the delicious taco, but I could already taste it. And I wanted some. Swinging my gaze back to my computer screen, I reread the same sentence three times, and each time it said something different. He was making me feel flustered, and I didn’t like it.

  “Could you toss me another taco?” he asked, and I jerked my gaze up to see him wadding up the empty wrapper.

  “I wasn’t aware my new role included feeding you. Get it yourself,” I snapped.

  This only made him laugh. I could see him out of the corner of my eye stand up and get another taco out of the bag. He stood there and unwrapped it, then placed it right in front of me before reaching in to get another and taking his seat across from me again. “Damn good tacos,” he said.

  I tried not to look down at the taco. Why was he so determined to feed me? And why did he always bring good things to eat? Why couldn’t he bring something I didn’t like? Things would be much easier that way.

  “Just eat it, Reese. It’s not a marriage proposal; it’s a motherfucking taco, for crying out loud.”

  I shot him an angry glare, then gave in and picked up the taco to take a bite. I didn’t look at him, and he didn’t gloat in triumph. We sat there silently, and I finished off the taco, although I felt a tug of guilt with each bite.

  “One more?” Captain asked.

  I figured I’d already had one so I might as well have two. We didn’t talk. We didn’t argue. It was peaceful, and I was hoping the business side of our relationship would go just as smoothly.

  He cleaned away our taco feast and then pulled out a large envelope and placed it in front of me. “This first batch is a mess, and there are a lot of receipts. I’ll try to get them to you every couple of days so this doesn’t happen again. Also, do you have a cell phone? I need to be able to text you when I have calls I need you to make for me.”

  I did have a cell phone, but I wasn’t sure that having him text me was a good idea. I just stared up at him silently.

  He sighed and raised his eyebrows while giving me that exasperated look. “Would you rather I text you or visit you every time I need you to make phone calls?”

  I quickly gave him my number, which made him chuckle.

  “I’ll be here on Monday to go over some other things I need filed and categorized separately.”

  I nodded. Could he leave now?

  Captain gave me a smirk, then turned to go. “Enjoyed lunch with you,” he said, just before he walked out of the office. He always got the last word. It was annoying
.

  Mase

  “Friday night. Come on, man. Reese will enjoy a good honky-tonk. You haven’t been with me in ages. Let’s drink up, play some pool, and dance. It’ll be fun.” Major badgered me as he sat on the fence post while I worked on one of my new quarter horses, Bingo.

  I was more than positive that Reese would not enjoy a honky-tonk. I ignored Major’s suggestion for the fifth time in a row. “Don’t you have a job to do?” I asked, annoyed that he’d decided to come bug me.

  “I go in after two. Hey, let’s go bowling. I can whup both your asses.”

  I shot him a glare. I wasn’t going fucking bowling. “Are you lonely? Is that what this is? You done with Cordelia already?”

  He frowned like he wasn’t sure what I was talking about. “Cordelia? Hell, man, I haven’t seen her in a month or more. It wasn’t like I wanted to put a ring on it. She was just a good fuck.”

  Rolling my eyes, I went back to work. He was impossible to talk to sometimes.

  “You’re gonna miss me when I’m in Florida. You know you will. Might as well get all the Major you can while I’m here.”

  “I get enough of you as it is. You’re always in my momma’s kitchen stuffing your face.”

  “Awww, are you jealous because she loves me more?”

  “No . . . but are you sleeping with your dad’s new girlfriend yet?” I retorted, thinking that would piss him off. He’d contributed to the end of his dad’s last marriage by sleeping with his stepmother.

  He just laughed. “Not yet.” If I didn’t know him so well, I would think he was joking. Sadly, he was probably very serious. “How’s Reese liking the job?” he asked, jumping down from the fence. Maybe that meant he was about to leave me in peace.

  “She loves it. Piper’s been good to her.”

  “Good to know I won’t have to kick anyone’s ass, then,” he said with a smirk.

  I didn’t even acknowledge him. He loved to try to make me mad. “Go to work,” I told him.