“If you want to save the lives of any men that may walk by your desk at that point, you should probably keep your legs closed tight.”
“There’s my alpha.”
“Damn right, sweetheart.”
He kisses me hard in the middle of the store. I hear some sighs, and when we break apart, I look around to see a group of women looking at Ryan like he could be their next meal. He sees me glare and looks over his shoulder. He turns back, chuckling and leans down to my ear.“I don’t know what the female version of an alpha male is, but you look incredibly hot staring down those women.”
I laugh as he kisses me again and then pulls me against him as we walk to the registers to pay. We’re still smiling at each other as we place the panties on the counter.
“Ryan? Hi. You haven’t called me in a while,” the cashier says.
“Oh, um, hi…”
“Stacey.”
“Oh, yeah, Stacey. How are you?”
“I’d be better if you called me. I thought we had fun.”
“It was nice, but yeah, I won’t be calling you. I’m with someone now.”
She looks me up and down, and I know she finds me wanting. She’s tiny and curvy with much bigger breasts than mine. I’m a little surprised that I’m not jealous. Then again, Ryan just kissed me in the middle of the store and told her he won’t call her, so there’s really no reason for me to be jealous. I know that he’s mine. Plus, he couldn’t even remember her name.
She finishes ringing us up and Ryan pays. As we turn to go, she feels that she has to try again. “Don’t delete my number, you know, just in case.”
“Sorry, but I’ve already deleted it,” Ryan tells her as we leave.
We walk out into the mall and Ryan pulls me to the side, out of the flow of traffic. “I’m sorry, Chlo. I had no idea that was going to happen.”
He looks so nervous, and I want to ease his worry. I reach up to touch his face. “It’s okay, Ry. I’m not going to lie and say it was easy to see some girl you slept with, who is hotter than me, hitting on you. I wasn’t as upset as I thought that I’d be, either. I feel secure in your love for me.”
“Wait a second? Did you just say that she was hotter than you? You’re kidding, right?”
“Why would I be kidding? Her breasts are way bigger than mine. She could probably be one of those Angels.”
“Do you have a pen?”
“I think so. Why?”
“Because I need it.”
“O-kay.”
I reach into my purse and grab a pen. I hand it to him, and he grabs the receipt from the bag he’s carrying. He motions for me to turn around so he can use my back to write on. When he’s done, he tears the paper in half and hands both pieces to me.
Reason #3 that you are AWESOME and I LOVE YOU: Your breasts are perfect. I love holding themin my hands, especially while I make you come.
Reason #4 that you are AWESOME and I LOVE YOU: You know in your heart that I belong to you so you don’t let catty girls who mean nothing to me bother you.
I look up into his eyes after I read them both. He’s focusing intently on me. I know he’s checking to see if I’m really alright. He must realize that I am because those beautiful eyes of his start to twinkle as I reach up to kiss him.
Chapter 12
Ryan
Things have been going so well these last few weeks. Chloe’s working hard on getting everything finalized for the Seattle building while keeping me organized in the office. I got her the advance for the job so she could buy some dresses for the parties, and she picked up a few things for work, too. She’s at a lunch meeting with Owen going over the final plans for the artwork and sculptures. I’m sitting in my office, waiting for her to get back, when there’s a knock at the door.
“Come in.”
“Hi boss, do you have a minute?” Deanna asks.
“Sure, what’s up?”
“I heard that you’re going to Seattle next week to check on the building there, and I was thinking that you might like some company.” She walks over to my desk and leans forward, giving me a view down her unbuttoned top. I look away in irritation.
“Chloe’s going with me, so I’ll have all company I need. Even if she wasn’t going, I’ve already made it clear to you on several occasions that I’m not interested in anything other than a work relationship with you.”
“What does she have that I don’t?”
“Me.”
She turns and storms out of the office, almost running into Owen,who’s out at Chloe’s desk with her. He can’t help but laughing as Deanna glares at Chloe and then him.
“You two make a much more believable couple,” she tells them.
“And why is that?” Chloe is going into fight mode. I get up and walk around my desk.
“You’re a slut, and he’s an artist.”
“You don’t know anything about me, Deanna. As for Owen, he’s a world famous artist with more fans than you will ever have.”
“You’re a piece of trash, bitch.”
“That’s all you’ve got? I’ve been called much worse by better people than you. And just so you know, I don’t care what you say about me, but if I hear you saying anything bad about Owen or any of the other Griffins, I’ll quit my job and then kick your ass.”
“You’re crazy! I’m going to H.R.”
“You do that. I’ll head down there with you and tell Ellen that I overheard you propositioning my brother, who has turned you down on multiple occasions. I’m pretty sure that would fall under sexual harassment,” Owen says.
“You don’t need to come down to my office. I heard everything. Deanna, I’ll need you to turn in your keycard and clean out your office.” Ellen walks over with my dad. I hadn’t seen either of them. I was too focused on everyone else.
“Me? I’m being fired?” Deanna says.
“Yes. You propositioned your boss and then insulted two other coworkers in front of witnesses.”
“That bitch threatened me.”
“After you provoked her.” Ellen looks at Chloe. “I will have to document that as well, Chloe.”
“Now wait a minute…” Owen starts to say, but Chloe cuts him off.
“It’s fine, Owe. She can write me up. I did threaten Deanna.”
“To protect my family, who happen to own this company.”
“I would do anything to protect your family. No matter what the consequences are.” Chloe turns to Ellen. “Should I come down later to sign the paperwork?”
“Yes. I’ll call you when it is ready. Now, Deanna, let’s go meet security in your office.”
They walk away, and I don’t know what to say to Chloe or Owen. I should’ve stopped things before they got this far. Not just with Deanna, and her hitting on me, but with the confrontation that just took place. It should’ve been me defending Owen and Chloe. But I just stood there watching it all happen.
“Well that was interesting,” Owen says.
“That’s not quite the word I would use, son,” my dad replies. “I’m sorry that you have to be written up, Chloe, but we can’t make exceptions for you, even though you were defending my son.”
“I know, Gary. It’s fine. I’ll stay on the straight and narrow from now on. I just couldn’t let her condescend to Owen. His art is going to elevate the Seattle building.”
“You’ve always been my biggest supporter, Chloe. Thank you.” Owen hugs her and then gives me a fist bump before leaving with my dad.
“I’m going to have to decide on who will replace Deanna on her current projects. I don’t want to be disturbed. Can you not put any calls through unless they’re urgent?”
Chloe nods. “Sure, Ry.”
“Great. I’ll talk to you later.” I walk into my office and close the door. I’m pretty sure that I just came across as the biggest asshole on the planet. Again. I feel so guilty about not being the one to defend Chloe and Owen that I’ve now closed myself off from her. Great. Well, at least I wasn’t lying about ha
ving to move people around to cover Deanna’s projects. That will keep me busy for a couple of hours.
* * *
Chloe
The afternoon pretty much dragged on. Ryan didn’t come out of his office or call me. I don’t know why he’s mad at me. I went downstairs and signed my paperwork. Ellen gave me a verbal written warning only. She said that since she heard the whole conversation, she knew that I was just sticking up for Owen, and since he is a partial owner of the company that should count for something.
When it’s time to go home and Ryan is still giving me the silent treatment, I realize that I’m going alone today. Luckily, I brought my car with me today because I was meeting Owen for lunch. Most days Ryan and I just carpool together. We’ve been alternating between his condo and the guest house, but we haven’t spent one night alone since we got back together. I have a feeling that tonight will be the first one, and I have to admit that I’m not happy about this turn of events.
I decide to leave Ryan a note before I leave. We’ve continued to write each other the love notes, often more than once a day. Sometimes they’re serious and sometimes they’re funny. I realize that this is one of the days when maybe a mix of serious and funny would help to lighten his mood.
Reason #23 that you are AWESOME and I LOVE YOU: You don’t accept the advances of bitches who insult me and you brother.
I leave it taped to my computer where I hope he’ll see it when he leaves. Then, I head down to my car and drive home. The Griffins are getting ready for Friday night barbeque when I get there. It’s a little overwhelming to be in the midst of all of them at once. Well, almost all of them. I try to sneak into the guest house.
“Chloe! You’re coming to dinner, aren’t you?” Maggie asks.
“I was actually just going to hang out by myself tonight.”
“Oh. Are you upset about what happened this afternoon? Gary and Owen told me all about it. Thank you for standing up for Owen. I’m sorry that you had to be disciplined, but Gary said that it can be removed from your file in three months if you don’t get in trouble again.”
“It’s no problem, Maggie. Really. You don’t need to thank me. I’d always stand up for Owen and everyone else, no matter what happens to me because of it.”
“She means it, Maggie,” Yasmin says from behind me.
I whirl around and give her a look, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her inside the guest house with me. “What are you doing, Yasmin?”
“You have to tell them, Chloe. They love you so much already. They deserve to know what you did for them.”
“No. What they deserve is to be happy. They’re happy right now. Telling them would not help anyone. Adam and his family would deny it and then I know they would go to the press and accuse me and the Griffins of slandering them.”
“There’s no proof of what they did?”
“I still have the written agreement about Adam not being able to touch me in any way, and me not being able to publicly deny what he said about me when we broke up, but that’s it.”
“Wait. You said they had the talk with you at the university. Is that the same university that Scott went to?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I don’t want to say until I know for sure, but can you write down the date and time for me, and also what building you were in?”
“Sure.” I write everything down and hand it to her.
“Now, we better get back out there and have dinner before Maggie sends the boys for us.”
I go back out, even though I want to be alone. I know Yasmin is right. If Maggie wants me to eat with the family, she won’t give up until I say yes. I might as well just skip us both the hassle and go out right away.
We go back, out and I see that Ryan has arrived. He doesn’t look at me as everyone else greets me. I should head back to the guest house, but I decide to hold on to my last shred of pride. I can ignore him for as long as he chooses to ignore me. It’s Friday, so I won’t see him in the office again for a couple of days. That’s long enough to come up with a plan of attack. We sit as far away as possible from each other and eat as though nothing is wrong. We both engage in the conversations, but don’t speak to each other. I catch everyone looking at us curiously, but no one says anything. I finish dinner and dessert as quickly as possible without being rude and then say my goodnights. I head back to the guesthouse without having said even one word to Ryan for over two hours.
* * *
Ryan
“What’s going on with you and Chloe?” Scott asks me when my parents, Alex, and Yasmin go inside.
I try to play dumb. “What are you talking about?”
“Cut the bullshit, man. The two of you didn’t say one word to each other all night,” Luke says.
“And you didn’t kiss her hello or goodbye. You two are the poster children for PDA, normally,” Owen adds.
“I’m an asshole.”
“Go on.” Scott replies.
“You all know what happened today, right?” They nod, and I continue. “So, you know that I was a total dick and just stood there while that bitch insulted Owen and Chloe.”
“That is not what happened, Ry.” Owen says. “She had already started in on us before you got out of your office. We didn’t need you to do anything. Chloe handled it. She was badass, actually.”
“Yeah, but I should have stepped in. I’ve always protected Chloe. And you, when you needed it. Which wasn’t often, but still. Plus, Chloe got written up.”
“You have always protected her, but she protected us.” Scott looks to Owen and Luke who nod in agreement. “When we were in school and kids were mean to me, she always found some way to get back at them. It was usually some elaborate prank. She never admitted it or got caught, but I knew it was her. She did the same for Owen and Luke. I’m not surprised that she stood up for Owe. I would actually be shocked if she didn’t. As for her getting written up, that’s total bullshit. But Owe said she didn’t seem upset about it.”
“I never knew that she stood up for you guys. How come no one told me? And she wasn’t upset about the write up, but I still feel bad about it.”
“You were so happy being the knight who swept in and saved her we didn’t want to tell you that she was saving us at the same time,” Luke tells me. “Besides, she needed you. While she always stood up for us, she never defended herself.”
“Wow. Just wow. Now I feel like even more of an ass.”
“So, what happened after dad and I left? Did you guys have a fight?”
“No.” I don’t want to tell them more, but they all look at me with raised eyebrows. I man up and continue. “I told her I needed to figure out who to replace Deanna with on her projects, so I needed to not be disturbed. Then, I went into my office and didn’t leave it for the rest of the day.”
“That is a fucking dick move. What the hell, Ry?” Luke is looking at me like he doesn’t know who I am.
“There’s more. I didn’t talk to her at all, and I felt like shit. I finally looked at the clock and realized that we should be leaving so I opened my door. She was gone already. I forgot that she brought her own car to work today.”
“Do you blame her for leaving? Seriously, bro?” Scott asks as he shakes his head.
“No, not all. She left me a note, though. You know, one of the love notes that I told you we write each other?”
“So, let me just make sure I am clear about what you are telling us,” Scott says to me. “Your psycho employee hits on you and then proceeds to insult Owe and Chloe. Chloe gives her a verbal smack down and gets written up for it. You then basically tell her to fuck off by going into your office to sulking for the rest of the day, thinking you didn’t act alpha male enough. After all that shit, Chloe leaves you a love note. You then come here to dinner and ignore her the entire night.”
“Yep. I told you I’m an ass.”
“Why, Ry? Why did you ignore her here instead of talking to her and apologizing to her for being a jerk?” Owen asks.
“I didn’t know what to say. Here I was being a bastard, and she still wrote me a note. I was embarrassed. I am embarrassed.”
“You need to tell her that, and also tell her why you were a jerk earlier. She looked so sad at dinner when she would glance at you, and you immediately looked away. It was hard to see, man. I almost got up and punched you, even though I thought she must have done something to you. I know it probably would have hurt me more than you, but I was tempted,” Luke says.
“You’re right. I know you are all right. And I deserve to be hit, even if it is by my baby brother. Shit! What if she doesn’t open the door?”
“You’ll never know until you walk over there and ring the bell,” Owen tells me. “I’m pretty sure she’ll answer.”
Chapter 13
Ryan
My brothers all wish me luck as I walk the few steps to the guesthouse. I take a deep breath and then ring the bell. I hear footsteps approach the door, but it doesn’t open. It seems like forever, but it’s probably only a minute until Chloe opens the door. She’s wearing my shirt from our first night together here, tied at her waist with some boxers on. Her long hair is in a messy bun like she normally wears it when she’s at home. As usual, she takes my breath away.
“Did you need something, Ryan?” She asks.
“Can I come in and talk to you?”
“I don’t know. Are you still mad at me?”
“Mad at you? Why would I be mad at you?”
“For causing the scene with Deanna which led to her being fired, and you having to work all afternoon to replace her on jobs. That’s why you wouldn’t talk to me, wasn’t it? You didn’t know how to break up with me, right? Please just get it over with.”
Holy hell. Chloe thinks I’m mad at her for Deanna being fired. And she thinks that I want to break up with her? I behaved even worse than I thought. I have to fix this, fast.
“Chlo, I am not mad at you at all. I never was. I was mad at myself for not stepping in and protecting you and Owen when Deanna attacked you. You took care of it. and it was awesome to see, but I felt bad. Especially when you got in trouble for it. I was so embarrassed that I just stood there and did nothing. I couldn’t face you. It wasn’t hard to replace Deanna. I have a good team of designers, and they all were happy to pick up the extra work.
Building Our Love (Griffin Brothers #2) Page 10
