by Ali Parker
He opened the door and turned to look at her, pain all over his handsome features, the effect of it stabbing her and choking her silent. “You weren’t out to dinner with Kade?”
“I was, but …” She choked as tears spilled over her eyes.
“And you weren’t just kissing him?”
“He kissed me.”
He nodded and shrugged. “Semantics. Good night, Rebecca.”
She cupped her hands over her face and sobbed softly as he drove off, Kade’s strong grasp pulling her back from the parking lot, his arms wrapping around her. She was too lost in the horror of the moment to care, and instead allowed herself to lean into him.
Chapter 22
Jason had called into work on Friday and Monday and ignored Rebecca’s calls and texts completely. Parker had railed at her over not telling Jason about meeting Kade, and if she felt any worse, she might jump from a building.
Rebecca sat at her desk, the dark circles under her eyes throbbing from lack of sleep and crying. She should be at home, and yet there was too much to do because it was month-end for a lot of her clients. She worked late into the night every night and shut her door in the mid-afternoon, just to make sure no one stopped by to talk to her or invite her anywhere.
Parker stuck his head in as the sun set in the window behind her, a sad smile on his face. “Come eat with me.”
“I’m not hungry,” she mumbled and grabbed her calculator, her fingers furiously slipping over the keys.
“You have to eat.”
“No I don’t.”
He walked in and she huffed loudly, closing the file in front of her and sitting back, the burn of misunderstanding sitting heavy on her chest. It hurt to breathe, and she tried to do so in shallow spurts, her mind working overtime to figure out how such an incredibly horrible tragedy could occur. Fate didn’t like her, it hated her with the passion of hell.
She’d finally given her heart to someone and knew it was forever.
And he’d given it back.
It was her worst nightmare. The very pain she’d been trying to avoid all these years.
Tears swam in her eyes as Parker walked toward her, pulling her up and wrapping her in a tight hug. She cried softly, embarrassed that she was so heartbroken, all because of a stupid mistake. But Jason wouldn’t let her explain, so there was nothing left to do. He would probably quit, and she’d move on eventually, realizing that she’d been right all along. Work and pleasure don’t mix, and age has a huge bearing on one’s ability to be mature enough to at least hear someone out.
“Jason called.”
She stiffened in Parker’s hold, but said nothing.
“He’s coming back tomorrow.”
She sniffled and moved back, reaching for a Kleenex and blowing her nose hard. “I figured he’d come in to give his notice. He can do it with just you. I don’t want him to be uncomfortable.”
“He’s not putting in his notice. He loves working here, he just needs to sort through some of what happened, Becca.”
She nodded. “I understand. I didn’t do anything wrong, though.”
“You should’ve just told him what you were up to. I told you, this shit always happens.”
“Yeah, but with you, those chicks meant to cheat. I was trying to shut down an old flame and put it out completely.”
“He didn’t know that, Becca. All he could see was that he walked in on you kissing Kade.”
Her teeth clenched together. “I didn’t kiss Kade. He kissed me, and I pulled back the minute it happened.”
“Look at it from his point of view.”
“Get out. I’m tired, and I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I made a mistake, and now it’s my heart that’s shattering. This is like every other romantic moment in my life. It’s like trying to hold sand in a windstorm. Get out.”
He turned and walked to the door. “It’s going to be okay.”
“No. It isn’t. I’ll be home late tonight.”
“Okay. I’ll wait up for you.”
She closed her eyes, pulling the soft blue cotton of her shirt up and dabbing the tears that formed and dropped. After a few minutes of trying to remember why she should take another step forward, she turned off her light, slipped on her coat and walked to the car, the lake and her house calling to her.
She couldn’t have Jason, or anyone it seemed, so she’d have to resign herself to being forever alone. Maybe going out to the house would help—she could just enjoy the serenity it offered. She’d feel better after going out there and sitting by the water. If she made it home to her apartment that night, great, but if not—even better.
The water was freezing, but she didn’t care. Her long legs hung off the small dock. The pond wasn’t big enough for a motorboat, but more than capable of handling a canoe. She made a mental note to get one, and to look into a product that would help her bait her line and take the fish off the hook.
“With all the technology nowadays, it surely exists.”
She huffed softly, the wind whipping around her and making her shiver. Warmer weather was moving in slowly, but it was still in the mid-seventies, which in Texas was cold.
She tried not to think about Jason, but every train of thought raced back to him. The way he laughed and smiled, his funny jokes and bold sexuality. The carnal lust that he’d consumed her with a few nights before. She felt herself choking on a sob and swallowed it.
Life was one hard event after the next, and she would have to man up and deal with it. Kids were out of the picture, because there was no way she’d be willing to move on again anytime soon. Her mom would be disappointed and her dad would talk crap about Kade for ten more years, but there was a comfort in knowing those things wouldn’t change.
She turned her head as headlights moved up the small dirt road, the size and shape of the vehicle hidden by the house.
She didn’t really care who was coming, but hoped it wasn’t some rowdy teenagers looking for a quiet place to get drunk and hang out. She smiled at the remembrance of being that teenager many years ago. It had been a long time ago, and she was ready to let those memories die. That was then and this was now, even if now hurt so damn bad.
She moved her legs, her toes swimming through the water as she heard the sound of a truck door slamming. She hoped it wasn’t Kade.
He’d helped her get home Thursday night, apologizing over and over. The sincerity of it softened her heart toward him and yet changed nothing. She said her goodbyes to him at the door with Parker glaring over her shoulder, a distraught look on his handsome face. How weird was it that after all of those years of wanting and waiting she felt nothing for Kade?
Was there truth to be found in the new and exciting rather than the old and comfortable?
She turned at the sound of someone walking toward her, the moonlight making it clear that it was a man. Parker, most likely. She turned back toward the lake and kept her comments to herself, not really wanting to put her emotions on display anymore. No one understood anyway.
“You thinking about that twenty-five pound bass?”
She looked up as Jason sat down next to her on the pier, tears filling her eyes as she nodded and looked back toward the lake.
She couldn’t even speak as her heart bled for forgiveness. She didn’t care that she wasn’t truly at fault or that she’d tried to set things right. She only cared that he was here and that maybe she still had a chance with him. Tears trickled down her cheeks and she bowed her head a little, trying to shield herself from his view.
He reached over and took one of her hands, bringing it to his lips and kissing it. “Kade came to see me today.”
She swallowed hard and turned toward him, her cheeks lined with small tear tracks. Jason turned to look at her, his eyes filled with heavy emotion. She couldn’t speak, even if she wanted to.
“He told me that he hated me.”
“What?” she croaked out, a soft sob leaving her lips.
Jason smiled and moved a little c
loser to her, her hand still in his and his soft lips still brushing over her fingers, over and over.
“He hates me because you love me.” He kissed her fingers again as she breathed in quietly, a few more tears falling. “You didn’t tell me about having dinner with him because it wasn’t that big of a deal to you, was it?”
She shook her head. “No. I went to tell him about you and me.”
“And he kissed you in desperation, to keep you loving him.”
She shrugged. “I haven’t loved him in a long time. I loved the idea of him, but then I found someone so much better than even the best idea I could create.”
He reached over and touched her face, his other hand moving behind them to pull her closer. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you that night. I was scared and hurt.”
She touched her free hand to his face, a soft whimper coming from her as she cried, unable to help herself. “I’m so sorry. I would never want to hurt you.”
He turned and pulled her into a hug, burying his face into the back of her head, her face bent toward the ground. “I know, baby. It’s going to be okay. I just wish you would have told me what was going on so that there was no room for misunderstanding. Think about that next time, okay? You have all the freedom in the world to be you, just make sure you think about how it affects me.”
She moved a little, looking up and sniffling. “So you’re not quitting us?”
He smiled and leaned in to kiss her lips softly. “No. You’re mine and I’m yours, remember?”
She nodded and tucked her face in the crook of his neck, relief washing over her.
“Besides,” he said against her hair. “Who’s going to bait your hook and pull the fish off?”
She smiled and whispered against his chest, “You. Only you.”
The End
Up next is Baited Christmas
Baited Christmas
A Holliday Novella
Chapter 1
Rebecca
"A little higher." Parker's voice was starting to get on my nerves. Where I loved Christmas, decorating the office and doing it late in the season was dragging me down into a less-than-jolly hole.
"Like this?" I lifted a little higher and pulled the string of lights up the wall with me.
"A little higher. Almost there."
I lifted up as high as I could and almost tipped over to the right. "Here?" I squeaked out.
"Just a tad-"
"Ugh." I turned and chucked the lights.
He laughed loudly, his cheeks burning pink as he gave me a knowing look. "I just like the way your ass looks in that skirt. Forgive me?"
"Incorrigible." I walked past him and popped him in the chest on my way toward the coffee bar. "I hope you don't behave this way with everyone else in the office. We might end up with sexual harassment suits to pay instead of Christmas bonuses."
"It's only you, love. Feel good about yourself."
"Great," I mumbled and walked toward the kitchenette, grateful that it was early enough in the morning that we were alone. Our staff wouldn't be in for another thirty minutes or so. It had been a long year of building up new accounts, but a good one. I played accountant and Parker played marketing guru, both of us fitting our roles perfectly.
I'd just started a pot of coffee, when his voice pulled me from my thoughts.
"You know you're extra grumpy when Jason is out of town. Why don't you just send someone else next time and keep him here? He's like a security blanket for us."
"Us?" I glanced over my shoulder, lifting my eyebrow to challenge my best friend and business partner.
"Yes. All of us here at work. You're much more pleasant when you're getting laid." He walked in and moved up beside me, pressing against me from the side. "If you would just give up on love and let him go, we could sulk together. Then I wouldn't be alone."
I snorted and looked up at him. "We've been together for nine months, and mostly thanks to you. I'm pretty sure we're going to move in together soon. You sulking alone is by choice, anyway."
"Is it?" He let out a long sigh before reaching up to run his fingers through his messy blond hair. "Maybe so, but I can't help that I'm a player by chance."
"It's been nine months, Park. Mina has found someone else and isn't looking back. Why are you?" I turned to face him before reaching out and squeezing his shoulder. "You're a great catch. Find someone under the mistletoe this year?"
"How did this turn from you to me?" He shook his head and reached up to grab two mugs from the counter in front of us. "And are you serious about you and Jason moving in together?"
"Yeah. I think." My thoughts moved through the last nine months of us building our relationship. It was fun, soft, sweet and yet filled with the kind of passion I didn't realize existed. "I'm just glad everything worked out as well as it did."
"Yep. I actually saw Kade in town the other day. At the grocery store."
I couldn't help that my heart constricted at Kade McMillian. He'd been my best friend in high school, and I thought he would be my husband, the father of my children. But he had different plans. Plans to head to Hollywood after school and never look back. And I'd spent those long sixteen years waiting for him, comparing every man I dated to him, only to find out that I'd been wrong. He wasn't the knight in shining armor that I'd made him to be in my head. He was just a regular guy, and not my guy after all.
"Was he with someone?" I reached up and pushed my thick, copper curls off my shoulder.
"Do you care?" Parker poured us each a cup of coffee as he wore a cocky smile. He was forever up to something. I had to find him another wife, wife number three to be exact. Being tied down to a relationship kept him out of trouble, or at least helped with the situation.
"Nope." I shrugged and accepted one of the mugs from him. "I mean, I hope he finds someone and has a good life, but other than that, no. After Kade finished up building the house for me, we were done. I haven't heard from him since."
"And that's a good thing. You starting a relationship with Jason meant letting go of all of that old shit." He reached over and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Promise me if things don't work out with you and Junior that you'll give me a week to ravage your body before you find another guy?"
I rolled my eyes. "No. Never. Not in a million years."
"Why? Because you wouldn't survive it?"
"Nope." I turned to face him as the sound of Christmas music started above our heads. One of the other staff must have arrived.
"Because you'd quickly turn into my sex slave?" He lifted an eyebrow and I couldn't help but smile. Parker was beyond cute and such a good man. How he hadn't found ten women at that point was beyond me.
Because he doesn't want to. That had to be it. He'd been married twice and both times, the women cheated on him. He most likely wouldn't look to getting married again, which was a shame. He was the type of man that would worship the right woman, and she would return the favor no doubt.
"No. I'm Jason's sex slave, remember?" I smirked.
"I don't want to hear about you and Jason rolling around in the sheets."
A knock on the open door caused me to turn. Stephanie, one of our newer accountants, was standing in the doorway, her cheeks pink. "Sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt. I turned on the music. Is that-"
"Yeah, absolutely." I put my back to her as my cheeks burned. Of course someone had to walk up when I was talking about having sex with Jason with Parker. Of course. Typical office morning.
"That sweater looks great on you, Steph. Brings out the blue of your eyes." Parker's voice was warm and friendly.
"Oh thanks. Okay, well, morning."
He turned back to me, and I glanced up at him. "Let's not talk about sex in the office. I'm not looking to get slammed with a lawsuit. Got it?"
"Can we just have sex in the office?" His blue eyes filled with mischief and a soft sadness rolled through the center of my chest. He deserved better than loneliness at Christmas. Everyone did.
"No. S
top it." I picked up my mug and turned to walk back to my office. "We have that interview at eight with the new marketing agent. Make sure you ask her all of the questions I gave you, all right?"
"No way. They were horribly boring."
I turned and walked backward down the hall as he stood just outside of the kitchenette. "They were important. Just because you're a fruity artist tucked into the body of a businessman doesn't mean that you can hire anyone and hope for the best."
"But if she's got the right personality, I can teach her everything else."
I snorted at the look on his face. "Why does that worry me? You teaching her shouldn't look so sensual. Get it together and behave or you're fired."
"You can't fire me. I'm your partner."
"Sure I can. It's in clause four of our agreement." I turned and walked into my office as a smile lifted my lips. He would be in there in three... two...
"You're not serious, right? You wouldn't do that." He moved into the doorway of my office, his look far more serious than I was used to.
"Of course not. We built the firm together." I smiled and set my coffee down.
"All right, but could you technically based on the agreement?"
"Her name is Keira Langston. Ask the questions I sent you and then add a few of your own."
"Wait. You're not coming with me?" He crossed his arms over his strong chest. He had more of a swimmer’s body, but he was beautiful no matter which way he turned.
"Nope. You're a big boy and this is your first employee for the marketing department. You don't need me in there."
"What if I want you in there?"
"You're thirty-six. Stop being a baby and interview the woman."
"Girl." He smiled. "She's only twenty-five, Becca."
"And that's not a girl. It's a woman, or so you told me when I was worried about Jason being a kid."
"Touché." He shrugged and put his back to me as he started to walk out. "I hate you sometimes."
"No you don't, but good try." I sat down and turned on my computer before glancing over at the picture of me and Jason that sat on the edge of my desk. His smile warmed my heart and the gleam in his eye had my stomach contracting in lust. "I'm ready for you to come home."
