“Hi Alyssa. Have a seat.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ve been talking with the team and everyone was impressed with the presentation you gave for the Pinecrest parking complex.”
“Thank you.”
“We’re always looking to expand, but just because we have the clients, expansion isn’t possible if you don’t have the team in place to give the clients what they expect from Hasher Borne.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve done so well with the Pinecrest account that we would like to give you their other accounts as well. They run a number of companies and they requested you specifically. Of course, your salary will be increased to compensate you for the extra workload. For now, I’d like you to run everything through Melanie and Grayson.”
“Grayson?” she blurted without thinking.
“Yes, he’s the financial lead on this account. And Melanie was the previous account manager.”
“I see. Okay.”
“If you have any issues, please let us know. It’s a sizable account.”
“Thank you for this opportunity.”
“Everyone sees big things for you.”
She nodded and left his office, anger and excitement battling for top emotion.
She smiled at everyone on her way to Grayson’s office, and then went in and shut the door behind her.
He looked up, a smile breaking over his face as he leaned back in his chair.
“Hey. How did it go?”
“You never told me you were the financial manager on the Pinecrest account.” It came out as an accusation as she moved closer.
The smile fell from his face and he sat up in his chair.
“I am?” He looked confused as he hands moved over the keyboard in front of him.
“Yes. You are. Is this why I was given the account? Are you helping me? I don’t want your help.”
“I have thirty-seven accounts, Liss. I don’t remember seeing Pinecrest.”
He sat back in his chair and nodded at the screen.
“I have them under Leedom Enterprises. There are four businesses under them. Pinecrest is one. I didn’t realize it.”
“We talked about them being part of Leedom when I was working on my presentation. It didn’t ring any bells?”
“You’re accusing me of getting you a promotion? Even if I could do that, wouldn’t it be a good thing?” he asked.
“I’ve just been given all the accounts for Leedom. I wanted to get ahead on my own merits not because some guy is trying to get me into his bed.”
“You are already in my bed, so that motivation hardly makes sense.” He swallowed and stopped talking when she leveled him with her look of fury.
“I don’t need your help. Why do you insist on trying to fix my life? I’m not one of your projects.”
“I don’t see you as a project. I see you as a friend. Ask Doug or Trent. I will do anything I can to help my friends. But I didn’t get you this promotion. I swear. You’re going to have to trust me.”
She glared and he nodded.
“Right. You don’t do that.” He sighed and stood to come closer.
The adrenaline from her rage had abandoned her.
“While you might not believe me, I really didn’t know. I’m happy for you.”
He was trying to cheer her up. She shouldn’t have been so angry in the first place. Maybe he wasn’t lying. Maybe he really hadn’t remembered the Pinecrest name on the account. It seemed reasonable.
He let out a breath and let his hands fall down to his side.
“I honestly didn’t realize it was my account. But had I known, I would have suggested you because you’re qualified.”
“I want to get it—”
“On your own merits. I know. But I know your merits too. And if I had suggested you—which I didn’t—it would have been because of said merits at work and not because of any other merits I might be privy to.”
“Fine. I’m sorry I overreacted.” Why couldn’t she just be normal?
“Now that we both agree you’re crazy, do you want to go out tonight to celebrate?”
“No, thanks. I have a lot of work to do.” With that she left his office. Her earlier frustrations were now turned inward. Why did she have to assume all men had some other agenda? That they had a hidden life.
She shook it off and went to her own office to get started.
A few hours later, she received a call from Doug.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Alyssa. I was just given the Leedom account. I understand you’re managing that account. Would you be able to send me a copy of the file so I can review it?”
“You’re taking over the account?”
“Grayson offered a trade and I couldn’t turn it down. I hope that’s not a problem.” She wondered if Gray had taken on the notorious Knott account in exchange for Doug taking the Leedom account.
“No problem.”
“Good.”
Doug didn’t sound like his normal fun-loving self. She might have thought this was his business persona, but she’d seen him in too many meetings.
“Okay. I’ll send it right over.”
“Thanks.” He hung up without another word.
Alyssa didn’t put the phone down; instead, she keyed in Gray’s extension.
“If you’re going to yell at me, I’m going to hang up,” he threatened.
“Why did you do that? I didn’t ask you to give up the account.” She made sure not to yell.
“It was the right thing to do. I don’t ever want it to become an issue or for your promotion to be questioned. Especially by you.”
“Thank you.”
“I get that you don’t trust me, so until you do, I’m going to do my best to convince you I’m safe.”
“Did you trade Doug for a crappy account?” she worried.
“I can’t talk about my client’s profile. And since you’re not on the account, I’m going to have to officially say, ‘none of your beeswax.’”
She laughed at his official announcement, and then let out a sigh. From his reaction, she was positive he’d gotten the bad end of the deal with Doug, just so she would be more comfortable.
“Thank you, Gray.”
“No problem. Now get to work.”
Her client seemed to like what she’d done so far, but she still needed to tweak the project into perfection. She packed up her laptop to work from home. She didn’t mind putting in the extra time to find a way to save her client money.
Gray made her put her laptop away by eight so they could have dinner together and snuggle on the sofa.
Since her outburst, she’d been thinking about her relationship with Gray—because it was obvious it was now a relationship. They were too close. It was apparent he cared about her. She knew she cared about him. Way more than she ever wanted to.
In fact, she was pretty sure she was in love with him.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. She’d had rules to save herself from this.
Sure it felt great to see his face light up when he saw her, but how long would that last? How long before the pain? At any moment, she might learn some horrible truth that would break her heart and send her life into a tailspin.
She needed to get things back to where they were safe.
By Friday, she’d convinced herself it was possible to go back to the way things had been when they were just roommates. They only needed a little distance.
No sex, no snuggling, no emotions. She could do this.
“Don’t get attached,” she told her reflection as she changed to go out. She didn’t allow herself to dwell on how she’d much rather slip on a pair of shorts and spend the evening on the sofa with Gray. She needed to do this.
Distance was the first step in getting control of
her life, and her heart.
As if intent on demolishing her resolve, Gray came home.
“Honey, I’m home!” he called through the apartment with a happy tone. “It’s Friday!”
Alyssa stepped out of the bathroom in her heels.
“Holy shit!” he stammered as he looked her over. A smile took over his face as his gaze moved up and down her body.
“Guess what?” she said with a huge smile.
“What?”
“Leedom liked my budget proposal. They signed off on it today.”
“That’s awesome! I knew they’d like it. Let me change and I’ll be ready to go out—”
“Actually, I’m going out with Mia to celebrate.”
“Oh.” The disappointment on his face almost made her backtrack. She couldn’t. “Well, have fun.”
“I will. I need to get going.”
“Sure. Maybe we could go out tomorrow night?” he asked, his blue eyes searching her face.
“Yes. Tomorrow should work.” He only seemed slightly relieved.
“See you when I get home.”
Twice on the way down in the elevator, Alyssa almost went back up.
She shook her head and continued on to meet Mia.
She needed distance. This was healthy.
* * * *
Gray watched Alyssa walk out of the apartment as his chest tightened uncomfortably.
What could he do? He couldn’t chase her down and beg her to stay with him. Actually, he could have done that, but then he was certain she would have kept on going and not looked back.
Damn it! He wanted them to be close. It didn’t have to be such a horrible thing.
He understood why she was scared. The asshole to whom she’d been engaged had devastated her, but it didn’t mean Grayson would too. He didn’t know how to get out of Donnie’s shadow. Unless…
What if the whole just friends thing was her way of keeping him from pushing her into something she really didn’t want with him? Doubts flooded his mind, calling up those old insecurities as he went to change. Mandy hadn’t been satisfied with him.
He tossed his work clothes in the direction of the hamper and pulled out a T-shirt and sweatpants. He was planning to order in some Chinese and spend the night on the sofa in front of the television until Alyssa came home.
But then what? No matter what he did, he didn’t see a way to get out of this labyrinth of doubt and suspicion. He couldn’t prove he wouldn’t hurt her until she trusted him enough to get close and see he wouldn’t hurt her. It just went round and round with no way to get any further.
“Fuck this,” he said as he dug around in his closet for a dress shirt and the skinny jeans Alyssa had dared him to buy. She said they were hot, and it was time to put them to the test.
His conviction only lasted until he got down to the sidewalk. He realized he wasn’t up for the club scene. Instead, he walked down the street to MacGregor’s. It was still fairly early, so he sat at the bar and ordered his usual fish and chips.
Shirley, the early bartender was still there. She was a large woman who called everyone Sugar. He and Alyssa had picked up the habit one evening when she was working. They had called each other Sugar for a few days after. Gray liked it more than he should have. He realized he liked everything about Alyssa more than he should have.
He needed to get over her before she broke his heart.
A few hours later, he was still sitting in the same spot, trying to figure out how to manage moving on and putting Alyssa back in the friend box.
“You look like someone stole your best friend,” Mac said as he put a second beer down in front of Gray.
“Kind of.”
“You’re here without your sexy little sidekick?”
“Yeah. Looks like it.” He couldn’t argue. Alyssa was sexy, and she had been with him every time he came into the bar lately.
“I thought the two of ya were joined at da hip. You have a fight?”
“No.” He shook his head.
“I see.” Mac nodded and went about making a drink for another customer. “Why don’t you check out the blonde at the end of the bar? She looks to be your type.”
“No thanks.”
“Come on, man. Don’t be like that. At least take a look.”
Reluctantly, Gray looked up. The bar had filled while he’d sat there feeling sorry for himself. He leaned over so he could see down the length of the bar, and his eyes shot wide open.
“Right?” Mac said with a grin. “I told ya.”
“I want to buy her a drink,” Gray said with a slow nod.
“Aye, I thought you might come around.” He mixed the drink and carried it over while Gray watched.
She shook her head, refusing the drink at first. Then Mac pointed down at Gray. He gave a little wave when her gaze met his. He watched as her eyes widened in surprise. She smiled at him. His chest tightened at her reaction as he got off the stool to go meet her.
His night was looking up.
Chapter 21
“You come here often?” Grayson was rewarded for his humor with a melodic laugh that warmed him to his toes.
“As a matter of fact, I come here quite a lot.”
“Hmm. I wonder why I’ve never seen you.” He continued to play the part as his gaze studied every curve.
She laughed again and turned to her friend.
“Mia, this is Grayson, my roommate. Gray this is Mia.”
“Nice to meet you,” Gray said, holding his hand out.
“I work at Hasher Borne too. Liss has told me many things about you.” She smacked Alyssa in the arm. “You said he was okay looking.”
“Okay? I’m only okay?” Gray complained with a frown.
“No, baby. You’re way more than okay.” Alyssa was a bit drunk, which made Grayson smile wider.
“Uh-huh,” Mia said with an eye roll. “I think I’m going to go take that blond guy up on his earlier offer. I can see we’re done here.”
“Thanks for tonight, Mia,” Alyssa said, resting her head lightly on the woman’s shoulder.
“Yeah, yeah. I know when I’m being replaced by a penis.” Mia waved them away with a smile as she got up and went to a table with a few guys sitting there. She shoved one of the guys in so she could sit down.
“She’ll be okay?” Gray checked.
“She’s fine. We know them.”
“How was your night?” he asked.
She shrugged and took a sip of the drink Gray had bought her. Maybe that hadn’t been a good idea. She was safe with him. He’d make sure she got home.
“Kind of boring actually.”
“You didn’t have any takers in that outfit?” Gray asked doubtfully.
“I had some offers.” She bit her bottom lip, not saying anything else.
“And…?” He sipped his beer going for nonchalant. Why weren’t they together? He could tell by her earlier reaction she wanted to be with him. Would she ever admit it to him? To herself?
“I’ve been out of the loop for a while.” She shrugged again, and he knew that was all she was going to say.
When she finished her drink, he held out his arm.
“Are you ready to go home?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She gave Mia a thumbs-up and Mia returned it while a guy was kissing her neck.
Alyssa was sober enough to walk in the heels, but Gray still put his hand at her back. Mainly because it felt so nice to touch her.
His earlier plan to give up on her abandoned, he kissed her in the elevator in their building. She had her hands on his ass, pulling him against her.
“I love these jeans,” she mumbled.
“I love—” He stopped. Now wasn’t the right time. “Love that you love these jeans.”
He helped her get undressed since she was
a little wobbly. He even hung her dress up on the hanger.
“You’re a good guy,” she said as he handed over one of his T-shirts.
“But not good enough, right?”
“Too good.”
“Why would you say that?”
She didn’t answer, and went to brush her teeth. He took his turn when she was done. When he came out, she was crawling into his bed. A small piece of him wanted to tell her to go to her own room, so he could maintain the small detachment he’d managed to gain. The rest of him was happy for the reprieve. One more night.
He slid in on his side and she moved into her spot. They felt so right.
“We said we would be honest with each other, but what if I want to tell you something that will upset you?” he asked.
“I’d want you to tell me anyway. That’s what honesty is all about.”
“You’ve met my parents, you’ve seen how happy they are together—even when they’re picking on each other.”
“Right.”
“I always assumed I’d have that by now. Someone who laughed at my fish stories and told me to watch my cholesterol because she wanted me around for as long as possible.”
“You didn’t tell me you have a cholesterol problem.”
“I don’t. It’s an example.”
“Are you accusing me of wanting you to die early from an unchecked medical problem? Have you had your cholesterol checked? It might be hereditary.”
“I missed you tonight,” he blurted it out before he lost the courage. “I’m sure that breaks the rules, but I can’t help it. I can’t expect you to trust me one moment when I’m keeping my real feelings inside.”
She let out a breath and sat up.
“It totally breaks the rules, but I’m glad you told me the truth. Then I don’t feel so bad to tell you I missed you too. I was trying to convince myself I wasn’t getting attached, but the truth is that I only want to be with you,” she admitted. “I don’t know what to do next.”
“It doesn’t matter. We’re together now. We’ll figure the rest out later.” He pulled her closer, not having an answer but relieved she hadn’t shut him down. Her admission should have made him happy, but she seemed so heartbroken, he couldn’t feel any real happiness.
Getting Down to Business Page 20
