by Maggie Wells
“Hello, James.”
His head jerked, and he shook himself from the reverie. Her tone was a shade huskier than usual. His smile widened. There was no way Rosie was going let him forget what happened last night. As if he wanted to. One elbow on the counter in front of her desk, he leaned in to look into those bottomless eyes.
“Good morning, Rosie. How are you today?”
“I’m fine, thank you,” she replied, a coy smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “And you?”
“I’m feeling better than I have in years,” he answered truthfully.
A deep red flush stained Rosie’s cheeks and set the tips of her ears aglow, but she didn’t look away from him. “I was wondering, because you seemed in an awful hurry to take off this morning.”
James shook his head. “No, I had some real-life stuff to take care of, remember? Not in a hurry to leave at all.”
The door behind Rosie’s desk opened and Mike stepped out of his office. “Great! Postmortem is done. Everybody go to their corners.”
James chuckled and pushed off from the desk. Shooting Rosie a grin, he whispered, “Busted,” then turned his attention to Mike. “Hey.”
Mike crossed his arms over his chest and scowled. “Seriously? Hey? That’s all you’ve got?”
James grinned down at Rosie. “I think we’ve made Mikey uncomfortable,” he commented mildly.
Mike rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Yeah, because I didn’t know what was happening when you showed up at my house wearing the same clothes you had on last night.”
James shot him an offended look. “I sent you a text message.”
Mike snorted. “Uh-huh,” he grumbled under his breath.
The front door opened and Colm walked in holding a box of donuts perched atop a carrier of paper coffee cups.
Mike eyed the box with suspicion. “Those aren’t from Getta Piece.”
Colm put the coffees on the counter in front of Rosie, then set the box aside. “Getta Piece isn’t on my way. If you were a considerate guy instead of the selfish bastard you are, you’d be bringing us in baked goods every day. But no. You get your sweets from your sweetie and forget all about the rest of us.” Colm wrested one of the cups from the cardboard holder and handed the coffee to Rosie. “Good morning, Rosie. Do I need to kill anyone?”
Rosie cradled the cup between both hands. “No, I don’t think so. But the day is young.”
Colm nodded once and pried another cup from the carrier. He took a sip, grimacing at the hot brew, then he looked directly at James for the first time. “I guess a company meeting is in order.”
James smirked as he reached beyond his friend to help himself to one of the cups. “Appears one is already in progress.” He popped open the lid and reached for a couple of the packets tucked into the carrier. He handed two of the sweeteners Rosie liked to her, then flipped open the lid of the donut box. Shooting his friends a wary glance, he selected a chocolate frosted and took a healthy bite. He chewed twice and asked through stuffed cheeks, “Is this a meeting or a kangaroo court?”
Rosie tapped a pencil on her desk to get their attention. When the three men turned to look at her, she smiled sweetly. “I appreciate the concern, but there’s no need to convene a grand jury on my behalf, gentlemen. I’m a grown woman. Single, independent, and in possession of all my faculties. I’m more than capable of making my own decisions.”
Mike waived away the offer of a donut but accepted the last cup of coffee. “We’re not saying you’re not Rosie, but it would be naïve of us to think any change in…interpersonal relationships within the office…” he paused, measuring each word carefully.
Colm turned to James, his eyebrows raised. “Man, he’s good,”
James nodded. “Should have studied law.”
“We’d be stupid to think things wouldn’t get weird around here if you and James are involved,” Mike concluded, shooting both partners filthy looks.
“My personal relationships are not your concern,” Rosie reminded him. “Unless I bring some sort of drama into this office, you don’t get any say in what I do or who I see. I could keep juggling three men right now if I wanted to.”
“Three?” James cried in surprise. “Now, wait a minute—”
Colm looked to Mike, his brow creased. “I met the Devin guy, but who’s the third again?”
“Charlie,” Rosie and Mike answered in unison.
This time, Rosie was the recipient of Mike’s scornful stare. “I don’t think Charlie is really a contender. She’s using him to bait our friend Jimmy here.”
All three men turned to look at Rosie. Without a blush, she shrugged. “Devin’s a contender.”
“Wait a minute. No, he’s not,” James interjected. “What’s all this talk about contenders? You and I—”
Whatever he was going to say was cut off when the front door opened and Megan flew in, her face as dark as a thundercloud.
“Where the hell were you last night?” she demanded.
Colm and Mike actually retreated a step, putting a safe distance between him and them. Brotherly solidarity be damned. James gave them both scowl, then turned to face Megan. “Good morning, Megan. How are you today?”
“Don’t give me any of your BS,” she spat. “Where the hell were you last night?”
James shrugged. “What does it matter?”
“What does it matter?” Megan parroted in a mocking tone. “You are the one who is all, ‘Let’s get married. Let’s be a family.’ I waited up for you. Then the next thing I know, you don’t even bother coming home.”
James tipped his head to the side and studied her incredulously. “Home? You mean to my house? And why would you wait up for me? You wanted to fight some more and tell me how lame my life is?”
She glared at him, practically vibrating with defiance. “No. I wanted to tell you I changed my mind. I think we should get married.”
He finally lost all capacity to swallow her crap. “You’re kidding me? You rejected my proposal, remember? You don’t want to marry me. You don’t want to be with me. You don’t even want to be with your own children. You blow into town whenever it’s convenient for you, scam whatever you can off anybody you can, then take off into the wind as if you’ve never been here.” He pointed to the door. “Go, Megan. Leave. It’s what you do best.”
Mike put a hand on James’s arm. “Whoa, easy, man.”
James whirled on his friend. “No, I won’t go easy. Not this time. I played this game long enough, and I’m not going to anymore.” Pivoting to face Megan, he looked her straight in the eye. “It was all bullshit, Megan, and guess what? Your brother was in on the scheme, too. You know why? Because he doesn’t want to deal with you, either.”
“Hey—” Mike tried to interject.
But there was no stopping James now. “We all knew if I put on the happy family act, you’d be out the door as fast as you could. According to what you said last night, the plan worked. Go, and don’t come back.”
“Dude, you could be stirring even more trouble,” Colm warned in a low voice.
“Me stirring up trouble?” James asked, jabbing a finger into his own chest for emphasis. “I’m not the one who causes trouble. I’m the one who gets left with the mess.”
“Who were you with?” Megan demanded.
“Ask her who blabbed to the reporter about Georgie and Gerry,” James challenged, never taking his eyes off the enemy.
“Who?” Megan asked again, her voice shrill.
“Ask her how much they paid her.” James tore his gaze away to cast Mike a scornful look. “You wouldn’t take her in, and I got stuck with her. But I’m not the one who’ll pay the price. My kids have to.”
“Is that true, Megan?” Mike asked. His tone held a mixture of hurt and disgust, but no hint of disbelief. “Did you?”
But Megan
wasn’t about to be diverted. “Who was she?”
When James declined to answer, Rosie stood. She stood tall and proud, her shoulders straight and her head held high. James stared at her, enthralled. She looked like a defiant goddess as she tipped her chin higher and fixed the madwoman on the other side of the desk with an unflinching stare. “He was with me.”
Megan scoffed at the announcement. “In your dreams.”
“Megan,” James began in a warning tone.
But Rosie felt no need to give this woman a pass. “What do you mean by that?”
Megan flung out a hand in an all-encompassing sweep. “Everyone knows you’ve been after him for years. We all know you’re in love with James.” The sneer she wore turned a beautiful woman ugly. “Well, let me tell you something, Miss Hotsy Totsy Rosie-Can-Do-No-Wrong, being with James is not exactly a thrill a minute.” She cast a sidelong glance at him so scornful, James would swear he felt singed at the edges. “You can live out your fantasies any way you want, but, honey, I’m telling you the reality isn’t the same.”
Rosie gaped at the other woman for a moment, then snapped her jaw shut.
James tried to conjure the right thing to say, but for once he was at a total loss. “Rosie, I—” He stopped, then turned to look at the other woman. “Megan, you—”
His lines of defense petered off, and Rosie’s face hardened into resignation. “No, you’re right.” She spoke softly. James had to strain to make out each word. “The reality is nothing like the fantasy.”
At this last part, she looked at him, the challenge shining in her eyes. She wanted him to step up. She needed him to defend her. Them. But he had no idea what to do to defuse the situation. He’d been as frank with Megan as he could be. Rosie told him the truth, and he’d told her the truth. But none of what he said changed anything. His life was spiraling out of control and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do to put the brakes on.
Megan smirked as she crossed her arms over her chest and jutted her hip out to the side. “Is that where you were, Jimmy?” She asked in a coarse, mocking tone. “Did you go running around to Rosie? Did she take you in? Did she hold you in her arms and tell you everything’s going to be okay? Because she loves you. Did she say you would be a family together?”
Each question wheedled under his skin. Like a bamboo shoot. Or a needle.
“What are you going to do? Are you gonna marry old Rosie here and make your perfect family? Daddy, Mommy, Jamie, and Jeffie? Oh, how precious,” Megan cooed.
Rosie’s head snapped back. “You really are a vile woman. I have no idea what he ever saw in you.”
“He saw sex. We were supposed to be sex,” Megan argued. “A fling. But he couldn’t even get that right, could you, Jimmy?”
“Stop calling me Jimmy,” he snarled.
“I bet he doesn’t look at you and see sex. Bet you won’t have a ‘no-strings’ rule with Rosie, will you?” She turned her sharp-eyed gaze on Rosie. “You’re the type with so many strings they dangle. Hell, you’re practically threadbare.”
Always the one to cut to the chase, Mike stepped into the fray. “Megan, is what he said true?” Brother and sister looked at each other for a moment, their eerily similar eyes locked in unspoken communication.
Megan glanced away, but didn’t bother with a denial. “I needed some money of my own.”
Mike’s gaze turned from curiosity to disgust. “Really, Meg? That’s your excuse?”
“I don’t need excuses, you’re not my father.”
“No, I’m a hell of a lot better than your father, and I didn’t deserve the hell you put us through those few days. And, for what, a few thousand dollars?”
Megan lifted her chin but clammed up.
“See, here’s the thing, Meggy,” Mike began in a calm, quiet voice he used for the children. “I’m your brother, James is the father of your children, Georgie is your future sister-in-law, and if all that weren’t enough, Gerry Carson is now the mayor of Chicago—”
“Mayor-elect,” Colm interjected.
“Mayor-elect,” Mike corrected dryly. “Every one of those facts were good reasons for you to feel something other than…selfish,” he concluded. “But you didn’t.”
Megan opened her mouth to retort, but James cut her off.
“Go, Megan. You got your money, you got your ‘dear friends’ all over this city and country or whoever else you can bilk. Go. I want you out of my house. Be gone by noon.”
She glared at him. “And if I’m not?”
“If you’re not, I’ll call the police, tell them you’re a crazy stalker ex-girlfriend, and apply for a restraining order.”
She scoffed, but James heard the nervousness in her laugh.
He nodded. “Don’t think I don’t know you’ve had your scrapes with the law. I know what goes on with you, Megan.”
She had the gall to look affronted. “Have you been spying on me?”
“I’ve been keeping track. You’re the mother of my children,” he said evenly. “And you haven’t been particularly circumspect. Hell, you even called me for bail money once, remember?” He crossed his arms over his chest. “You tried to file a false police report against some welder guy, and they busted you.”
“He was a sculptor.”
“Whatever.” He unfolded his arms and ran a hand over his face. “Your arrest is a matter of record. I shouldn’t have any difficulty getting a court order.”
Megan stared at him in wonderment. “You’ve gotten cold.”
“If anyone is cold, it’s you.” James looked over at Rosie but she didn’t meet his gaze. “But I’m through hoping you’ll thaw for the boys’ sake. Go, Megan. Good luck to you.”
The three men stood shoulder to shoulder, forming an imaginary line between Megan and everything they built in the last five years. Megan chanced one last look at Mike, but when her brother only shook his head in response, she turned on her heel and fled.
The minute the door clicked shut behind her, all three men blew out gusty breaths and glanced uneasily at each other.
“All this before coffee and donuts,” Colm muttered.
The other two chuckled, but an ominous silence filled the space behind them. Senses tingling, James turned to look at Rosie. The moment their eyes met, she spoke.
“I quit.”
The uneasy laughter died and the other two men whirled to face her. “What?” Colm demanded.
“No!” Mike blurted simultaneously.
“Rosie, wait a second—” James began.
But Rosie nipped their protests in the bud with a single shake of her head. “No, I’m resigning. I’m giving my two weeks’ notice as of this moment.”
Her voice quavered, but the look in her dark eyes scared him. He’d seen the familiar gleam in her eyes too many times to ignore its portent. Resignation. Determination.
Turning to James, she avoided making direct eye contact. “Perhaps you could work from home or someplace else while I get my files sorted out and we find a replacement.”
James shook his head in mute astonishment. “But, I… why?” When she simply returned his stare, he took a step closer to the desk. “No.”
“I don’t accept your resignation,” Mike interjected. “We can work this out, Rosie.”
But Rosie only continued to shake her head in slow, maddening denial. “No, I don’t think we can. It’s all too…complicated.” She chuckled softly and reached for her handbag. “You know, I used to joke about how you three hated complications and all the dating stuff. But now I realize it’s not you, it’s me.” She turned to look directly at James. “Your life is too complicated, and I don’t want this sort of mess in my life.”
Without another word, she turned the corner of her desk and headed for the door. “You know what? I can work from home if you want to drop off some files or whatever. That’ll give y
ou guys some time and space to figure out what to do next.”
Then she was gone.
Chapter 15
The men of Trident Security were many things, but they weren’t idiots. They sent Mike in first. He was a good choice. Of the three partners, Mike was the logical, business-minded one. He handed over a stack of files, then spoke to her in a calm, rational manner. Choosing Mike was a smart move on their part. Colm was far too brusque for the first approach. And, even if he weren’t the subject of discussion, James wouldn’t have been able to deal directly with the situation. His abilities lay more in charm, deflect, and distract modes.
“Rosie, I have to be honest with you, we don’t really understand what the issue is. You wanted to be with James, right?”
Of course he didn’t understand. How could he possibly know what it felt like to watch the person he loved flail like a drowning man? He had Georgie, one of the most self-confident people she knew. And she had James, a man who had no trouble spending weeks fighting off his ex, but couldn’t muster enough energy to fight for her when Megan came after her. After them.
She looked at him over her coffee cup as she took a slow slip. “Right,” she confirmed. “Or, you were right,” she amended.
Mike gave an uncomfortable laugh and shifted in his chair. He wasn’t a big man, but he seemed totally out of place in her tiny dining area. Then again, she wasn’t used to seeing men in her apartment. Particularly not in the mornings. Lord knows, James hadn’t stuck around for toaster waffles.
“Not much could have changed in a couple of days, Rosie,” he argued. “You’ve been in love with the guy for years. Love doesn’t go away overnight.” He stopped, then glanced uneasily at the hall leading to the rest of the tiny apartment. “Unless, he did something—”
