by Ava Hayworth
When I am finished looking around, I walk over to James, who extends a hand and brushes my cheek. “You belong here, Lainey. You belong with me.”
Nuzzling my cheek into his hand, I agree. “Yes.”
I watch conflicting emotions race across James’s face. “I want you here, but I also want you safe. Paulson will continue following you, but I want you to promise me something. You have to promise that you will be careful. If anything unusual happens, no matter how small or inconsequential, I want you to tell me or Paulson right away.”
I will him to see the sincerity in my eyes. “I promise.” Wrapping my arms around his waist, I rest my head on his chest. His warm clean scent washes over me, and the sound of his steady heartbeat soothes the raging hurt from our week apart. I would be content to stay like this forever, but James pulls back and looks down at me with a look that makes my stomach muscles clench in anticipation. I let out a startled yelp when he bends down and throws me over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold. “I hope you don’’t have any other plans this weekend, because I am keeping you chained to the bed.”
He strides off towards the bedroom as I swat him on the back. “Let me down!”
James laughs at my token resistance. “Not until I get you where I want you.”
“And where’s that?”
He throws me across the bed, and I land on the mattress with a bounce. His look is full of sensual promise when he answers. “Naked and begging for more, of course.”
EPILOGUE
James has promised to take me to lunch today. He waits patiently in the chair across from my desk while I finish responding to an urgent e-mail. When I finish, I glance up to find him looking at me. “What?”
He gifts me with one of his beautiful smiles, his dimple peeking out at the corner of his cheek. “I was just thinking how beautiful you are.”
I eye him suspiciously. “What’s with the charm, Loverboy?”
He quirks his eyebrow. “Loverboy?”
I shrug. “If the shoe fits….” A brief knock on my door cuts short our flirtatious exchange. Alex walks in, followed by Patti and Dennis. My office suddenly seems tiny.
Alex appears to be having a difficult time keeping a straight face. “Come on Lainey. The time has come for you to pay up.”
Confused, I look over to James, who is giving me a knowing grin. I look around at the others, who are also sporting huge grins. I am missing something, and can’t help thinking that the joke is on me. “Can someone please tell me what’s going on?”
Alex laughs. “There is the small matter of a bet that you lost. It’s time to pay up, Lainey.”
I feel my eyes grow wide. The bet we had made on our very first day of work at Houghton Mills seems like a lifetime ago now. Little did we know when we made that bet how right Alex would prove to be. Someone had taken the office politics far too seriously. I never would have expected the analogy of crazed athlete to have fit someone in the law firm so perfectly. Becca had hurt a lot of people who she felt had stood in her way. “You’re not really going to hold me to that silly bet, are you?”
“Of course, that’s why we are all here.”
I look around the room again until my eyes land on James. “So you’re not taking me to lunch?”
“You’re going to have to sing for it, Baby.”
I blush at his endearment, but looking around, I see that no one else has taken notice. “Fine. I’m starving, so let’s get this over with.”” Never say that Lainey Hart doesn’t make good on her debts, even if they are ridiculous.
It is an unusually warm day for October. The sky is a solid blue without a cloud in sight. They couldn’t have chosen a more perfect day to play hooky from the office for a few hours. We make our way through the throngs of Midtown workers and tourists to Times Square. It doesn’t take us long to locate the Naked Cowboy, who is stripped down to his tighty whiteys. He has his cowboy hat pulled down low on his forehead to block the sun from his eyes as he strums the guitar hanging by a strap across his broad, tan shoulders. A group of enthusiastic tourists listen as he belts out a Johnny Cash song.
Feeling a tap on my shoulder, I turn to see Sam and Dylan standing next to Nick. Apparently, Alex had decided to invite everyone I knew to witness the spectacle. “I can’t believe Alex told you about this.”
Sam laughs. “Yea, I think he went a little crazy with the tweets.”
Over her shoulder I see Jett talking to Brad. I groan, “Did he have to invite my brother? I’ll never hear the end of this. Then, to my amazement, I see Jarod walk up to Jett and Brad. Our eyes meet as Jett points in my direction. In a few strides, Jarod is at my side, swooping me up in a bone-crushing hug. “Little Miss America, I’ve missed you.” The air is crushed out of my lungs, and I wriggle around trying to escape.
I hear someone clearing his throat beside me. When Jarod puts me down, I turn to see it is James with a ferocious scowl on his face. After a few moments of tense silence, his brow clears, and he breaks into a friendly smile. “James, this is my brother, Jarod.”
James extends his hand for Jarod to shake. “I recognize you from Lainey’s pictures.”
Jarod scrutinizes James from head to toe before nodding his head. “Nice to meet you.” Jarod was always the more laid back of my brothers, and I’m glad that he seems to be putting the nonsense that Jett has been filling his head with aside.
When the two alpha males are through weighing each other up and down, I manage to once again capture Jarod’s attention. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? How long are you staying?”
Jarod laughs at my stream of questions. “I’m here for the weekend. We wanted it to be a surprise.” Jarod shoots a glance over to my brother Jett, who is grinning at both of us. ““You should have seen the look on your face.” I give him a punch in the upper arm, and he reaches up with his opposite hand to rub the spot. “Hey, what was that for?”
Although I would never let on, my hand smarts from the punch. “I don’t know. I felt like it.”
Alex walks up and pulls on my arm, “Come on, Lainey. Time to pay the piper.” We approach the Naked Cowboy, and Alex explains our bet. After handing the street performer a fifty, he gives me a pat on the shoulder and walks off. I have to squint as I look up at the Naked Cowboy, who is on the tall side. He gives me a blindingly white grin and suggests a few songs. When he says one that I know, I nod my head in agreement. All too soon, he is playing the first chords of the melody. He looks at me and gives a big nod to cue me, and taking a deep breath, I start belting out “Love you like a love song” by Selena Gomez. I hear the whistles and yells of encouragement from my friends, which help to quiet my nerves. After the first few bars, I even find myself starting to enjoy the unplanned performance. The jubilant faces of my friends mix in with the unfamiliar faces of the tourists, who have stopped to enjoy the spectacle. Sam walks up to the Naked Cowboy and tries to slip five-dollar bills into his briefs, to which he responds, “There’s no room in the briefs, gotta put it in the boots.” Next she turns to me and slides a bill into the top of my shirt, slipping it under my bra strap. I have to struggle to keep singing and not laugh out loud. Several people hold their cell phones up to record the moment.
As the song comes to an end, my eyes land on James, who gives me a wink along with an approving smile. The impromptu audience claps enthusiastically, and my brothers and friends hoot and holler with glee. I give a dramatic bow before turning to thank the Naked Cowboy, who tips his hat at me before giving me a one-armed hug.
James announces that he has made lunch reservations for all of us in a restaurant nearby, and we laughingly leave the loud chaos of Times Square. James holds my hand as we walk. I am in a euphoric mood. It is a beautiful day, my brother has shown up for a surprise visit, and I am with the love of my life. Not to mention that most of my friends are going to have lunch with us, and perhaps, most importantly, the nerve-wracking singing performance is over. Briefly my mind turns to Tobin and the fact that he is
planning some revenge plan against James, but I firmly push the thought away. Think of the positive, I tell myself. Becca is far away in Switzerland, where she will remain for the foreseeable future. The return of Elizabeth to the office had also not been as terrible as I thought. She had been polite and professional, and I am beginning to think that she has worked through her issues.
James gives my hand a tight squeeze, recalling me to the present. “I didn’t know you could sing like that.”
I smile up at him. “I’m glad I can still surprise you.”
He smiles back down at me and sets the butterflies off in my stomach. Damn, how does he do that? I have to concentrate on what he is saying. “You always manage to surprise me. If there is one thing that I have learned, it is that there is more to Lainey Hart than meets the eye.”
“Yes,” I say approvingly. “You can always count on me.”
“I know.” His tone has turned serious. Faintly, I become aware that he is rubbing this thumb and forefinger back and forth across the base of my ring finger. “I would like to take you shopping this weekend.”
“That sounds fun,” I say before the implication of his words hit me. Coming to a dead stop on the sidewalk, I turn and face him. The secretive smile on his face is all it takes for me to know exactly what he wants to shop for. Of their own volition, my arms fly up around his neck, and he catches me. His mouth swoops down on mine in a wet, hot kiss. When he pulls back, I run my eyes over his face, soaking in the happy contentment that I see there. “Oh, James.”
Before I can say more, I feel a light slap between my shoulder blades. I don’t take my eyes from James’s face, but hear Jarod’s voice from over my shoulder. ““Are you two always like this? Because if you are, I am not sure I can take a whole weekend.” He addresses his last comment to James. “Have some respect, man. That’s my little sister.”
I hear Sam’s laughter tinkling next to him. “If you think that’s bad, wait ‘til you hear about a few weeks ago.”
Jarod groans. “No! Please God no.” His voice trails off as if he is trying to get away from Sam.
James, who has been watching the interchange with some amusement, looks back at me. “So we’re on for shopping this weekend, right?”
Happiness like I have never known before surges through me. “Right.”
About the Author
After living for several years in New York City, Ava moved with her family to Germany. She currently lives in Berlin with her husband, two children, and cat Gus-Gus. Yes, he was named after the mouse from Cinderella. When she is not writing, she tries to soak up as much German language and culture as she can.
If you would like to join her newsletter list to learn about her new releases, please visit her website at www.avahayworth.com.
