The Proposal

by Jennifer Lewis

  Ryan chuckled, patting her shoulder. “That depends on who you’re talking about.”

  Knowing full well what he meant, her face colored in the pale light provided by Benton’s porch. Since she discussed her love life, or lack thereof, enough with Emme tonight, she wasn’t going to touch on Ryan’s implied statement.

  “Good night, Ryan.”

  “Night, Miss West.”

  “You can call me Andrea.”

  He just winked, walking away.

  Locking the door behind her, she turned and swallowed a scream. Benton sat on the couch, the low light of the lamp casting shadows across his face. She hadn’t noticed his jeep; she was too absorbed in her own thoughts.

  “Hey,” she greeted, slipping out of her coat.

  Benton patted the space next to him. Too weary to argue, she trudged over and sank next to him.

  He placed a hand on her knee. “Are you all right?”

  Andrea felt the heat of his hand through her tights and felt terrible that she noticed in the midst of her apartment being vandalized. What was wrong with her?

  “I guess,” she told him.

  His eyes searched her face. “Andrea-”

  Waving the comment away, she lurched forward and pressed her face into his chest. She hadn’t known how much she needed the comfort until she saw him. A moment’s hesitation, and his arms came around her, his sigh in the air between them.

  “It isn’t my things,” she told him, hating that her voice shook.

  “I know.”

  “What is wrong with him? Why won’t he leave me alone? I didn’t get him fired.”

  “The bastard is sick in the head. Andrea, we’re going to get him.”

  “And do what, Benton? You can’t... I mean...”

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  Pulling back, she looked into his face. “How can I not?”

  He shrugged.

  “Sometimes, Benton, you-”

  “Shh.” And he pressed his lips to hers briefly.

  Closing her eyes, she allowed the sensations to blanket her and snuggled closer to him. “Don’t think this conversation is over.”

  “Oh, I don’t think anything of the sort.”

  Ignoring his tone, she inhaled his scent, the spicy maleness of it invading her senses. “I just want a shower and bed.”

  “I’m not stopping you.”

  Shoving away from him, she gave him a look she hoped conveyed her frustration. Shaking her head, she rose, a part of her disappointed when he let her. Sometimes, no most of the time, she didn’t understand him. Somehow, she doubted she ever would.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Files tucked under her arm, Andrea hurried down the hall toward the elevator. In the digital age, Deacon still kept hard copies of all his documents. She didn’t know what other companies did, but she knew it was practical when electronics could crash at any time. This report needed to be delivered to governing board before lunch. While Deacon held most of the shares, every company was required by law to have a board to keep it in check.

  The contents of the folder distressed her. After Brad’s firing, the new head of accounting looked over the ledgers and found that figures were not adding up. Since it was closing on the year’s end and taxes would be due, she thought it only logical. She doubted that Jacob had expected to find such a discrepancy, but she was glad he did. If the government discovered it before they did, they could prosecute for tax fraud. As it stood, this was going to be a massive undertaking.

  Besides the Board, she knew Deacon’s lawyer would be present at the meeting to discuss the options and begin an investigation. While Andrea knew these sorts of things happened, she couldn’t recall a time since working for Deacon that one had come across his desk. Had Brad known about it? Had he been involved? She couldn’t see how he hadn’t known. All accounting reports crossed his desk.

  The Board of Directors met two floors down from Deacon’s. She hurried into the meeting room and quickly passed out copies of the files to all who were sitting. Deacon had yet to arrive. Some thanked her, some ignored her. She was used to it.

  Now, she understood clearly why Brad was so angry about being fired. If he was embezzling, he had to know someone would discover it if they looked closely enough. Depending upon the amount of money involved, she knew vaguely that it could be a felony, involving being fined and imprisoned. Though she wasn’t vindictive, and certainly didn’t wish harm on anyone, she knew if this proved to be true, they could finally have a true reason to hunt Brad down and prosecute him.

  Did it make her a terrible person that a part of her felt relief?

  Lost in her thoughts, she walked into the cafeteria and almost into a stranger standing just inside the door.

  Gathering herself, teetering on her heels, she apologized. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

  The man wore an ill-fitting suit and a long coat. Though she supposed he could be part of the company, something was off about him. The smile he gave her left her vaguely alarmed, making her think of someone with an agenda behind the greeting.

  “No worries. I was hoping I would run into you.”

  Brow creasing, she looked to the line in the distance, the smell of food leaving her stomach rumbling and reminding her she only had an hour to eat.

  “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

  He grinned further, lips stretching over teeth stained yellow from coffee, from cigarettes, from poor care - she didn’t know.

  “Not yet.”

  Shaking her head, she said, “I’m sorry, again, but I’m in a bit of a rush. Walk with me?”

  Without waiting for him to answer, she skirted around tables and chairs, falling into line. He was close; she could smell his cheap, repulsive after-shave and the stale scent of cigarettes clinging to his clothing. He settled nearly close enough to touch, and she resisted the urge to step away, not wanting to look rude. Something about him left her feeling as if she touched something dirty.

  “You know my son,” he started.

  Growing weary of his statements with no clarification, she met his gaze. “I’m not sure who that is.”

  “Benton. You two seem to be spending a lot of time together.”

  Alarm bells rang in the back of her mind. “Are you spying on us?”

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean for it to sound that way. I’m just trying to get closer to him, y’know? Make up for all the years I was a bad father.”

  The explanation didn’t soothe her discomfort. “Then why are you here, talking to me?”

  The man spread his arms, palms up. “I was hoping maybe you could talk to him. Get him to meet up with me for lunch or something.”

  “I don’t know what you think, but... Benton is a grown man. I’m not going to get involved in his private business. If he doesn’t want to see you, what makes you think I can get him to?”

  He shrugged. “Just a guess.”

  “Look... I’m sorry, I don’t know your name.”

  “Jack.”

  “Jack, I’m sure you mean well... But if you want Benton to see you, you’re going to have to talk to him yourself.”

  Andrea remained polite, though every part of her screamed this man was up to something, and that something wasn’t good. Why would he need to have her talk Benton into seeing him? He wasn’t a man to be talked into anything. She had never known Benton not to be fair either, whatever his feelings, and so she thought he must have a good reason for not wanting to see his father.

  The genial expression on his face cracked, momentarily revealing something ugly beneath. He recovered quickly though, and tried another smile before saying, “I’m not trying to push you into anything. I just... I really want to see him.”

  Wanting him to go away, Andrea moved with the flow of the line. “I can mention it to Benton for you, Jack, but I can’t promise anything.”

  His smile widened. “No, no, that would be great. Tell him I’ll be at Ancient Grounds on 1st, between Senec
a and University at three.”

  “I don’t get off work before then.”

  “Could you call him?”

  Feeling suitably harassed, she asked, “You’re very persistent, aren’t you?”

  “Have to be. Look, thanks, Andrea.”

  Her eyes narrowed on his face. “How do you know my name?”

  He shrugged again. “Pays to know.”

  Before she could say anything else, he walked away. She watched him until he disappeared, wondering how Benton would react to this news once she called him. Somehow, she doubted he would be pleased.

  * * * *

  Slush littered the roadway, a product of the rising temperatures. Benton drove as carefully as he always did, knowing people didn’t realize slush held more danger than snow. Andrea called him, telling him that his father visited her and requested they meet. Jaw flexing, he felt the slow simmer of anger building. Jack never should have bothered Andrea; not at work, not at all. The man wanted nothing good and represented everything he disliked in a person.

  Benton wanted Jack nowhere near Andrea. Jack owed people money, people he knew wouldn’t hesitate to take it by whatever means necessary. It was one thing to mix his son up in this, but another when Jack involved Andrea. If anything happened to her as a result, he wasn’t going to play nice. The last thing she needed was another reason to look over her shoulder.

  Finding parking in Seattle during business hours, especially holiday shopping hours, would prove a battle. He found one for an hour, half a block away, and slipped into his coat, stepping out into the cool weather, made more so for the wind. If his father hadn’t bothered Andrea, he wouldn’t even be doing this.

  From the outside, the cafe looked like a store. Its nondescript tan paint blended with the other buildings connected to it. Pushing inside, he welcomed the warmth. A quick scan found his father sitting alone at a table near a display case. The case held oriental masks in various, interesting expressions. It felt like he stepped inside China Town.

  Taking a seat, he ignored his father’s enthusiastic greeting. A large cookie sat on a plate in front of the man, and an equally large cup of some sort of coffee sat next to that. Since this wasn’t a happy meeting, he would dispense with the pleasantries and get straight to the point.

  “What the hell were you doing at Andrea’s work?”

  “What, no greeting for your old man?”

  His gaze sharpened on his father’s weathered face. “Answer the question.”

  “How else was I supposed to get a hold of you? I figured you told them to shoot me on sight if I showed back up at that pretty mansion you live in.”

  A tinge of bitterness coated his father’s words.

  He didn’t live in the mansion, but he wasn’t going to tell his father that. “Think what you want, just stay the hell away from Andrea.”

  His father leaned back in his chair, looking thoughtful. “She means a lot to you, huh?”

  “That’s none of your damn business.”

  “You wouldn’t be here if she didn’t.”

  He didn’t like the insinuation in his father’s tone.

  “If anything happens to her-”

  Jack held up his hands. “Relax, kid. I’m not going to hurt your girl. I just needed a way to get a hold of you.”

  “I don’t give a shit what you need. I told you, I’m not helping you. End of story.”

  The smile fell from his father’s face, and the man looked away for a moment. “Look, I figure I can scrape together some of it.” He leaned forward. “If I don’t pay them, Benton, they’re going to kill me.”

  Jaw tightening, Benton swallowed the words he wanted to say. He didn’t want to feel a damn thing regarding his father. He didn’t want to care if the man lived or died.

  “And I’m supposed to care?”

  Jack’s eyes narrowed. “Hey, kid, these guys... If they saw me at your girls’ work, she isn’t safe now. If you pay them-”

  Benton lunged forward, grabbing the front of Jack’s shirt, sloshing some of the coffee onto the table and knocking the cookie onto the floor. “You dirty son of a bitch!”

  “Whoa, calm down, son. You’re making a scene.”

  Reigning in his temper, Benton released his father and sat with his fists clenched on his thighs. “That was your plan all along, wasn’t it?”

  “I’m just saying-”

  Benton sliced a hand through the air. “Anything happens to her, I’m coming after you.”

  “If you just help me-”

  “You aren’t getting a single cent out of me. But what you will get, if Andrea gets hurt, isn’t going to buff out, old man.”

  Sliding the chair back, he rose and turned his back, stalking from the shop. Once outside, he jammed his hands in his pockets and took a cleansing breath, eyes to the sky. Being in the same space with that man made him feel dirty by association. Now, knowing what he knew, Andrea was going to have to be watched that much closer.

  Hell, if it wasn’t his fault for bringing her into this mess. He only wanted to protect her, but by doing so, he exposed her to a threat greater than Brad. Every instinct screamed to push her away to keep her from harm. The problem was, he felt better when she was with him. If she was out of his sight, he didn’t know how well he would deal. He trusted Ryan with his life, but Andrea...

  Wanting to get away from his father and the cafe, he began walking, knowing with Andrea he broke all his rules. He let her get closer than he meant to; how the hell was he going to keep away from her when the truth was, he didn’t want to?

  Chapter Sixteen

  After work, Ryan picked her up and took her back to the house. She didn’t know where Benton was. Changing, then wandering into the living room with a blanket and book, she found her mind turning to her apartment. Without work to distract her, she couldn’t put it to the back of her mind. Benton already promised her on Saturday they would go and clean it up. She couldn’t bear the thought of strangers going through her things and cleaning her home.

  It would take time to get new things, and she was grateful she had somewhere to go. She couldn’t live with Benton forever, even if the thought of being on her own right now bothered her. She couldn’t reconcile not feeling safe in her own place. She had Brad to thank for that. Now that she knew what he might have been up to, she couldn’t feel an ounce of sympathy for him.

  Curling under the blanket, she grasped her phone from the side table and flipped through the contacts, coming to rest on her parents’. Sometimes, talking to her mother helped soothe her even when she couldn’t share what was happening.

  A few rings, and her mother answered. “Well, hello, sweetheart. How are you?”

  Picking at the ties on the edge of the fabric, she reminded herself not to sound as forlorn as she was feeling. “I’m good, Mom. How about you and Dad?”

  “Oh, we’re just having our Friday night card game. We miss playing with you.”

  Andrea smiled, though her mother couldn’t see it. “We can play when you guys come for Christmas.”

  “I can’t believe it’s only a week until we land.”

  “Well, don’t worry about anything. Benton and I will pick you up at the airport.”

  She realized her mistake as soon as the words left her mouth. Her mother was silent a moment, and then, “Benton?”

  “A friend.”

  “A male friend?”

  “Mom, don’t get any ideas. We-”

  “I was just curious, honey. Don’t get upset. Listen, we were thinking. We don’t want you paying for a hotel for us. We could just stay at your apartment.”

  “Mom, don’t be silly. You guys aren’t sleeping on the floor. I’ve already booked a hotel close by.”

  “Your father and I don’t like to see you wasting your money.”

  Andrea shook her head, though her mother couldn’t see that either. “Mom, it isn’t wasting money when I’m spending it on you guys.” She couldn’t add that she wasn’t living at her apartment right
now.

  Her mother thankfully dropped the subject, talking about her brother and his children. Mid-way through, the door opened and Benton walked in. He carried two paper sacks, one in each arm, and just the sight of him socked her in the gut, sending resulting tingles throughout her limbs. The man was undeniably attractive and she hated how just seeing him sent her heart fluttering.

  “I bought some stuff for dinner,” he told her, setting the bags on the counter.