by Lauren Wood
“I’m determined,” I corrected her, pulling her back to my side. “Fine, maybe moving in together is moving too fast. I can be reasonable, believe it or not. But why don’t you come work at Heartstring?”
“Doing what?” She gaped.
“You could work on the legal team,” I replied. “You can learn on the job while you finish school, and either get promoted once you’ve passed the bar or you can get a shining recommendation to secure you any job you want.”
“My god, you’re serious,” she said with wide eyes.
“Dead serious. I can probably have you in a position there by the end of the week, if not sooner. Just one call from me and it’s done. What do you say?”
“I don’t know what to say,” she murmured, looking a little faint. A wave of shock, flattery, and fear washed over her face all within a few seconds.
Her boss started yelling at us again while she let it sink in. At least if he fired her, she’d be more likely to take me up on one of my offers. But I really didn’t want to cause her any trouble.
“I’ll get out of here,” I decided. “Before this guy has a heart attack or an aneurism or something. But think about what I said, okay?”
“I’m not making any promises about anything,” she said sternly. “But yes, please go. Before you get me fired.”
I turned to leave but retreated back to her one last time, pulling her in for a kiss while her boss blew a gasket, storming over to us. I was starting to think he might drag me out of there himself if I hung around any longer.
“I’ll call you after work,” she whispered against my lips.
I backed up slowly, finding it hard to take my eyes off of her and the blushing smile she finally let spread across her face. Reluctantly, I turned for the door and headed out into the busy lunch rush on the sidewalks.
Abby had done wonders for my work life already. I had to do something to keep myself busy in between seeing her or talking to her, or I’d go crazy. She was proving to be a great motivator.
I headed for the office that afternoon and was eager to do something to make myself useful. But it wasn’t just about keeping busy. I felt the need to make myself better for her… to become the kind of man she deserved. It wasn’t enough to just have an obligatory pay check and job title from my siblings. I wanted to earn it all. To work hard, the way Abby did.
Which is exactly what sent me strolling into Lucas’s office that day to ask where he could use my help. He was taken back, but that was becoming normal for all of my siblings those days. He was hesitant to trust me with much of anything, but Camille happened to walk in and catch part of our conversation. He asked me to leave so they could talk, assuring me he’d think about what I asked.
Camille appeared in my doorway a short while later. “You’re really sticking with this new way about you, huh? Coming in every day. Even on time some days! And asking for all this extra work.”
“It’s easy to take on more work when I wasn’t doing much to begin with,” I told her. “But I don’t think Lucas is too happy about any of it.”
“He likes being the golden child,” she shrugged. “You know that. Jada and I are the same way. One sibling always has to shine a little brighter than the other. The two of us are just less competitive about it is all.”
“You? Less competitive?” I laughed.
“I’m not as bad as Lucas. Surely you can admit that much. He likes it when you’re screwing up because it makes him look good.”
“Great,” I groaned.
“I have some work for you to do though,” she said, sitting across from my desk. “There’s some guy who’s been complaining about getting kicked off the site and blocked from certain profiles for no reason. It’s strange. The tech department is handling it in a really weird way, not according to protocol. I can’t very well just fire all of them at once, but this guy’s calls keep getting escalated to the executive level and it’s really starting to push Lucas over the edge. If you can get to the bottom of it, it’d probably get you pretty far with him. Put you back in his good graces. And mine for that matter.”
My heart started pounding as I realized the guy she was talking about was probably Abby’s dickhead doctor from before. The last thing I needed was him popping up again and ruining everything. The only reason I stood a chance with her was because he was out of the picture for good, and it needed to stay that way.
But I couldn’t very well beg my siblings for more to do and then turn down their offers either.
“I’ll look into it,” I told her. “But really… what does one guy matter? We have millions of customers.”
“One person can cause a lot of trouble. Just look at all the trouble Mark Silver caused.”
“Before you swept him off his feet,” I winked. “Thanks sis. I’ll see what I can do.”
12
Abby
My cheeks were red hot as I returned to work, trying to look and act as busy as possible despite how flustered I was. The looks my co-workers were shooting me certainly wasn’t helping matters any.
“What!?” I snapped at Valerie, brushing at my cheeks as if I could wipe the flushness away.
“Nothing,” she said snidely. “I just couldn’t help but overhear your conversation with rich Mr. Hottie out there.”
“We all overheard it,” one of the other girls added.
“Yes, Val. We can all see he’s hot, but I don’t see what him being rich has to do with anything.”
“It matters when he’s offering to move you into his mansion and pay for you to finish school without working these shitty waitressing shifts.”
“He doesn’t live in a mansion,” I shot back, but she stared back at me, not backing down. “It’s a penthouse.”
“Uh-huh. I figured as much,” she grumbled. “Look, I’m just saying I wish I had some good-looking millionaire making me that kind of offer. I would have been walking straight out that door with him, and I wouldn’t be standing here talking to you—That’s for damn sure.”
“You don’t know what you’d do,” I defended. “I don’t know him well enough to start depending on him like that. Hell, even if I had known him for years, I don’t know if I could ever put myself in that kind of position with someone I was seeing. What if he changes his mind? Then what happens to me? I end up with no job, no money, no place to live…”
“I guess you’d just have to try and finish school before that could happen,” she suggested.
“You’re insane,” I told her, rolling my eyes.
“I’m with Abby on this one,” our co-worker, Cassie chimed in.
“Thank you,” I flashed a smug grin.
“A guy like that is too unpredictable. I wouldn’t trust him. How do you know he’s not going to go after some other girl next month or next week? Then Abby would be heartbroken and screwed… and not in the way she’s wanting.”
I looked over my shoulder at the guys cooking along the stove and countertops behind us. Their lips were curled in perverted smiles. “If we could not talk about me getting screwed right here in front of everyone we work with, I’d appreciate it.”
“Here, look at this,” Cassie added, pulling out her phone. She started scrolling through the most recent gossip profile on Joshua. “He’s jumped from actress to model to any other skanky floozy who catches his eye. Notorious playboy.”
“I knew that already,” I assured her.
“Yeah, but he’s also known for being the freeloader at his company. He rakes in all the money and status without doing any of the work.”
“We’ve talked about that some too. It’s more complicated than you think.”
“Sounds like you do know him after all,” Valerie chided.
“I’m just saying you can’t trust a guy like that,” Cassie warned.
“Well, our girl is nothing like these money chasers and random chicks he’s getting weird with at the clubs,” Valerie defended. “She’s different. She’s special.”
“Special to us, sure. But to him?”
<
br /> “She’s special to anyone who has eyes and half a brain and doesn’t want me coming after them to beat their asses for not treating her like a goddess, as she deserves.”
“Alright you two. That’s enough,” I groaned. “Thank you. I love and appreciate all of this. Well, some of it anyways. But I’m a big girl. I can make my own decisions. And I don’t need some guy I just met a few weeks ago trying to support me through school.”
“You just might,” our boss announced, huffing into the kitchen. “If he keeps showing up here like that and getting all of you all worked up, you’re sure as hell not going to work here anymore. You might want to reconsider his offer.”
I started shoveling trays of food into my arms, as many as I could carry, and started out the door just to prove to him that he didn’t have to worry. But I could still feel his distrusting eyes burning into me for the rest of my shift. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he called me later that night to fire me instead just to ensure he had me around to finish the shift before letting me go.
But somehow we made it through the rest of the event without any more word from Joshua, or any more gossip about him among the others. That didn’t mean I had any luck in not thinking about him though. Every idle second in my brain was devoured by thoughts about his offer, or his charming smile, or that irresistible body of his.
Cassie’s take on it all stood out to me as well. So much so that by the time I made it home after work, I couldn’t resist doing some more digging on him myself. The tabloids and paparazzi seemed to be mildly obsessed with his shenanigans, so there was quite a bit to read. But in all of it, there was nothing about a serious relationship of any kind. Any girl he was photographed with never appeared by his side more than once. They were there one day, gone the next—replaced by his next conquest.
I kept putting the pieces together over and over: the questionable work ethic, the lack of commitment to any one woman or relationship, the wild drunken nights and horrible decisions that kept landing him in the spotlight. I hoped if I read it all enough, it would drown out the other relentless fantasies swirling around in my brain. The ones that made it hopelessly clear—despite all that I knew and everything I should have been feeling—I liked him.
And he liked me. He didn’t just like me. He was somewhat obsessed with me, going so far as to invite me to move in with him. It was hard not to want to run with such big declarations and say screw it to the rest.
But there was no way I was going to let myself become another one of his playthings. I was not his job, where he could shirk all responsibility. I wasn’t some bimbo at a bar that he could forget ever existed the next day. Valerie was right in saying I deserved to be treated like a goddess. If I was going to entertain the idea of any kind of future with Joshua, I’d have to make it clear that I was not another one of his toys or play things.
I finally shut down my laptop and started pacing the living room, doing everything I could as a last ditch effort to change my own mind. I couldn’t keep doing this dance with him. Either we moved forward on my terms, or I needed to put a stop to all of this once and for all. Not that my first attempt at doing that did much good. Then again, I was the one who decided to try and pull that off with a nude picture of myself… Of course it didn’t work.
The more I paced through my racing thoughts, I decided the only way this was going to work was if I took control and laid down some ground rules. No way was I going to accept his ridiculous offer, but I wasn’t so convinced that meant I had to stop seeing him entirely either. After all, I was deathly curious about where a relationship between Joshua Meadows and me might go. Curious enough that I couldn’t just turn my back on it without finding out.
I finally pulled out my phone and dialed his number, as promised.
“There you are,” he answered. “What took you so long?”
“You got me in trouble at work… and you kind of freaked me out with all of your crazy talk. I needed some time to think.”
“Fair enough. I’m sorry, Abby. You know what they say… Love makes you crazy.”
“You don’t love me,” I grumbled skeptically.
“Maybe it’s too soon to say that much. You’re right. But I certainly don’t think it’d take me long before I couldn’t help but feel that very thing. Some people believe in love at first sight. I may not be that extreme, but I’m starting to understand how it happens.”
“Well, you’re certainly more romantic than I ever imagined you would be.”
“I’ll take that as a good thing,” he replied. “So, did you think about my offer?”
“As a matter of fact I did, but… I can’t accept.”
“That’s a pity,” he sighed. “Living with you and waking up next to your beautiful smokin’ hot body every morning sounded so appealing.”
As I was growing used to with him, a huge smile spread across my face against my will. “I can see some benefits to the arrangement too. But that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. I did give some thought to this whole thing between us though.”
“And?”
“I’m not going to live with you or quit my job. And I don’t want to work at Heartstring. I want to find a job on my own, build my own career so that there’s no question about how I got it. Everyone, including me, has to know I get to where I’m going because I’m good at it. Not because I’m sleeping around with the right contacts. So… there’s all of that. But…”
“Phew. I was hoping there might be a ‘but’ in there.”
“But, if I’m being honest, I do like you. You scare me, but you’re intriguing at the same time. And I’m willing to see where this thing between us might go.”
“I like these terms of yours, Abby. That’s all I’m really asking for. A chance to see what this thing is,” he explained. “I’ve been just as blindsided as you’ve been, trust me. This isn’t like me at all.”
“Oh, I’m well aware of that,” I grumbled. “Me and every girl I work with knows about your reputation with women. Hence why I’ve been so surprised by this romantic streak in you.”
“You and me both,” he laughed.
“Right. So, If we do this, that’s my first condition,” I said sternly. “You’re with me and only me. No more going out with all this crazy partying, drunkenly grinding on strangers. No more picking up random chicks left and right. My other conditions include respecting my busy schedule. That means we can’t stay up late drinking every night we see each other. I have to get up early in the mornings. And you should know, I have a ton of school work to do when I’m not in class or at work so…”
“I’ll bring you all the brain fuel you need and disappear into the background when you need quiet time to focus. You can count on me,” he assured me. “You know, Abby… All this bossy talk from you is kind of turning me on. What do your terms and conditions say about sex?”
I couldn’t help but feel my own surge of anticipation at the thought of his naked body expertly moving over me again.
“Can I come over?” he asked eagerly when I didn’t reply.
“No,” I blurted, hating myself for it. But I had to put him in his place right then, or all I said before that would be for nothing. “I have study group tonight and an early day in the morning.”
“How much time before your study group?” he persisted.
I laughed and glanced at the clock. “One hour.”
“I’ll be there in five,” he insisted. “Be naked when I get there. You know, to save time.”
“Uh-huh. Sure.”
“So… that’s a yes?”
“I’ll see you in five minutes, Mr. Meadows,” I sang before hanging up the phone.
I supposed it couldn’t hurt to test out just how well Joshua could play by my rules.
13
Joshua
I woke up just before the alarms on our phones started going off, drawing us out of our deep sleep. I loved the feeling of waking up next to her warm body entangled with mine. And I was starting to get used to
starting my mornings off without a hangover after a good night’s rest.
“Good morning, sunshine,” I smiled down at her as she switched off the alarm and stirred in my arms.
“Hello handsome,” she moaned, lifting her head to kiss my lips. “Up and at ‘em.”
I contemplated trying to tempt her into some morning sex, but I had found that she liked it best when we hit the ground running first thing. We spent most nights together now. Mornings were for bouncing out of bed for a quick workout, shower, and breakfast before parting ways to start our separate days. Leaving each other was the hardest part, but we always more than made up for it when we reunited again in the evenings.
After sharing a bagel and some coffee at my kitchen island, we kissed and said goodbye. I was dressed in one of my best casual suits and strolling into the office at eight AM sharp, just in time to catch the meeting Lucas had set up for me and my siblings on our shared calendar.
“Joshua,” my older brother gaped when I walked into the conference room. “I’m surprised to see you here.”
“Why’s that?” I replied, taking the seat across from him. “Wasn’t I supposed to attend?”
“Well, yeah… but that’s never been enough incentive before.”
Jada greeted me with a stunned smile. “You even made it here before Camille. She’s going to be pissed.”
Sure enough, Camille came rushing in seconds later. Her wide eyes landed on me as she was putting down all of her things. “Joshua. You beat me here?”
“Yes, which seems to be the only item on the agenda for this meeting so far,” I quipped.
“Sorry I’m late,” she sighed, looking frazzled. “Laundry disaster.”
I wasn’t buying it. I knew her being late in the mornings usually had more to do with a late morning in bed with her fiance. But I was sympathetic to that kind of thing more than ever now that I had Abby.
“Since we’re all here, let’s jump right in,” Lucas announced. He caught us up on the latest numbers and updates on the company. When it came down to dividing up certain tasks for the week, I couldn’t help but notice the way my name was still skipped right over. I sat back and kept my mouth shut until I realized he was rounding off to adjourning the meeting.
