: Chapter 33

The guy standing in front of my girl smiles, flashing a row of perfectly straight, dazzling white teeth that I’d quite happily punch down his throat. Then he holds out his hand. “Chad Poindexter.”

I glance down at his hand but don’t reciprocate. “Yeah, I know who you are.”

Unbothered by my refusal to shake his hand, he smiles wider. “You do, huh? I’m honored to know you’ve heard of me.”

Yeah, don’t be, dickface. I only know who you are because I googled you when I started obsessively cyberstalking your ex-wife because I’m so into her that I had to see for myself what kind of prize jerkwad would let her slip away.

I’d like to say all of that out loud, but Amelia is hovering behind him, her brow lined with worry. She’s all that matters right now, and getting into a pissing match with her ex wouldn’t make things any better for her. She looks so forlorn and troubled, and it breaks my heart. All I want to do is get her away from here so I can wrap her in my arms.

On the journey over, I was pissed at her for not calling me straight away and for behaving like she thought she was bothering me. For even toying with the idea that I was the kind of man who would sit through business meetings while knowing the woman he loves is with her sick mom at the hospital.

Except, yeah, well …

I haven’t told her that I love her yet, have I? It scares me to even admit it to myself, never mind say it aloud to her. So maybe she has every right to doubt me. I managed to calm myself down before I got here, reminding myself that this was all about her, not my injured pride.

Arriving here and being greeted by this douchebag, though, has brought all that anger back up to the surface. What the fuck is Chad up to? She didn’t mention him on the phone, so I have to assume she didn’t know he’d be here.

I ignore him and turn my undivided attention to Amelia. Under normal circumstances, that cute little sundress would be enough to drive me wild, but the tears in her eyes keep my libido in check. “Amelia. How is your mom?”

We’re in the corridor outside her room, and my own stress levels are through the roof. I still bear the scars of spending too much time in places like this during my mother’s treatment. She died at home, but hallways like this one were a big part of our lives for way too long. Everything about hospitals—the smells, the sounds, the pervasive sense of desperation that bleeds from the walls—reminds of the most painful time of my life. I know exactly what Amelia is feeling right now.

She swats a tear from her cheek. “She’s stable. Her oxygen levels are slowly rising, but she’ll need to stay in the hospital overnight. Probably for a few days.”

“I’m so glad I was here for you today, angel face,” Chad says in a saccharine tone. Angel face? Who the fuck gave him permission to speak? Who the fuck gave him permission to live?

She offers him a halfhearted smile, and I once again resist the urge to punch him in his smug face. “What exactly were you doing here, Chad?” I ask instead.

“I had a meeting in town with some really important investors,” he says, announcing it like he was having coffee and bagels with Jesus fucking Christ. “I’m still on the emergency contact list for Edith, and when they couldn’t initially get hold of Mimi, they tried me.”

Mimi? I didn’t think the prick could be any more annoying, but it looks like I was wrong. He looks at her with a fake-sad expression and pats her on the shoulder like the condescending fuckwit he is. “Good thing I was here, huh?”

I watch her every move. I’m so attuned to her now that I see it all. The slight drop of her shoulder as she subtly moves away from his touch, the nervous way she swallows.

“I think she still got here before you did, Chad, so let’s not plan the medal ceremony just yet, pal.”

She shoots me a quick look that feels like a warning, and I bite my tongue. She doesn’t need any extra crap from me.

“I’m sorry, Chad,” she says, her voice quiet. “I forgot to have you taken off the list. I’ll make sure to get that taken care of.”

“Shh, now. It’s okay.” He tries to pull her into a hug.

I’m going to wrap his fucking neck around a stethoscope if he’s not careful. Yeah, I know what I said, and doing it that way would be infinitely more painful.

Amelia dodges his attempted embrace and takes a step closer to me. I can smell her sweet perfume and see the unshed tears in her hazel eyes. Fuck, her pain kills me.

“I was on my way to meet her,” she says. “I was going to the house to take her flowers, and we were planning on walking together to the restaurant to meet the girls. She’s been doing so well recently, and she was looking forward to it. My cell was on the fritz, and I had no signal at my apartment. She’d tried to call me …”

A sob racks her body, and I can’t hold back for a second longer. Without any thought for Chad and what he or anyone else might think, I fold her into my arms, pressing her close to my chest. Exactly where she belongs. She doesn’t resist, sagging into me and resting her cheek against me. Her shoulders are trembling, and her tears moisten the fabric of my shirt.

“You’re her boss?” he sneers.

I snarl back at him. “Yes, I’m her boss. I’m also a decent human being who gives a shit about the people I work with. And now that I’m here, I see no reason for you to hang around any longer.”

His eyes narrow in suspicion. He’s maybe only ninety-nine percent idiot, and the other one percent is jealous. That one percent suspects I’m much more than her employer but isn’t confident enough to challenge me. Because it’s entirely plausible that I’m simply comforting my secretary after her mom was rushed to the ER, like any caring boss would.

“Mimi?” Chad asks, like he doesn’t quite believe me.

Untangling herself from my arms, she scrubs the tears from her cheeks. She glances at the stain she’s left on my shirt and grimaces, although I obviously don’t give a shit.

“Thank you for coming, Chad, but he’s right. There’s no reason for you to be here. I appreciate you coming, but it’s fine for you to go now. And please don’t call me Mimi.”

His eyes dart between her and me, and a muscle tics in his clenched jaw. I bite on my cheek so I don’t tell him to fuck off. He clears his throat. “If you say so.”

He turns to leave, and I find myself wondering what his game is. Isn’t he engaged to someone else now? Why is he sniffing around Amelia like the dog he is? Is he going to stay away from her, or am I going to have to put him down?

We finally leave the hospital around ten, after the staff assures Amelia that her mom is doing better and Edith herself insists that it’s time for us to leave.

“It was really nice to finally meet you, Edith,” I say just before we head out. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

She’s no fool, this woman, and even from her hospital bed, her eyes glint with amusement. “Yeah? That’s nice. You sure do take a keen interest in your employees’ families, Mr. James.” She winks at me while Amelia isn’t looking, leaving me with no doubt that our secret isn’t quite as much of a secret as it once was.

“I absolutely do,” I reply, grinning.

“You just make sure you treat my daughter well, now, you hear me? At work, obviously.”

I pat her hand. “I promise you I will.”

“Okay. You look like a man of your word to me. Now scoot, both of you—I need to be alone with my oxygen mask and my romance novel. Nothing says sexy quite like a nasal canula.”

Amelia leans down to hug her, and I turn away when I see how hard they cling to each other. I still miss my own mother so much it hurts.

She holds it together until we’re in the parking garage. With a sigh, she crumples like all the air has been let out of her, and I gather her into my arms. “You’re okay, baby. And she is too. She’s tough, your mom.”

“I know. She’s tougher than me. I’m just … I’m just so scared, Drake. Every time I think she’s doing okay, something seems to happen. And I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

“I get that,” I reply, stroking her hair and kissing her forehead. “I really do. And hopefully you won’t need to find the answer to that question for many years. Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“Has Constantine been waiting all this time?” she says as we approach the SUV.

“No. I sent him home in a cab. Tonight, madam, I will be your driver. Where do you want to go? Straight home is fine. You probably want a hot shower and your bed.”

She manages a weak smile as she climbs into the front seat, refusing to get in the back “because you’re not my chauffeur.”

“I’m actually not physically tired at all,” she says as she fastens her seatbelt. “It’s more psychological, you know? This day has not gone the way I expected. I pictured a cozy birthday lunch with Mom, catching up with the girls, then seeing you back at my place.”

“Oh?” I glance at her out of the corner of my eye as I leave the parking garage. “And what did you think might happen there?”

Her wicked smile lifts my heart. After everything she’s gone through today, she can still give me goosebumps. There are things we need to talk about, issues we need to address—including Chad—but now is not the time for issues. Now is the time for making my girl feel better.

“Well, I thought you might want to untie this dress, for a start,” she says, running her hands over her breasts teasingly. “I know you always like to untie me.”

I grit my teeth and keep my eyes on the road. It’s a bad time to get turned on, but my cock doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo.

“I do, Miss Ryder, I do. And believe me, I’m interested. But I don’t want you to feel like we have to have sex.”

“What? Don’t you want to have sex with me?”

“Only when I’m awake. And when I’m asleep. Basically all the fucking time. You know I can’t get enough of you, baby. All I’m saying is we don’t have to. We could just, you know, cuddle and spoon.”

“Cuddle and spoon?” she repeats, sounding shocked.

“Yeah. Cuddle and spoon. Or fuck each other’s brains out, whichever you prefer.”

She puts her hand on my thigh, and fuck, her fingers feel good. Concentrate, Drake, concentrate. She gazes out the window and leans back in the seat. “Thank you for coming, Drake. It means a lot to me. I think she knows, don’t you?”

“About us? She definitely knows. How do you feel about that?”

She lets out a little laugh and shakes her head. “I feel good about it. I hated hiding things from her, and I hated hiding you away. I’d love for you two to get to know each other, and it’s not like she’s going to tell anyone.”

“I don’t know. From what you’ve said, that Mrs. Katzberg lady from across the street might be trouble.”

“True, but she’s on my side. Anyway. I’m glad. I’m proud of you, and I’m proud of my mom, and it’s nice that two of my very favorite people will get the chance to be friends.”

I don’t react much on the surface, but I’m secretly thrilled at her reaction and to hear that she’s proud of me. I’ve often felt second-best in my life, but never with Amelia.

“But now,” she continues, sighing. “Now I just want to try to calm down from everything for a while, you know? Mom is in good hands, she’s out of danger, and she’s doing well. The nurses have my number in case anything happens, and I hope you don’t mind, but I gave them yours as a backup.”

I nod. “Of course, that’s fine.”

“Anyway. It’s like the nurse said earlier, I won’t be able to help her if I’m too strung out myself. It’s like that oxygen mask on the plane thing. Mom was good when we left, and I’ll be back there first thing tomorrow. But tonight? Tonight I need to recharge. I need to not obsess about it all for hours on end. I just wish my brain came with an off switch or that I knew how to distract myself.”

I have an idea, but it seems selfish to even consider it. Suggesting it would almost certainly make me sound like an asshole.

“Where have you gone, Drake?” she asks, staring over at me.

“Nowhere, baby. I, uh … I had a thought.”

“You know I could hit a homerun with that sentence, don’t you?”

I laugh. “Swing for the fences, mi rosa, swing for the fences.”

She giggles, and the sound lights me up. “You still haven’t told me what your thought was.”

Fuck. Why shouldn’t I suggest it? She can say always say no if she’s not into it. “You know how I like untying stuff? Especially if you’re wearing it?”

“I had noticed that.”

I hum softly, thinking of the right way to make this proposition.

“You have that length of cord in your office too. You play around with it when you’re stressed. Is it the same kind of thing?” she asks, and I feel the heat of her eyes on me.

“Kinda. Have you heard of Shibari?”

“I think Kimmy told me about it once. A girl she dated was into it. It’s like tying people up, right?”

“It’s more than that. It’s a kind of Japanese bondage, but it’s more than sex. If you do it with the right partner, it can be deeply sensual. Incredibly enjoyable. It’s also very distracting.”

She’s silent, and I risk a glance at her face. I was worried she’d be cringing in horror, but instead, I see she’s sucking on her plump lower lip, her head tilted to one side as she thinks it over.

“Can you tell me a little more?” she asks. “Like … does it hurt?”

“That depends on whether you want it to. You can use ropes made of different materials, some rough and some soft, and different thicknesses. The knots and patterns and positions, well, they’re hugely varied. It’s not merely a kink, it’s an art form. Shibari masters spend years learning their craft.”

“Are you a master, Drake?”

Her curious, sultry tone goes straight to my dick, exactly the same way it does when she calls me sir. Fuck, I couldn’t want this woman more if she were dipped in chocolate.

“I’m pretty good. I know what I’m doing, and you’d be safe with me if you wanted to try it. It doesn’t even have to be sexual. It can be just about the act itself. It can simply allow you to get out of your head for a while.”

I’m getting close to her apartment now, and she puts a hand on my arm. “Can we go to your place instead? I want to try it with you, and if we stay at mine, we’ll have to make do with my nylons and your necktie.” She flashes me a smirk. “I’m guessing it won’t be quite the same experience.”

“Are you sure?” I ask. “It’s not for everyone.”

“I want to try all the things you like, Drake. And judging by that bulge in your pants after only talking about it, I’m figuring you like it a lot.”

“Ignore my cock. He has a mind of his own.”

She flutters her eyelashes. “I couldn’t ignore it even if I wanted to. The only reason I haven’t touched it is because I don’t want to die in a fiery crash. But I would like to try Shibari. I’d love to forget all about today and my mom hooked up to all those machines. I’d like to just feel good. Do you think it will help with that?”

I nod, thrilled at the prospect of trying this with her. “And if Shibari doesn’t help, then I’ll just make you come so hard you pass out.”

Her infectious laughter fills the car. “Deal.”