Page 59 of As You Crave It

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

QUINWASSITTING in the break room of the distillery when Reid and Gemma came in. His sister was holding her laptop. “Quin, there you are. Check this out.”

Gemma put the laptop in front of him. It was a news conference. Celia and her attorney were taking questions, as the chyron on the bottom of the screen said that Jared Foster had been indicted on sexual misconduct charges. “She did it,” he whispered, in awe of her.

He hadn’t seen her in more than a week. He’d managed to keep his distance from her. It was hard, but for both of them, it was what was best.

Quin was so proud of her as she stood tall and spoke passionately about the issue of women and those like her who are harassed and abused by men who hold their careers hostage.

“She’s amazing,” Gemma said as the news conference ended and smoothly transitioned to a local weather report.

“Yeah, she is,” Quin said.

“Have you seen her since the story broke?”

“Not since that day in Jared’s office. She hasn’t been returning my calls.”

“Go see her, man,” Reid told him.

“She made it clear that we shouldn’t see each other for a while.” He told him about her request for space.

“That’s bullshit,” Gemma added.

“What’s bullshit? It’s how she feels.”

“Her feelings are completely valid. But what about your feelings? Talk to her again.”

“She’s afraid. And hell, so am I.”

“Love is scary as hell. But if you both already have that healthy dose of fear, I think that means there are some real feelings there,” Reid told him.

“Do you love her?” Gemma asked.

“Yeah, of course, we were friends for years.”

“But are you in love with her?”

It surprised him that he could answer so quickly. “Yeah.”

“Then go to her, you freaking idiot.”

“If she’s going to work for us, we can’t have a romantic relationship. Her former boss harassing her is why we just saw her on the news. I can’t be an asshole like that.”

“If she wants to be with you, too, maybe we could come up with some way around the impropriety of a workplace romance.” It looked like Gemma had an idea.

“What do you have in mind?”

Celia sipped her coffee and sat at her table. The silence was blissful. She’d turned off her cell-phone ringer a few days ago because she couldn’t handle the incessant ringing anymore—more calls for interviews and legal representation, mingled with some threats. She shrugged it off. She’d retained a lawyer, given the information she’d collected to the police and said her piece. She was done until it was time for court.

Her moment of silence and solitude was interrupted by the ring of her doorbell. Celia rolled her eyes and put down her coffee mug. “Goddammit,” she muttered. She walked to the door, looked through the peephole and saw that Quin was on the other side. She opened the door, unsure of whether she was happy to see him or not.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi.” She moved out of the way, holding the door open to let him in. “What brings you by?”

“I just wanted to come by and check on you. I tried calling the past couple of days.”

“I turned off my phone. It’s been ringing nonstop.”

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