Page 7 of Finally

Ishut the door of Christopher’s office behind me and closed my eyes, willing my pulse to slow its frantic pace. I’d tried to act calm and cool in front of him, but the truth of the matter was, it had knocked me for a loop seeing him after all that time. I thought I’d managed to put the past behind me, but one look in those gorgeous blue-green eyes had brought it all back again and I’d been flooded with memories of our time together.

It had taken several minutes to catch my breath after I’d seen his face on the poster outside and even longer to convince myself to go inside. I had to remind myself that I wasn’t that same lonely, naïve kid anymore. I was a grown man with a job I loved and friends I’d do anything for, and it was because of them that I made the decision to meet with Christopher. There was no way I was going to disappoint Micah or have him pull one of my friends off another job just because some guy that hurt me years before had suddenly shown back up in my life.

What happened between us was in the past and it would stay firmly there until this assignment was over and I could move on. All I needed to do was focus on my job and treat Christopher like any other client who I’d been hired to protect. I could do that. I’d stared death in the eyes before and come out the victor. Working alongside an old flame would be a piece of cake compared to some of the things I’d seen and done. I was a goddamn professional after all and a Marine. Oorah!

Feeling better after my little pep talk, I opened my eyes. The layout of the building was set up as one large, open office space with more rooms along the perimeter which I assumed were offices and conference rooms. Cubicle dividers broke up the areas between the desks and offered some buffer against the noise and chaos of the room. Men and women dressed in casual clothes flitted busily around the room, making copies, typing furiously on their computers and appealing to prospective voters over the phone. The entire place reminded me of a beehive with busy worker bees all doing whatever it took to provide for their queen. Only in this case, the queen was a king named Christopher. Topher.

My heart skipped a beat at the thought of the nickname I’d given him all those years ago. It had been a slip the first time I’d said it, but the smile on his face when he’d told me that no one had ever called him that before had imprinted itself on my heart and from then on, he’d been Topher to me. I’d liked having a part of him that was just mine. It had made me feel like I was someone special, important to him, and that was something I’d never felt before.

A sharp pain in the palms of my hands pulled me back to the present and I looked down at the four crescent-shaped indentations my nails had made as they’d dug into my flesh. I huffed out a frustrated sigh. Treating Christopher Brooks like any other client might be more difficult than I’d originally thought. It had taken a long time for me to get over what had happened, to put the pain of the past behind me, and I’d be damned if I was going to let the man pull me back in. No matter how unbelievably gorgeous he was.

I spent the next couple of hours walking around the building, making a list of all the areas where security needed to be improved, which was extensive. Just as I’d seen outside, there were no cameras inside either. Doors were left unlocked and there was no system in place to track whoever entered or left the building. Literally anyone could walk right in and do whatever they wanted and there’d be no one to stop them. At least there hadn’t been until I got there.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” I turned at the sound of a voice behind me and saw the same man who had helped me locate Topher’s office. He was shorter than me. Even shorter than Topher, who only stood about 5’8” compared to my 6’2” height. He was cute, with blond hair and pale blue eyes.

“Yes, actually. What did you say your name was?”

“Maddox Vanderhorne, but everyone calls me Maddie,” he said, thrusting his hand out between us. I shook it, surprised at how firm his grip was.

“Greg Wright.”

“Oh! Nice to meet you, Mr. Wright.” He flashed me a flirty grin that showed off a pair of dimples and I got the distinct impression that he could charm his way out of just about anything, and probably had. I chuckled at the way he’d made it sound like he was calling me Mr. Right. He smiled even wider, looking immensely pleased with himself.

“Just Greg will work,” I told him.

He chuckled. “Okay then, Greg. What can I do for you?” The playful edge dropped from his voice as he got back down to business.

“I need to speak with Topher’s campaign manager, so I can get a copy of his schedule, but I’m not sure who that is,” I explained.

Maddie cocked his head to the side and eyed me with a curious expression. “Topher, huh?”

I felt my face heat up when I realized what I’d said. “Oh! Uh, sorry. That was the name of someone I used to know,” I murmured. “Anyway, if you could just point me in the direction of Christopher’s campaign manager, I’d appreciate it.”

Maddie looked like he knew there was more to the story but, thankfully, decided to let it go. “That would be Jared Conover, but he’s out of the office for the next few days. Christopher has an event scheduled in New River this Friday and Jared wanted to get there ahead of everyone else to make sure things are set up properly. He’s a bit of a perfectionist as you’ll see, but I suppose that’s what makes him so good at his job.”

“Ah, I see. And what is your role here?” I asked.

His face lit up with a smile. “I’m Christopher’s communications director. I help him write his speeches and deal with all the media craziness. Basically, it’s my job to make sure Christopher looks good to the press and doesn’t make a fool of himself,” Maddie informed me, winking at someone over my shoulder. My shoulders tensed as I realized whom that someone must be, and I wondered how long he’d been standing there.

“If I make a fool of myself, it’s usually because of something you’ve done,” Christopher said. The smooth, honeyed sound of his voice sent a delicious chill racing up my spine, but I held still, refusing to let him see the effect he still had on me and cursing the fact that was even true. He shouldn’t have an effect on me. Not after everything he’d done.

I turned and looked at him and whatever expression he saw on my face made the smile he’d been wearing slip from his face. “Are you finding everything okay?”

“Yes. Everyone has been very helpful. Especially Maddie,” I told him. His eyes darted over to his friend and if I hadn’t known the way he felt, I would’ve sworn I saw a flash of jealousy in those blue-green orbs.

Christopher cleared his throat. “That’s very good. I’m glad they’ve been able to assist you. I was just going to see if Maddie wanted to go with me to get some lunch. If you’re hungry, we could bring something back for you,” he offered politely.

“I can’t do that.”

“You can’t eat?” he asked in confusion.

“No. I meant I can’t let you go on your own. It’s a little hard to guard you if I’m not near you,” I reminded him.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine. It’s not like I’ll be alone. I’ll have Maddie with me. Besides, I’m sure no one’s going to do anything to me in broad daylight,” he pointed out.

I glanced over at Maddie, whose eyes were darting between the two of us as if he was watching a tennis match. “No offense, but I don’t think Maddie here is in any shape to protect you.”

“None taken,” Maddie said, tossing his hand over his shoulder as if he knew it were true.

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