Page 23 of Healing Bonds

I was glad to see that hadn’t changed. My spitfire was stillnota morning person.

In six years, I had expected something to be different—maybe a fresh coat of paint, at least—but I was surprised to find the business hadn’t changed besides a few new faces. Walking into a place where I once felt at home but was now foreign sent a chill down my stiff spine, especially since everything looked exactly the same as it had six years ago.

Everyone was watching me, and it set me on edge. Two women shared a soft whisper over a cup of coffee in the corner as I passed the entrance. A young blonde, who I didn’t recognize, sat at the receptionist desk. She quickly shoved her phone aside as I walked past. “Sir, excuse me.” Her high-pitch tone pierced my ears. I stopped and returned the tight-lipped smile on her hot-pink lips. “Can I help you?”

“Just here to see my dad, thanks.” I turned away but couldn’t take a step before she stopped me again. I sighed in aggravation.

“Sorry, it’s staff only. You can’t go back there. I’ll get him. What’s his name?” She started to walk around the desk, her pointed shoes clicking loudly on the tiled floor.

“Mr. Wilson.” She paused, her eyes wide with mortification before she quickly recovered.

“You’retheson.” She checked the lobby for people, her brown eyes darting around quickly. “Well, shit. I’ll be damned. Nobody mentioned that you were hot.”

“Look,” I chuckled, a little weirded out, “I’m going to stop you right there. I’m engaged to my girlfriend of six years, andno, there is nothing you can do to change my mind.” Turning quickly, I left the lobby and walked straight into Celine.

“I see you’ve met Brittany.” She laughed, her blonde hair pulled up into a high ponytail that swished when she turned her head to give Brittany a pointed look to get back to work.

“Piece of work, that one is. What do you want me to do today?” I asked her. “I need to do something with my hands—preferably alone.” She nodded, her eyes distant as she thought about what she needed done.

“You can help Dad with a project he’s been working on with Ace. They’re out back. It might help you get some of that anger out, too. Do you know if Ames is coming in?” She crossed her arms over her fancy, pink blouse. Never in my life would I have imagined her like this. But there she was—commanding and all boss-like.

“I told her to come for lunch. I don’t want her sitting at home all day by herself.”

“That’s what she’s been doing for the last year, Ryan.” I frowned. “What makes you think today would be any different?”

“I’m home now. I’ll fix her.” Anger flared in her blue eyes, and her brows pinched in disdain, her lips curling into a sneer.

“You can’t justfixher depression by being here.” I grimaced. “She isn’t a puzzle, and you certainly aren’t the missing piece to make her whole again. You both need help, and the first step in the right direction is to get her out of that apartment. She needs to find a purpose. That’s why I gave her the job. You can’t be the only reason she gets out of bed in the morning, Ryan, and youknowbetter.” She turned on her heel then, her hair slapping my nose as she stormed off down the hall, her own heels clicking obnoxiously as she went.

“I’m open to other suggestions, sis,” I hollered down the hall, gaining the attention of some of the coworkers as they watched Celine stomp off down the hall, almost like a petulant child. Ibarely resisted the urge to smirk. Cece could be a real piece of work sometimes.

“Get her here now. She’s late for work,” she yelled back before a door slammed shut.

Pulling out my phone, I called my girl. She answered on the first ring. “Hey, baby,” she purred, her voice like silk. I prayed no one noticed my dick plumping at the sound of her sinfully sexy voice.

“Come keep me company, spitfire.”

“I don’t know,” she said immediately. I resisted the urge to sigh. “I might come for lunch.”

“Get your sexy ass into some hot pants and wear a fancy shirt. I want to see you all dressed up, darling.”

“And why is that, baby?” she whispered, though she still sounded like she didn’t want to come to work.

“Too many women here looking at me like I’m fresh meat,” I told her, knowing that would get her to get out of the house and come here. “Come stake your claim.”

She scoffed. “I’ll be there in an hour. You better warn those bitches that the queen is coming to save her king.” She hung up with a sultry laugh.

I loved my little raging spitfire. The girl I had fallen in love with wasn’t too far from the surface. I just had to save her from drowning in her own doubts.

Together, we would save each other; I just knew it. Our love was too strong to evaporate now after everything we’d gone through to get to this point. Nothing could tear us apart.

I wouldn’t let it.

Chapter Ten

AMBER

“You want to choose the date twelve to sixteen months before the wedding,” the young blonde told me as I sat down at her desk. The white pearls around her tan neck made her look older, but the shocking pink lipstick was a subtle reminder of her startling youth.

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