Page 12 of Even if You Fall

Knowing Briggs would never let me hear the end of it if he realized I hadn’t been paying attention during the meeting,I stood to leave as I normally would, intent on getting the information from Gray, since we were working on the same thing anyway.

But as soon as I started rounding the large table in our conference room, Briggs’ causal yet commanding tone brought me to an abrupt halt. “Need you to show Chloe how to use the phones and our system.”

I glanced around at the other guys, sure Briggs had been talking to one of them instead, then felt frustration unfurl in my chest when he spared a sideways glance at me when he added, “Now, Thatch. Before you and Gray start on the Donut.”

“Isn’t that Ada’s job?” I asked, surprising Briggs and forcing his full attention onto me.

Just as I wondered if Briggs was truly that surprised that I hadn’t immediately jumped to do something he’d demanded, he slowly ground out, “Ada bailed as soon as we got here,” as if I already should’ve known that.

And maybe if I’d been paying attention during the meeting, I would’ve. But I’d been too focused on the threat in the form of a new girl.

With a shrug, I jerked my chin in Gray’s direction. “I think Gray would do a better job at showing the new girl.”

“Gladly,” Gray drawled, already turning for the door.

“Stop,” Briggs seethed at Gray even as his gaze narrowed on me in contemplation.

Briggs knew I didn’t shy away from people I viewed as threats—that the red flags they threw my way only drew me closer until I had them figured out. He also knew I wasn’t one to turn down spending time with a beautiful woman. Not that Chloe was anywhere near my type; but even with the immediate rise of my suspicions, it’d been impossible to miss how breathtaking the new girl was.

Or maybe that’d just been me choking on the donut.

Before Briggs realized I was deliberately trying to get Gray to break Chloe’s heart, I said, “The superintendent case is more for me than Gray. I need to focus on that.”

“You will,” he began after studying me for a few seconds longer, then looked at his own tablet dismissively, “afteryou help Chloe. It shouldn’t take long.”

My mouth opened to respond, but I just forced a sharp nod as I continued around the table and out of the conference room. Storming through the office, I rounded the corner to the front and found Chloe sitting behind the desk, elbows on the wooden surface in front of her, face in her hands as she took deep, methodical breaths.

“Not too soon to quit,” I said in way of announcing myself, startling her.

Her head snapped up and hands fell like they hadn’t just been hiding her stress; then all that joy was bursting from her as if it’d never stopped as her stare quickly bounced between my face and arms. All while a slightly startled, “Hey—wait, what? Oh, no. No, I’m not gonna—I’m fine,” left her on a hushed laugh that did nothing to dim its brightness.

As if I hadn’t seen her looking like she was one push away from a panic attack just seconds before. As if I hadn’t seen the worry on her expression the instant her head had lifted, before she’d managed to forcefully shift her features.

Red flags all around.

“You sure about that?” I asked as I leaned against the upper portion of the desk, looking down on her, a whisper of mocking irritation weaving through my disbelief when I continued. “Not what it looked like when I came up here.”

Despite it all, her smile brightened. A look so pure and stunning and seemingly genuine that I nearly got lost in it and the way her hazel eyes danced until I managed to rip my stareaway and noted how her hands were clenched into tight fists on her lap.

Got you.

Still, it worried me how good she was at faking the rest. How I’d nearly fallen for it.

“I’m Chloe,” she said, as if I weren’t already keenly aware of that. “We didn’t really meet—well...” Her nose scrunched up in that adorable way I’d had the unfortunate pleasure of witnessing earlier, drawing my attention back to the light dusting of freckles on her cheeks. “I mean, wemet, just not officially.” She leaned a little closer and let her voice drop to a whisper. “Are you okay?”

“Am I okay from what, exactly? Being dropped to my knees, dropping donuts, or choking on one?” I asked, my tone letting her know I was nowhere near ready to forgive her for any of the offenses.

Her eyebrows lifted as she sucked in a quick breath through her teeth. But once again, she looked like she was being given the greatest gift instead of being reminded of our unfortunate first encounter. “Right. I really am sorry,” she said as her smile shifted into something a little softer, a little more amused.

I wondered if it was normal to have this much animosity toward someone you’d just met—someone you’d had no knowledge of before meeting them. But with every blinding smile and every dance of her eyes that was clearly meant to put the people around her at ease, my suspicion of her grew. With every part of her I felt myself getting trapped in, I forced myself to look away, to look for the inconsistencies. Like her clenched hands.

“That’s nice,” I forced out, then gestured between the phone and computer. “I’m supposed to show you how to use them, and I’m busy. So, let’s do this.”

“What’s your name?” she asked as I started around the desk, completely undeterred by my irritation.

“Depends on who you ask.” When she just continued watching me expectantly, I conceded, “Adam Thatcher. Women call me Thatch...friends call me Thatch. I’d rather you not call me anything because I don’t plan on you being here long.”

Her head tipped back with her next laugh—the sound bright and free as it left her full lips before those dancing eyes once again found me, as if my animosity amused her. “Okay, then. Superman it is.”

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