Page 124 of Theirs to Take

“You’re making fun of me, but I’m being serious. You said that you wanted to see where one night led us, and well, it’s led us here. I want to name this thing between us. I want to call it a relationship and I want to be able to tell people how I feel about you. I hate that every time we pull up to the building, you and I have to turn off our feelings and pretend that you didn’t just spend the night in my bed. I don’t like pretending that I’m not falling for you.”

“Wait—you’re falling for me?” she asked.

“I am,” he whispered. “Tell me that you don’t feel the same and I’ll drop all of this. I’ll walk into Alex’s office and pretend that you and I mean nothing to each other outside of work and meet your father as your boss.” She wasn’t sure if he was issuing her a challenge or trying to get her to admit her feelings for him. Either way, she never backed down from a challenge.

“I’m falling for you too,” she said, defiantly raising her chin as if daring him to dispute her feelings with her. “And I’d like to introduce you to my father as my boyfriend. You just have to know that he might not be very happy for us. He’s still trying to get over my last relationship and how its changed both of our lives. You might not get the warm greeting that you’re hoping for.”

“I understand,” Evan assured. “I’m standing by my decision though. I want to be more than your boss, Carrie.”

“Well, then,” she said, holding her hand out to him. “Let’s go meet my father, boyfriend.” Evan chuckled and took her hand, following her out of his office. “Here we go,” she whispered, walking into Alex’s office. She stopped dead when she found not only her father, but both of her cousins standing there, and alleyes were on her and Evan holding hands in the doorway. Carrie wanted to run. She wanted to tell Evan that she had changed her mind, but Carrie couldn’t do that to him.

He squeezed her hand into his own and she took a deep breath. “Dad, this is Evan,” she said. “My boss and my boyfriend.”

“What?” Alex growled. “You said that you weren’t together,” he shouted at Evan. Carrie stepped in front of Evan as if wanting to protect him from her cousin’s anger.

“It’s okay, honey,” Evan promised. “When I told you that we weren’t together, we weren’t. This happened a little over a week ago, and I’m not going to apologize for how I feel about your cousin. I care about her. Hell, I’m falling for her, but none of that is your business. She asked me to keep our relationship a secret, but I don’t want to do that anymore. I want everyone to know that we’re together and we’re happy. If you have a problem with that, you can deal with me.” Evan pulled her back to his side and wrapped an arm around her shoulder and Carrie wasn’t sure if she should say anything or just stand silently by Evan.

“He’s the reason why you seem so happy then?” her father asked.

“Yes, Dad,” she said. “I didn’t move in with Evan hoping for this, it just happened, but I’m happy that it did. We work well together, and we won’t let our relationship get in the way of our work,” she promised her cousins.

“Well, I for one am happy for you both,” Rod said. “If you remember, brother, we both fell for our wives when they were our assistants and we all still worked together well.” Carrie had heard the stories about how they both fell for their wives when they were working as their assistants, and she thought it was ironic that Alex would protest her and Evan being together now.

“But this isn’t about us,” Alex challenged, “it’s about our little cousin.”

“I’m a grown, pregnant woman,” she said. “I’m not a kid anymore, Alex,” she said.

“And yet, here we are, still taking care of you,” Alex spat. Carrie gasped and stepped back into Evan’s arms.

“I didn’t ask you to take care of me, my father did, even after I told him that I could handle my own problems. You know what, Alex, don’t do me anymore favors. I don’t need you to take care of me.”

“No, because now, you have Evan taking care of you,” he accused.

“Not cool, man,” Evan said.

“I don’t need anyone to take care of me, I can take care of myself,” she shouted. “And I can take care of my own father. I quit, Alex,” she said.

“Now wait a minute,” Evan said, “I’m your boss, not Alex.”

“Fine then, boss, I quit,” she said. “Let’s go, Dad.”

“Where are you going to go?” Alex asked. “It’s not safe with your ex out there.”

“I don’t care,” she spat. “I’m going back to my apartment, and don’t worry, I’ll find a way to pay your rent every month as soon as I find another job.” Carrie looked her father over when he didn’t make a move to follow her out of Alex’s office.

“Dad,” she hissed.

“I don’t think that this is a good idea,” her father insisted. “You and Alex are both hotheads and you both need to calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down. Listen, I’ll text you my address and you can come over when your done visiting with my cousins,” she said, heading back to her desk. She planned on packing everything up and walking out of the building with her head held high.

“Carrie,” Evan said, grabbing her arm. She pulled it free and turned on him.

“Evan, I need to do this,” she insisted. “I need to prove that I’m able to stand on my own two feet. Alex is right, I’ve used you as a crutch and I need to know that I can do this alone.”

“Do what alone?” he asked, “go out and get yourself killed? You can’t be serious about going back to your apartment. What happens if your ex is there?”

“I’ll call the cops. I can hide out at Mina’s place until they cart him off. Sooner or later, he’ll get the hint that I’m not going with him and go back to Scotland.”

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