Page 100 of The Reluctant Hero

After an extended silence, he snaps, “You can’t just say that and pretend you didn’t.”

“What?” I look up with innocent eyes. “Please stop distracting me. I need to get some work done. So do you. Stop slacking.”

His jaw ticks with anger, and he faces his desk with a growl. I think I’m going to have to get used to that noise if I’m going to be around them so much.

21

Moth

Amanda

I start stealing Sarah’s highlighters again. If Gabriel notices, he doesn’t say anything. Ace does and he smirks about it every time I pull one out of my purse. If it isn’t dry by the time I’m done for the day, I take it home and color all over any piece of paper I can find until it is. I’m hoping that she’ll show up at some point and throw a fit. I already bought some noise-canceling headphones in preparation. I’m going to slide them on as soon as she comes in and pretend to work while Gabriel deals with it. It’s only a matter of time.

Some subtle changes are happening in the office. Everyone seems more relaxed with my presence than they did before. Ace and Mikael are out more often than not. They say they’re running errands, and I don’t ask any questions. For all I know, they’re shaking people down for money.

Jake and Cade tend to linger, though. At first, it’s annoying and I’m convinced that Gabriel is doing it on purpose. He takes a break to watch my temper tantrums too often for it to be a coincidence.

Cade makes a point to apologize every day, and I make a point to smirk and tell him to try again. He seems sincere this time. He’s making an effort to get to know me that I rebuff constantly. It makes him mad, but after a cool-off period, he tries again. He doesn’t know the meaning of the word quit.

Not to mention that he stares at me from the couch with the look of a man trying to solve a puzzle. It cracks me up.

He also pulls up a chair at my desk and plays a little footsie with me without changing his expression. It’s a sly flirtation that I’m not sure what to do with. I could always stomp on his foot, but I doubt that would stop him. He’d see it as a challenge. I try to pretend it isn’t happening and relish the flirty vibes while he grills me about the things I’m interested in.

Jake doesn’t apologize at all. Instead, he buys me little gifts and drops them off without a word to me. He brings in breakfast and plates it to bring to me like a butler. He does the same with lunch. His friendly grin never wavers.

Out of all of them, it’s Jake that leaves me uneasy. His innocent guise is a front. I don’t know what’s underneath that, and I don’t want to find out. He screams spy to me. Bad vibes and red flags all tucked neatly behind an eager grin. I try to ignore him as best I can, but he makes it difficult with the gifts he gives. It’s like he knows me well enough to understand what I need before I do.

Mikael is nice and talks around me more. I like his voice. The rough tones betrayed by his kind words. I would never have imagined he could be so sweet underneath all the glares. Sometimes, I catch him watching me, but his eyes jerk away as soon as I notice. He seems embarrassed every time. It’s adorable.

He rides the elevator down to walk me out of the building every day now. At first, I think he’s checking for flowers. Until I notice that every elevator ride, he stands a little closer to me. He hasn’t gotten close enough to touch me yet, but he’s getting there. I feel dainty and weak-kneed in his presence. He hasn’t even touched me, and I’m anticipating it with everything in me. I can’t help it.

On the other end of the spectrum, Ace touches me every chance he gets. I’ve gotten used to him playing cards with Jake at random times. Sometimes, he tries to draw me into a game.It gets shut down by Gabriel every time. He ends up playing solitaire next to me at my desk. I can see how he got his name now. I asked him if Ace was his nickname, but he gave me a wink and said his Mama knew what he was born to be.

He’s always waiting in the parking lot to drive me to work. Sometimes, he looks like he slept in his truck, but that has to be my imagination. Right? Why would he be sleeping out there? Or is he sleeping in his truck to watch someone else?

I cut those thoughts off every time they come up. I don’t need to be involved with them any more than I already am. Plus, I’m starting to get a feeling of dread, like a shoe is going to drop from somewhere, and I’m not sure why.

I haven’t gotten any flowers. The eviction letters have stopped. Everything has gone back to pseudo-normal, but something feels off. A type of pressure is building around me like I’m stuck waiting for a thunderstorm with no clouds in the sky. It’s making me more snippy than usual. Not that Gabriel minds.

He is eager to snark back at me. Sometimes, he manages to get me to back off, and sometimes he doesn't. It's a push and pull that I’m starting to like too much. I’ve caught myself fantasizing about shutting him up by sliding under his desk. I’m pretty sure he’s attracted to me, too, with the way he looks at me sometimes.

My hesitation in acting on any of this has several demonic heads that won’t shut up. One, I’m still married. It’s an idiotic thought when Loser obviously had no problems going home with other women. But I thought it was real, and those feelings are hard to shake. I feel guilty for entertaining the idea of being with any of them. Yeah, I’ve kissed Ace twice. Other than that, he’s backed off.

Two, I’m attracted to each of them, which will only end badly. I’ve tried imagining a scenario like what South’s friend has, but I don’t see that working out. I don’t want to see the looks on their faces if I suggested it.

Three, they’re dangerous. I’m not an idiot, no matter how much I want to bury my head in the sand. Being any more involved with them than I am will sign me up for misery, no question.

Work, collect paycheck, go home.

But I’m starting to pay more attention to the papers I’m highlighting, too. What areas were bought up? What’s happening with them? Most of them don’t have plans at all. I’ve been spending my time at home looking up what’s going on with the properties through news articles. The only thing that comes up is a golf course that isn’t finished due to a delay on the turf. It’s a creepy sand pit that gives me chills. I have no idea why, but the pictures make it feel haunted. Plus, a property with a giant mansion that gives me the creeps hard enough I can’t breathe when I see the pictures.

I’m tempted to go see all of them. Just because they don’t have any set plans in writing doesn’t mean something isn’t there. A physical checkout of the locations will help me understand what the hell I’m looking at.

It’s thoughts like these that make me want to hide away and ignore all of this. Instead, I focus on finding a lawyer. It hasn’t happened yet, and I’m losing hope again. Is there a way for me to do this without a lawyer? And if so, where would I file? According to the paperwork more than half the judges have some kind of relationship with Loser.

I could move and file in another county. Even another state. Screw the abandonment thing, I need this divorce. If only to have one more foothold on freedom.

“Hello?” Cade yells in my face.

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