Page 65 of Free to Run
Oh. My. God. “Jesus, you’re such a vampire dickhead!” I stomp toward the porch steps.
“It’s daylight, baby. You have got to get this idea that I’m a vampire out of your head. Like I said, I’m just a regular old dick.” The laughter is back in his voice.
My annoyance carries me up the porch to the stained-glass door. I take a deep breath. With everything we’ve been joking around about, I’ve been pushing aside all the reasons I ran out of here a few days ago.
I feel Keene’s warmth behind me, and his mouth brushes against my ear. “No matter what, you put yourself out for them every day, every way you can, Alison. Don’t think just because I’ve been on the outside I haven’t seen it. You slay me with your devotion to them.” He nuzzles my ear, causing my heart to trip. “You’re their warrior and their fighter. They may say things they regret later, but nothing is worth losing you. I should know.” He straightens. “Now, walk through that door and show them who you are, what you’re made of, and how bad they hurt you. They need to know.”
There are so many things I want to say, but my throat is clogged with emotion. Nodding slowly, I open the door.
And chaos erupts.
27
Alison
“You two walking in together? Should we assume you’ve worked out your churlish behavior, Alison?” Phil drawls from somewhere to my left.
My chin lowers so Phil can’t see the pain his words inflict on me, but I remember what Keene said on the portico. Sharply, I turn to my brother. “Are your reports complete and on my desk?” Keene moves away quietly with a squeeze of my arm.
Phil looks taken aback. “What? Well, no. I haven’t had time this morning to complete them.”
“Because you’ve been spending company time gossiping about me. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to deduct that from your next paycheck.” Phil’s mouth is opening and closing like a fish. I step forward into his space, a lash of power whipping through me. “You all taught me this is a place of business, and yet you’ve made it impossible for me to work. That ends now.” Without remorse, I continue. “Your reports on my desk in two hours. If you’ll be kind enough to excuse me, I have a large amount of work to catch up on.” I hold his stunned gaze for a few more seconds before I turn and climb the stairs to my office.
I pass Holly in the hallway. “Ali, do you have a minute?” she asks hesitantly. She’s gnawing on her lower lip anxiously.
I squeeze her arm briefly before I say, “Not here, I don’t. I just explained to Phil that this just became a nonpersonal zone for me. It’s work.” I hesitate. “We do need to talk though, Holly. I’m not happy with you.” I pause to give my words more credence. “At all.”
“I know.” She’s biting her lip so hard, she’s going to draw blood. She takes a deep breath. “I uploaded something for you on your drive for you to look at later.” She wrings her hands together.
Remembering the way those hands would do that beneath mine in the darkness of the shipping container, I reach out to cover them and squeeze, the only sign that I hear her through my anger and pain. “Later, okay? I can’t right now.”
“Okay,” Holly whispers. “Ali, I’m…”
I cut her off before she can apologize. I have to accept, but I’m not ready to do that just yet. My hurt is too fresh. “Later, okay?”
Her face deflates, but she nods. I walk quickly to my office.
I drop my briefcase on top of my desk when I hear her voice. “You and Keene? I was hoping you would get along, but this is so much better than that.”
I don’t turn around from the wall of photos I’m facing, my eyes seeking out one in particular. When I find it, I don’t take my eyes off it. It’s of me and Cassidy on the day I graduated law school. Her arms are wrapped around me, squeezing the life out of me. My cap is askew, and we both have crazy smiles on our faces.
Before meeting Caleb, it was one of the few times that glorious smile graced her face. I was flying high that day, a twenty-year-old law school graduate. A few months later when I passed the bar didn’t live up to that moment of unadulterated pride emanating from my family as they all sat watching me accept my degree. It was the first time anyone ever had.
Even if my family is never the same going forward, the memory of that day will never be tarnished. I turn around.
“Do I have any meetings today, Cassidy?” I ask, sidestepping her question.
She waves her hand in the air, almost knocking over my desk lamp in the process. “We’ll talk about that in a minute. I want to hear about you and Keene.” She smiles at me, the first real smile I’ve received in weeks. Months.
And I want to shatter into a million pieces.
“No, Cass,” I say gently. “We won’t be talking about Keene and me. This is work. You’re the one who laid down the rules about not bringing family matters into the office. We have a reputation to uphold, clients to see to, and a company to run.”
She laughs. “I think I decimated that rule the night I had sex with Caleb in my office. So, we’re okay to talk about whatever you want.”
Internally, I’m giving myself a high five. I just won a massive bet against Phil and Em. Cassidy just confirmed the sounds we heard from her office the night before our largest wedding to date was her having sex with Caleb. Externally, my face is blank. “But what if I don’t want to?” I ask quietly. “What if I don’t want to talk about Keene anymore because no matter what, I can’t win with you, Cassidy? And I’m tired of seeing the disappointment in your eyes.”
Cassidy looks as if I’d just slapped her. “Ali…no, it’s not like that at all.”
