Page 49 of Fierce- Royce

“I thought so too. We got back to his place on Saturday night and he was pissed. I got mad back the next morning when he’d said he’d calmed down enough to talk. He wouldn’t see reason and my temper got the best of me and I left. I mean why stay if we were fighting and he wasn’t even acting like he wanted to talk about it.”

She cringed. These were the things that made her realize she was glad she wasn’t in a relationship and keeping it light and fun with Royce was totally the way to go.

“Sometimes people need time to cool off,” Chloe said. “I’m not sure how I’d be in that situation.”

“I shouldn’t have left, but I haven’t talked to him since. Raina came in to see how ticked off her brother was and then she said that sometimes Jonah just needs time to think things through. He’s not a hothead, but he didn’t want to talk when I did.”

“Yeah, one of those things you might have to figure out. Or how to work it out.”

“You’re not much help,” Megan said, laughing.

“I didn’t know I was supposed to help you,” she said, smiling. “I’m sorry things are rough, but I don’t have any advice. Raina knows her brother best. I just know what you’re telling me. Seems you are both at fault here for the reactions.”

“We are,” Megan said. “I guess I don’t need help or advice. Maybe I just need someone to make me laugh. You’re good at that. It’s not like you were getting any action on New Year’s Eve. I don’t think you and Royce were close enough to each other for more than ten minutes. It’s driving the Fierces nuts.”

Then their plan was working. “I’m not trying to drive anyone nuts,” she said. “Just doing my own thing like always.”

“That’s true. That is what I admire about you. You always do what you want and for years I’ve been trying to please my family and everyone else. It’s nice to not feel like I’ve got to do that anymore.”

She knew that Megan’s parents compared her to her older sisters. They told her the type of man she needed to settle down with and with every man of that type Megan met it never worked out.

Chloe wasn’t sure why everyone felt they knew what was best for someone else all the time.

“See,” she said. “You need to be more like me. Don’t care about what other people want and think.”

“True,” Megan said. “And it did make me laugh. Thanks. I’ll let you get back to work.”

She got right to what was on her desk and continued that way for hours. There was part of her that wanted to text Royce but said, nope. That would be crossing the line and the last thing she wanted was the expectation that she had to be in touch with someone daily or they had to be with her.

After lunch there was a knock on her door and she glanced up to see Grant standing there. She was surprised someone hadn’t come to seek her out before now and try to plant some seeds.

“Afternoon, Grant. What can I do for you?”

“I’ve spent most of my morning on the phone and wanted to let you know that the first floor of the commercial building might have a potential renter. They want to move fast and are meeting with Kennedy Construction this week. We should have another project, fingers crossed.”

“Wonderful,” she said.

“Also, I’m not sure if you heard, but Raina’s brother, Jonah, got in a car accident this morning. Raina and Megan are at the hospital with him, but Ryder just let me know that they are going to discharge Jonah soon.”

“Is he okay?”

“He should be. He’s got a concussion and some bruised ribs but overall should recover.”

“I’m glad. I’ll reach out to Megan and Raina later. Thanks for telling me.”

“I assumed you might not have known.”

“No. I was talking to Megan earlier so it had to be before the accident.”

“I’m sure. You guys are all close. I love that there are so many complex relationships here in the office.”

“There are,” she said. “It’s a great place to work.”

“It is,” Grant said. “And I want you to always think that way. I’m sorry if my brother or I are coming off too strong in trying to find someone for you. You know we are just having fun.”

This was interesting. “I do know that,” she said.

“But we realized that you’ve been very clear in that you aren’t interested and it’s wrong of us to not honor that.”

---