Page 10 of Mine To Keep (Southern Wedding)

The door to Caine’s office opens and I look over my shoulder. “I need you to see if you can schedule this client in sometime next week.” He hands me the folder. “I think I have some time Wednesday to do it.”

“You have all afternoon Wednesday free,” I say, shocking him I know his schedule by heart, but it’s a reason I’m good at what I do. “I can put them in after one, so you have time to eat.”

“Fine,” he huffs before turning and walking back into his office.

“Is that all for the day?” I ask him before he shuts his door in my face.

“Yeah,” he confirms, and I grab the file and place it on top of the to-do pile for Monday.

“Okay, if you don’t need anything else.” I start to shut down my computer. “I’m going to head out.” He doesn’t say anything to me; he just stares at me with his dark blue eyes. His shirt is rolled up again to his elbows, something he does every single day the minute he takes off his jacket. I get up and smile as big as I can, hopefully knowing that it’s going to annoy the fuck out of him. “Have a great weekend.” I bend to grab my purse from under my desk when I hear the door slam shut. “You too, Grace. I hope that you rest, and I’ll see you Monday,” I tell myself, pretending I’m him.

As I walk around my desk, I peek into his office, seeing him looking at me while he holds a piece of paper in his hand. I hold up my hand and wave it side to side, knowing if I was as pissed and irritated with me as he is, it would make me even more irritated. “Bye,” I sing out and I can see him gripping the paper so hard in his hand his knuckles are white.

Only when I know he can’t see me do I look down at my feet and mumble out, “Dick,” before heading to the bathroom before leaving. I quickly pee and wash my hands before pulling open the door and then finally walk to the elevator. Pressing the button before looking up to see if it’s close, I watch the numbers climb up on the screen coming toward my floor. “I survived a full week.” I look over to make sure no one is around to hear me talk to myself. “I deserve a medal.” The ping of the elevator arriving makes me look up to the golden doors opening. I step in and press the P1 button before stepping to the side in case someone else gets in on the way down. The doors are closing as my phone beeps in my purse, and I’m fishing it out when a hand slips between the doors to stop it from closing.

It’s almost as if my body inwardly groans when I see the watch. I’d know that watch anywhere. The doors open back up and there he stands, the dick of my life. Caine. The minute his eyes find mine, I see them darken over. His jaw gets tight, and I can see the vein in his forehead start to throb. He steps in and his cologne hits me right away. Why does he smell so good? He should smell the way he acts, like an asshole.

I ignore him as I look down at my phone and see my brother just texted me.

Charlie: Due to land in an hour. Heads up! Grandpa Casey is joining us.

I put my head back and groan, not sure I’m doing it out loud or not.

“What’s the matter, frat party got canceled?” I hear from beside me and look over at him.

Instead of telling him to go fuck himself, I just nod my head. “Yes,” I reply, putting my hand to my chest, “and I was preparing for that wet T-shirt contest all week long.” I stomp my foot like a child would do. “All that work for nothing. Also, did you use an abbreviation?”

He ignores what I said and only sticks to the fact he thinks I was going to a party. “That’s why you can’t stay late?” he asks, and I tilt my head to the side, about to tell him that it’s none of his fucking business. The two of us have a stare down until the elevator doors open. I’m the one who looks away first when I take the four steps out of the elevator and head toward my SUV. The phone beeps again in my hand but I ignore it as I walk to my vehicle. I can hear his footsteps not too far behind me, and I make a mental note to park on the other side on Monday, or better yet, on a different floor. Maybe outside. Maybe around the block. I pull the car handle and the car unlocks. “That’s a safety hazard,” he says from behind the SUV.

“What?” I turn, now pissed that I’m letting him get to me.

He points at the back of the SUV that is overflowing with boxes. “You can’t even see when you are backing out,” he points out the obvious.

“Well, then I suggest you don’t stand behind the SUV.” I toss my bag into the passenger seat.

“Do you live in your SUV?” he asks me, and this is the most he’s spoken to me all week. After I made an official complaint with Loren about his inappropriate questions on what I do with my time that has nothing to do with work, his answers have been reduced to one or two words. Sometimes some grunts. I think once I brought him in his lunch and I heard a growl.

“Yes, I live in my SUV,” I answer him sarcastically. “I’m making extra money selling my feet pictures, but it’s been a slow month. My next step is OnlyFans.” I hold up my fingers and cross two of them. “Fingers crossed it takes off and I can be out of your hair.” His mouth hangs open, giving me the chance to end the conversation. I get into the SUV, and I can feel his eyes on me the whole time. I close my door, ignoring the need to look over at him and maybe flip him off before I pull out. I go through the motions of starting the SUV and then putting my seat belt on. I put the SUV in reverse and see he isn’t still standing behind the SUV. “Dick,” I mumble to myself as I pull out of the parking garage.

I make my way over to my apartment, instead of going to the hotel. I pull into the parking space before grabbing my purse and my carry-on luggage. I’m so excited, I’m almost giddy. I can’t wait. Living in a hotel for a week has been a nightmare. I’ve had to eat takeout all week long, then I had to do homework in the bed, it was just so uncomfortable.

When I slide the key into the door and turn it, hearing the click, a smile comes to my face. A huge-ass smile on my face. Opening the door, two things hit me right away, the smell of fresh paint and then the sound of the alarm beeping. I rush in and turn toward the beeping, putting in the year I was born, expecting it to shut off but it doesn’t. Which makes me panic just a little, okay a lot, as I put in the code again, this time the beeping sounds like it’s getting louder. “Think,” I tell myself, thinking of what the code could be when the phone rings in my hand and I see it’s my grandfather Casey, who we call Pops, because we have my great-grandfather Billy who we call Grandpa.

“Hello,” I answer, putting one hand in my ear so I can hear the voice on the other end.

“Having trouble?” he asks me, chuckling.

“I don’t know the password,” I say, looking at the keypad, seeing the red light blinking.

“It’s twenty twenty-three,” he shares, and I press in the code, “the year you broke my heart and left home.”

I roll my eyes. “Oh, dear God, Pops.” I walk into the apartment. “Laying it on a little thick there, don’t you think?”

“My favorite granddaughter up and left me,” he pouts, and I laugh.

“Sofia got that same line when she moved out,” I remind him. “Trust me, I know, I was in the room.”

“And then you became my favorite. We should be landing in about twenty minutes.” I walk into what is going to be the living room. “And the movers should be there in thirty. Don’t do anything until we get there. We’ll change the code once I get there.”

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