Chapter Nineteen

Maverick

I step into my office and not a second later my father follows me in.

“Maverick, do you want to talk about it?” he asks.

“No,” I snap and drop into my chair, twirling around to look out the window. I was supposed to be making things better. Show her how much I wanted this—us. And now, I’m not sure what I can do to get her back. To get her to trust me again. I’m a smart man, how could I let myself fuck up so badly?

“Son.” Dad takes a seat in one of the chairs around my desk. “Is this job really what you want?”

It used to be. Now, thinking of a life without Beth seems … wrong.

“When I didn’t know that there was more to life than having the perfect career, yeah, it was.” I turn slowly to face him and he’s smiling.

“What?”

“I felt that way once myself. Almost started my own company. Your grandfather hated that I wanted to spend more time with your mother than at work.” He chuckles. “I was ready to leave—do my own thing. All so I could have your mother in my life.”

“Grandfather didn’t like Mom?”

“Oh he did, he loved her like she was his own daughter. And that was why he came to his senses. He knew she was good for me. She made me strong.”

“What does this have to do with me?”

“Simple. The fire I saw in you just a bit ago, that spark you had trying to protect her, it’s rare.”

“She didn’t send those pictures. Someone put them on my desk yesterday morning and threatened both my job and hers if I didn’t end things with her.”

“I believe she didn’t send those pictures either; someone hacked into her email.”

“How? No one else believes her.” I lean back and rub my hands over my face. She doesn’t deserve this.

“I believe her because you believe her. You’re my son. I trust you.”

I snap my head up. “You do?”

“Of course.”

“But I thought you sent me here because you couldn’t.”

“I sent you here hoping you’d learn more. I didn’t say in what area. I moved you into the director position so quickly, I was beginning to think I stole a part of your youth. The part where you really focus on what you want to do. And also because you messed up.” His brow raises, but he’s grinning.

“All I’ve done in the last few months is mess up. I’ve made mistake after mistake.”

“We all make mistakes, Maverick; the important thing is that you learn from them.”

I groan. “Well, I’m sure learning the hard way.”

“Sometimes that’s how it works, son.”

Bart’s voice echoes outside my office, drawing our attention. Sounds like the contract didn’t go well. Sucks for him.

“What happens now?” I ask.

“Now we contact security, review some tapes, and find out who is behind all this.”

That’s a grand idea.

“We lost the contract.” Bart storms into my office. “Said they needed a more organized firm. One with less distractions. Someone who won’t struggle to provide what they are asking for.”

“If Austin hadn’t stolen our presentation, they could have had that,” I tell him straight out. Beth style.

“Bill, I’m sorry, but Maverick can’t continue to blame his mistakes on others at this company. I can’t offer him this job.”

My dad’s hand is up, ready to defend me, but I’m quicker.

“So that means Austin gets the job?”

“He’s clearly the focused one here,” Bart says.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” I stand. “Because hiring him means one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“You’re fucked.”

Then I walk right past him and out of the office. I hear the argument between him and my father as I make my way to the elevator. I’ll have to apologize later for pawning him off on my dad like that.

“It was good to see you, Maverick.” Ann steps around her desk to hug me. “I’m going to miss all the excitement around here.”

“I’m sure you’ll have plenty more here soon,” I say. He fucking hired Austin. What an idiot. “I’ll see you around.”

I press the down arrow and just as the doors open, I hear my name. My dad steps into the elevator with me.

“Dad, I know I should have been focused on work and that I shouldn’t have spoken to Bart that way and that I should be in there fighting for this job, but Beth…” I smile, but my next thought crushes my heart. “I can’t lose her.”

He nods, pressing the lobby button.

“So,” he asks, “what’s your plan?”

“My plan?” I ask.

“To get her back,” he says.

My face must say it all.

“You don’t have a plan? How will you win her back without a plan?”

I shake my head.

“I’m twenty-six years old and my father is still teaching me how to be a man.”

“Makes me feel young,” he says.

We both laugh. And then, I start thinking of a plan.

Beth

The last thing I should be doing right now is driving. Yet here I am, cruising down the streets, barely able to see through my tear-blurred view.

“Naked pictures!” I scream into my silent car.

As if having the first man I love be ashamed to admit there was something between us wasn’t bad enough, let’s just email some nudes out to the staff.

Fuck.

As much as it hurts to know everything I worked toward was just pulled out from underneath me, it hurts more to know that the first time I let someone in, he betrayed me. Twice.

I trusted him.

I’ve never told anyone that I loved them aside from my family and friends, and those cases were rare. Maybe I should have, though. Had I actually let a guy in during high school or college, I could have started with a calmer approach to dating life. I could have had someone break up with me or lie to me or even cheat because they didn’t want me anymore. No, I have to go and max out the heartbreak box and let the man I love use me for his own personal gain. I let him fool me into thinking everything we had was real. Three months, Beth. Really. Three months was all it took to ruin everything I created for myself in the last twenty-five years.

I didn’t have a destination in mind when I got in my car, but when I pull up in front of Kelsey’s home, I know I came to the right place. My closest friends are exactly who I need right now.

I attempt to brush off my tears with my palms, but even without a mirror I know that all I’ve done is make the smudges worse. Any chance of hiding my emotions right now are a lost cause by the time I reach her door. I don’t have time to knock before Kelsey appears on the other side of the door in a hoodie, sweats, and with a messy bun on top of her head as she cradles her newest baby boy, Andrew, in her arms.

“What’s going on?” she asks.

“Auntie Beth!” Clara rushes toward me. Her legs are moving faster than she can control and the image of Phoebe from Friends running through the park comes to mind. Leave it to the cutest little chocolate-headed girl to make me smile when my heart is shattered.

“Whoa, Auntie Beth, you need to fix your ’scara.”

That makes me laugh.

“You don’t like it?” I ask. Baby Boy starts to fuss.

“I’m just going to pass him off to Ethan and I’ll be right back,” Kelsey says as she leaves the room.

Clara is still shaking her head. “Mommy told me that if I don’t know how to use it, I can’t.”

I remember the day Kelsey told her that. We were outside for a barbeque; Clara and her cousin Jake were inside. We’d all thought they were playing with some of her toys when Alexis went inside for a soda. She came back out to say the house was awfully quiet. Kelsey immediately went straight to her room. Turns out it wasn’t the first time Clara got into her makeup, and we learned that day, as both kids stared up at the adults with black streaks all over their small faces, that Clara was no better at putting it on Jake than she was on herself.

“I’d say your mother is probably right.”

I plop myself on the brown leather couch and watch as Clara leans over the armrest and blushes before looking away.

“What?” I ask. That face says she’s up to something.

“Mommy didn’t show me how to use it, but you should ask her.”

I laugh hard at her comment.

“I’ll be sure to do that,” I finally reply.

This time her face is serious.

“What’s wrong?” I ask again.

“Can you ask for me, too?”

Kelsey reappears before I have a chance to answer.

“Mommy, Auntie Beth has something to ask you.”

“Oh, she does, does she?” My friend’s tone is a dead giveaway of how well she knows her daughter. The wink she gives as she sits next to me confirms it.

“Aunt Beth, what is it you want to ask me?”

“Well,” I begin. A small hand rests on my knee and big, brown eyes watch me with urgency. “It’s been brought to my attention that my makeup isn’t done properly. I was wondering if you could show me and Clara how to do it correctly?” I ask.

Kelsey’s mouth forms a firm line.

“I’m sorry. I can’t do that. Only adults wear makeup.”

“But Beth is an adult, Mom; I was just gonna watch!” Clara whines and then storms off. Kelsey and I hold back our giggles until she is out of sight. Then all we hear is the murmur of voices down the hallway as Clara fills her dad in on what her mother just did.

“She’s a daddy’s girl, all the way,” Kelsey says, her smile fading slowly. “Now tell me why you’re here and why my child thinks you need lessons on how to apply your makeup.”

I sigh. I was enjoying the distraction. It was nice to forget about my life, even if it was for only five minutes. If anything, though, at least she was able to make me stop crying.

“I didn’t get the job,” I tell her.

“What?” Her whole body leans back. “How is that even possible?”

I shrug, not knowing where to begin, but somehow, I do. And I don’t stop till she knows the entire story. Even the part where I’ll be leaving for my mom’s as soon as I can. Leaving might not be what I want, but it might be what I need. Those were Kelsey’s words, not mine. I really hope she’s right.