Dammit! I couldn’t believe Talia walked out without giving me a chance to explain that as bad as it looked, it wasn’t what she thought it was. It looked damn bad as I was sure Scarlett had meant it to for whoever had entered my office, because I hadn’t been expecting Talia specifically. It just pissed me off that she didn’t want to even hear my side of things and more than that, it cemented my idea that relationships were utter shit.

“It’s not too late to change your mind,” Scarlett purred, brushing her fingertips along the cleavage she insisted on showing off every fucking day.

I scoffed at that. “I don’t think so. Tomorrow you start in the accounting department and if I see you on this floor for any reason, you’re fired.” I’d had enough with her subtle flirting and innuendo but I ignored it because I wasn’t Blake. Now I see that, once again, big brother was right.

Scarlett pushed her chest and ass out, pouting in that way that women think is sexy but really fucking isn’t. “Unless someone tells.”

Ah, the threat. “Not very original, Scarlett. Because I was trying to be nice since you were a halfway decent assistant but now, you are fired.” I walked over to my desk and pressed the extension for HR. This was exactly why I didn’t fuck my assistants. Women were mercenary creatures who would seek revenge in the most cutthroat way imaginable.

“Fire me and you’ll find yourself in the middle of a sexual harassment lawsuit,” she threatened outright this time.

“You know that is an excellent idea. I’ll have my lawyers file a lawsuit against you immediately and Exhibit A against you will be the video recordings I started the moment you walked into my office. Uninvited.” Just because the world thought I was nothing more than a rich playboy with a head for numbers, didn’t make it true.

The year-round tan she maintained couldn’t hide the way her skin turned white at my words. She sucked in a breath. “That’s illegal.”

“Not when you’re not where you’re supposed to be. My office is off-limits unless you get explicit instructions to enter. You did not have it.” I gave her a satisfied smile that matched the one she couldn’t help but flash at Talia, making everything worse.

Roberta entered looking harried in that way that all HR Directors do, flashing a nervous smile at me and then Scarlett. She took a seat, scribbling as I gave her a detailed account of what happened. “Sir?”

“You heard right, Roberta. She’s to be fired effective immediately.” Roberta opened her mouth to ask a question just as my phone buzzed on the desk. “One second. What’s up, Blake?”

“Poppy’s in labor.” He sounded confused and I can only imagine why. Talia. She knew and left without telling me.

“I’m on my way,” I told him and ended the call. “Blake’s fiancée is in labor, Roberta. If you have any questions give me a call and start collecting resumes for a new assistant.” I fumed all the way down the elevator and to my car, cursing Talia as I made my way to the hospital and up to the maternity ward waiting room. I couldn’t believe it. That call must have been Blake and she’d looked right at me and hadn’t said a damn thing.

Everyone was in the waiting room, including Blake. Lacey and Walker sat together and Maple was next to Blake offering words of comfort. “Where’s Talia? She was in my office when you called.”

Both Maple and Blake wore matching expressions of shock but neither responded to my outburst. “She’s Poppy’s birth coach,” Blake said looking a bit dazed. “She was doing a lot of screaming. And swearing.”

“Well I hear childbirth hurts a bit, brother.” I didn’t need to be a sullen bastard right now, not when this was Blake’s time to fall apart and make unreasonable demands. “So what can I do, buy cigars? Diapers? Remind you of what she’s going through in there.”

“I did that already,” Maple offered with a mischievous smile.

“You can tell me what’s up with you and Talia.”

Dammit, I had to open my big mouth, didn’t I? “Who knows. She walked in on something that looked fucked up but it wasn’t at all what it was. She didn’t give me a chance to explain, just started bitching because I forgot to do the tux fittings. And then you called and she didn’t say a fucking word. Sorry Maple. She just looked at me all disgusted and walked out.” Both hands raked through my hair. “She was going to let me miss out on the birth of my niece or nephew because she’s angry.”

“Blake has enough to worry about.” Maple stood just as Fred returned with a cardboard holder full of coffee cups. “You come with me and Fred is going to tell Blake all about the day his wife gave birth to their first child.”

“You got it sweetheart.” The old man smiled at her, absolutely smitten, and kissed her cheek before handing cups out.

Maple waited until we were outside in the small memorial area of the hospital that was filled with benches and flowers before she spoke. “Let me get this right, her best friend who’s more like a sister to her is in labor and she should have waited for a man who doesn’t want commitment from her or anyone else, to explain why he was fucking his secretary?” She shook her head while I was still trying to come to grips with hearing her say ‘fucking’. “So cliché, by the way.”

“I didn’t fuck her. I wasn’t fucking her because I don’t screw my assistants.”

“But you never shut her down, am I right?” I nodded and she shook her head. “Well that’s just stupid, son.”

I laughed and leaned back in the bench, crossing my legs at the ankle. “Don’t hold back, Maple.”

“Why should I? You might not have been banging that secretary but you don’t want anything with Talia, so why are you so bent out of shape? Why not just call it good, right now?”

That was a good damn question, one I’d refused to even try to answer when it came to Talia. “Maybe it’s because we’ll be dealing with each other from now until eternity and it would be nice of things weren’t awkward as hell.”

“Maybe? Don’t bullshit a bullshitter, kid. You like her and you’re runnin’ scared. Another thing you and Talia have in common, actually.”

I frowned at that. “Talia doesn’t do scared. Or vulnerable.”

“Wrong. They just happen so infrequently it just seems that way but I’ve known Talia since she was a girl. She’s as much mine as Poppy is and I know her like it. She hasn’t said so, but I know the look of someone who’s about to do a runner.”

Run? “Where?”

Maple shrugged and looked up at the sky. “Who knows? The world is a big place. I’m not telling you this to make you feel bad, Luke. You’re a good boy, anyone who knows you can see that.”

“Except Talia,” I snorted.

“Wrong again. She told Poppy as much when she was warning her off you. Said you were good underneath all this,” she motioned to me from head to toe. “She was right.”

“So if you’re not trying to make me feel bad, why tell me she’s going to leave?” Probably to scare the shit out of me because that’s what my racing heart felt. Talia couldn’t leave. We weren’t dating and we never would be, but that didn’t mean I was ready to be done with her. I wasn’t.

“So that you can feel better about how things played out between you knowing she’ll be out of your hair soon. I’d say six months, maybe less.” With that she stood and waited for me to gather my thoughts and escort her back inside.

How in the hell I was suppose to gather anything when all I could think about was not seeing Talia again, I had no idea. But I couldn’t keep Maple waiting forever. “It doesn’t make me feel better, but I appreciate you trying Maple.” I kissed her cheek. “Now let’s go great-grandma.”

“Bite your tongue, young man. Don’t think I won’t hurt you just because you love my other girl.” The old woman howled with laughter when I nearly tripped over my feet on the way back inside.

“I could’ve taken you down with me, you know that right?”

She smiled and I realized in that moment how much I enjoyed Maple’s company. More family was definitely not a bad thing. “I do, but I got a loving man at home to nurse me back to health. Do you?”

Damn, burned again by the old lady. “Can I call you Grandma?”

“You can call me that when you put a ring on Talia’s finger.”

Luke: 0. Maple: 3.