You can’t tell anyone about getting fired.”
It’s the night of the annual faculty holiday party at Ashby. Wearing a red knit dress that my mom lent me a few months ago, I turn away from our bathroom mirror to face Reed, my lip gloss in one hand, my jaw dropped. “Excuse me? First of all, I wasn’t fired. I was reassigned. And second, why the hell not?”
“Because it would jeopardize my promotion if they think we might have to move for your career,” he replies with a serious face.
“That makes no sense. If anyone should be embarrassed, it’s the damn school board for denying a proper education for those students to whom English is a second language. Plus, these are academics, Reed. They’ll understand about budget cutbacks.”
His lips purse together and his eyebrows narrow in deep thought. “That’s a good idea. That’s how we’ll spin it.”
I shake my head. “We don’t have to ‘spin’ anything, for fuck’s sake. It’s not like we’re going to walk in there and announce to everyone, ‘Hey, everyone, my girlfriend just lost her job.’”
Something’s up with him.
I put my gloss down on the counter. He glares at me, his jaw tightly clenched. I reach out to touch his face. “Reed, babe, unclench, okay? What is going on? You know you can talk to me.”
He exhales, shaking his head. “I’m just nervous. I met the new chair of the department today.”
“So what’s he like?”
“It’s a ‘she’ actually. She’s very intimidating. It’s like when you’re around her, you can’t focus on anything else.”
Huh. “I’m sure you were fine. She’s going to be at the party, right?”
“Yeah.” He pulls back on the cuff of his shirt, checking his watch. “Shit. Hurry up. We’re going to be late.”
I watch him rush from the bathroom as if his life depends on it.
Christ. Who’s this woman who’s got my boyfriend’s boxers in a fucking twist?
“Lily!” he shouts from the bottom of the staircase.
I roll my eyes. “Relax! I’m coming!”
I grab my clutch and coat from the bed. When I reach Reed, I gasp at the sight of him holding out both of his hands to me, cradling a long red velour box.
“What’s going on? Is this the reason you wanted me to hurry?”
“Yes…well, one of them anyway. Go on,” he insists.
I take the box from him and gently open it. A necklace of white gold holding a single diamond in its center stares back at me.
I gasp. “Reed, I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”
He comes around me. “Let me put it on you.”
I lift the back of my hair, leaning my head forward as he clasps the necklace around me. He leads me to the mirror by the front door, holding onto my shoulders.
“You look gorgeous.”
My eyes tear up at his compliment. “What made you get this for me?”
He sighs. “I’ve been a douche, and I’m willing to admit it. So let’s go have a good time, okay?”
I nod as he helps me into my coat.
“Thank you,” I tell him again, genuinely touched.
“I have my moments.”
Too few of them lately, but I’ll take it.
Locking the door behind us, I watch him pull the protective tarp off his BMW, coming back around to help me into the car.
When we reach the campus, he takes my hand, keeping it clasped with his as we make our way to the admin building where the party is being held.
A young girl takes our coats at the door and then we’re greeted by the president of the college and chairs of the various departments, with Reed taking ages talking to every one of them.
When he’s drawn into a chat about the budget for the computer science department, I excuse myself, nearly bumping into someone carrying a tray of canapés.
“Oh, I’m so sorry…Señora Rojas?”
Dressed in a waiter’s uniform of a button-down white shirt, black tie, and a black skirt, a short woman with soft brown eyes smiles at the sight of me.
“Si. Hello, Miss Lily. It is so nice to see you. How are you?”
“I’m fine, thank you. It’s lovely to see you. I have to tell you how pleased I am that Esperanza is doing so well in class.”
She beams like the proud mother she is. “Gracias. I’m so happy to hear—”
“Lily.”
Reed’s stern voice interrupts us.
I turn to him. “Reed, this is Mrs. Rojas. Her daughter is in my class, and she’s one of my top students. She won the class spelling bee last week.”
He grabs me by my wrist, allowing a small grin of acknowledgement. “That’s wonderful. You must be very proud. Lily, I need you. Pardon us.”
I look back at Mrs. Rojas, who looks at me like any mother would—her mouth downturned in sadness, her eyes narrowed in concern.
“It was lovely to see you, Señora Rojas,” I manage to get out before Reed pulls me away. I disentangle myself from his grip and head for an empty corner of the room.
“You just embarrassed me in front of one of my class parents,” I tell him through gritted teeth.
“And you were supposed to stay by my side and make a good impression. I wanted to introduce you to some important trustees.”
“Reed, I’m not your damn puppet ready to put on a show whenever you command me. I’m your girlfriend. And Mrs. Rojas is just as important to me.”
“Then act like it—my girlfriend, that is,” he counters. “If I get this promotion, it means you can stop working altogether, especially working with kids who can barely speak English.”
“But that’s exactly the reason why—”
Before I can finish my point, he grabs me by the hand, hauling me back into the party, ready to play the good girlfriend.
I shut my eyes for a second.
What happened to the chivalrous gentleman? The one who less than an hour ago gifted me with a diamond necklace, assisted me with my coat, helped me in and out of the car, held my hand all the way here?
He steers us toward two couples, both sets emitting a haughty sense of entitlement, the kind I feel whenever I’m around Reed’s parents.
“Ah, Reed, you found her,” one of the silver-haired women says.
Reed shifts his hand from mine to encircle my waist, tugging me closer to him. When I glance at him, his face is plastered with the smile I’ve seen a thousand times—the one he wears when he’s trying to impress someone.
“Yes, ma’am. May I introduce my girlfriend, Lily Moore? Lily, these are…”
I instantly forget their names, knowing he’s only doing this for his own career. My anger from his treatment of Mrs. Rojas is still percolating.
I shake everyone’s hands as one of the patrician-looking men addresses me. “So, what do you do?”
It always comes down to that in this type of circle. Who you know, what you do, the balance of your bank account.
“I was a schoolteacher, but—”
“But what?”
A flash of pain grabs my right side as Reed pinches the flesh on my hip.
Reed laughs uncomfortably. “What are you talking about, honey? She still is. The school is just going through a transition right now.”
Eyebrows raise in comprehension, with a round of “I see” emitted from the group.
Puppet on a string. Just play along and you’ll be home soon enough.
“Will you excuse me?”
Reed glares at me.
“I’ll be right back. I just need to freshen up,” I reassure him.
He nods reluctantly as I extricate myself from the group, walking as briskly as I can to the restroom.
I grab the counter, taking deep breaths to calm myself.
“Do you need anything, dear?”
I turn to my left, coming face to face with a grey-haired woman in a matron’s uniform.
“I’m actually feeling a bit light-headed,” I admit to her.
She takes me gently by the elbow and sits me down in a plastic chair near the hand dryer. I lean my head back against the cool of the tiled wall as she hands me a cup of water.
“Here. Take as long as you want.”
I slowly nod. “Thank you.”
I shut my eyes, allowing the cool liquid to relax my heated throat. Once I finish, I throw the empty cup into a trash bin, and slowly rise to my feet.
The matron glances over at me from the counter where she’s wiping up around the sinks. “Better?”
“Yes, much. Thank you again.”
When I return to the party, I search the room for Reed. My eyes finally land on him, and my teeth instantly grit at the sight of him having a conversation with a tall, lithe woman dressed in an emerald green silk dress and silver stilettos, her dark brown hair falling like a silk curtain over her shoulders. One of her hands is on Reed’s shoulder, holding it tightly as she whispers into his ear.
What the…
I hold my head up high, slapping a smile on my face as I approach. The woman pulls back, a smug grin across her face as I reach for his hand. “Reed, honey, I thought I lost you there for a minute. Will you introduce us?”
He clears his throat. “Umm…yeah…I mean yes. Lily, this is Tabitha Cross, the new chair of the computer science department. Dr. Cross, this is Lily Moore, my girlfriend.”
She holds out her hand to me. “A pleasure.”
Shit. Reed was right. No wonder he couldn’t focus on anything else when he was in the room with her. Standing so confidently and self-assured, her spine ramrod straight and shoulders thrown back, she commands attention.
A shiver passes over me when I take her hand, her cold skin meeting my warm palm. “Likewise,” I reply.
The woman and I stare at each other, clearly assessing each other. Her brown almond-shaped eyes roam over me, taking in my appearance.
The hairs on my neck rise against my skin. The intensity of her glare unnerves me, and I wish I knew why. But I can’t help but smile when her eyes land on my neck.
“What a pretty…necklace,” she offers.
I touch it lightly with my fingertips. “Reed gave it to me just before we left for the party.”
“How…lovely,” she replies.
My eyebrows rise in confusion.
What is this woman’s problem?
My stomach begins to churn from unease. I place my hand on Reed’s forearm. “Honey, I’d like to go home now.”
He looks over at Dr. Cross before answering. “Umm, sure. Will you excuse us?”
“Of course. It was nice to meet you. I’ll see you tomorrow, Reed,” she tells him, her eyes narrowing on him before turning on her heel in the direction of the bar.
I tug on his jacket sleeve. “Let’s go get our coats.”
“Yeah,” he replies absently, his eyes focused on Dr. Cross’s back.
I take him by the hand, pressing it to get his attention. Finally he switches back to me, following me to the coat check.
Reed helps me with my coat as we bundle up to face the cold. His gloved hand takes mine when we step outside.
I swallow before asking, “So that’s your new chair?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“I was just wondering. Is she married?”
He guides me around a patch of ice on the pavement. “No. I think she’s divorced, but I’m not sure. What’s with the twenty questions?”
“It’s not twenty. She just seemed very attentive toward you, that’s all.”
“Why wouldn’t she be? She’s the head of my department.”
“I just thought…”
“What?”
I clear my throat.
Just say it.
“It looked like she was flirting with you.”
Suddenly Reed releases my hand. I walk ahead of him but lose my balance on a patch of ice and slip onto the frozen ground.
Pain shoots from my palms up my arms to my shoulders and from my knees up my thighs to my hips.
Reed rushes to me. “Shit! Lily, are you okay?”
I wince from the pain. “Yeah. Just help me up.”
He takes me gently by my elbows as I slowly rise to my feet, guiding me away from the ice.
Then he looks at my neck.
I glance at him suspiciously. “What?”
“Your necklace. It’s still there.”
I gasp in disgust. “It’s not my necklace that got hurt, Reed. It’s my hands and knees, but thank you for your concern.”
He shakes his head at me. “Let’s just go.”
We don’t speak for the entirety of the drive home, and I realize he never replied to my suspicions about Dr. Cross flirting with him.
When we walk through our front door, he suddenly grabs me by the hips.
“Come on, baby…”
His hot breath wafts over my neck from behind. Combined with the spicy scent of his cologne, a wave of nausea overtakes me. His hands roam over my chest, pushing his palms hard into my breasts, squeezing my nipples to the point of pain.
I push his hands off my chest. “No, Reed. Not tonight. Not like this. I don’t feel well.”
“I want it.”
I grab him by the wrists and hold them at my sides. “Well, that makes one of us.”
He pulls away from me and I turn around to face him. His eyes are angry. “Do you realize you turn me down more than we actually do it?”
“I don’t feel well. Maybe tomorrow, okay?”
I walk away without waiting for his reply.
I slowly head up the stairs to the bedroom, carefully removing my clothes as my arms and legs protest in pain. I slip into my bathrobe and slippers, making my way back down to the living room, where Reed has collapsed on the couch, snoring loudly. I pad to the kitchen, filling the kettle and prepping my mug with a chamomile teabag.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Grayson Shaw suddenly enters my mind.
What the…
Why am I thinking about him? He wasn’t at all what I was expecting. He’s definitely not the most pleasant person. Then again, he wasn’t expecting someone to interrupt him when he was working.
However, given the physical appearance of his face, I can certainly understand why he lashed out at me. He’s not used to intruders.
But the rest of him…his overwhelming presence, the way his hulking body took up so much space in his studio, how he loomed over me, his deep, husky voice.
My entire body warms at the thought of it all.
The sound of the kettle whistling snaps me out of my recollection. I turn off the stove and prepare my tea, sitting back down at the table with my hands wrapped around the hot, steaming mug, watching as a light flurry of snow falls outside.
I shut my eyes at the thought of his scars, now realizing why he’s never been seen in public. I don’t know what caused them, and as much as I want to know I don’t think he’ll want any pity or sympathy from me.
But I do know I’ll have to give him something when I go back to work tomorrow—an apology for intruding on his privacy and running away like a frightened animal.
I take a deep breath and steel myself mentally for that moment.
He doesn’t deserve you, honey.
My mother’s words run through my mind on a loop.
I take another sip of my tea as the snow continues to fall.