Chapter 13

Friday morning, Naomi had had enough. Reid had been terse with his texts and ignored her emails. She had no idea what she’d done to annoy him…and immediately stopped that way of thinking. Why did she have to be the one to reach out to him? He knew her number. Though they were friends, it seemed Reid had done the responsible thing and distanced himself from her personally. She should be grateful one of them had sense.

Instead, she missed him.

“Naomi, your sister is on line two,” Liz called from the main office, eschewing their intercom system in lieu of going old school with a yell.

“Got it,” Naomi yelled back, glad for Liz’s sense of humor.

Without her work, Naomi sometimes wondered how she’d function. Everything revolved around her job. This week, she’d picked up another client and finally had a meeting with Jon from Jennings Tech. It had been an exciting look at what she might be doing in the future. Except that while discussing working alongside Jennings’s PR people, she might also have to work with Tanner again, something she’d done her best not to contemplate.

Reid and Tanner had so much in common yet couldn’t be more different. Both handsome, confident, and talented. In bed, they’d both been about pleasing her. But her chemistry with Reid was off the charts. Just thinking about him got her aroused. God, such a talented—

Stop it! She hated that she had to constantly tell herself to stop thinking about her client, Reid, every five seconds.

“Still on line two,” Liz yelled again.

“God hates me!”

Liz chuckled.

Naomi bit the bullet and picked up the phone. “Hello, Harley?”

“You are impossible to reach.” On purpose. “So did you get the memo that we had the wrong dates for Ben’s award ceremony? It’s not the thirty-first. It’s next Thursday, the twenty-third.”

“Okay.” Would that mean her family would stay for less time? “Are you guys still flying in?”

“I don’t know. Shoot. I have to go. We have a doctor’s appointment today. We’re finding out what we’re having! I’m so excited. Love you. See you soon.” Harley hung up, and Naomi did her best to restructure her calendar.

After conferring with Liz and moving meetings around, she glanced at her cell phone again. She checked her emails too. Still nothing from Reid.

“Screw this.” She picked up her landline to dial Reid’s office and ended up getting connected to someone else.

“Tanner Ryan’s on line one,” Liz yelled a little too late.

“Hello, Naomi?” Tanner said.

She closed her eyes and counted to ten in her head. “Yes, hello, Tanner. What can I do for you?”

“I’d like to talk.”

“Go ahead.”

“In person.”

Not on your life, buddy. I’m busy. “I’m sorry, Tanner, but I—”

He knocked on her door, his cell phone at his ear. “You can spare a few minutes for an old friend, can’t you?”

Shit.

She sighed. “Come on in. I can give you…” She checked her calendar. “Thirty minutes.”

He smiled. “You’re busy, as I knew you’d be. You’re a star. No pun intended.”

She didn’t smile.

He sobered and took a seat across from her. “We need to clear the air.”

“It’s been cleared already.”

“No, it hasn’t.” He shoved a hand through his thick blond hair, and she suddenly preferred it shorter and darker. Like Reid’s. “I apologized. You didn’t forgive me, and I can’t blame you for it.”

Liz wavered by the door, her gaze wide on Tanner. “Um, sorry, but Mr. Griffith is here to talk to you about his campaign?” She kept looking from Tanner to Naomi and bit her lip.

Naomi wanted to laugh hysterically. “Mr. Griffith, oh, right.”

“I know he was scheduled for later, but he had something come up and needs to see you sooner. I can move your ten thirty so you can talk to him once Mr. Ryan’s gone.” Scheduled later? Reid hadn’t been answering her calls. Now, apparently, he wanted to talk to her.

Naomi had confided in Liz how much she wanted to talk to Reid. Liz, bless her, didn’t judge Naomi for lusting after the guy. Nor did she fault Naomi for liking him.

“Yes, do that.” Naomi cleared her throat to stem her jumpiness at seeing Reid again. “Thanks, Liz. Tell him I’ll see him then.”

Liz nodded and, after Tanner glanced back at Naomi, mouthed, “Oh, wow, two men,” and gave her a thumbs-up. She shut the door with a quiet snick.

Naomi did her best to keep a nervous grin off her face. “Now, Tanner. Say what you need to say.”

He kicked back and crossed an ankle over one knee. In a suit and tie, he still looked the epitome of the handsome, white-collar professional. Even though she knew him to be much less polished all the time. “I needed to say I’m sorry. I did that. But I wanted to explain. I was a jerk and an idiot.”

“You said something to that effect the last time we talked.” But she liked hearing it again.

He groaned. “It’s all been shit without you. The business is good, but it’s not fun anymore. Our people have great ideas, but they lack that sizzle you had. That flair for our clients’ needs.”

Hmm. He didn’t seem to be concerned with losing her as a girlfriend so much as he’d lost her talent at work.

He shifted his foot to the floor and leaned closer, a familiar spark in his eyes. “We made a great team. I miss having you beside me.” He sighed. “God, I miss you, Naomi.”

She blinked. “Seriously? After a year and a half. After gutting my professional reputation and—”

“Whoa. I never did that. Everyone assumed you’d left because you wanted to. Not because I made you.”

“Which you did,” she said between her teeth. “So what Beth told me on my way out was crap? That everyone knew I’d slept with the boss and been fired for being a slut?” Not that she’d believed Beth, the pushy secretary who’d always had a thing for Tanner. But that some of her colleagues might think that had bothered her.

“No way. Beth always did love to spread rumors. She was fired, by the way.”

“Before or after you slept with her?” A shot in the dark…that played out.

He flushed. “I told you I was wrong. I should never have allowed business and my personal life to intersect. I don’t do that anymore.”

Didn’t he? “Good for you.” She had to say it. “I worked my tail off getting this business together. And to think I’d imagined being a partner at PP&R one day.”

“You still could be,” he insisted. “You and me, together again. It would be amazing.”

“Until I land a client instead of you, or they ask me to take on their business and you can’t stand the thought of losing out to your ex-girlfriend. I’m sorry, Tanner. I just can’t do that again.”

“Not even if I asked you to come back to me in all ways? You know, us getting back together as more than just girlfriend and boyfriend, as more than colleagues.” He had a funny look in his eyes. “Naomi, I loved you.”

“I loved you too.” Which had been why his betrayal had stung so badly. “But that’s in the past.”

“It’s not.”

She hadn’t thought he’d go so low to win her back. Flattering, sure, but a little creepy too. “Tanner, enough. I happen to know you’re dating someone right now. What would she think about your confession?”

“She’s a sweet woman.” He kept staring at her. “But she’s not you.”

Remembrances of the good times they’d shared, of the way they could talk about work and laugh together, filtered past the bitterness, the hurt. “We did have some fun together.”

The hope on his face felt…wrong.

“Tanner, no. I’m sorry. I’m not coming back to work for you. I might actually end up working with you if this Jennings deal pans out.”

“Maybe.” He sat back and shuttered his expression. “Jon seems to like what PP&R has to offer. I’m pretty sure he’s going to hire us.”

“Oh?”

“But if he did, and you also came on board, you’d have to work with us—with me, Naomi. I’m the lead on this account. It’s going to be huge.”

“If you get it.”

“When I get it.”

She didn’t doubt he could pull it off. But she had an ace up her sleeve, and he was sitting outside in her waiting room. A back door into Chris Jennings’s good graces.

“Best of luck to you. I’ve learned my lesson, Tanner. I might be able to work with, not for you. But that’s all it’ll be. Work.”

He shrugged. “I’m not giving up on you yet.” He forced a smile, and she felt a moment of sadness for what might have been. Might still be, some small part of her forced her to consider. “In any case, thanks for seeing me. I’ll talk to you again soon. Bye, Naomi.”

She stood when he did. “Goodbye.”

She watched him leave, not sure how to feel. Triumphant that he’d come crawling back to her? Flattered he’d said all the right things? Suspicious he didn’t mean a word of it? But why shouldn’t he? Naomi was beautiful, smart, amazing at her job. He should want her back.

If only he’d said those words even six months ago. But something in her had changed. She no longer needed validation from Tanner.

No, she didn’t.

Yet the feeling she had decisions to make lingered.

Reid filled her doorway, and all thoughts about Tanner fled her mind.

“Ah, Liz said you could fit me in?” He looked haggard, as if he’d walked under the burden of something heavy.

“Sure. Come on in.” She smiled. “Would you like a coffee?”

“Liz already filled me up.” He held up a cup and took his seat. “Sorry I’ve been slow getting back to you this week. We’ve been slammed.”

“I know the feeling.” They discussed a few updates she’d had for him, and he mentioned what had gone on the past week. A lot of moving parts in his moving company.

Yet something more had happened. She could sense it. Should she ask? Oh, to hell with it. “Reid, are you okay? You look more stressed than usual.”

He gave a short laugh. “Besides my brother wigging out, hiring the rest of our wacky crew, and my mother in the hospital, I’m great.” He gulped more coffee.

She moved around her desk to sit next to him. “Oh, Reid. What happened?”

His gaze had a faraway look, and he wasn’t acting like his usual self. “I went to visit a few nights ago. Cash and I usually see her once a month. She doesn’t like too many visitors, but she allows us that monthly time,” he said, his tone bitter. “When we spoke Saturday, she seemed…off. So I went back to check and found out she’d had a stroke. She’s in and out of consciousness. They don’t expect her to recover.”

“I’m so sorry.” She took his hand in hers and squeezed, settling the connection on her lap. “Is there anything I can do?”

He smiled, and the sweetness in his expression brought tears to her eyes. Sure, her family drove her crazy, but she couldn’t imagine losing any of them. Reid not only had a tumultuous past with his mother and father, but his dad had died years ago. And now he was close to losing his mom.

“Nah. But knowing you want to help makes me feel better. Thanks, Naomi.”

She leaned forward and kissed him on the lips, uncaring of her open door, being at work, or any of her preconceived rules about “clients.”

“I know you’ve got a lot on your plate, but can I interest you in dinner tonight? I make a mean baked chicken.”

He studied their clasped hands, then slowly raised his gaze to her face. “You know, I think I’d like that.” He gently withdrew his hand from hers, set the coffee cup on her desk, then stood. “I’d better get back. I just wanted to let you know I wasn’t ignoring you on purpose.” He stared at her, brooding. “I wanted to see you.”

Such a simple statement. Yet it said so much. “I missed you too” threatened to slip out and might have if Liz hadn’t popped her head in the door.

“I’m so sorry to interrupt, but Devlin Sanderson is waiting for you, and we already moved his Skype appointment once.”

“I’d better let you go.” Reid’s gaze traveled over her face like a lover’s caress. “I’ll talk to you later. Text me.”

“I will. Take care, Reid.” So much she wanted to say but didn’t.

Feeling for him, she sat to take Sanderson’s call, doing her best to focus on her client and not the man who kept stealing his way into her thoughts and heart, no matter how much she tried to keep him out.

* * *

Later that night, Cash waited in their mother’s hospital room. He and Reid had been taking turns visiting. Cash still couldn’t believe she was leaving them. He hated that he cared. Angela—Mom—hadn’t been there for him for way too long. Yet one slip of affection, one smile from the woman, and he turned into that little boy constantly craving her attention.

“I would hate you if I could,” he muttered, staring at her frail form.

She’d always seemed like a fairy, caught between reality and the fiction she lived in. It still amazed him his father had gotten her pregnant twice. Angela must have freaked the fuck out delivering his big ass. He grinned, but there wasn’t much humor in it.

Reid was younger, so he didn’t remember it as well as Cash did. But Cash could recall, to the day, time, and place, the moment he’d lost his mother for good. The first seven years of his life had been blessed. He had a younger brother who idolized him, a mother who loved the snot out of him, and a father who thought he could do no wrong.

And then, on Valentine’s Day, after coming home from school with a special card made just for his mother, he’d found her crying while staring at a photograph of herself and his father. Her eye had looked purple, as if she’d taken a beating. His dad hadn’t been home, and since Charles had never before been abusive, Cash had no reason to think his father might have done the damage.

He could still see himself racing to her side, only to have her look at him and cry even harder. She’d called him her All-In. Her little man. And then the joy had leeched out of her face, and she’d gone to sleep.

Reid had been scared, so Cash had taken care of him, waiting for their father to return. But when Charles came back that night, he’d been cold. So cruel to Cash, blaming him for everything and anything, though nothing made sense. But Reid he’d tucked into bed, keeping the young boy away from his “tainted shithead of a brother.”

To this day, Cash had no idea what he’d done to deserve such wrath. Though the old man rarely smacked him, the verbal abuse had been crushing for years. Was it any wonder he’d left home as soon as he’d been able? But he’d always been able to count on Reid. Still the younger brother who idolized him, even now.

Or did he?

Cash frowned, wondering when Reid would say he’d had enough and call it quits. The moving business would never be a huge moneymaker, and they all knew Reid could be earning big bucks working some desk job. His brother had smarts and charm and knew how to talk to people. Not like Cash, who was only good for picking up shit or shooting it.

Regret that his time had been cut short in the Marines still bothered him. And that got him to thinking about Mariah again…

He stared at his mother, realizing he should have taken his cues about relationships from her. She hadn’t loved him. Neither had his father. So what the hell had made Cash think Mariah might?

He felt stupid for having sniffed around Jordan at all. Like all the others, she saw the real him after spending some time with him. And Reid wondered why Cash preferred one-night stands to relationships. One night, some pleasure, then he was gone. He wouldn’t give anyone a chance to get a chance to know and reject him.

“Cash, Reid…” Angela Griffith groaned and blinked open watery eyes.

“Mom?” Cash hurried to her side, leaning over her.

She reached out a weak hand to cup his cheek. “All-In. All-In…” Her hand slid away.

His eyes burned. Hell. She was really gonna die.

“My big boy. I love you, baby.”

“I love you too, Mom,” Cash admitted, ignoring the tears running down his cheeks.

“So sorry I didn’t wait. Loved you so much.”

“It’s okay, Mom. You go if you need to.” He’d had buddies leave this world, knew the pain of holding on to friends when they did nothing but suffer. “Time to move on, Angela Griffith.” He stroked her cheek.

She smiled and sighed. Then she looked right at him. He couldn’t have said why, but he knew she saw him and not a memory or fantasy. “You have your father’s eyes. Oh, how I loved him.”

He watched her eyes close and let his hand slip from her cheek.

“Time for me to go back to sleep.” She drifted, her breathing slow but steady.

But what she’d said bothered him more than he could say.

Charles Griffith had gray eyes, like Reid. Cash’s were green.

Not like he hadn’t imagined being some other man’s bastard for years. But he and Reid looked too much alike, and he had his father’s height and brawn. Plus, his father had never mentioned another man. And God knew Charles had hated Cash’s guts. No way his father wouldn’t have rubbed that in if Cash had been a bastard.

So what did Angela mean?

He settled in to watch her while the subtle beeps let him know she lived.

* * *

Reid had left his mother to Cash and took the evening for himself. Cash had asked for some time alone with her, and fuck knew, Reid needed the break.

The week had been seriously from hell. Between work, getting to know the new guys better, and ramping up promotion, he felt ready to burst. Adding in his dying mother didn’t make much of a dent in his frazzled brain.

He’d been numb since learning she had little time left. Reid didn’t know why it bothered him so much. He’d pretty much given up on both his parents in high school. His entire life, he’d strived to be the best. What had it gotten him? Nothing but vague smiles from his mother and never-ending pressure from his father to do better.

At first, Reid thought he could sway his father into behaving the way he used to. Reid would excel; Dad would be happy and welcome Cash back into his loving arms. Instead, his father constantly used Reid’s accomplishments to belittle Cash even more.

So Cash started failing classes. He dropped off the football team. Stopped caring, barely came home.

Reid worked extra hard, trying to keep the family together. With him around, Mom and Dad at least pretended they had someone to care about. Cash came and went, but Reid always showed his brother he loved him.

Not that Cash believed himself worthy of that love.

Maybe now, with their mother finally passing on, Cash could let go of past hurts and open himself up. Maybe Reid could relax, no longer having to take care of the fucking world.

He parked his car in front of Naomi’s house and closed his eyes. So tired, so lost. He didn’t understand how Angela could still make him feel small and worthless. Such power she held over him, even after so many years apart.

He knew Cash felt the same. Reid wondered if he ought to spend time with his brother at their mother’s bedside, in solidarity.

He mentally shook himself. Tonight, he needed Naomi.

Just the sight of her smile today made the world a brighter place. Corny as hell but true. His heart raced when around her. His senses seemed more acute. And now, as he left the car and walked up to her home, he felt himself beginning to smile for no reason.

She opened the door just as he knocked, and the scent of baked chicken and spice hit him hard.

She stared at him. “Is that your stomach I hear rumbling?”

He nodded.

Naomi laughed and tugged him inside. She took the bottle of wine he handed her and put it on the side table. Then she took a good look at him.

“Come here.”

She pulled him to her, and as he eased into her surprisingly strong grip, he felt himself relaxing for the first time in days. He let out a long sigh, content to remain in her arms forever.

Stroking his hair and whispering that everything would be all right, she had him believing in something other than grief. He inhaled the fragrance at the crook of her neck.

“You always smell good.”

She laughed, the vibration moving through her breasts pressed up firmly against his chest. “You sure that’s not the chicken?”

His body turned rock-hard in a heartbeat. He knew she could feel it, and as they parted, he noticed her flushed cheeks. “Nope. It’s all you.”

“Come on, handsome. Let’s feed you.”

He took the hand she offered and let her lead him to the table set with a tablecloth and candles. Shoot. He should have brought flowers.

“Naomi.” He stopped her before she could pull away. Then he leaned close, staring into her ocean-blue eyes, and gave her a tender kiss. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She kissed him back.

Then he ate the best damn chicken he’d ever had in his entire life.