Thirty
~~ ** ~~ ** ~~ ** ~~
“Can you meet me at my apartment after work today?” Lucie asked Cole as she dropped off another shot of whiskey. It’d been a long day, and Cole had stopped by Club Destiny, agreeing to meet Alex when the man had called that afternoon.
“Is everything ok?” He asked, noting the dark circles under Lucie’s pretty brown eyes.
“Not really.” She admitted, turning to go before Cole latched onto her arm, gently stopping her.
“Is it Haley?” He was worried. After they had gone to the doctor a couple of weeks before, Lucie had been a nervous wreck.
The doctor had informed her he definitely needed to remove Haley’s tonsils to ease the constant strep and put tubes in her ears to help with the ear infections. Routine surgeries, he had informed them.
Cole didn’t know much when it came to kids, but he knew something had to be done to help Haley. They had taken the little girl to McDonald’s after the appointment, letting her burn off some energy on the playscape while Cole and Lucie hashed out her next steps. Thankfully Lucie agreed to the surgeries which were scheduled for two weeks from now.
“No. She’s fine.” Lucie told him, easing some of the tension that had been building over the course of the last two days.
“Alright. I’ll stop by.” Cole conceded, knowing Lucie didn’t want to go into detail at the club, and he couldn’t necessarily blame her.
“Thanks.” With that Lucie walked off, leaving Cole with his drink and a ton of worries.
The things he had on his mind weren’t anything out of the norm. At least not for him, but Cole couldn’t seem to get past them. One would think that with as much sex as he was getting, he wouldn’t have a care in the world, but apparently that wasn’t the case. Although he’d spent almost every single night for the past couple of weeks with Sierra and Luke, he couldn’t help but think they had come to the point in this so called arrangement that required them to determine what the next steps were.
The fact that he had told both Sierra and Luke that he loved them, and they hadn’t returned the sentiment bothered him more than he wanted to admit. Even though he had told them both only once, and during the heat of the moment, he wondered if they knew how hard it had been for him to share that much of himself. To not get anything in return left him wanting more. He only wondered whether they wanted the same thing he did.
Thankfully Alex McDermott chose that moment to intrude on his wandering thoughts as he pulled back a chair at the table and sat down with the same grace and style the man did everything else with.
“Thanks for meeting me.” Alex said, turning toward the bar, catching Lucie’s attention.
Alex was a regular at the club, both of them in fact, but no one knew much about him other than he had become more and more irritated over the last few weeks. Cole had an idea as to what was causing that irritation, but it was none of his business, and he and Alex weren’t what he would consider friends, so he wasn’t about to broach the subject.
“No problem. What’s up?” Cole knew this had to be about business because that was the only time Alex ever approached him, and since he needed something to help get his mind off of things better left alone, he was anxiously awaiting the reason for the impromptu meeting.
“I need your help.” Alex admitted, suddenly looking tired.
“Alright.” Cole hesitated.
“I want to hire you.”
Assuming Alex meant as a contractor, he nodded his head, encouraging Alex to continue. The last time he’d worked for Alex had been at the conference in Vegas and based on the feedback he’d received, they had drummed up some business out of the deal. Which was good for Alex and the man had compensated Cole nicely.
“Permanently.” Alex added then paused for Lucie to set the drink on the table. “Thanks.” He told her before turning back to Cole.
“Permanently?” Cole wasn’t looking for anything permanent. That didn’t explain why the idea intrigued him.
“Yes. We’ve just gotten too busy, and I can’t seem to keep up. Even with Dylan onboard and Sam working double to try and fulfill her contract with XTX while helping out with a couple of other big clients we’ve recently taken on, I’m quickly losing my mind. I can’t do everything, and since Dylan has continued to be reclusive, I’m unable to convince him to handle any of the PR work that we need.”
“Why me?”
“Because you know the ins and outs of CISS and you’re good at what you do. So, before you say no, let me tell you what I need you to do.” Alex hurried through the statement, obviously anticipating Cole’s immediate rejection.
For the next half hour Cole listened to Alex’s spiel. The man had obviously given this some serious thought before approaching him. And although Alex was looking to hire Cole as the front man for their public relations work, he didn’t realize how much better he would be at the job if he just handled it himself. But, that didn’t mean Cole wasn’t interested. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he apparently was ready for something more permanent. Something that he could look forward to day in and day out.
That longing had spilled over into his personal as well as his professional life and Cole figured this wasn’t necessarily a bad place to start.
“I’m in.” He said, stunning Alex into complete silence.
After a few tension filled seconds passed, Alex blurted, “You’re in? Just like that?”
“Just like that.”
“Well hell. I thought it would be a harder sell than that. You should’ve seen the hoops I had to jump through to get Sam onboard.”
Cole laughed, remembering the story Logan had shared with him several months back. After some highly escalated HR violations, Alex had come up with a plan to salvage Sam’s job while still allowing XTX to benefit from her employment. In the end, it had all worked out, so obviously Alex was a better salesman than he thought.
“So are you still officing out of XTX?” Cole asked.
“No. With Dylan coming on, he wanted to put a little distance between himself and his grandfather, so we took up residence in a building not too far from them. XTX is still our biggest client, and Xavier is a very demanding man.” Alex smiled.
“Well, just let me know what the next steps are, and I’m game. I don’t have much going on right now, so I just need a week or so to tie up some loose ends.”
Alex downed the rest of his drink in one quick swallow. “I’ll set up a meeting for you, me, Dylan and Sam so we can discuss what our strategy is. Big things are coming for CISS, and if I don’t get ahead of this now, we might have some big problems on our hands.”
The two men shook hands, both standing from their seats. Cole had a couple of things he needed to get done before he stopped by Lucie’s. Once Alex disappeared out the back doors, Cole stopped by the bar, acknowledging Luke as he passed him.
“I’ll see you tonight.” Cole said to Lucie before turning to leave.
“Alright.” She whispered, obviously aware of her audience. With both Luke and Kane looking on, she had every right to be nervous.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
When Susan opened the front door, looking both elegant and highly pissed off, Sierra knew she was not going to enjoy this meeting. Not that she had enjoyed any of their meetings, especially the last one Susan had insisted on. Sierra had to walk away from Luke and Cole that day just so her work could be questioned yet again. Although that day something seemed off about Susan, and if Sierra wasn’t mistaken, the woman was trying to ask about her personal life.
However, being the professional that she was, she’d agreed to meet Susan when she had called that morning. Her inner bitch hadn’t been so excited about the deal, but Sierra had repressed that part of her, gotten ready and high tailed it over to Susan’s house.
“It’s about time.”
Well, how the fuck are you too? Sierra had grown accustomed to Susan’s bitchiness, but she had to bite her tongue repeatedly to keep from telling the woman exactly what she thought of her. Knowing this woman had been with both Luke and Cole had set off something dark and possessive inside of her, making each and every meeting they had nearly unbearable.
Following Susan into the kitchen, not her office like she expected, Sierra began to get a little nervous. Had something gone wrong? Did one of the contractors screw something up?
“Can I get you something to drink?” Susan was ever the hostess, never missing a beat, but Sierra wasn’t going to drag this out any longer than she had to.
“No, I’m good, thank you.” When Susan took a seat at the kitchen table, Sierra stopped abruptly.
“Sit.” Susan stated firmly, followed by a reluctant, “Please.”
Sierra sat.
“We need to talk.”
That’s the one thing, and probably the only thing, they both agreed on. Getting up each morning was beginning to be a difficult chore just knowing she might have to face Susan again. Although they had agreed on a design, and Sierra had subcontracted out the work, Susan still nitpicked over every little detail, often causing the contractor to insist Sierra come over to smooth the waters so to speak. Not that it had ever done any good.
“There’s a rumor going around that has me concerned.” Susan started, glancing down at her hands and then back up at Sierra.
Unsure of where this was going, Sierra remained silent.
“It’s been brought to my attention that you are in a relationship with two men.”
Susan was doing her best to sound disgusted with the notion, but Sierra’s hackles immediately rose. Susan was a member of the club. She had been a willing participant in some sexual exploits that would likely blow Sierra’s mind, and here she was trying to pretend that the idea of being with two men disgusted her. Did Susan not realize Sierra knew who she was? Or at least who Susie Mackendrick was. They apparently were two very different people, housed in the same body.
Deciding that this might just be the blessing she had been hoping for, Sierra opted for the truth. “I am.”
“And you don’t see the problem with that?” Susan asked, clearly startled by Sierra’s honesty.
“I don’t.” Keeping her answers simple was the only way Sierra was going to manage to get through this awkward conversation. She only hoped Susan would fire her and get it over with. Never in her life had she wanted to take the easy way out, but that was before she met this overbearing, impossible to please woman.
For a lawyer, used to arguing her case, Susan faltered more than Sierra expected. Or maybe Sierra’s answers hadn’t been simple enough for her to understand.
“Well.” Exasperation tinged the word, and Susan locked her eyes with Sierra’s. “I’ve had to come to a hard decision after learning this information. I wanted to talk to you first, make sure the rumor was actually true. Now that I know it is, I need to tell you I’m concerned about your employment.”
Thank goodness. Sierra didn’t speak out loud, although she wouldn’t have been more surprised if the words had burst from her chest with pride. “Ok.”
“I think it is in your best interest for you to quit.”
Ok. There was the more surprise.
Being fired was one thing. Quitting was something entirely different. She couldn’t control the actions of others, and if Susan wanted to fire her because she wanted to feign concern over Sierra’s personal life, that was her prerogative. But quitting. That wasn’t in Sierra’s nature.
“I’m not the one with the problem.” Sierra said, shocking herself with the anger seeping into her blood.
“You’re in a relationship with two men, and I can’t subject myself to that sort of association. You should be ashamed of yourself first of all.”
O – K. Now the anger was coursing fast and hot. Did the woman really have the audacity to project her own personal opinion on Sierra’s personal life when it in no way affected her ability to do her job? “Well, I assure you that I am not ashamed.”
“I thought you might say that which is why I had to come up with a second option if you chose to be bullheaded.”
Bullheaded? What the fuck?
“I insist that you quit, or I am going to have to proceed with a civil suit against you for misrepresentation.”
“Excuse me, what?” Sierra was dumbfounded. This woman was actually blackmailing her.
“You heard me. You clearly misrepresented yourself, and in order to protect myself, I am going to file a civil suit. I will make sure you never work in Dallas or any of its surrounding areas ever again.” The full bitch was back, a sneer on Susan’s face told Sierra she wasn’t kidding.
Pushing back her chair, Sierra stood abruptly. She’d heard enough of this. Her anger had reached maximum capacity, and if she wasn’t careful she was going to make this bad situation even worse.
She didn’t speak as she exited the kitchen, walking as calmly as she could manage down the long hallway to the front door. She heard the click of Susan’s heels behind her, and she prayed she could reach the door before the other woman said another word.
“You’re slutty behavior has no place in a professional environment. You should seriously consider making adjustments before you even think about working for anyone else. I’ll make sure this rumor circulates.”
Her blood pressure spiked and a red haze clouded Sierra’s vision. For the last couple of months she had put up with more abuse from this one woman than she had anyone else in her entire life. Turning abruptly, she came face to face, although Susan was quite a bit taller, with the woman. Keeping her hands at her side, not wrapped around Susan’s neck like she wanted, was harder than she imagined.
“I don’t have many regrets in my life, Ms. Toulmin. Or is it Ms. Mackendrick?” Keeping her voice level, Sierra stared back at the woman noting the flash of fear in her eyes. “I definitely don’t regret the actions I take in my personal life. If I want to be in a relationship, that is my choice. Not yours. Who I do that with is also my choice. Not yours. And if I choose to live my life out in the open, instead of hiding behind another name, or the closed doors of a sex club, that’s my choice as well.”
Apparently the comment hit home, and Susan must have realized Sierra knew more than she thought. That didn’t stop Sierra speaking her mind.
“And being the jilted ex-lover is not a good look for you. If you can’t handle rejection then I suggest you keep your snooty ass in the house, and limit who you interact with. I’m not naïve enough to think that you won’t do what you said you would and by all means, go ahead and try. But just remember one thing. When it comes to secrets, I’m not the one who has any.”
With that Sierra turned and walked gracefully out of Susan’s front door, not looking back. She didn’t have to. The woman’s eyes had nearly bugged out of her head, and her audible gasp told Sierra that she had hit her mark.
If Susan thought Sierra was going to sit back and take any sort of threat from the likes of her, she was sadly mistaken. Accepting who she was hadn’t come easily for Sierra, but once she had made that decision, her life had taken a turn. And the only direction she was willing to go from here on out was forward.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Luke had missed Sierra’s call. He’d been too wrapped up in what he had just heard to answer the phone. Was Cole really going to see Lucie tonight? After everything that the three of them had developed over the last couple of weeks, was he really going to flaunt his involvement with another woman? After blatantly lying to Luke’s face and telling him they were nothing more than friends? Right. But he had believed him.
Luke couldn’t imagine the devastation this would have on Sierra. Which was partly the reason he had let her call go to voicemail. He damn sure wasn’t going to be the one to break the news to her, and at the time she had called, he wouldn’t have been able to keep from mouthing off about it. That slow burning rage that he thought he had under control was surfacing once more, this time boiling hot and fiery as hell. The bastard.
He thought about asking Lucie what the hell that was all about, but decided against it. She worked for him. Besides she had been acting really strange around him for a while now, but Luke chalked it up to the fact that she had been caught stealing. They had set up a payment plan, and she was having the money deducted from her payroll, though Luke hadn’t felt good about the idea. When he tried to talk to her about it, she clammed up, insisting that it was her punishment, and the right thing to do.
So here they were. Lucie was paying him back for stealing and apparently Cole was paying him back as well. For what, he didn’t know. And he damn sure didn’t like it. He just wasn’t sure how to go about approaching Cole about it. Part of him wanted to go to Lucie’s and wait for Cole to show up, just so he could beat the shit out of him for hurting Sierra that way.
Oh, who was he kidding? He wanted to beat the shit out of Cole for hurting him that way too.
When his phone rang, Luke grabbed it from his pocket and glanced at the caller id.
Sierra.
He very well couldn’t ignore her. Especially since she had called twice in the last thirty minutes.
“What’s wrong?” He asked immediately when he hit the talk button.
“Can you come over?” Her voice sounded strange, a little shaky.
“Now?” Luke headed to his office, fully intending to leave, regardless of what her answer was.
“Whenever you get a chance.” She told him, sounding very unsure of herself.
“I’ll be there in a few minutes. Are you sure everything’s ok?” He asked, needing her reassurance.
“It will be.”
And what the hell was that supposed to mean? Was there a full moon or something?
Luke was beginning to wonder what the hell was going on. Both Cole and Sierra were acting strange. And here he had been getting comfortable, the one thing he had warned himself not to do. Yes, that likely made him a pessimist, but damn it, if Logan could make a relationship work, Luke was bound and determined that he could to0.
With a renewed sense of vigor, Luke grabbed a small box out of his desk drawer before stopping at the bar to let Kane know he’d be gone for a while. Luke made a mental note to talk to Kane first thing tomorrow, because the man definitely deserved a raise.
The drive to Sierra’s took longer than Luke wanted it to, but the afternoon traffic was a bitch. That was the one thing Luke hated about Dallas. No matter what time of day, or what day it was, traffic sucked. With his irritation level already reaching epic proportions, the added frustration hadn’t helped his mood any. Thankfully he pulled into Sierra’s drive, which helped him relax just a bit. Seeing her tended to do that to him.
Luke might be an irate asshole most of the time, but when it came to Sierra, she was the only person who could soothe his frazzled nerves. Just seeing her was like a salve to what seemed to be a constant ache inside of him. Since the moment he met her, and despite some of his more ignorant reactions, Luke knew that he lived for this woman.
Before he exited the truck, he grabbed the small box he had tossed in the center console and removed the tiny object inside. Slipping it into his pocket, he was overcome with an emotion he wasn’t all that familiar with. Nervousness.
And he had every right to be. He didn’t know what he was walking into, but heaven help him, it was time that he set this woman straight. Not knowing what it was she needed to talk to him about was eating away at him, and he prayed she hadn’t gone back to thinking she was moving back to Nashville. The thought almost leveled him.
When he reached the front porch, he took a calming breath – it didn’t help one bit – and rapped his knuckles against the door. A few seconds later, the door opened, and the most beautiful woman in the world stood before him. That’s when his heart plummeted into his stomach. She had been crying.
“What’s the matter?” He asked, stepping inside and pulling her up against him, not wasting a single second before touching her. When she wrapped her arms around him, pressed her face against his chest and began sobbing, he experienced that same killing rage he’d felt once before. Whoever had made her cry would be sorry.
Instead of pushing her to talk, he held her against him, soaking up the feel of her, running his hand down her spine, through the long, glossy tresses flowing like satin down her back. When her body stopped shaking, he eased back a step, cupping her face in his hands, forcing her to look up at him.
“She wants me to quit.”
Huh?
Leading her to the couch, Luke sat beside her, still holding her close. Who wanted her to quit? Before he could ask the question, Sierra exploded into words and motion, pushing up from her seat and pacing back and forth across the room.
“Susan called me to her house, and when I got there, she proceeded to tell me that I needed to quit.” Sierra kept pacing, not looking at him. “If she was going to fire me, I was going to be ecstatic, but the bitch said I needed to quit. I’m not going to quit. I’m not a quitter.”
Luke hadn’t seen this side of Sierra. She was fiercely adamant, and the use of the B word nearly made him smile. He still wasn’t sure what she was talking about, but he didn’t interrupt.
“She, of all people, wants to tell me that it’s wrong to be in a relationship with two men. But how would she know anyway? The hypocrite. She didn’t give me a choice, telling me that it’s wrong, and I should be embarrassed.” Then she did turn and look at him. “But I’m not embarrassed, Luke. That’s the problem.”
He definitely didn’t see a problem with that.
“I’m happy being who I am and going after what I want. I’ve spent my entire life wondering what was wrong with me. Then she all but tells me that if I ever plan to work in this town again, I needed to quit, or she was going to sue me. Sue. Me. Can you believe that?”
Ok hold up just a minute. All of the pieces clicked into place and Luke prayed that it wasn’t true. “Are you telling me Susie told you that you needed to quit because of me and Cole?”
“Yes.” Sierra said before stopping and tossing her hair back over her shoulder. “She implied that I’m not normal and that I’m an embarrassment for being in a relationship with two men and that if I didn’t quit, she would sue me for misrepresentation. How could she?”
Luke couldn’t sit still any longer. He made his way over to Sierra, standing in her path so that the next time she paced, she came in direct contact with him. He reached out and held her in place, smiling down at the woman. His woman. “What did you tell her?”
“Everything that was on my mind.” Sierra smiled, and Luke’s heart turned over. God he loved this woman.
“Which was?”
“I told her that I wasn’t going to quit. That I wasn’t going to end my relationships because this is my life, damn it, and I can do whatever I choose to do. She doesn’t have any say in the matter.” Taking a deep breath, Sierra closed her eyes, then opened them once more. “Then I told her to remember that I wasn’t the one keeping secrets.”