Chapter 20
Chase
Every muscle in Maryellen’s body went stiff in my arms. Her small gasp against my chest before pulling away echoed in the silence of the cavernous elevator.
This was the moment she had been dreading.
What she wanted to avoid at all costs. The reason she didn’t want to enter a relationship with me in the first place.
And it had happened.
I shifted and put myself between them as if to protect her. From what, I had no idea. But it was true fear coming from her shaking body.
“Hey guys, everything OK?” Gage asked. His eyebrows drew together and his head tilted toward me, as if he thought I’d done something to her. Of course, that would be his first thought. “What’s going on? Are you OK, Maryellen?”
He stepped toward us as the doors of the elevator began to close. Holding them open with his hand allowed Mare and me to exit. I watched Gage move toward her, and she put her hand up, stopping him. There were unshed tears in her wide eyes as she stared, her eyes bouncing between the two of us.
We watched her take off running in the opposite direction of her desk and never look back.
“Chase, what the fuck is going on?” Gage’s voice was deep with anger, obviously making assumptions.
I pressed the button to retrieve the elevator. There was no way I was sticking around to be accused of hurting the woman I…
“Where do you think you’re going?” Gage pushed me by the shoulder, away from the elevator.
I spun around and noticed his clenched fists. The guy was ready to fight me. Over Maryellen. My girlfriend.
I laughed. Out loud.
That didn’t go over well.
The veins in his neck seemed as if they were about to explode as he stared me down.
“You are pushing me, Brother,” he said.
There were distant voices from an office down the hall, and we both turned our heads in that direction.
“In my office, now,” Gage ordered. He stormed away, fully expecting me to obey him.
The thing was, this was for Maryellen. The thought of her having to come back to him, and deal with him on her own, made me angrily follow. Once inside his office, I slammed the door before turning to face my big brother.
“Mind explaining yourself, Chase?”
My mind needed time to think. I needed to stall him. I obviously wanted to blurt out the truth, but that went against everything I knew I should be doing for her.
“What makes you think I have to explain myself to you? You’re not my father, or have you forgotten that?”
With his hands on his hips, glaring at me, he looked just like Dad. Standing there, ready to bark out orders for the day.
“I’m neither stupid nor blind. I’ll tell you what it looks like. It looks like you’ve fucked my assistant, and now you’re breaking her heart. How close am I?”
“Fuck you!” My heart pounded in my chest as I tried to restrain myself. Every muscle tensed as I forced my feet not to move, not to launch myself at him. “Don’t you fucking talk about her like that!”
His face morphed, the slightest bit, at my words. A light bulb.
“Chase.”
The tiny voice came from behind. I hadn’t heard her open the door with all the yelling. Seeing her slumped shoulders and downturned eyes created a lump in my throat, making it hard to breathe.
“Mare,” I said.
“Maryellen,” Gage said at the same time.
My instinct was to go to her, to take her hand, to support her in some way. I couldn’t tell by how she looked if she was ready for that.
She took a few tentative steps forward, her gaze bouncing back and forth between Gage and me. Her feet finally took her to my side. Unsure of how we were going to proceed, I waited.
Maryellen needed to take the lead.
“Maryellen,” Gage said again.
That pissed me off.
“Hey, man,” I said. “Would you give her a sec?”
Once I said that, I felt her fingers thread through mine. My eyes drifted to our connected hands as my heart raced in my chest. The squeeze she proceeded to give me as we stood next to each other was further reassurance this was truly happening.
My brother was just as stunned, with his mouth slightly ajar. I’ll give him credit for how well he handled himself. He stood quietly, allowing his longtime assistant, and friend, the time she needed.
“Gage.” Maryellen’s voice was low but strong. “I want to start off with an apology.”
Stunned by her words, I turned to look at her. Her hand went to my chest in an attempt to calm me.
“Let me finish,” she said to me before continuing. “We have been keeping our relationship from you, and for that I’m sorry.”
Unsure of what she was going to say, I let out the breath I was holding. She told him. Gage now knew we were together. There was nothing keeping us from being a normal couple now.
The relief syphoned through my body, from head to toe.
I felt lighter. My lungs filled with air that I could expel completely for what felt like the first time in months.
Thoughts of us coming to work together after spending the night at my place filtered through my brain.
No more sneaking around while at the office.
I could let my feelings for her be known.
The world would know Maryellen McEntyre was my girlfriend.
She started fidgeting with the button on her blouse.
“While I’m not sorry for having the relationship, I do understand it compromises my job, and if that means you no longer want me to work here, I understand.”
“Wait, what?” I called out. “Mare…”
Gage had been standing by his desk, stoic, not reacting to anything. But when she said that, he launched himself forward, closing the gap between them.
“Maryellen, listen, I won’t lie. This does come as a surprise.” He glanced my way, then back at her. “Just because you have poor taste in men is not a reason to leave your job.” He laughed, hoping it would lighten the mood.
It got her to smile, but her buttons still held her interest.
“I couldn’t imagine this place without you.” Gage stepped even closer. His gaze went to her hands, and he seemed to notice her preoccupation with her blouse as well. Suddenly, he motioned toward me with his hand. “So, is this guy treating you OK?”
He may have meant it as a joke or a distraction, but what he witnessed on the elevator was forefront in his mind. I knew that.
“Of course.” Maryellen knew that as well. “I was having a bad morning, and he was trying to cheer me up before, that’s all you saw.”
Enough already.
“Mare, come with me.” With no regard for my brother whatsoever, I guided her from the office.
I didn’t stop at her desk. We kept going down the hall and around the corner.
She had to hustle in her heels to keep up with my pace.
I found the room I was looking for, a conference room I knew would be empty.
Locking the door once we were inside, I turned to her.
She was shaking as she wrapped her arms around her middle.
“Shit,” she said and plopped into a chair.
I couldn’t sit. The nervous but excited energy coursing through my veins had me pacing the floor.
Finally, I knelt in front of her and put my hands on her lap.
“I’m proud of you, babe. That took courage.”
Her head fell into her hands as she started crying quietly.
“Hey, it’s OK,” I said as I knelt in front of her. While rubbing her back, her shoulders shook as her tears continued. “Shh, shh.”
When she lifted her head, she looked aimlessly around the room.
The tears slid down her cheeks, taking her makeup with them.
She couldn’t focus. Not on me, or anything for that matter.
Her breaths were shallow, and I feared she might hyperventilate.
I knew she suffered from panic attacks and wondered if she was dealing with one.
“Hey,” I said, pulling her into my arms. “It’s OK. I’m here, with you. You’re not alone in this.”
Her arms latched onto me, around my neck, with a strength I didn’t expect. The room became our sanctuary, offering a quietness to digest our new normal. It was a lot to absorb in a short amount of time, considering it went against her plan.
My sudden fear became her deciding she regretted everything she just did, and that was a real possibility. I knew her job meant a lot to her. Working with my brother was important, and regardless of how he handled things, it was up to Maryellen how things progressed from here.
Her body calmed. The shaking of her shoulders lessened, and her arms fell from my neck. She remained curled against my chest, not ready to face anything quite yet.
And I continued to hold her.
“Chase?” Her voice was small.
I kissed the top of her head.
“Yeah?”
“Did Gage actually try to make a joke back there?” she asked.
My laughter echoed in the empty room, and she joined in. We laughed at my brother. At ourselves for being caught. At the ridiculousness of the entire situation.
Tears flowed from both of us, at least now from our hysterics. The yo-yoing of emotions we’d been dealing with was exhausting. I pulled her to the floor with me, unable to stay on my knees any longer. She fell onto my lap, a fit of laughter still escaping her as she did.
“It feels good to laugh instead of cry,” she said.
“It does. Though he’s a dick for saying I’m a poor choice for you.”
We both smiled.
“I’m not going to tell you I told you so, but I knew he’d be OK with us,” I said.
There was an unsure nod from her.
Then I got the text.
Gage: Is she OK
I showed Maryellen my phone for her to see for herself. “He’s not a monster.”
“I know that,” she said. “It’s just that I have a lot of respect for him and didn’t want to be breaking the rules.”
Me: We’ll be back in a sec, she needed a minute
Gage: Of course
“C’mon,” I said, shifting her weight from me. “I told him we’d head back.” She took my outstretched hand, and I pulled her to standing and into my arms. “You a bit better?”
She nodded. “Yes, let’s head back.”
Once out of the room, our haven was left behind and the real world awaited us. As we walked down the hall together, hand in hand, her steps were a tad slower than mine. Her confidence waned as we approached his office, I could feel it as she squeezed my hand tighter.
Once we reached her desk, I handed her a few tissues to clean the streaks of makeup from under her eyes.
“Is it really bad?” she asked. Her hands immediately went to her undereye area, rubbing and wiping. She blotted with the tissue, the black lines almost gone. “Better?”
“Perfect.” And she was perfect, always, in my eyes. Even with her puffy, bloodshot eyes, she was gorgeous.
We walked into my brother’s office together, as a team. A duo.
A couple.
He looked up from his computer as we entered, and his eyes went straight to our clasped hands. Mare noticed and tried to let go, but I wouldn’t let her. We continued into the office, to the sitting area, and sat on the couch next to each other.
Once Gage joined us, he didn’t sit but remained standing.
“Chase, do you mind if Maryellen and I have a talk?” His face was unreadable as he first glanced at me, then his assistant. He didn’t appear angry. “Alone?”
“Uh…” I started to object, but Maryellen touched my leg.
“Of course he wouldn’t mind,” she said.
As I waited for them to finish their chat, I sat at her desk.
My brain went to all kinds of places while they were in there together.
Without me. He could be trying to convince her I’m no good for her.
Or he could be reading her the bylaws of the company and how it is against the rules for us to be together.
Maybe he was telling her about all the girls I’ve been with in the past few months to discourage her from trying this with me.
But that couldn’t be, I don’t think he knew.
Funny how the only thoughts my brain allowed me to have were negative ones. Whenever I tried to think of him possibly in there discussing our attempt to make this work, my brain hijacked me and took over.
I heard them approaching the door, laughter between them as the door opened. As a form of defiance, since I was an immature brat, I remained sitting at her desk.
Seeing her smile when she emerged with him allowed me to let go of a breath I didn’t realize I'd been holding. I spun the chair around as they approached me, afraid they’d see the look in my eyes.
“Is she finally released?” I walked around the desk, and my eyes connected with my brother’s to gauge his mood.
“Yeah.” He smiled at me, then Maryellen.
She was happy, and that could only be good for us.
“She’ll fill you in on what we talked about. I suggested you guys take off for the rest of the day, this has probably been…hard.”
The urges were strong. I had so many of them. I wanted to hug and kiss her. To hug my brother, believe it or not.
To cry.
But I held it together.
She came to my side, and we shared a grin before her arms wrapped around my torso, something I never thought she’d be comfortable doing at the office.
The fact that my brother, Mr. All Business, was telling us to take the afternoon off was insane.
He was full of surprises. We were halfway down the hall when he called out to me.
“Oh, and Chase,” Gage said. “She told me about Iggy’s.”
I froze.
My face fell and Mare noticed. She tried to hide the horror that filled her eyes but couldn’t.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
I gripped her hand and turned toward my brother. As I did, the smile he gave me had me blinking to make sure I was seeing things clearly.
“That’s exciting news, Brother. Were you going to say anything? I’m gonna check with Harper and see if we can make it.”
He gave us both a wave and disappeared into his office.
My double take at the spot he once stood didn’t go unnoticed by Maryellen. She pulled on my hand, anxious to get going. As was I.
Once in the elevator, the pain in my chest lifted slightly. Maryellen leaned over to get my attention.
“I’m sorry, but the conversation went so well, and it just happened. He was so happy for you when I told him. His face lit up, Chase. He really is happy for you.”
“It’s fine, it will be fine.”
I had to keep saying that in my head to convince myself.