Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Ineed to figure out how to handle these newfound feelings I’m having for Molly Olive.
Seeing her upset and struggling, hurting even, is making me feel all sorts of empathy for someone I’m supposed to not feel anything for.
I’m not a total monster. I care about select people, namely my family, but I’ve never cared about a woman…
After we left her mother’s room, Molly showed me around the house, pointing out fixtures and shit. I went along with the tour because it was giving her a distraction she was desperate for.
Now, we’re on our way to a hotel Angus booked for her.
“Shit.” Molly picks up her phone. “Siri, call Angus.”
The phone rings out and then a male voice answers, “Mol, how was it?”
“Same,” she says. “I need another two rooms booked for Alfie and Hudson Giuliani.”
“Okay. You sure you want to book Alfie his own room? If I had access to all that, I’d be taking advantage of it all night.” The guy laughs, and I look at Molly with a raised brow.
“He can hear you,” she announces.
“Oh, well, is this going to be a thing now? Alfie listening in on our calls?”
“Yes,” I say at the same time Molly says no.
“Right… I’ll get on to those reservations for you. Two extra or one?”
“Two,” Molly states firmly.
“Okay, got it. Also, check your email when you get a chance. I sent over a… slight hiccup with the… Um, just read the email,” Angus says. “And remember: don’t shoot the messenger.”
“Okay, I’ll be working as soon as I reach the hotel,” Molly tells him. After ending the call, she puts the phone into her bag and leans her head back on the seat.
“You know I have no intention of sleeping in a bed you’re not in tonight,” I tell her.
She opens one eye and looks over at me. “I’m really not great company right now, Alfie.”
“Pfft, you’re the best company,” I say. “Are you working because you need to, or because you’re trying to distract yourself?”
“Alfie, I run a multi-billion dollar business. I always need to work,” she snaps.
“I’m aware of that. But right now, when we get to the hotel, do you need to work or are you using work as a distraction?” I repeat, slower this time.
“I need to get some things done,” she replies.
“Okay.”
“Okay?” Molly opens both eyes to glare at me. “What does that mean? Okay?”
“It means: Okay, I’ll leave you to work. I should go and find Hudson. Make sure he hasn’t already landed himself in trouble.”
“It’s Portland. How much trouble could he possibly get into?” Molly asks.
“Hudson? Anything could happen.” I laugh.
“Are you always looking out for your siblings?”
“It’s my job as the oldest child. I have to,” I tell her. “But family is important. I’ll do anything for them.”
“There’s that heart of yours showing itself again, Alfie,” Molly teases.
I smirk. “Or it’s just the family loyalty that has been drilled into me since birth.”
After checking into the hotel, I leave Molly at the door to her suite with a kiss on her forehead. Something I really like fucking doing. Then I head down to the lobby and walk out onto the street, bringing my phone to my ear after pressing Hudson’s number.
“Yeah?”
“Where are you?”
“I found a bar,” he says.
“I’m not surprised. Send me the location. I’ll meet you there.”
Ten minutes later, I’m walking into the bar. I spot Hudson right away, sitting in a booth towards the back. He peers behind me, and I turn and look as well.
“What are you looking at?”
“Just wondering where your little friend is?” he says.
Sliding into the booth, I swipe the glass from his hand and down the amber contents in one swig. “She went to the hotel to get some work done.”
“So, you met the parents.”
“Fuck off. It’s not like that,” I grunt.
“You sure about that?”
“We’ve got rooms for the night. There’s a decent gym in the hotel. You wanna come with me?” I ask, needing to do something other than sit here and get shit-faced.
“Sure.” He shrugs. “Always love outdoing you in the gym.”
“Pfft, you can try.”
I slide out of the booth and head for the door with Hudson right behind me.
“I’ve had your bag taken to your room.” I hand my brother a key when we reach the hotel. “Room three-five-two.”
“Thanks. See you in the gym, old man,” Hudson says.
Walking up to the counter, I give the woman behind it my flirtiest smile. “Good afternoon…” My eyes drop to her name badge. “…Roxanne. I left my card upstairs. Any chance you can give me a new one?”
“Sure. What’s your room number?” she asks, a blush creeping up her neck.
I tell her Molly’s room number and watch as she taps it into the computer. “My girlfriend’s assistant booked the room. It will be in her name. Molly Olive.”
“Yes, I see it.” The woman then runs a card through a scanner and hands it over. “Here you go.”
“Thanks, Roxanne. You’re a lifesaver.” I smile and head to the elevator. Stopping at the room Molly booked for me, I grab my overnight bag and then head to her room and let myself in.
“I don’t care if your dog, cat, and fish died all in the same damn day, Jerry.
There is no excuse for submitting the wrong damn forms to the council.
Do you have any idea how much this is going to set the project back?
How much this is going to cost?” Molly is walking around the living room, waving her arms in the air as she yells at whomever the hell Jerry is.
“I… I’m sorry, Miss Olive. It was an error,” a guy stammers out.
“An error. You didn’t send an email with a typo in it, Jerry. You’ve set the project back months. Are you going to be in that boardroom to explain to the board why this project just got fucked up the ass?” she yells.
I smirk as I watch her. She’s fucking hot when she’s in CEO mode. Then again, she’s fucking hot all the time. I make myself known and walk into the bedroom, dumping my bag on the bed before I pull out my gym shoes and shorts.
“I’ll fix it, Miss Olive.”
“You have forty-eight hours to rectify the situation, or you can kiss your job goodbye!” I hear Molly growl, actually growl, and then she’s standing in the doorway of the bedroom watching me undress. “What the hell are you doing here?” she hisses out.
My head tilts to the side. She can speak to her staff how ever the fuck she wants, but no way am I setting a tone in this relationship where she gets to speak to me like a piece of scum on the bottom of her shoe.
Then I realize where my mind just went. Relationship. This is not a relationship.
“I’ll be more than happy to tell you what I’m doing when you talk to me like a fucking person and not some errant child you’re scolding,” I reply in a calm, quiet tone.
Kicking my shoes off, I then pull my pants down and put the workout shorts on. Next, I dig through the bag and find a pair of socks and sneakers all while Molly stands in the doorway and stares at me.
When I’m done, I pick up my discarded weapons, put them in my overnight bag, and move the bag to the floor. I grab my phone and the keycard for this room and walk over to where Molly is blocking the door.
“What are you doing here?” she questions, her voice softer all of a sudden.
I smile. “I told you I wasn’t going to sleep without you tonight. I needed to get changed.” I kiss the middle of her forehead and step around her, ready to head out of the suite.
“Whoa, hold up,” she says, and I halt on the spot before spinning around to face her.
“Where on earth are you going dressed like that?” She waves a hand up and down my body.
“The gym. Hudson’s waiting for me.”
“It’s cold out there, Alfie. You should put a shirt on,” she tells me.
I smirk. “I can handle a little chill.”
“You’re really going to just walk through the hotel like that?”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re impossibly hot in clothes, Alfie. Out of them? Well, you’re going to have every woman you pass throwing themselves at you.” She scowls.
“Are you jealous?” I laugh.
“No,” Molly huffs. “Just considering your well-being. All those hungry women are going to eat you alive.”
And then something occurs to me. I walk over, wrap my hand around the back of Molly’s head, lean down, and press my lips to her mouth. When I pull away, I stare into her eyes.
“I haven’t looked at another woman since the day I met you,” I admit.
Molly snorts. “That was two days ago. Not really a huge feat, Alfie,” she says. “And I’m not saying you can’t. You can do whatever you want.”
“My parents were married two days after they met. Two days, two years… It doesn’t matter,” I say. “When you’re finished putting out your company fires, feel free to join us in the gym.”
Instead of walking to the door, I head back over to my bag, grab a shirt, and throw it on. Molly smiles at me over the screen of her laptop as I walk out of the hotel room.