Chapter 24
twenty-four
. . .
Maddox
When the delivery arrived at her new place, her brothers eyed the furniture and then smirked at me. All three of them were there. Her parents had been there. Her sister was there. Hugh’s fiancée was there.
They all came out to see her put her clothes in her closet.
The only one missing was little Gracie, who was on some sort of play date, whatever the hell that meant.
Georgia had a few things that would go on the desk that I’d also lied and said that I had.
I’d ordered everything from a furniture store in the city after she’d taken me over to see her new place, and I’d then had to hire movers to bring it all here and pretend that it was coming from a storage locker and not directly from a store.
Because the girl was proud and wanted to prove she could do things on her own.
But the truth was, she already had.
She’d been far more than an assistant to me at this point, and not because I was fucking her, but because she’d worked her ass off.
I was counting this as a bonus that she’d more than earned from her diligent work ethic.
Hugh, Cage, and Finn stood outside with me, waiting for the furniture to arrive, because they thought they’d have to help move it in.
I’d been surrounded by the Reynolds family all day, and I’d repeated my bullshit excuse that I’d just been in the neighborhood and wanted to offer help to my assistant on her move.
Her brothers knew there was something going on between us. She’d been staying at my place for a week. I didn’t think that her parents knew what was going on, so they’d been overly grateful that I was such a hands-on boss.
Their words, not mine.
But I was a hands-on boss, wasn’t I?
Hell, I’d had my hands all over her just a few hours ago. Tomorrow, we were heading back to work, so this was our last night doing our so-called fling. And the whole thing seemed crazy now. I’d made up all these damn rules, and now I had no intention of following them.
“Hmmm… are we supposed to believe that this stuff is used?” Hugh smirked as he clapped me on the shoulder.
The two guys that had just arrived started unloading, and I leaned close to them. “You made sure all the tags and wrapping was off of everything already, right?”
“Yep. And we threw away all the evidence like you asked,” one of the smart-asses said, and all three of Georgia’s brothers laughed.
“It’s not evidence. It’s trash.” I shook my head. More laughter, as I was obviously completely caught at this point. We watched as they started pulling everything out of the truck. There was a couch, coffee table, desk, bed, dresser, and dining table and chairs.
Georgia was inside the house with Lila and Brinkley unloading some dishes and décor that she’d brought from her apartment in the city, which had apparently come furnished. Her parents had gone to the market to load her up with groceries.
“Pretty slick, dude. Is this part of the employee benefits package?” Cage said, and he barked out a laugh.
“She has gone above and beyond at work. She’s far more than an assistant, so it’s more of a bonus.”
“Ignore him. He’s still pissed because he got woken up in the middle of the night because Mrs. Lamprose thought her turtle was dying,” Finn said before covering his mouth to hide his laughter.
“The damn thing had the hiccups. These people are insane,” Cage hissed. “Who fucking calls their vet in the middle of the night about the hiccups?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t even know turtles went to the doctor.”
“It’s called small-town madness,” Hugh said. “This is really nice of you, brother.”
I nodded. “It’s not a big deal.”
The two dudes finished unloading just as Georgia walked out with Lila and Brinkley behind her.
“Wow. This was all in your storage shed?” Georgia asked, as she ran her fingers over the white dresser and gaped at all the furniture. “It looks brand-new.”
“My decorator over-ordered, so I’m glad we can use it somewhere,” I said.
Brinkley narrowed her gaze at me as Georgia and Lila ran over and plopped down on the couch, which was sitting in the middle of the driveway.
“How you doing?” one of the movers asked as he moved closer to Georgia.
Was he fucking kidding me?
He was hitting on my fucking—friend.
“She’s doing fine,” I growled, which only earned me more laughs. The fucking Reynolds family apparently found humor in everything. “And you can go ahead and start carrying it in.”
And the next few hours were absolute madness.
Her parents were there. Everyone was helping put things away, her brothers were making endless smart-ass comments every time they were alone with me in a room, and it wasn’t a horrible day like I’d expected it to be.
They were all saying their goodbyes, and I was ready to be alone with her. I needed to talk to her about extending our… situation.
We’d lost today, so adding a few more days wasn’t going to hurt anything.
We were grown-ups, after all. We could be professional at work.
“I just can’t get over what a great boss you are, Maddox,” Bradford said as he shook my hand.
“I’m his only friend in town, Dad. Leave him alone,” Georgia said, and she winced at me as if she were nervous I was bothered by the comment.
I wasn’t.
I actually wanted to tell him I was a hell of a lot more than her boss. But when I fucked it all up in a few days, I wouldn’t want her family hating me.
“Of course. She’s doing a great job at work. And she’s right, she’s been really helpful to me since I moved to town.”
“I’ll bet she has,” Brinkley said under her breath as she stood right behind me.
Next was Georgia’s mom, who hugged me, hugged her daughter, and then made her rounds to everyone there.
It wasn’t even normal how loving these people were. My father was normally blackmailing us to make us show up to something.
Everyone was making their way out the door, and I was fascinated by how long this whole departure took. She wasn’t leaving the country. She was only moving a few blocks away.
The last person out the door was Brinkley, and she smiled at me but raised a brow before she spoke. “That was really nice that you had all that furniture sitting in storage. Thanks for helping out Georgie.”
“Of course. Happy to help.”
She then reached up to hug me and leaned close to my ear. “But if you hurt her, I will hunt you down and torture you slowly.”
I didn’t hide my surprise at her words, but then her head fell back in laughter. “You are too easy, Bossman. I’m kidding.”
“What’s going on over here?” Georgia asked as she came back inside from walking her parents out.
Brinkley pointed two fingers at her eyes and then back at me. “He knows what’s going on.”
More laughter.
I couldn’t keep up with all the warnings and jokes.
“Love you. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Georgia said. “Thanks for helping.”
Brinkley waved at both of us and walked out the door.
And we were alone.
“So, you survived a full day with the Reynoldses.” She shrugged. “I didn’t think you were going to stay the whole time.”
“Well, I needed to be here for the furniture. Make sure it all got delivered correctly.” And I wanted to be with her, as crazy as that sounded.
“Thanks for everything. I feel bad that I ruined our last night. That took a lot longer than I thought it would.”
I moved to the couch and sat down. Her brothers had hung photos and art on the walls, and the place looked like she’d lived there for months. The Reynolds family was as impressive as an expensive decorator with a team of professionals working for them.
“About that… I wanted to discuss some options,” I said as she walked over and sat beside me.
“What kind of options?”
“Well, seeing as we lost our last day, I wouldn’t mind lengthening the agreement if you were open to it. It might be awkward being at work with me bossing you around, though.”
She threw her head back in a full-bodied laugh. “You could try not bossing me around, seeing as I am pretty damn good at my job. But I would be open to the extension option.”
“Yeah?” I asked, and I’d be a fucking turtle with the hiccups if my chest didn’t squeeze with excitement.
She moved so quickly she caught me off guard. She was on my lap and straddling me, one hand on each side of my face. “I’m not bored with you just yet, Bossman.”
“Are you really going to make me sleep here tonight?”
“Did you see that free-standing clawfoot tub in my bathroom?”
“I don’t take baths.”
“You also don’t sleep in bed with the women you have sex with, and we changed that, didn’t we? Take a bath with me.” She put her hands together like she was praying.
I studied her pretty face. Her hair was tied back in two braids that fell over her shoulders, and she wore a pair of denim overalls with a hooded sweater beneath it. And all fucking day I thought about unhooking those buckles and dragging her into the bathroom.
“I’ll make a deal with you,” she said.
“Let me hear it.”
“I know you don’t have clothes here. And the bed isn’t made yet.
So how about we soak in that cute tub together, because that’s something I’ve never done with a man and I don’t think you have either, so it would be another first for both of us.
And then we’ll dry off, and I’ll pack up some work clothes and sleep at your house.
But after tonight, we take turns at each other’s house until this arrangement is over. Fair is fair.”
This was her argument with cross-country skiing, which was a fairly miserable sport, if I were being honest. It was slow, and there was no excitement, but the fact that she’d packed lunch for us and let me follow behind her and watch her cute ass maneuver through the trail made it tolerable.
“Fine. Deal.” I pushed to my feet, and her legs wrapped around my waist as we moved through her tiny, little one-bedroom house. It was cute, and it felt like Georgia, and I didn’t actually mind being here at all.
Because apparently, I liked being wherever she was.
And that was something I couldn’t wrap my head around. I set her on her feet, and her phone buzzed, and she pulled it from her back pocket.
“It’s a text from your brother. He said you aren’t answering your phone.”
“Is that bastard still texting you? He’s so fucking needy lately,” I hissed. She and Wyle had hit it off, which was no surprise because he liked everyone, and she was one of the most likable people I’d ever known.
He’d pulled me to the side after our dinner and told me not to fuck it up. I’d reminded him we were just friends, but he saw right through it.
And Georgia had taken us all around town the following day, showing him around. She didn’t make us wear disguises or stay incognito because she said having my brother along with us changed the dynamic, and no one would be talking about it.
Wyle had gone back to New York, but we’d had a good visit.
I checked my phone and saw all the screenshots of the story breaking about our father marrying his best friend’s daughter. And the fact that they were expecting a baby was apparently the big story of the day.
I texted him back and told him it would eventually blow over.
But after seeing how normal Georgia’s family was and then reading this shit about my father, it irritated me.
“Hey. What happened? Where’d you go?” She turned off the water in the tub once it was full and reached for the hem of my sweater before tugging it up until I helped her pull it over my head.
“That story broke about my dad and Claire. It will probably be the talk of the office for a while.” I reached for her overalls and unbuckled them. The denim fell to the floor in a heap before I tugged her hoodie over her head.
She looked up at me as I reached around her and unhooked her bra. “He is who he is, Maddox. That has nothing to do with you and who you are. Tune out all the noise.”
“And how do you recommend I do that, Tink?” I nipped at her mouth.
“You make peace with it. You have no control over him or his choices, so you can’t be held accountable for them. You’re a good man, Maddox Lancaster. That’s all that matters.”
Goddamn, she was sweet.
“You sound like a therapist.”
“Meh. The apple never falls far from the tree. Now, drop your pants and get in the tub, Bossman.”
I laughed. Hell, I’d never laughed more than I had since I’d met her.
So, I did what she said, and I climbed into the tub that looked like it was older than dirt.
And then she slipped in after me and settled between my legs.
And for the first time in my life, I didn’t mind taking a bath at all.
Because I didn’t mind anything as long as she was with me.