Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
SAGE
Adull throb between my thighs had stayed with me all morning, and as I walked into work a couple hours later, the ache radiating with ever step I took, reminded me of everything that had happened.
“Morning, Rox,” I called as I moved past her desk.
“Mornin’, darlin’,” she returned, then, “Hey, what’s that on your neck?”
I stopped and lifted my fingers to my skin, giving her a curious look. “I don’t know. Did I screw up with my makeup or something?”
She stood up and leaned over the ledge of her desk, squinting her eyes to get a better look. “No. It looks kinda like a rash . . .”
She trailed off, her head tipping to the side as I my skin grew heated under her scrutinizing gaze. Just then the doors opened and Xander came in. The instant his eyes landed on me they flashed with a very familiar fire I’d become intimately familiar with.
“Ladies,” he greeted casually.
He started toward me, one corner of his mouth lifting infinitesimally, but it was enough for me to see the wickedness in his smirk.
“Orange and cranberry, right?” he asked, handing over a small paper bag with the Muffin Top logo on the front. “And Dani told me what you drink.”
When I reached out to take the coffee cup, he let his fingers slide across mine before releasing it. It was so subtle I doubted Roxanne even noticed, but that gentle touch was enough to make every nerve ending in my body spark to life.
“Uh, th-thanks.”
He gave me a wink with his left eye so Rox wouldn’t see and sauntered around to the hall that led to the control room.
Once he disappeared around the corner, I did my best to school my features, even though I was pretty sure everything I was feeling was written all over my face, and turned back to Rox.
“Guess I better get to work.”
I took one step when she spoke up, her words rooting me in place. “Know what else that spot on your neck looks like?” My head slowly swiveled in her direction, and I lifted a single brow in question. She crossed her arms over her ample chest and grinned. “Beard burn.”
Oh shit, hell, and tarnation.
“Huh. Weird.” God, I was so bad at playing it cool.
“Yeah. Weird. Especially when it happens on the same mornin’ a certain bearded badass shows up to work three hours later than usual and looks like the cat who just got the canary and the cream.”
“Yeah. Crazy coincidence. Well, I better, uh, head back. Tons to do. Busy, busy, busy.” And with no cool whatsoever, I practically ran down the hall and into my office.
Damn Roxanne and her crazy insightfulness.
All I could do was hope she’d keep what she suspected to herself, because I had a feeling once the cat was out of the bag, the dramatic, gossiping assholes I worked with would get a huge kick out of giving me hell.
I managed to get through the next few hours without any more incidents by burying myself in work.
When my cell rang earlier and John’s name popped up on the screen I’d decided to shut it off, shove the phone into my purse, and put him out of my mind.
It appeared that my mom had finally given up and took the hint, but John hadn’t been so easy to shake.
If anything, he’d gotten even more obsessive over the past month, his calls going from sporadic to damn near constant.
I knew the smart thing to do was block his number, but there was a small, niggling part of me that worried how he’d react if I did that.
As far as I knew, he didn’t have a clue where I was, and I didn’t want to do anything that might push him into looking.
I’d just finished updating my filing and shooting off an email to Missy Kline with her invoice when my stomach let out a loud rumble.
The clock on my computer screen told me it was time for lunch. I was in the middle of shutting everything down and grabbing my purse when I heard Bryce’s voice. “Looks like I made it just in time.”
“Time for what?” I asked, looking up at him with a smile.
“To take you to lunch, gorgeous. What’re you in the mood for? We can hit up the diner or head over to The Tap Room.”
At the mention of food, my stomach let out another rumble as I moved to Bryce. “Honestly, I don’t care where we go. I’m hungry enough to eat a horse, so you can pick.”
He hooked his arm over my shoulders as we started down the hall. “There’s a great little Chinese place about ten minutes from here. How’s that sound?”
I let out a happy groan just as we hit the reception area. “Sounds perfect.”
My excitement over Chinese food was quickly snuffed out when I an irate voice asked from behind me, “What the fuck is this?”
When Bryce and I stopped and turned to face Xander, I saw the pissed off expression on his face matched the tone of his voice perfectly.
“Uh, hey. We were, um . . .” I stumbled over my words in the face of his fury. “We’re just heading out for Chinese if you want to join us.”
His piercing gaze stabbed into mine before it shifted down to where Bryce’s arm still rested over my shoulder. “What I want is for him to get his fuckin’ arm off you.”
“Jesus, brother,” Bryce spoke, removing his arm, but keeping a hand on me to pull me partially behind him, like he was trying to block me from Xander’s rage. “Take it down a couple notches, yeah?”
He turned all that fury to Bryce and clipped, “I’ll take it down a couple notches when you stop fuckin’ touching her.”
Unfortunately, the threatening way he said it had the opposite reaction he wanted, and I felt Bryce tense before stepping farther in front of me. I appreciated the protective gesture, but shit was about to hit the fan, and I had to stop it.
“Xander,” I started in warning, trying to move out from behind Bryce, but my new self-appointed guardian wasn’t having any of it and grabbed my arm to pull me back.
“We’re all used to your particular brand of attitude, my man, but you’ll forgive me if I don’t want your shit bleedin’ all over Sage.”
I hadn’t thought it possible, but his frown actually grew deeper. “She’s got nothin’ to be scared of from me, and she knows it, so she doesn’t need you protectin’ her.”
“The look on your face right now is sayin’ differently.”
“Both of you need to tone it down,” Roxanne snapped at them. “’Cause I’m tellin’ you now, you shed blood in my area, I’m gonna be all kinds of pissed.”
Trying to cool things down, I stepped out from behind Bryce and raised my arms in a placating gesture. “Okay, this is ridiculous. You guys just need to—”
“Wouldn’t have this look on my face if I hadn’t just stepped out here to find your hands all over my goddamn woman.”
Oh no he did not.
Feeling my own anger begin to bubble up, I shouted, “Xander!”
“I knew that was beard burn!” Roxanne crowed.
“Your woman?” Bryce asked in bewilderment, his whole body growing stiff.
“You heard me, but if that wasn’t clear enough, I had her last night and again this mornin’. Know what she tastes like and what she looks and sounds like when she gets off. So, yeah. She’s my woman.”
A sharp, pulsing pain started behind my temples, and I just knew my head was about to explode. “I cannot believe you just said that!”
“What the hell’s goin’ on out here?” At the sound of Linc’s voice, I turned to find he and Marco had stepped out of his office to see what was happening.
Well this is just freaking great.
“Xander and Sage got it on last night,” Roxanne decreed.
“Told you it would happen,” Marco said to Linc, holding out his hand. “You owe me twenty.”
“Oh my god,” I muttered, covering my face with both hands. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“It’s no secret you put the moves on anything in a skirt,” Xander said to Bryce, the low blow he’d just landed uncalled for and totally not cool. “But now you know where shit stands, you need to back the hell off and keep your hands off things that don’t belong to you.”
That was it. I’d gone from pissed to nuclear in one point three seconds and was just about to let it blow, but before I could, the sudden chill in the air brought me to a stop.
In the time I’d known Bryce, he’d been nothing but laid back and funny.
He was a roll-with-the-punches type of guy, but with that comment and the change in the atmosphere thanks to the anger rolling off of him, I realized right then that his easy-going demeanor had become something lethal.
“Fuck you, man. Sage and I are tight, and that’s not gonna change just ’cause you’ve decided to put her on your roster with all the other bitches you fuck from that shithole bar. ”
That was another blow landed. However, its aim wasn’t true, and instead of hitting Xander, it nailed me square in the gut so damn hard I couldn’t hide my wince.
Apparently, Xander disliked it even more than I did, because with a sharp, “Motherfucker,” he moved, lunging at Bryce so fast I barely had time to dart out of the way.
Marco and Linc moved just as fast, rushing to rip the two men off of each other. The action swirling around reception was loud enough to draw the attention of everyone in the office, and two seconds later the reception area was filled with every member of the Alpha Omega team.
It was chaos, no other way to describe it, and at the sight of Bryce and Xander fighting against the men holding them back, I lost it.
“Enough!” I shouted so loud everyone came to a stop.
“That’s fucking it!” Stomping over to Xander, I shoved my finger in his face.
“Everything you just said about me and the things we’ve done in private was so beyond cool, I can’t even think straight enough to sift out which pissed me off the most, so I’ll tell you this, until you get your shit together and can stop acting like an epic dick, I’ve got absolutely nothing to say to you. ”
I swung around to Bryce. “And you. Next time you want to take potshots at someone, make sure you hit your intended target, ’cause you just managed to make me feel cheap and dirty without even trying.”
His face blanched as he winced, “Darlin’, I didn’t—” he started softly, but I was done.
Looking to Linc, I gave it to him straight. “I had no intention of letting what happened between me and Xander interfere with work, and I’m so sorry it did. That wasn’t cool. What just happened was totally unprofessional, and I’ll understand if you have to let me go because of it.”
His face grew gentle, his voice soft as he said, “Your job’s safe, sweetheart.”
Relief flooded through me. “Thank you. Since that’s the case, if it’s okay with you, I’ll be working from home for the rest of the day.”
At Linc’s nod, I turned and started for the door.
“Sage, wait—” Xander called out.
I turned before he could reach me and pinned him with an ugly glare that brought him up short. “Don’t,” was all I said before I jerked back around and stormed out.
I stomped to my baby, unlocked the door, and climbed in, wishing it had been warm enough for me to put the top down.
Because the only thing that would work to calm the fire I had raging inside was the wind in my hair and the sun on my face.