20. Pontius
20
PONTIUS
“He’s on a conference call,” Ness’s assistant mentions as I walk directly past her and into his office.
“Don’t worry, Teresa. He’ll have time for what I need to discuss.”
Ness’s office is pristine and modern. With sleek furniture and expensive glass finishes.
The Lake Monster twists his long neck toward me. He nods a silent hello and smiles.
I don’t smile back, even as he presses a button on his desk that automatically closes the blackout curtains to block the windows lining one long wall of his office. I’m still furious at him, but grateful that he’s so considerate. The dim room is much easier on my eyes. The only lighting left is the blue glow of the fish tank embedded in one wall. Ness once told me it reminds him of home.
“We need to talk.”
He holds up one finger.
I cross to his desk and press the speaker button on his phone. “I’m afraid Mr. Loch has something more pressing to attend to. He’s going to have to leave the call.”
Ness’s smile falters as he bats my hand away. “Sorry for the interruption. Can we reschedule next week? Great, thanks,” he says to his phone while he glares at me. He doesn’t wait for a response before he hangs up.
“The hell, Pontius? First day back from vacation, and you’re already barging into my office?”
“Don’t try that crap with me, Ness.” My wings buzzing with nervous energy. “You hired her!”
“Hired who?” he asks, one smooth eyebrow raising.
“Her! Her! Piper! My mate! The woman who told me she never wanted to see me again.”
“Oh, her. Yeah, she's a hottie, got those nerd glasses. Excellent luck there, laddie,” Ness says with an irritating smirk.
“You are not to look at her ever again.” I hold back a growl in my chest, but I can’t stop my wings from flaring. I wouldn’t kill him, but I might maim him.
“I didn’t hire her.”
“What the hell are you talking about? I just ran into her in the elevator!”
“She’s not an employee. We just signed a three-year contract to sponsor her non-profit. Penpoint. It’s a good company, an excellent investment. You aren’t technically her boss, so everything should be totally fine.” He makes a wiggly motion with his hand, indicating it’s actually a gray area. “Fully on the up-and-up.”
“You did what?”
“I’m sure I CCed you on all of it.”
“You did not.”
“Maybe not, but I definitely told your lawyers.” He has the gall to smirk, like this is a positive development. “You put them in charge while you were out of town, remember?”
“Why? Just to try and get me laid?”
“Do I look like someone who would spend that much money just so my friend could get a date.” Ness stretches his long neck, and leans back in his chair. I hope he tips over.
“You look like exactly the type of person who would do that.”
He smiles broadly this time. “I was doing you a favor.”
“It is not a favor! She is furious! She thinks I planned it! That I did this just to be closer to her!”
“She’ll get over it.” He waves a dismissive hand.
“She won’t. You don’t understand.” I take a deep breath before admitting, “I didn’t tell you everything.”
“What didn’t you tell me?” Ness still grins, clearly not understanding the gravity of the situation.
I sigh and throw myself into one of the sleek leather chairs in his office.
I unload everything. I tell him about the weekend Piper and I spent together. Not the sordid details, not about how she cried, or how good her pussy tasted, or how I came in my pants just from touching her.
I tell him how she left me, and why she left me.
“You stalked her?” Ness asks after my story has trailed to a finish.
“I didn’t think of it as stalking.”
“Not stalking?” Ness’s hand tightens around a pen. He doesn’t yell, I’m not sure he’s capable of really getting angry, but this is the closest I’ve ever seen him. “What were you thinking?”
“I wasn’t thinking,” I admit. “It was just instincts and idiocy.”
“Damn straight, it was. You are an idiot. An absolute doofus. An imbecile.” Ness seems unable to move on to a new thought.
He puts his face into his hands, like he could wipe away all the stupid things I’ve told him, before he stands up, crosses his office and opens a cabinet. A fancy shelf automatically rolls out, bottles of alcohol and drink ware clink as it moves. He pours a tall glass of amber liquid and then stares at me.
“No thanks,” I say.
“I didn’t offer you anything.” He keeps staring.
I squirm in the silence between us until I can’t help blurting out an attempt at an explanation. “I never expected to see her again.”
“You’re an imbecile.” He downs his entire glass of Scotch in one long-necked gulp. His tone remains even tempered. “A complete and total dumbass. What are we going to do now?”
“Nothing,” I say. “I’ll leave again. She asked me to leave her alone. I’m going to do that.”
“Is that what you want?”
“No! I don’t! I want—” I don’t know what to say after that. “I love her.”
Ness’s shoulders slump. “Of course you do. I’m the real idiot here. I thought you just needed to be honest with her. I thought if you got over yourself, asked her out a second time, it would fix everything. Christ, Pontius.”
“I told you that it was over! I never expected you to buy her company behind my back!”
“We can still fix this.” He pauses, pouring himself a second glass of Scotch while he thinks. “You cannot talk to her. You cannot speak to her. You cannot utter a single word to her. Do you understand?”
“I have been doing that for months.”
“It might be best if you work from home. Keep your distance from the office.”
“I appreciate you trying to protect her.”
“I’m trying to protect you, lad. We can’t risk her rejecting you.” He lowers himself back into his office chair. “You aren’t strong enough.”
I want to argue with him, but I think he’s right. I don’t know what I would do if Piper rejected me.
“We’ll start small. You just keep your distance. Give her some space. Let her come to you.”
“I don’t think she wants to see me again.”
“Of course she does, you idiot.” Ness argues. “The mating bond has her smitten with you already, or you’d probably be in jail. We still have room to salvage this.”
“We?” I ask.
“Yes, you dunce. ‘We’. I’m involved now. I signed a contract to get you closer to this woman. You’re my family.”
“Family?” I ask quietly.
“You are like a brother to me. Hell, I like you better than my own brother. He’s a useless lump.” He leans back in his chair. “Although you aren’t seeming much better right now.”
I suck in a breath. Ness, Sacha, and I have been close since we met in college. Eight years building a company together can really tell you a lot about a person. Until recently they were the only people in my life I could call my family.
“We’ll get her to be your friend first.” Ness cuts himself off with a large sip of his Scotch. “That will create a solid basis for the relationship and you can build from there.”
“Friends?” I lean forward, hands on my legs.
“You think you can handle that?” he asks.
“Yes! Yes, I would do anything to have her in my life again!” I say eagerly.
“Alright, if this is going to work, you have to stop acting like such an idiot and do what I say.”
“Yes! Of course!” Maybe trusting Ness isn’t the best idea, but he’s got more experience dating humans than I do. If he says that I need to become friends with Piper, then that’s exactly what I’m going to do.