Chapter 20
Ian
“So, we didn’t meet last week because of the Fourth. How have you been?” Pamela taps her pen on the notepad sitting on her lap.
I rub my palm over my short hair nervously. “So, you know how you said you might’ve been wrong about Maggie?”
She inclines her head slightly with a cautious smile on her face.
“Well, I asked her out and we had dinner a couple of nights ago.”
Surprise lines her face. I’m unsure if she thinks this is a good thing or not.
“Did you all address what she said to you?”
I clear my throat. “We did. She apologized.”
“Did she tell you why she said it?”
I grimace slightly. “No, she just said she was sorry and that I didn’t deserve it.”
Pamela’s face clears of any emotion as she continues tapping her pen.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
“Weren’t you the one who said to give her another chance?” I snap.
Her eyes narrow. “Don’t be a dick, you dick.”
I bark out a laugh. “Sorry, you were stressing me the fuck out with the silence and the tapping.”
She sighs. “Fair enough. And you’re right. I did say to give her another chance.” Tilting her head to the side, she regards me. “You left it at just dinner, right?”
We had conversations in the past about how quickly Maggie and I had sex when we first met.
She implored me to try not to get physical so soon and to give relationships time to grow.
In my defense, I figured that didn’t apply to Maggie and me since we already had sex.
A lot. And I have no plans to stop again.
“Not exactly, no.”
Pamela sighs again and looks up at the ceiling. “So, you’re already having sex again, and you have no idea why she said those hurtful things to you? Though I’m glad to hear her acknowledge that you didn’t deserve it.”
“Yep, that about sums it up.”
“Ian, I know you have very strong feelings for her. But I think it’s very important to understand what prompted that.”
Uneasiness has my gut churning. No matter what Maggie said, I’m still scared to hear why she did that. But I know Pamela is right. “I will. Maybe not today, but soon.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.” She leans forward. “You deserve more answers than just an apology.”
I nod because that’s all I can manage.
As I walk back into the office, my mood is all over the place.
It’s always like this after a session, but today feels different.
With every issue we’ve dealt with in the past year, I always feel a mixture of anger, resentment, or even guilt.
But today, I feel dread. And a slight tinge of fear.
Because everything else was in the past, Maggie is very much in the present and what I hope is the future.
The thing I fear the most right now is losing her again.
“Hey, Ian!” Ella calls out from the front desk.
“Ella, how are you?” I stop at the desk.
She glances around before looking back at me. In a loud whisper, she says, “Maggie told me about you two. I’m so excited!”
I chuckle. “I’m glad you are excited. Why are you whispering?”
“Oh, well, Maggie said she wanted to give you the opportunity to tell Jack and Nate yourself, so she asked me and Olive not to tell them.”
“Ah, gotcha, yeah, I haven’t told them yet.
” I’m not really sure why I haven’t told any of the guys about Maggie.
Maybe because I was afraid she would change her mind again, and I’d have to tell them that she broke up with me for a second time.
Or maybe it was because I was afraid of jinxing it.
I do take her telling Ella and Olive as a good sign.
“Are you going to tell them soon? Because I’m dying to talk to Jack about this!”
I shake my head. “Yes, you gossip. I’ll tell him.”
“Thank you!” she calls out after me as I walk toward my office.
I sink into my chair and start going through emails. When a knock sounds at my door, I look up to find Jack leaning into my office.
“How was your appointment?”
I’ve never told the guys I started therapy, not because I thought they’d judge me, but because I didn’t want to talk about it. I was already doing enough of that with Pamela.
“Good,” I answer, knowing he won’t push me.
He nods. “Great, are you available for a meeting in about thirty?”
“Yeah, who’s it with?”
“Brent Downs and his team.”
Brent Downs is one of the biggest country singers in Nashville.
A few months ago, his manager reached out about setting up meetings regarding us taking on his personal security detail.
Jack managed to secure the contract while Nate and I were on tour, but since we’ve been back, it’s been meeting after meeting to nail down all the details.
Brent seems like a nice enough guy, even if he’s a little cocky.
But I guess it’s hard not to go to your head when you have been extremely famous for the last twenty years.
“The first event is tonight, and he wants to talk through the plan for it and for the next few that he has. And don’t forget, you and Tyler are working it.”
I grit my teeth, as if I’ve ever forgotten I was working a job. “Yes, I remember. And I’ll be at the meeting.” I sound irritable, but he’s starting to piss me off.
He leaves me to finish up a few things before they arrive.
You do all this work, but you don’t get an ownership cut of the company? That doesn’t really seem right.
Maggie’s comment from when she didn’t even know me still eats at me. She isn’t wrong. I just need to figure out a way to bring it up to Jack and Nate.
Twenty-five minutes after Jack leaves me in the office, I walk into the conference room and take a seat next to Tyler.
“Hey, Ian, you want to go work out tonight before the event?”
I slap the younger man on his shoulder. I was skeptical when Jack brought his young cousin on board to work with us, but he never fails to impress me.
“Absolutely. I could use someone who can actually lift at my level.”
Nate scoffs from where he stands on the other side of me. “I do my best, Ian.”
I snort out a laugh. “We know, buddy. We know.”
Nate scowls at me as he drops into the seat next to me.
Even though I can lift more than Tyler, his heaviest lifts are closest to mine.
And we love to give Nate and Jack shit. Jack usually just ignores us since he can lift almost as much as Tyler, but Nate, it gets under his skin and amuses the hell out of us.
The energy immediately shifts when the door opens, and Jack steps inside with our new client and four other people, all of us immediately switching to business mode.
The rest of the meeting goes off perfectly. I led the meeting since I’ll be the lead at any events. By the time Brent is walking out, he’s praising us for our professionalism and preparedness, and we haven’t even worked an event for him.
I throw my pen down on the table next to the notepad and lean back in my chair. Knowing Jack will want to have one final meeting after he walks the group out, all of us stay in our seats.
Jack steps back in and gives me a wide smile. “Ian, great job. Brent couldn’t stop saying how glad he is that you’re the one overseeing his security.”
I give a curt nod, but don’t respond.
Jack eyes me before retaking his seat and starting the debrief.
Thirty minutes later, we’re all walking back to our offices when I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pull it out as I step inside.
Maggie: Will I get to see you tonight?
I groan internally. I want nothing more than to see Maggie, but I have no idea what time I’ll get done. And I don’t want her waiting up for me.
Me: I wish, beautiful. I have a job tonight that might run late. I can call you if it ends early.
Maggie: Okay…I understand. Be safe. I’ll see you later.
I hate ending it like this. I want to call her right now and tell her how much I want to see her, and if I can make it happen, I will.
But I can’t. I have another meeting in a few minutes, followed by a meeting at a venue for a few upcoming jobs.
Then, I have to fill in as security for a show tonight because one of the guys is out sick.
I hope she understands by now how much I hate spending nights away from her.
If she doesn’t, I’ll be sure to remind her the next time I see her.