5. Travis #2
Staring down into the glass, I experienced the same twinge of confusion I’d felt the day I found the memos.
“Back in their time…” I murmured, “… everything was done on paper. Duplicate, triplicate. A lot of the more important papers and contracts were digitized, but the rest was left in boxes, stashed in storage. One of the shit jobs my supervisor gave me was to go through those boxes and make sure nothing had been overlooked that we would need to scan or enter into the database.”
“You found something, didn’t you?” When I lifted an eyebrow, she shrugged. “I do a lot of reading. Mysteries, that kind of thing. This is textbook.”
Something about her response—complete with that shrug—made me chuckle.
“You’ve learned a lot from those books. Yeah, that’s exactly what happened.
I discovered a lot of things. Nothing I can get into detail over,” I was quick to add.
“I’m sure the statute of limitations has run out on a lot of it.
But the things in those memos… what they alluded to.
Cutting corners, employees who raised concerns over safety.
Regulations they flat-out ignored. I mean, they were risking people’s lives, and for what?
More profit? I mean, I enjoy making money as much as anyone, but I prefer mine not to have blood on it. ”
“So you decided to break off on your own.”
“That’s it. He sent me to China to learn what I needed to know to take over for him, but he only set the stage for his biggest competitor to emerge. Once I’ve expanded our East Coast operations, I will have officially surpassed him.”
“That’s what it’s all about for you? I mean, I would probably feel the same way,” she allowed in a soft voice. Feeling me out, making sure she didn’t go too far. “I would want to bury him just to say I did it.”
Incredible. For the first time, we were speaking the same language. She got it. “That’s exactly it.” But not all of it. Some things I could never talk about. Some betrayals couldn’t be voiced.
“Then good for you,” she decided with a firm nod. “I hope you leave him in the dust.”
“Thank you.” There was something disarming about her right now.
It had to be the wine going to her head.
Maybe it had gone to mine. Maybe that was the problem, even if it didn’t feel very much like a problem from where I was standing.
Not when the overhead lamp lit her the way it did when it made her rich brown hair gleam, shimmering with every move she made.
When she flipped it over her shoulder, the fragrance of roses slammed into me and made my dick swell.
“So now you know why I’m determined to get this deal through. Is there anything else you want to know?” I asked, fighting to ignore what she was doing to my dick simply by existing.
“It was wrong of me to ask the way I did. Really, it’s just curiosity,” she explained as her cheek flushed. “I didn’t have any business wanting details.”
“You’re curious. You hear me walking around here on the phone all the time.
I don’t blame you for wanting to know what’s going on.
” It was like picking my way through a minefield, fighting to find the right words.
Maybe it was how pretty she looked with her hair down, blushing when our eyes met from across the counter.
Come to think of it. It had been much too long since the last time I stuck my dick in something warm and wet. No wonder she looked good enough to eat in those ridiculous pajamas, which should’ve made her look innocent but somehow were sexier than any negligée or see-through nightgown.
“Can I ask you something now?” I ventured. She gulped but nodded. “How the hell are you so goddamn chipper all the time?”
She snorted, the sound bursting out of her before she clamped a hand to her mouth. “It’s a good thing I didn’t just take a sip from my glass.” She laughed, then managed to get ahold of herself.
“Sorry about that. I want to know. I should have you teach classes. Show my employees how to keep a stiff upper lip when things go sideways, which they do all the time.” She arched an eyebrow, and I explained, “Unexpected storms, mechanical problems on this or that ship, partners complaining something is running behind schedule. You name it, it can go wrong.”
She fought a grin and failed. “Are you saying you need a nanny for your staff too?”
“Something like that.” Instead of being irked by her playful response, I found myself grinning with her. The wine was a good idea. I needed to unwind, and it obviously wasn’t happening on its own.
It was her turn to stare into her glass, frowning, avoiding my gaze. “Something happened to me when I was younger. Something pretty big.”
My heart sank when I realized what she was about to tell me. I wasn’t supposed to know. She had no idea I had already dug into her past, so I would have no reason to know as far as she was concerned.
Strange, but my immediate impulse was to stop her, to tell her it was all right, I didn’t need to hear it.
Not if it meant making her dredge up something painful.
At the same time, part of me yearned to know more about her.
Who she was, what made her tick. Could I bottle some of the relentless positivity she carried with her like it was one more item in her backpack?
“My family was really close. Like to the point where I had friends who would roll their eyes when I would tell them I couldn’t hang out because I would be hanging out with my family.
They couldn’t understand why because their families weren’t like mine.
You’ll think it’s corny,” she predicted, laughing gently.
“Who says? What was that like? My family was certainly nothing like what you’re describing.”
I could almost feel her relief. “Well, don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t always fun. There were fights, like in any family. We would go on camping trips together all the time. My parents loved the outdoors, and most of us did too. I’m more of an indoor girl,” she confessed, looking almost guilty.
“I’ve never liked camping,” I agreed. “Camping is like swapping a silk bed for a rough patch of ground. Why trade luxury for discomfort?”
“Was that a joke, Mr. Knight?” I scowled just as a smile lifted into the apples of her cheeks.
When I didn’t bother responding, she continued, “But anyway, we were always spending time together. And I was the oldest, so I was sort of like a second mom in some ways. I liked it,” she explained.
“It wasn’t like they forced me. I felt a sense of responsibility toward the kids. ”
Her tongue darted over her lips, and I waited as she took a breath.
“On one of those trips, my little brother… he wanted to fish. He kept begging Dad. The river was rushing, and Dad was a little hesitant, but Josh was so sure he’d be all right.
” She lowered her gaze again and her voice with it.
“But he wasn’t all right. We woke up one morning, and he wasn’t in the camper.
None of us heard him leave. It’s like he wanted to surprise us. ”
A tender, painful smile tipped the corners of her mouth.
“I can imagine it. He was ten years old, totally convinced he was a grown-up. And maybe if the river hadn’t been so high and so swift, he would’ve been all right.
But it was high,” she concluded with a catch in her voice.
“And it was swift. And it swept him away. He must’ve lost his footing and…
” Pressing her lips in a tight line, she lowered her head, then shook it.
“That’s enough,” I said. “You don’t have to tell me any more. I didn’t mean to ask a question that would…” Fuck, I was no good at apologizing. I absolutely sucked at it, in fact. I hadn’t had very much practice.
She shook her head hard, running a hand under her eyes. “No, it’s okay. If anything, it hurts more when I try to push it all down inside. It took me a long time to figure that out.”
“That must’ve been terrible for your family, as close as you are.”
“It was. It was brutal. But you know, something came out of it. You asked why I’m… how did you describe me?” she asked with a playful gleam in her eyes. How could she look playful after telling me that story? “Right. How I’m so goddamn chipper all the time…”
I winced. “That sounds shitty now.”
“It already sounded a little shitty.” She held her thumb and forefinger, maybe half an inch apart, giggling.
“Point taken.”
“There’s your answer, anyway. My family woke up that morning thinking it was any other day.
We were going to go on a hike, then build a campfire and roast hotdogs.
Instead, we had to call in park rangers to help search for Josh’s body.
And Josh only went out thinking he was going to catch some fish to bring back and surprise us all.
Anything can happen at any time,” she concluded.
“It can all end like that.” She snapped her fingers, the sound reverberating throughout the room.
“What is the point of wasting a single day being miserable? Yeah, bad things happen, people are jerks, whatever. But is that worth sacrificing even a minute of my life over? Obsessing over who said what or who did this or that? Once you get in the habit of looking for the bright side, the bright sides are easier to find.” Sitting back, she shrugged.
“At least, that’s been my experience. Your mileage may vary. ”
There was nothing I could do at first but thank God I had never thrown her cheerfulness in her face out of anger. Why not kick a puppy while I was at it? “Thank you for trusting me with that,” I offered for lack of anything else to say once she fell silent.
“You asked for the truth.” She lifted her creamy shoulders far enough that the thin straps of her tank top shifted, sliding down ever so slightly. My fingers twitched with the impulse to reach out and touch her skin.
It was almost too much to ignore.
She fixed them, and I was glad she couldn’t see the hunger she had awoken in me.
I would have to find a diversion in New York.
The guys out there were all paired off, committed to their women, but they would remember the places they used to visit to find some quick, willing pussy. I was in desperate need.
Otherwise, I could end up fucking us both over by making the wrong move.
Remember Sofia. The image of my daughter’s face swam in my mind and firmed up my resolve. She was more important than any urge. She loved Penny, that much I knew. And for once, reflecting on that didn’t make me grind my molars.
All things considered, I couldn’t have chosen anyone better for her than the girl standing in front of me.
Under all that sunshine resided a core of pure steel.
I couldn’t imagine the mental strength it took to see the world for what it was and still make the conscious choice to see the bright side of things.
“How about we set a new ground rule before flying across the country?” I suggested.
There was a hint of wariness in her gaze, but she nodded, waiting.
“I won’t give you shit about your positive attitude anymore if you promise to stop using your child-rearing tricks on me. That means no talking to me like I’m Sofia’s age.”
There was something playful in her eyes, in the way her lips twitched before she turned to rinse her glass in the sink.
She kept me waiting, too, not saying a word until she was halfway out of the kitchen.
“That depends,” she countered in a light voice.
“Will you stop acting like someone Sofia’s age? ”
I couldn’t be mad, not when her joke was paired with the sight of her delicious ass swaying under those thin shorts. My breath caught, and every scrap of my awareness focused on her curves as she walked away.
Getting laid in New York wouldn’t just be a fun diversion. At this rate, it looked more like an absolute necessity. Otherwise, I might end up making an even bigger mistake than I did when I got married five years ago.