16. Are We Running a Marathon?
16
Are We Running a Marathon?
ALICE
“Leigh?” I yelped, dumping my bag by the front door and rushing across the condo as it slammed behind me. At some point, it stopped feeling like my condo and started feeling like hers, but that was a problem to think about later. Like. When I wasn’t smack-dab in the middle of a midlife crisis. “ Leighton !” Glaring at the empty pot of coffee and the obnoxiously bright red seven o’clock on the stove beside it, I rushed for the kitchen. “Leighton Alexandra, I know you are not still sleeping at seven am on a Tuesday!”
In the next four seconds flat, I dumped the coffee grounds with the finesse of an NBA player making a shot, slammed the basket back in, replaced the liner, and rotated for the grinds container. The suction on the lid had just broken when I heard her shuffling feet and a mumbled, “Fuck. Right. Off.”
“I will not,” I retorted as I scooped in more than the advisable amount of magic ground beans.
“The last thing you need is coffee,” Leighton croaked, collapsing into the bar stool by the island, hair unkempt, pajama shirt askew, drool stain smearing her cheek. She was almost enough of a hot mess for me to forget that was the stool I sat on when Greyson proposed to me. But not quite.
“Ohhh yes, I do,” I yipped back, jamming the ‘on’ button. “This is a double shot, triple shot, quadruple shot kind of morning. A coffee straight from a keg with the tap open, kind of morning.”
“Are we running a marathon?”
“Kind of did,” I blurted before slapping my hands over my mouth. When I turned to face her, two Rhodes gray-blues reduced to slits, focused on me. “Kind of alllllll-ready did,” I reiterated, voice a high, squeaky, singsong. I sounded like Ross Gellar insisting he’s fine, for Christ’s sake.
Those narrowed eyes tracked my progress as my suddenly obnoxiously long legs gobbled up the kitchen. I scooped two mugs out of their cabinet and returned to my spot by the island as the machine percolated loudly behind me before turning to the fridge to fish out the creamer.
“You didn’t,” she accused, flipping her legs up into the bar stool so she could rest her chin on her knees as her eyes sparkled to life. Inevitably, the promise of juicy, ridiculous decisions made by her stupid big sister was enough to wake her.
I pursed my lips, nodding as I poured cream into our cups. “I did. I really did, Leigh.”
“Alliiiice,” she groaned, jerking her body around like I exasperated her. “What are you dooing ?”
In my most pathetic, mousiest tone, I confessed, “I don’t know.”
“I told you this was a bad idea,” she whined. “ Platonic partnership, remember? A business arrangement. We talked about this.”
“We did.”
“He set boundaries.”
“He did.”
“And you just jumped them like a drunk over a parking meter?”
“I mean, the jumping was mutual. It was mutual stupidity.”
“Duh.”
“Don’t duh me. This wasn’t just my idiocy; there was mutual idiocy. Mutual, toe-curling, throat scarring because you screamed so loudly, idiocy.”
A smug little smile curled her lips. “So, was it at least a good marathon? If you’re gonna blow your life up, it better be a good marathon.”
I slammed the heels of my palms into my eye sockets like they could massage away my life choices. Couldn’t watch my life fall apart if I couldn’t see. “Uhhhhhhhhhg,” I groaned, dropping my hands and whirling back to the coffeepot as the ensuing little white sparkles fell across my vision like those raining gold fireworks. Hoisting the carafe from the burner, I turned and filled both mugs as I complained, “This was the end of all good things. The Everest of orgasms. The nirvana of chemistry.”
Snickering as she took her mug, Leighton said, “Sissy, you just haven’t gotten laid in a few years. It’s just sex.”
Greyson
“It was not just sex. That was…I don’t know what the fuck that was, but it wasn’t just sex. What the fuck , man?” I palmed my face before massaging the ache in my temples.
Still irritated at being woken at an hour any grown ass man should be awake at, Ollie smirked over his cup of coffee. He looked like he’d been electrocuted or like one of those troll things Beau was always playing with. “Sure this isn’t just a bad case of blue balls?”
“Fuck off,” I barked, snapping my head up.
His snort made me rather violent. “I’m just saying. It’s been a while.”
“So?!”
“ So, maybe you just needed to get some,” he suggested, nonplussed as he obnoxiously sipped the steaming liquid. “It’s a basic human need, big brother.”
“You would say that, man whore.”
“Jealous?” he drawled with an obnoxious eyebrow wiggle. “But, for real. That Maslow guy put it on the same level as shelter for men. Food, water, shelter, pussy.”
“That’s the official ranking?” I jabbed with a glare.
“Obviously. You’ve been starving, and somebody slid over a filet minion with all the trimmings. Of course, you’re freaking out; you forgot what it tasted like.”
He certainly would not get the details on that . The woman was delectable. Pure, undiluted, unfragranced perfection. If a man is going to eat a girl out, he wants to savor pussy , not some chemical concoction they sell them with promises of rose-tainted cunt.
She was bare and beautiful and entirely at my mercy.
She was…Alice was a vision . A figment of my imagination brought to life. Even as I stared holes into my brother’s counter, it was her body in my mind. The pale, peaked arch of her breasts, the bow of her spine as she came undone under my hands, her ass in the air for me as I buried myself to the hilt, the cry of my name off her lips.
In one night, she’d robbed more of me than I’d ever cared to share. She looked like she was going to cry after I came that first time, and I couldn’t have that. Couldn’t let her let down like that. So, I’d done the only thing a man can do—I served her pleasure until her body went limp and sated, her breathtaking face relaxed as she willingly curled into my side. Even the focus line between her brows melted away, and I counted that as a victory. Some primal piece of me wanted to throw caution to the wind, my body begging to feel her bare. It took all my control to think clearly. To remember why that could never happen.
But the entire time…all I could think as I ravaged her was mine .
“I can’t explain it,” I growled, resuming my pacing. “It’s never been like that.”
“So, you connected,” Ollie said with a shrug. “The chemistry was on point. Don’t have a stroke over it.”
“She’s my wife, ” I breathed as panic rooted deeper.
This time, a coughing fit accompanied his snort, like he’d attempted to inhale the scalding liquid in his hand. Good . Karma was a bitch, and sometimes that bitch was instant. Unamused, I arched a brow and watched him laugh-choke-splutter back into coherent words.
“Right. She’s your wife . If you were going to experience some spiritual connection with a woman, isn’t that who it’s supposed to be?”
“In ordinary circumstances? Maybe. But this isn’t that, and you know it.”
“You lusted after the woman for two years. In close ass proximity, at that. Couldn’t escape each other,” he said, shaking his head for emphasis. “Are you really shocked it was good?”
“It wasn’t like that.” It was. It was like that. I just didn’t think it was so fucking obvious.
“Bullshit. You forget yourself, big brother. You kept her close; you refused to even lend her out to other departments. She’s the only PA you let travel with you.”
“She doesn’t annoy me like the others,” I grumbled, but it just made his punch-able face smugger.
“Who was on your arm for every gala?”
“That’s beside the point?—”
“Who did you drag to assist you on family trips?”
“She’s like a walking encyclopedia of?—”
He cut me off again, looking all too self-satisfied for my liking, as he slid off his chair and leaned an elbow on the back of it. “Trouble comes down the pipeline, and it’s her you consult, her you allow to run damage control even with Tiffany still on board, and her you propose to for an elaborate coverup of a media mess.”
“She knew too much?—”
“And was the only woman in the photos? Yeah, I know how you justified it. But this isn’t a new attraction.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Alice
“ Don’t I? You’re seriously telling me that your irritation over the last few years wasn’t fueled by the fact that you wanted to do the horizontal cha-cha but couldn’t?” Leighton pursed her lips in that know-it-all way of hers, cocking her head to the side. My wide-eyed silence had a feline smile lifting her cheeks as she kicked her feet back on the barstool beside her. “Sissy, I mean this with a great deal of love, but you’re being ridiculous. Attraction, once buried, seems to manifest as irritation, and you let that man call all your shots for years while whining about it the entire time.”
“He was my boss, ” I complained, “that’s kind of the name of the job.”
“Hating his guts wasn’t in the job description, but you managed. Hell, you built him up to be some abominable monster when, in reality, he’s actually a very considerate, very protective, very kind man.” She bounced her head from side to side, her mess of hair swaying as she weighed her words. “Albeit a little bossy, he is a billionaire. It’s to be expected.” The last words came out the side of her mouth before she pursed it.
“He called me?—”
“ A country bumpkin . Yes. I know. Your great-grandchildren will know the tale because you immortalized it in all our brains while you painted him as the heartless dragon. Hell hath no fury like a Rhodes, scorned.”
“He can be such an ass,” I protested. “It’s not like I imagined it . He could give frost giants frostbite.”
“Sure, sure, sure, but I bet you were looking at his ass any time he left a room.”
I shrugged. “Even pricks can fill out slacks well.”
Leighton threw her head back and cackled so hard she nearly fell out of her chair. Through her wheeze-like giggles, she breathed, “Never seen a prick as impressive as a Hart brother.” Her sporadic giggles had me coming apart at the seams like only sisters could do. Laughter-induced tears streaming from her eyes, she finally managed, “Is he as well-endowed as they look? Or is that some kind of rich guy crotch padding?”
Oh. Dear. Lord. “ You have no idea ,” I admitted sheepishly, aware all the heat in my body had congregated in my face.
“Please,” she scoffed. “Greyson drips big dick energy.”
“Yes,” I breathed, “he does.”
“Damn, he was good,” she observed.
“The end of all future sexual conquests good.”
Leighton’s delighted little wiggle did nothing to ease the nerves in my belly. Neither did her next words. “Well, at least you know you’re compatible. That should make this whole arrangement better. I wonder if you’ll fight less now that you can screw like bunnies.”
“Leigh,” I scolded, simply because it was easier than acknowledging we were in this marriage for the next three years, regardless of how this conversation went. “Don’t be so crass.”
“Don’t be such a prude,” she scoffed. “Stop holding out. Give me details on the fun stuff.”
“Big words for a woman still hanging onto her V-card.”
She shrugged like that didn’t bug her at all. Honestly, I shouldn’t tease her about it, but we were all a little perplexed about what she was waiting for. “All the more reason for you to take pity on me and let me live vicariously through you.” She smacked her hands down on the marble, abruptly leaning forward. I sighed and melted onto the stool beside her. “Seriously. Tell me. What was he like? Soft and sweet doesn’t really scream Greyson. He’s so serious all the time. Was he bossy? Oooh, I bet he’s a dirty talker. ”
“He is,” I mumbled weakly, sliding my coffee across the island. Chewing on my lower lip, I stirred the little gold heart spoon in circles as she waited with bated breath. “Book boyfriend level dirty talker. At one point, he told me to come like his dirty little slut, and I exploded on command. Like. Sir . Excuse you?” I shook my head, blinking the lusty haze away. “I don’t even understand what happened last night,” I admitted. But I could remember the harsh feel of his fingers on my skin, the delicious bruises where he’d held on for dear life while he gave me what we both so desperately wanted. “I almost cried, but it was like he…sensed it. He cradled my face, kissed away my fear, and held me until my breathing evened out. The next time, he was so gentle. It was like he used his body to soothe mine. He kept telling me he had me and wasn’t going anywhere.” Dropping the hand that hovered in front of my lips, I widened my eyes, blowing the air from my lungs into my cheeks before slowly releasing it. “The next three were…more physical.”
“ That's why you’re walking funny?” She flashed a Cheshire smirk.
“Piss off,” I laughed. “Just surprised I can stand.”
Her laughter gave way to a pensive expression as she studied me. Sucking in a deep breath, Leighton hedged, “He cares for you, sissy. More than I think you realize. Certainly more than I realized. I thought I’d have to kill him and call Jameson to hide the body.” My watery laugh made her smile as she added, “I swear when that migraine hit, you would’ve thought he was ready to kill that photographer. I’m not saying it’s love yet, but it certainly isn’t apathy.”
“That’s what freaked me out last night, I think. I was ready for physical, but it got?—”
“Emotional?”
“ Spiritual ,” I said uncertainly. “I have experienced nothing like that, so it’s hard to articulate. But this morning,” I huffed a heavy breath, sliding off the stool to cross to the doorway. “It would’ve been easy to blow off as some physical attraction, but when I went to find toothpaste, I saw this in his linen cabinet.” Reaching inside my discarded bag, I pulled out the kindest thing anyone had ever done for me and held it aloft for her to see. Leighton narrowed her eyes in confusion.
“You’re…going to space?” She teased.
Laughing, I shook my head. “When that migraine hit, I’d asked if any of the staff had a cold cap, and he ordered me some. Not one —which would’ve been kind enough—but three, like he was afraid the first wouldn’t work or something.” I looked at the ridiculous blue hat and smiled, sucking down a breath. “He’s…surprisingly kind, this beast of mine.”
“What?”
“Never mind,” I laughed, shaking my head.
“Did you call him a beast!?”
“I made a joke the first week that I’m Belle in his castle. It kinda stuck.”
“Oh, now shut up —that’s too cute.”
“He calls me his Belle,” I admitted, smiling softly.
“ His beautiful ,” Leighton swooned dreamily, clutching at her chest. “Alice, if you don’t start dating your husband, we’re going to have problems.” Laughing, I buried my face in my hands as she asked, “Is he already in the office this morning? He’s an early bird like you, right?”
“I don’t know,” I said, staring at the sweet gesture hanging from my fingers. There’d been an entire basket in there—essential oils, smelling salts, a business card for an acupuncturist, migraine-specific medication. He’d bought the internet’s go-to solutions like he was stocking a me-focused apothecary.
“What do you mean you don’t know? Was he still in bed this morning?” Leighton’s questions drew my focus up, and I chewed on my lip as my nerves took over. Her swooniness gave way to judgment as she glared at me. “Tell me you didn’t.”
Greyson
“She just left?!”
“Yeah,” I groused, collapsing into the armchair in the living room as my brother followed. “She was gone when I woke up. That’s why I came here, fucker.”
“ Oh fuck, man .”
“That sums it up.”
“This sucks.”
“I was afraid you’d say that.”
“I mean, it’s one of two things,” he said, shaking his head as he crossed his arms.
“Do either of them end with a sniper putting me out of my misery in your living room?”
“ Uh . No.” He sat on the coffee table across from me. “You either misread it, or she’s freaking out.”
“So, I’m a limp dick piece of shit that just slept with my assistant. Or she’s also panicking?”
“Pretty much.” He sat staring at our feet for a long beat before hopefully asking, “Maybe she’s in the office?”
“Nah,” I shook my head. “Jax tailed her—because she left without him, which is a whole other conversation —and she’s at her old condo.”
“Leighton still lives there.”
“I guess.”
“We dropped her off the other day. She’s there,” he insisted.
“What the fuck are you doing dropping off my sister-in-law?”
“She came over to paint Mattie’s nails,” he said simply. I scowled at him until he added, “They really hit it off, and the nanny was busy, so she babysat. Am I not allowed to make friends with our new in-laws?”
“The feral one?”
“She’s not fucking feral,” he snapped defensively. “She’s protective . If anybody can respect that, it’s you, motherfucker.”
Begrudgingly, I agreed, “Fair.”
“Besides. It’s not my doghouse we’re analyzing right now. It’s yours. If she’s with Leighton, that’s probably good, right? She probably needed to talk.”
“If she was going to get rid of me, I assume she’d go to Paxton,” I mused. But the look on his face said the sister was more of a concern than I wanted to acknowledge. “Outstanding,” I growled.
“Look. There’s not a lot you can do here. Really, your only option is to go to work and pretend all is normal until you have time to talk to her.”
“Talk.”
“Yes, you dipshit. Talk. Like this. Tell her what you’re thinking.”
“Not my forte.”
“Nope,” he agreed amicably as he rose to his feet. “But if you can come over here with your tail between your legs, you can go face your wife in the office.”