Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
ARLAND
I shut the door to my office, shaken about everything that had unfolded this morning. First, there had been walking into that conference room to see Mimi, gorgeous and appealing as ever, and then I’d learned that she was really Mariam , Brian’s sister. At first when she’d pretended not to know me, I’d been shocked and then amused, but finally, I’d accepted it.
In retrospect, it had been a good call. Brian and I had been friends for a long time, and I knew enough about his relationship with his sister to know that he would not be pleased if he found out that I’d gotten with her.
Like any older brother to a younger sister, the guy was protective as hell. Even more so because of just how much younger she was and how involved he’d been when she was a baby. If he found out I’d hooked up with her, he would be pissed and it would be even worse if we continued to do it.
I honestly couldn’t decide if her being here was a good or bad thing. I was extremely drawn to her, but Brian was a definite complication.
Mariam wouldn’t be staying long, but Brian and I were in this venture together. I didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize our relationship which this certainly would.
As I sat down in the chair behind my desk, I turned to stare at the mountains outside, seeing some clouds rolling in to add some pops of white to the blue sky. Thinking back to my conversation with Brian just last week, I remembered him saying that his sister was twenty-eight.
Honestly, I was shocked at that, too. While Gregory had been quick to assume that she and her friend were fresh out of college, I’d started wondering if perhaps she was in her thirties. With her youthful features, my initial assumption had been early to mid-twenties, but after speaking to her and realizing how mature she was, she’d definitely felt at least thirty to me.
At forty-five myself, I felt like I had a good gauge on the stages of life and Mariam’s being twenty-eight would’ve been a deal-breaker, even if she hadn’t been Brian’s sister and I had been relationship-minded.
Most twenty-eight-year-olds were just starting to figure things out. People in their late twenties were usually impulsive, quick to emotion, rather flighty, and typically weren’t settled into who they were just yet.
Although I knew all that to be true after seeing it many times over the years, I still didn’t see Mariam fitting that mold. She’d felt secure in who she was and who she wanted to become. She’d been confident, but not obnoxious about it, and she was definitely more self-aware and intelligent than others.
She certainly didn’t act her age, but I supposed it didn’t matter. Ultimately, she was Brian’s sister, she would only be staying for a couple months, and I was her superior at work. Over all the years I’d been in business and the hundreds of employees I’d had, that was a line I prided myself in not having crossed before.
People had a right to feel safe in their workplaces, and I refused to be the reason they didn’t. As Mariam was now an employee, even if only a temporary one, that meant she too would now receive my best behavior professionally.
I groaned, finally coming to the conclusion that her being here was a bad thing. While I didn’t act on impulse and I could certainly control myself, having her near and around me so often was going to be hard—literally.
Regardless of everything I’d learned this morning, physically, I was still damn attracted to her and I doubted that was going to change. Mentally preparing myself for an entire season suffering with blue balls, I picked up my phone and called Gregory.
I needed to get out of here for a couple hours, and while I knew he was going to find my situation hilarious, I could handle his laughter. More than anything, I needed a debrief and Greg had always been good for those.
“Hey,” I said when he picked up. “Do you have time for a spontaneous lunch?”
“Sure.” He chuckled. “I’m not the overzealous businessman who bites off more than I can chew and never has time for anything during the day. Hell, I can even go play some golf after.”
I laughed. “We’re not retiring yet, bud. I’ll play more golf once the business community no longer wants me. Lunch will be fine.”
“At The Zone?” he suggested lightly. “I’ve been craving their steak for a week.”
“The Zone it is,” I agreed. “I’ll see you there in twenty?”
“I’ll have a beer waiting when you arrive,” he joked, but when I walked into the restaurant eighteen minutes later, it turned out he hadn’t been joking at all.
Waiting for me at a table on the covered patio, he sat facing the mountains with two beers already in front of him. The Zone was a popular spot among locals, situated off the beaten track and nestled among a small forest of pine trees, it offered views, but wasn’t anywhere near the slopes and lifts frequented by the tourists.
Unsurprisingly, the place was packed. Festive country music played over the speakers and their holiday decorations were already up. Seeing it reminded me of what Mimi— Mariam —had said about why she was loving Sun Valley so far, and I groaned, winding my way around the crowded tables in the dining room to join Greg on the patio.
They’d closed it up for the winter and heaters mounted on the walls ensured that the air was nice and toasty. Gregory grinned when he saw me, pushing one of the glasses across the table. “Drink it fast. It’s already getting warm.”
As I sat down, I wrapped my fingers around the glass and the condensation that had started there wet my skin. I didn’t mind, though. I would finish it before much more could form.
“Thanks, I needed this,” I said, pulling my phone out of my pocket and setting it down on the table just in case I was needed at Everwood. “What a fucking morning.”
Greg frowned. “Everything okay? Is there a holdup with the resort or something?”
“No,” I said, the word ending in a scoff. “It’s much, much worse than that, but let’s talk about you. How are the kids?”
He shrugged, eyes narrowed as he surveyed me. “They’re teenagers. Nothing has changed with them since the last time we spoke. What the hell is going on with you, though?”
I groaned. “I made a mistake.”
“A mistake?” His eyebrows rose. “It’s not like you to admit that. Don’t you usually call those opportunities for professional growth? ”
“This wasn’t professional.”
“Oh.” A slow smirk started spreading his lips. “Did the college student declare her love to Daddy Arland? Do you now have a barely legal stalker?”
I grunted. “She’s twenty-eight, and she’s Brian’s sister.”
The smirk melted away. Greg blinked hard, then blinked again, rolling his lips into his mouth before he widened his eyes at me. “Are you serious? She’s Brian’s sister? Doesn’t that also mean that she’s your new?—”
“Assistant,” I finished for him. “Why, yes. Yes, it does mean that she’s my new assistant. Fun, huh?”
He stared back at me for a few more beats before he busted out laughing. I sighed, but I couldn’t fight the grin that broke free while I waited for him to stop. “I know, Greg. I know, okay? It’s hilarious, but it’s also potentially damaging to my relationship with my business partner, which is a problem.”
“Potentially?” he repeated incredulously between chuckles. “If she’s twenty-eight, that would’ve made him, and you, a teenager when she was born. Which probably means that he sees her as part sister, part daughter. Do you remember Gabriel Adams? He practically raised his younger sisters and he was the worst when it came to them. This wouldn’t just potentially damage your relationship with Brian. It would blow it to smithereens.”
“Thanks,” I said dryly and took a sip of beer, swallowing by the time his laughter finally subsided. “I’m screwed, aren’t I?”
“Well, that depends. Does he know that you got down with her?”
I shook my head. “She’s smart. When he introduced us, she just rolled with it as if she’d never met me before.”
“Clever girl.” He inhaled deeply, his chest rising as he glanced out into the forest. “Look, I’m not saying it’s going to matter much to him when he first finds out, but you didn’t know who she was at the time, right?”
“Didn’t have clue,” I replied honestly. “Do you think it’ll matter that she’s only his half-sister? They’ve got different moms.”
He snorted. “Nope, I don’t think it’s going to matter at all. What might matter is if you can tell him that it happened before you found out that she was his sister, and that you never touched her again. Have you? Touched her since?”
“No, and I’ve already told her that we should probably stay away from each other. For the exact reason you just said.”
“Did she agree?”
I nodded. “We’re going to be keeping our distance, but see, that’s where my biggest problem comes in. I don’t want to keep my distance.”
Surprise flashed in his eyes as his brow rose. “Do you actually like this girl?”
I shrugged. “Enough to have contacted her again if she hadn’t turned out to be his sister.”
Greg was quiet for a moment, simply staring back at me with his gaze far away as he considered what I’d said. Meanwhile, I sipped my beer, signaling to Mandy, the server, to bring us another round when I caught her eye.
Eventually, Greg refocused on me. “I want you to hear me out.”
Apprehension tightened my chest, but I nodded. “Okay?”
“Maybe this is a good thing,” he said bluntly. “After what you told me last week about Brian’s sister and why he wanted her onboard, having her around will be good for the business, but it could also be good for your heart.”
“My heart?” I scoffed. “When I said I would’ve called her again, it’s not my heart that wanted me to do it.”
“No, I know.” He laughed. “Getting your dick wet is one thing, but I saw you with her that night in the bar. You were having a good time. You were talking. Laughing.”
“So?”
He exhaled sharply. “So it wasn’t just about taking her back to your place. You enjoyed the time you spent with her, and now she’s going to be around when you’re at work as well. Maybe she’s the one who will finally remind you what it’s like to be human.”
“I am human.”
He arched an eyebrow at me. “You haven’t been human when it comes to relationships since you got married, Arland. After Lisa, your heart froze over. Maybe this girl is going to defrost it.”
“What if I don’t want it defrosted?” I asked easily, shrugging before I accepted my new beer from Mandy and waited for her to set his down too. Once she was gone, I shook my head at him. “I don’t want to get married again. What’s wrong with that?”
“What’s wrong with it is that it’s not true. Sure, Lisa didn’t turn out to be the one, but you always said that you didn’t want to grow old alone. Now here you are, growing old and not even considering any possibility other than doing it alone.”
“She slept with my brother , Greg. Why on God’s green earth would I put myself at risk of going through something like that again?”
“Well, I mean, maybe just don’t trust Smith alone with the next one, but I know how you feel, Arland. Do you remember how cold I was to the world after Lina?”
“We were twenty when she broke your heart.”
“Yeah, but we were twenty- five when Lisa broke yours,” he countered. “It only takes one woman to change your life. I found the girl who changed mine in Mara. Maybe this is the girl that will change yours.”
I scoffed. “It only takes one woman, alright. It also only takes one to break your ability to love, and I’m afraid that’s what happened to me.”
Greg sighed, picking up his fresh beer and taking a deep, long sip. Once he’d swallowed it, he shook his head. “Lisa didn’t break you, Arland. She simply gave you an excuse to act like she had.”