17. Chapter 17 #2
Desire sparks to life in my gut as memories of Italy surface again. I force it down, hoping it doesn’t show on my face. “I have every plan to keep a professional distance. You don’t have to worry.”
She looks me up and down one more time and doesn’t seem all that impressed with what she sees. “I have a guardian moose on my side, so you’d better watch out, Benson.”
That catches me off guard, and I frown. “A guardian what?”
“You heard me.”
I have no idea what a guardian moose is, but I’m going to guess I should be wary. “I’m not going to do anything to hurt Avery.”
“Better not,” is all she says before she waves goodbye to Lynda and disappears out the door.
Lynda pokes her head around the corner and smirks. “Sounds like you’ve gotten yourself on the wrong side of the Hayes family’s favor.”
Chuckling, I put my hands in my pockets and join her in the lobby so I don’t accidentally overhear anything from Eric and Avery’s conversation.
He’d better be telling her about the conference, though I worry about how she’s going to react.
“Seems to be my usual MO,” I say and lean against her desk.
“You know families and I don’t get along. ”
She swats my arm. “What do you call me?”
“My saving grace.” I pick up her hand and press a kiss to her knuckles.
I mean that. Lynda taking me in during holidays is one of the big reasons I didn’t quit college halfway through, particularly because she invited me over all the time during the summers too, when guilt brought me back home to live with my own family between school years.
“Heaven knows why you put up with me as much as you did.”
Tutting, she pats my cheek. “Benson, you are a much better man than you think you are. You were then, and you are now.”
“You’re making me blush, Mrs. Greer.” All jokes aside, I feel her praise in my bones, and my regret for coming here isn’t as strong as it was a moment ago. “But thanks, Lynda.”
She grins. “So what have you done to get on Sadie’s watch list?”
I’m about to answer when Eric’s door flies open, followed shortly by Avery’s slamming shut. I curse under my breath—she didn’t take the news well—but I don’t get a chance to fill Lynda in before Eric is storming toward us, his suit coat and briefcase in hand.
“I need to go pack,” he says without looking at either of us.
Then he’s gone.
“Oh dear,” Lynda says and touches her fingers to her lips. “That clearly didn’t go how he hoped. I’m guessing he told her about the conference?”
I raise an eyebrow. “Are there no secrets kept from you?”
Shrugging, she settles at her desk and starts clicking out of her open windows.
Whether she’s leaving because it’s the end of the day or because she plans to follow Eric, she’s going to leave me here with Avery.
Angry Avery, which is someone I haven’t met.
“This office is small,” she says, as if that explains everything. “He’s also my son.”
And a mama’s boy , I don’t say out loud. He always has been. He probably told her he was going to the conference the minute he booked the ticket.
I rub the back of my neck and consider following her lead and sneaking out, except my laptop is in Avery’s office and I need it for a video call with a potential client tonight. “Is she going to be okay?”
Sighing, Lynda pats my cheek again. “She’ll be fine. She’s stronger than she thinks she is, and it will be for the best if she stays here.”
“Will it?” My eyes travel to the hall, though I can’t see Avery’s door from here. With her angry reaction, I’m more convinced than ever she would have loved to go to that conference, and if she stays here…
That means she’s staying here with me.
“I need to run. Will you check on her once she’s had some time to process?” Lynda pats my cheek a third time, grabs her purse, and slips out the door before I can formulate a response.
Not that I could say anything but yes.
I give Avery five minutes of privacy, during which I pace the hallway and search the internet for how to console an angry woman.
I don’t learn much at all, as most of the advice people have given is to run far away and let her cool down before approaching.
I’m not the only one who finds an angry woman intimidating.
It’s suddenly painfully obvious that I have almost never had to deal with heightened emotions, as most of my life is spent charming people and keeping them happy.
When I can’t keep myself away any longer, I knock softly on Avery’s door. She doesn’t respond, so I say, “It’s me. Want to talk?”
Her door flies open a moment later, and I take a step back when I see her wild eyes.
She hasn’t been crying, like I thought maybe she would be, and there’s nothing but righteous fury in her expression.
“Did you know?” she demands, hand still on the door like she’s ready to shut it on me as soon as I respond.
It’s a bad idea to assume I know what she’s talking about, but I do it regardless. “He told me right before he told you.”
She softens at that, a bit of hurt entering her gaze. “It’s sold out. I tried to buy a ticket, but…”
Part of me wants to tell her to go anyway and try to get in under Eric’s name before he can show up, since he would have registered it under Rose & Quill.
But that’s the Benson who was in Italy, not the one who is here to make sure R&Q thrives.
“I’m sure Eric will share any notes he takes,” I say lamely, wincing when her gaze turns sharp again.
“All I’ve ever wanted—my ex mansplaining my own job to me.” With a huff, she stalks back to her desk and drops into her chair, and her eyes go distant as she stares at her screen.
I lean against the door frame, wishing I knew the right thing to say. But as often happens with this woman, I’m at a loss for words. The right words, anyway. “For the record, he’s an idiot for not bringing you with him.”
She rolls her eyes. “Is he salty because of the whole bloody nose thing? It was an accident!”
An impressive accident that still makes me chuckle when I think about it. “I couldn’t tell you,” I say honestly. “But there’s a chance you’re right. Regardless, he made the wrong choice.”
“I wish I could…”
“What?”
Looking up at me, she bites her lip for a second, then sighs. “It’s stupid, but I want to go back to the way things were. When we were together.”
Oh boy, I don’t like the sharp pain now stabbing me in the ribs. “You want to get back together with him?” Whether she wants to or not shouldn’t matter, but I hate that idea more than I hate the way Eric shut her out with this conference thing.
Avery snorts and shakes her head. “No. That’s over. Probably should have been over sooner than it was.”
The relief that washes over me is…concerning. “So what do you mean?” Somehow I manage to sound aloof and unconcerned when I ask that.
“I mean we had a good partnership when we were together. We were both more willing to compromise because we didn’t want to damage our relationship if we had arguments about work things.
” With another heavy sigh, she stands and grabs her purse.
“Now there’s nothing to hold our frustrations back, and I’m worried it’s going to ruin us. ”
“Then it’s a good thing I’m here.” I frown as soon as I say that. What does that mean? “Because I can, uh, bridge the gap.” But only for a few weeks, and then I’ll be off helping someone else’s company.
Avery looks at me for a long moment, her expression inscrutable. “So it’s just you and me for the next few days.”
My heart thuds in my chest. “And Lynda,” I add, almost desperately. Not twenty minutes ago, I was telling myself I need to find a way to put some space between Avery and me if I want to focus and make a proper plan for Rose & Quill.
But I don’t want Avery to think she’s alone when I know all too well how much that can wear on a person.
Avery huffs out a laugh and nods. “And Lynda,” she confirms. “Maybe you and I can make some solid marketing plans while Eric is gone.”
Lynda can help , I want to add, though Lynda only deals with the office and the customer service side of things.
Maybe she would be interested in brainstorming with Avery?
Without Eric across the hall, I won’t have that steady reminder to stay in my lane, and I’ll have to be extra diligent about keeping things professional, like I told Sadie I would do.
From the little I’ve interacted with Avery’s cousins, it’s clear they’re not a family I want to cross.
And letting myself get close to Avery again? That will undoubtedly hurt her.
“Maybe,” I say because Avery is waiting for an answer. But I need to change the subject. “Are you heading home already?”
Glancing down at her purse in her hand, she shrugs. “I shouldn’t. I’m behind on social media posts, but I’m not exactly in a work mood right now. Honestly, I should just…” She stops herself, her eyebrows pulling low.
My curiosity is too strong to ignore. “You should what?”
Her jaw tightens as she looks at her computer. “I’ve been wanting to hire someone to handle our socials for a while now.”
I tilt my head, sensing more. “But?”
“But Eric always says it’s unnecessary.” She stands a little taller, looking more like the confident woman I didn’t want to say goodbye to in Florence. “Clearly Eric isn’t always right, and I’m as much of an owner as he is. I can hire someone if I want to.”
Though I shouldn’t be, I can’t help but be attracted to the fierce look in her eyes as she talks about going behind my friend’s back. Fighting a grin, I fold my arms and nod thoughtfully. “You totally can. I was going to recommend it anyway. You have too much on your plate as it is.”
Her eyes jump to mine. “Yeah, I do.”
“Want me to post a job listing for you before I head out?”
Sighing, she rolls her eyes. “I can do it in the morning. But thanks.” Her head cocks to the side as she studies me for a moment, and then she says, “Do you want to go grab some dinner with me? I don’t want to be here, and I don’t want to be alone.
We can talk about the job listing and how stupid Eric is. ”
Yes. The word almost flies from my mouth, but I manage to swallow it. “Oh. Uh.” I resist the urge to palm my face for that brilliant response. Is that all I have to say? Pathetic .
Avery must think so too because she rolls her eyes and pushes past me, heading for the doors. “Forget it.”
I should let her go. Her frustration is exactly the sort of thing that can keep our relationship in the professional sphere. But what I should do is not often the thing I end up doing. “I want to,” I assure her, hot on her heels as she reaches the stairwell. “But it’s a bad idea.”
“Colleagues have dinner all the time.”
“You and I both know we’re not just colleagues.”
Coming to a sudden stop in the middle of the stairs, she whirls to face me.
But she’s on a lower step than I am, so her face is level with my sternum.
Groaning, she stomps back up the stairs until we’re at eye level with each other, which only adds to my attraction.
“What does that mean, Benson? Either Italy meant something or it didn’t, but you can’t have it both ways. ”
I open my mouth, but I have nothing to say. Not anything she wants to hear. But words rise in my throat, like they’re desperate to be free, and I find myself saying, “Of course Italy meant something.”
I curse under my breath as Avery’s eyes fill with tears because she obviously reads between the lines.
“But not enough,” she whispers.
I let her continue down the stairs without argument.
She doesn’t look back, and I don’t move.
She’s wrong. Our connection in Florence means more than anything has meant in a long time, but it also terrifies me because I don’t know what to do with it.
I’m only here for a few weeks, which is the case everywhere I go.
What can I really offer her? And that says nothing about Eric or Lynda or my family here in Utah.
It’s all too complicated, which means things have to stay professional, no matter how hard it will be.