Chapter 5
I didn’t trust the new girl.
I didn’t trust her, and for the first time, Asher was dismissing my concerns because he’d already looked into her before his now-fiancée had moved into the new girl’s house.
Looking into someone could only show so much; it could also show a lie. So, I didn’t care what Asher thought he knew about Chloe; she was setting off red flags for me, and my job was to find the red flags.
The girl literally radiated joy, even in the middle of Asher yelling and me trying not to die from taking a knee to the groin. And throughout it all, her expression and tone had been bubbly, adorable excitement, which would’ve been fine if it hadn’t been so out of place.
You would’ve thought Asher had been gifting her puppies instead of yelling about why she shouldn’t be there. You would’ve thought she’d just handed me one of those ridiculously large checks for an obscene amount of money instead of watching me nearly choke to death on a donut.
She was just too happy, and I couldn’t trust that.
To be fair, I knew people generally considered me to be a happy guy, but I liked to think of it as a coping mechanism for what we’d seen overseas and on missions. Didn’t mean I was secretly miserable, or thought everyone else should be too. And I knew there were happy people in the world—sometimes annoyingly so. But there was something different about Chloe.
Like the joy pouring from her had grated on my every nerve because, for how genuine it seemed, I was sure it wasn’t. And it made the way she’d looked at everyone like the star-eye emoji bother me that much more. Like she’d gotten so used to faking her happiness that she didn’t know how to be anything else now.
Made me wonder why she’d ever had to.
Made me wonder what else she was that good at faking...hiding.
But again, Asher was brushing off my concerns. Worse, his only concern was Gray potentially breaking Chloe’s heart since he was already making comments about what he thought of the new Ada . And he wanted me to prevent that from happening.
I had no intention of doing that.
The way I saw it, the faster Gray broke Chloe’s heart, the faster she’d be gone. And she needed to go.
Briggs would thank me when I figured out what this girl was hiding.
“Everyone know what they’re doing?” Briggs asked, breaking into my spiraling thoughts about the new girl—the new threat on my radar.
“Yep,” I said when everyone else voiced their acknowledgments, then glanced at my tablet to see what notes I’d taken during our morning meeting.
None.
Perfect.
Knowing Briggs would never let me hear the end of it if he realized I hadn’t been paying attention during the meeting, I stood to leave as I normally would, intent on getting the information from Gray, since we were working on the same thing anyway.
But as soon as I started rounding the large table in our conference room, Briggs’ causal yet commanding tone brought me to an abrupt halt. “Need you to show Chloe how to use the phones and our system.”
I glanced around at the other guys, sure Briggs had been talking to one of them instead, then felt frustration unfurl in my chest when he spared a sideways glance at me when he added, “Now, Thatch. Before you and Gray start on the Donut.”
“Isn’t that Ada’s job?” I asked, surprising Briggs and forcing his full attention onto me.
Just as I wondered if Briggs was truly that surprised that I hadn’t immediately jumped to do something he’d demanded, he slowly ground out, “Ada bailed as soon as we got here,” as if I already should’ve known that.
And maybe if I’d been paying attention during the meeting, I would’ve. But I’d been too focused on the threat in the form of a new girl.
With a shrug, I jerked my chin in Gray’s direction. “I think Gray would do a better job at showing the new girl.”
“Gladly,” Gray drawled, already turning for the door.
“Stop,” Briggs seethed at Gray even as his gaze narrowed on me in contemplation.
Briggs knew I didn’t shy away from people I viewed as threats—that the red flags they threw my way only drew me closer until I had them figured out. He also knew I wasn’t one to turn down spending time with a beautiful woman. Not that Chloe was anywhere near my type; but even with the immediate rise of my suspicions, it’d been impossible to miss how breathtaking the new girl was.
Or maybe that’d just been me choking on the donut.
Before Briggs realized I was deliberately trying to get Gray to break Chloe’s heart, I said, “The superintendent case is more for me than Gray. I need to focus on that.”
“You will,” he began after studying me for a few seconds longer, then looked at his own tablet dismissively, “ after you help Chloe. It shouldn’t take long.”
My mouth opened to respond, but I just forced a sharp nod as I continued around the table and out of the conference room. Storming through the office, I rounded the corner to the front and found Chloe sitting behind the desk, elbows on the wooden surface in front of her, face in her hands as she took deep, methodical breaths.
“Not too soon to quit,” I said in way of announcing myself, startling her.
Her head snapped up and hands fell like they hadn’t just been hiding her stress; then all that joy was bursting from her as if it’d never stopped as her stare quickly bounced between my face and arms. All while a slightly startled, “Hey—wait, what? Oh, no. No, I’m not gonna—I’m fine,” left her on a hushed laugh that did nothing to dim its brightness.
As if I hadn’t seen her looking like she was one push away from a panic attack just seconds before. As if I hadn’t seen the worry on her expression the instant her head had lifted, before she’d managed to forcefully shift her features.
Red flags all around.
“You sure about that?” I asked as I leaned against the upper portion of the desk, looking down on her, a whisper of mocking irritation weaving through my disbelief when I continued. “Not what it looked like when I came up here.”
Despite it all, her smile brightened. A look so pure and stunning and seemingly genuine that I nearly got lost in it and the way her hazel eyes danced until I managed to rip my stare away and noted how her hands were clenched into tight fists on her lap.
Got you.
Still, it worried me how good she was at faking the rest. How I’d nearly fallen for it.
“I’m Chloe,” she said, as if I weren’t already keenly aware of that. “We didn’t really meet—well...” Her nose scrunched up in that adorable way I’d had the unfortunate pleasure of witnessing earlier, drawing my attention back to the light dusting of freckles on her cheeks. “I mean, we met , just not officially.” She leaned a little closer and let her voice drop to a whisper. “Are you okay?”
“Am I okay from what, exactly? Being dropped to my knees, dropping donuts, or choking on one?” I asked, my tone letting her know I was nowhere near ready to forgive her for any of the offenses.
Her eyebrows lifted as she sucked in a quick breath through her teeth. But once again, she looked like she was being given the greatest gift instead of being reminded of our unfortunate first encounter. “Right. I really am sorry,” she said as her smile shifted into something a little softer, a little more amused.
I wondered if it was normal to have this much animosity toward someone you’d just met—someone you’d had no knowledge of before meeting them. But with every blinding smile and every dance of her eyes that was clearly meant to put the people around her at ease, my suspicion of her grew. With every part of her I felt myself getting trapped in, I forced myself to look away, to look for the inconsistencies. Like her clenched hands.
“That’s nice,” I forced out, then gestured between the phone and computer. “I’m supposed to show you how to use them, and I’m busy. So, let’s do this.”
“What’s your name?” she asked as I started around the desk, completely undeterred by my irritation.
“Depends on who you ask.” When she just continued watching me expectantly, I conceded, “Adam Thatcher. Women call me Thatch...friends call me Thatch. I’d rather you not call me anything because I don’t plan on you being here long.”
Her head tipped back with her next laugh—the sound bright and free as it left her full lips before those dancing eyes once again found me, as if my animosity amused her. “Okay, then. Superman it is.”
One of my eyebrows ticked up at the name. “Excuse me?”
“Well, I have to call you something,” she said as if it should’ve been obvious.
“And you landed on Superman,” I countered, voice deadpan.
A confirming hum left her as she absently reached for where her deep red hair was piled into a messy knot on top of her head, making sure it was still in place, and giving me the perfect view of the slight tremble in her fingers.
“So, I can’t get into the computer,” she said abruptly, forcing my stare away from where it’d fallen to sweep over the rest of her body, as if some traitorous part of me had been eager to take in the hourglass figure I’d had no choice but to stare at earlier. After all, she’d been directly in front of me, and I’d been sizing up the new threat.
But again . . . not my type.
Typically.
“Ada only left me employment forms and a note telling me not to be too good at my job, which means I don’t know the password,” Chloe finished with what might’ve been considered a sigh for her.
If it hadn’t been for the way she’d tried hiding her hands beneath the desk as they’d formed into fists again, and if it hadn’t been for the nearly imperceptible waver in her bubbly voice, I would’ve been so sure Chloe wasn’t bothered by me or the stunt Ada pulled on her.
But I’d caught them, and I had a feeling the Ada thing was partially—if not fully—the reason behind why I’d found Chloe the way I had.
“ Admin ,” I told her as I folded my arms over my chest, never taking my eyes off her so I wouldn’t miss anything else. “It was the only thing we could get Ada to remember. I’d say you could change it, but you won’t be here long enough.”
There was the slightest falter as Chloe reached for the keyboard before she twisted in the seat again to study me, her apologetic expression once again broken up by all that joy. “I really am sorry for hurting you. And for making you drop the donuts,” she added as an afterthought.
“That isn’t what this is about,” I informed her just as she began turning around, and was rewarded with a slip in her happy mask.
It only lasted a couple seconds, but it was enough.
The resignation and hollowness I caught a glimpse of before that false excitement brightened her features again screamed truth, and I knew right then that I was right not to trust this girl.
I ignored the way her sadness made my stomach dip and chest clench. I ignored how it made me feel like the worst kind of person for forcing that reaction from her. Because it shouldn’t matter; Chloe was nothing more than a stranger who had neon red flags waving all around her.
Finding and figuring out those people was what I did.
Getting rid of them was what I did.
She was no different.
“That’s our system for messages.” I showed her, pointing at the app on the desktop. I held back a sigh when she clicked into it because I didn’t really see the purpose of all this. But if she felt like she needed to learn it, I’d humor her...for Briggs. “It’s simple. If we’re not here or can’t take a call, you just click on the person the message is for, type it in, and hit submit.”
“That is simple,” she agreed, sitting up a little straighter as if excited by the straightforwardness Ada had refused to learn. The movement sent the gentlest tease of her coconut and vanilla perfume my way.
I hated coconut, and yet, I found myself drawing in a deep breath just to get another hint of the scent that seemed so enticing on this woman.
Shaking my head as if I could rid the smell and thoughts from my mind, I gave a confirming grunt and gestured to the desk phone. “I’m assuming you know how to answer a phone.”
A breath of a laugh punched from her. Chloe’s head quickly bobbed before she glanced up at me, those deceitful eyes full of amusement. “Um...yep, I’d say so.”
“Good,” I said irritably. “When people call, it’ll light up one of the lines. Click the line you want to answer.” Pointing to the buttons on the phone, I explained, “Push hold for the obvious reason. All our desks are clearly labeled. Once you’ve put a call on hold, tap whoever the call is for and tell them who’s calling. If we can take the call, we’ll take it from there. If not, take a message and put it in the messaging system.”
“Got it,” she said with a decisive nod.
“Then we’re done here.” The words were a mumble as I started walking back around the desk to leave, but I’d only made it a handful of feet before her, “Wait, don’t go!” stopped me.
I drew in a steadying breath, then released it with, “Not that hard, new girl.” When I glanced her way, I found myself caught up in the softest smile tugging at her full mouth as her head subtly shook in amusement.
“No, not that,” Chloe said with a wave of her hand before that hand disappeared beneath the desk again, but I fought the impulse to see if she was clenching them into fists again. Or maybe that was because I was still trapped in a smile and dancing eyes. “You were right, that was all very easy. But Cameron said I’d need to organize client files?”
My head dipped before shaking. In part to continue clearing my head of this girl, mostly in answer. “Ada did that,” I corrected her. “There isn’t a point in teaching you any of that.”
Everything about her froze for the longest second of my life, once again making my stomach drop and confirming she was forcing the mask I was seeing, before she released a shaky laugh and rolled her eyes. “Because I won’t be here long. Right?”
I needed to walk away; leave her without a response because I’d already made my point. But for some asinine reason, I hesitated—wavered as I considered going back around the desk, even if just to try making up for hurting her before I remembered what this was. Who she was.
A threat.
“Right,” I agreed before heading to the main part of the office.
“Told you,” Gray muttered around a donut as I sank into the chair behind my desk, then used the donut to point toward the front of the office. “She’s cute.”
He had, just minutes after I’d followed Briggs to tell him why he couldn’t let Chloe work here. I’d barely let myself consider Gray’s words then, and I wouldn’t now.
Beautiful or not, intriguing or not, Chloe was hiding something. She was the current threat on my family.
I had to get rid of her.