Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
CHLOE
“I’m going to be late,” I groan, kissing Brantley once more across the center console of his car.
“I know your boss. I’ll make up an excuse for you. I needed my dry cleaning picked up or some shit,” he mumbles against my lips as he continues to kiss me.
“That’s so unprofessional. Besides, we both know I’d never get your dry cleaning. I’m not your bitch.”
He smiles against me. “No. You’re my girlfriend.”
I sigh, loving hearing those words. “I must have lost my mind to agree to be your girlfriend.”
He tickles me, making me giggle before kissing me again. “You love me.”
“You know you say that so proudly, but I am a mess. I’m not sure that’s a brag I would be telling everyone.”
He cups my cheek. “Trust me, Chloe. Being loved by you is like climbing Mount Everest. Not everyone can do it, so when you do, it’s a great feat.”
“I’m not some great wonder of the world. I’m a woman like any other.”
“Maybe to some, but to me you are a unicorn. Something I never knew existed.”
I kiss him one last time before pulling away. “I’m going to work now. You should too.”
He leans back in his seat, looking to the ceiling. “Come see me in my office later?” he asks.
“In your dreams.”
I leave him in his car as I stride toward the building. It’s risky for us to ride to work together, but I’m starting to care less and less.
Brantley Gibson is my boyfriend.
“Hey Bruce,” I call out to the guard.
“Good morning, Miss Chloe. How are you this morning?” he asks.
“Wonderful.”
“I bet you are. Listen, I like you. You remind me of my daughter, so I’m going to tell you the gossip I heard even though I hate getting involved.”
My stomach clenches. “What gossip?”
“There’s a rumor going around that you are dating Mr. Gibson. I don’t see an issue with it, but it might cause you some issues. I don’t want to see you hurt.”
“Thanks, Bruce. I appreciate you letting me know.”
I hustle inside before Brantley comes up and hears our conversation. I don’t need him getting involved. He is a problem solver, so he will go into damage control mode.
I need to assess more before we do anything hasty. Honestly, I’m not sure if we do anything at all. It’s true. I am dating him. If they think I got the job because of him, well, they would be right, but for the wrong reasons. He gave me the job long before we started officially dating.
Taking the elevator up to our floor, I am nervous. I don’t know how people are going to react.
Lucy is the first to greet me.
“Good morning, Chloe. Love the dress.”
I smile back. “Morning. Thank you.”
No one seems to be looking at me, so I let out a shaky breath. Maybe no one even cares.
“Hey, Chloe? Can you meet the team in the conference room?” Sarah asks as soon as I set my things at my desk.
“Of course. I’ll be right here.”
When I walk in, the room is quiet.
They know.
Fuck. I don’t know what I’m going to do.
“Listen, we wanted to get this out of the way because it’s spreading like wildfire.
We have known you have been dating the owner for a while.
The chemistry between you two is tangible.
Had you sucked at your job, it would be an issue, but you are amazing at this.
We don’t care if you are dating him, so don’t worry about the whispers,” Sarah starts.
“I mean, don’t use him as leverage or anything when you are pissed. That wouldn’t be cool, but you don’t seem the type,” Malik adds.
“Nah, she’s more the type to steal your stapler or hide ducks around your desk that you will be finding for days,” Randy adds, making us all laugh.
“You really don’t care?” I ask, needing to be sure.
“What you do outside of this office is none of our business. If you want to talk about it, of course we will listen, but it doesn’t affect your job. You are really good at this. Don’t let what you have with him diminish what you are doing here.” Sarah reaches over and pats my hand.
“Yeah, don’t let the man keep you down,” Malik jokes.
“You are a man.” Sarah glares at him.
“Hey, I don’t let them hold me down either. Well, not unless he’s attractive.” Malik winks at me.
“I think I need to leave. I feel like I’m now the man being targeted.” Randy looks around nervously.
“Nah, you’re one of the team too. We will protect you. The man won’t hold you down either,” I tell him.
“Oh good. I was getting real concerned there,” Randy jokes.
“So is that why you called me in here? I have to admit, I was really worried that you guys were going to hate me,” I tell them.
“Never, and as much as I would like to tell you the world revolves around you, we have a big project. You’ve heard about the hockey banquet we hold every year, right?
” At my nod, she continues. “We work on it year-round, but it’s coming up, so now we need to come up with a presentation for it.
Kind of like a commercial that will play during the banquet. ”
“Okay, what have we got so far?” I ask.
They all sigh. “We have years of previous years to look through before we can create a new one, and we only have a couple weeks to do it.”
“Oh goodness. Okay, well, let’s break them up between us and take notes. We see what worked and what didn’t, and we use that to create something new.” I keep my tone upbeat.
“Only you can find the positive in this. It’s going to suck balls,” Malik says.
“Really?” Randy groans.
“Let’s get to work,” Sarah says as she stands, stopping by my chair. “Glad to have you on the team.”
It’s the reassurance I needed. Who cares what everyone else thinks when I have my team at my back?
brANTLEY
Chloe has been quiet on the drive home. Usually she is chatty and animated the entire way. It’s my favorite part of the day.
I wait until we get home and change into our comfy clothes before I approach her.
“Are you okay, babe?” I ask, pulling her into my arms.
“Oh. Sorry, I have a headache. We were watching these old banquet videos all day, and I guess it wasn’t good for my brain.”
I frown. “Go sit on the couch. I’ll order some food and bring you some meds.”
“I can get them,” she whispers.
“No way. Go.” I shoo her away.
“Yes, sir.”
I hate that she doesn’t feel well. I want to do anything to make it better.
Dialing Max, I wait for him to answer.
“What’s up?” he asks.
“When Iris gets those migraines, how do you make her feel better?” I ask.
“Uh, she has medicine for it. Usually she wants to burrow under a nice fluffy comforter with all the lights off. I usually bring her a cold pack for the back of her neck too. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn’t, but I always do it anyway. Why?”
“Chloe has a headache. I’ve never had to deal with one that wasn’t my own,” I admit to him.
He bursts out laughing. “Bro, you have it so bad. Listen, Iris is different. She has migraines that have been diagnosed, so you handle it differently. Try what I said, though, and see if it helps. You can also gently massage her temples or neck, depending on where the pain is. Follow her lead. She will tell you what works.”
“Thanks, man.”
“Hope she feels better soon. Can’t wait to officially meet her as your girlfriend.”
“Fuck off,” I mutter, hanging up the phone.
Going to the freezer, I mentally curse that I don’t have an ice pack. I search around and find an old bag of frozen corn. I figure it might work. Grabbing a bottle of water, the meds, and a towel along with the frozen corn, I head back into the living room.
Chloe is curled up on one side of the couch with a little throw blanket. Max said a big fluffy one, though, so that won’t work.
“Here, put this on the back of your neck,” I tell Chloe, handing her the corn wrapped in the towel.
Then I open the medicine and get some out for her before handing it and the water to her. She does everything without complaint. Then she lies her head back down. I go pull the comforter off the bed in my room and bring it back to her, tucking her in.
She smiles up at me. “Really?”
“You need to be comfy. You chill out. I’ll order the food.”
I settle on the couch next to her, putting her feet in my lap. Her eyes are closed, so I pull my phone out. I quickly order something easy, then put my phone away.
The living room is silent as I pick up her feet and start to massage them.
“That feels good,” she murmurs.
I don’t respond. I keep massaging them. After a while, I move up to her calves.
By the time the food is set to arrive, she is sound asleep. I go wait outside for the food, not wanting the guy to wake her up.
Going back inside, I put her food in the fridge before eating something quickly. Then I make my way back to the couch. The sun has set now, making the entire place dark.
I don’t care, though. I would sit here like this forever with her.
After about an hour, she wakes up.
“What time is it?” she asks.
“Eight,” I whisper back to her. “How are you feeling?”
She hands me the now-warm corn. “Better. Thank you for taking care of me.”
“It was my pleasure,” I tell her. “Are you hungry?”
“Yeah. Can we turn a light on now?” she asks.
I do, hating the way she winces. “Does your head still hurt?”
“No. I’m good now. I’m going to go use the bathroom. I’ll be back.”
“I’ll heat up your food.”
We go our separate ways as I head to the kitchen to heat up her food. By the time she comes padding back into the room, I have it ready for her.
“You’re really good at this,” she tells me.
“I don’t know how. It’s the first time I’ve even had to take care of someone else,” I admit. “Besides, Ari, of course.”
“You’re good with her, though. She loves you,” she tells me before taking a bite of her food.
“She’s easy to sway, though. Buy her a doll or unicorn, and she will be your best friend forever. I’m trying to soak it up while I can. I know one day Uncle Brantley will be embarrassing and she won’t want anything to do with me,” I admit.
“Nah, she will still love you. I have it on good authority that you are her favorite uncle,” she tells me.
I laugh. “I am when she’s here. Eli is when he takes over. Max takes her on the jet, so she loves him most at times. Whoever said you can’t buy love never met a child.”
“I think you’ll be the favorite in her teens, though. Think about it, you give her access to all those sweaty, hot men. She will be at every single game. I promise.”
I groan. “I am going to have to ban her from games. Why would you put that in my head? Wait, do you think they are sweaty and hot? Do I have something to be concerned about?”
She shrugs. “What? Hockey players are sweaty, and most of them are hot too. Besides, they have to be limber doing all those pregame workouts.”
I chuckle. “Good to know my girlfriend can be so easily tempted by my players.”
“Hey, I never said I was tempted. It’s like window shopping. I can look if they are putting it on display, but I know that those heels I have at home are my favorite and the only ones I want to wear,” she tells me.
“I’m glad I’m your comfort heels. You are a menace, you know that? Finish your food so we can go cuddle. I’m feeling a little insecure now.”
“Oh, you big baby.” She rolls her eyes, but I see the small smile.
Mission accomplished.
Now I just need to keep her happy and healthy.