Chapter 28 Carter
Chapter twenty-eight
Carter
“Did you see her face?” Trent asks, slapping his hand down on the table between us the next morning. “I almost came in my pants. I’ve wanted to see Kelsey Harper have that look of confusion on her face for so long.”
It’s taking every ounce of self-control I have not to break his stupid nose because, as much as I want to, I don’t need another incident like in high school.
And sure, maybe I should’ve mentioned I was dating Kelsey when Trent, with Julie and her friends in tow, showed up unexpectedly again, but honestly, it didn’t seem like his business.
It also seemed like Kelsey wouldn’t want him to know.
I shake my head, letting the disgust show on my face. “You’re a dick.”
“I know you’ve always been on Team Kelsey Harper, but come on, man, you have to admit how great this is for us.”
I clear my throat. “I may be more on Team Kelsey now.”
Trent looks at me, and instead of the anger I expected to see in his eyes, I see glee.
“No fucking way! You’re banging Kelsey Harper?”
I take a deep breath, glad the little restaurant around the corner from the hotel is empty except for us. How did I end up working for this grade-A prick? And why the fuck does he say her last name every time he refers to her? Is that how I sounded growing up?
“We’re dating.”
He scoffs. “Sure. Does she know that?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you two don’t seem like you’re dating. So it seems like maybe it’s all in your head.”
“We’re just being professional. You should try it sometime.”
“Oh, a little bit of heat from baby brother.” Trent laughs.
“Don’t call me that,” I say, my voice low.
There is something about Trent’s face that gives me pause. Trent’s always been an asshole, but he’s never been overtly evil, but there’s something about him that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
“Anyway, tell me your plan for winning this contract. You do have a plan, right?” Trent demands, leaning his elbows on the table between us.
“Because if we don’t get it, we likely won’t get the other contracts I’ve been working on, and I won’t have any option but to start making cuts. And you’re my most expensive employee.”
I force myself to take a deep breath, reminding myself that killing him wouldn’t help me.
Then I’d just be working for his wife—or more likely, she’d sell the company off in pieces for the money, and I’d be out of a job.
And now that I know about Kelsey’s history, there’s no way I could ask her to hire me.
“I think we’re well positioned to win. Our team has been outstanding; no issues on our watch. Honestly, I think this most recent outage hurt us—”
“What do you mean?” Trent cuts in before I can finish my thought.
“Well, with the earpieces, that felt like it was likely a mistake that happened at a bad time. This thing? With the video feeds looping and then cutting off only for her team? That feels like sabotage.”
“Or she’s terrible at her job. I don’t know why people keep skipping over that as an option. Her team’s job is cybersecurity, and she can’t even keep people from breaking into her own systems? Seems like a skill issue to me.”
I rub my hands over my face, combating the headache that always seems to pop up when I’m around Trent. “Regardless, it doesn’t change the fact that Jaxon and his team aren’t idiots. And now it looks like someone is trying to make Kelsey look bad. And I can only assume they think it was us.”
Trent’s eyes go dark, and I’m forced to really consider if Trent could be behind this. He’s never been the type to play that dirty before, but it is within the realm of possibility. Except he doesn’t have the tech skills to pull something like this off. Not him, and not any of the guys on our team.
Noticing I’ve balled my hands into fists, I pop my knuckles to release some of the tension flowing through my body.
“Do you have something you need to tell me?” I ask, forcing a calm mask into place.
“Of course not,” he says, though it feels a little too quick, the eye contact a little too forced.
“Good,” I say. “Because not only are we above doing something as shitty as sabotaging our competition, but it’s also a terrible plan.”
The conversation swirls through my mind like a bad smell.
I sit there with Trent, head aching from forcing myself to be calm while dealing with his shit.
The idea of him being behind the equipment failures…
it’s a stretch, even if I’m now questioning if he’d be opposed to it morally—something I’m going to try not to think about, since I still have to work for the prick.
But why is the suspicion still there, burrowing deeper and deeper into my gut?
I shake my head, forcing myself to focus.
Trent continues to talk, oblivious to the fact that I’m barely listening.
He’s rattling on about winning the contract and then winning two others that we’ll certainly get once they know we signed Jaxon.
Occasionally, he throws in a sad smile as he laments about it being “too bad Kelsey’s team couldn’t play with the big boys. ” I can’t help but tune him out.
I consider whether I should tell Kelsey about my suspicions, but I know she’s already deep down the rabbit hole investigating the outage. If, somehow, it is Trent, her team will uncover it soon enough. It’s exactly what they’re trained for, and they’re good at what they do.
She didn’t come to bed last night, instead taking five minutes to say goodbye to her sisters before holing up in the security room at the stadium to work with her team to find the source of the issue.
I’d left her to it, knowing Kelsey needed some time to deal with what she undoubtedly considers to be a major failure on her part.
I texted her a few times, but her responses were understandably short.
I sigh, pushing back my chair, needing some space. “I’ve got everything covered,” I tell Trent. “I’m going to head back to the hotel before the cars leave for the airport. Will you be joining us on the flight to Auckland?” I ask, realizing I have no idea when Trent plans to go back to Colorado.
I still can’t believe he decided to fly his wife and her four best friends here for a couple of days on the beach. I need to ask for a raise if he can afford this spur-of-the-moment trip. The company’s financials are something I’ve never been involved in, but maybe it’s time I start.
As I walk back to our hotel, the sunny, seventy-something-degree weather is a nice change from the winter we’ve been battling in the Northern Hemisphere. Unfortunately, there’s no chance of getting to enjoy it with Kelsey.
As I near the building, Bryn, Lila, JT, and Jameson exit the hotel, suitcases rolling along behind them.
Jameson notices me first, lifting a hand in greeting as he says something to the rest of the group that has them all turning my direction.
“Are you all headed out this morning?” I ask.
JT nods. “We’ve got a flight in a couple of hours. Jameo and I are headed straight to Palm Beach for the Classic next weekend.”
“You guys’ schedule is tough,” I say, only knowing enough about the sport to guess at how frequently the two professional golfers must travel.
“Oh, yes, the poor things,” Bryn offers with a sweet smile. “They fly around the world, only going to warm places, playing a game with their best friend. It’s truly amazing they haven’t simply perished.”
Lila laughs, loud and clear, as Jameo sends a glare at his girlfriend.
“If it’s so awesome, why don’t you travel with me more?” Jameo asks.
“I’m at half, if not more, of your tournaments with you! Plus, I have my own travel for work.”
Their conversation devolves into good-natured bickering as I focus my attention on Lila, noticing the dark circles under her eyes and the slight pale hue to her skin.
“Were you up all night with Kelsey?” I ask.
“Yeah. I just left her about thirty minutes ago to get ready for our flight.”
“Did your team get anything figured out?”
“Not yet. We had a couple of false leads, and Kelsey told the team back home to clock out once she realized how late it had gotten there.”
“You guys worked all night!” I reply, indignant on Kelsey’s behalf.
“You know how Kelsey is. She’s willing to run herself ragged but isn’t willing to ask the same of her team. I can’t decide if it makes her a good boss or a terrible one.”
I’m about to rage at her for even thinking Kelsey could be a terrible boss when Lila laughs.
“God, you two are so cute together. Look at him, JT. Remember when you got that worked up about Jameo saying I wasn’t good at card games.”
“That was on the flight here,” JT says. “So, yes, I still remember it, and now I’m annoyed with him again. Thanks a lot, Lila.”
She winks at me. “He’s more fun when he’s a little riled up. But anyway, I know Kelsey is a great boss, but I’m not sure if that’s a healthy trait of a leader or not.”
Bryn’s phone pings as a car pulls up to the curb, apparently their ride to the airport. I say goodbye, surprised when JT suggests I join him and Jameo for a round of golf when we’re all back in Wild Bluffs.
It’s a strange feeling, having plans with someone in Wild Bluffs who isn’t over the age of fifty. I chuckle to myself, a small, genuine smile tugging at the corners of my mouth. Somehow, Kelsey’s already changing the rhythm of my life back home, and we haven’t even gotten there yet.