Forsaking Gray (The Colloway Brothers Book 1) (9 page)

Today I’m wearing an off-white pencil skirt that hugs my curves and a navy sleeveless blouse that I’ve tucked into the high waist. I’ve complemented it with matching navy pumps. I’m proud to say this entire outfit is mine. I may have borrowed Addy’s sparkling dangly earrings, but everything else is one hundred percent mine, thanks to a Sunday afternoon shopping trip we took where we hit some really great season end sales at Macy’s.

“Did you forget something else?” I ask, as I turn back around to the task at hand. I suck in a sharp breath at my snippy remark. One stupid word can change an entire sentence. I hope he’s too distracted that he doesn’t realize that’s what I really meant.

“No. No.” He walks forward until he’s right behind me. I don’t turn, but I can feel his body heat and since my hair is up today, his warm breath tickles my neck. It makes me cringe. It makes me think of not only what a fool I made of myself on Saturday night, but how I put myself in danger. Had big and bulky not found me, I could have been…

I shudder. I don’t even want to think about it.

Wes reaches out and grazes my exposed skin with his fingertip. My disgust is rapidly morphing to anger. I have done nothing to lead this man on and he’s my boss, for God’s sake. For the umpteenth time this week, I wonder how I’ll ever be able to keep this job. I’ve caught on quick, I like the few work friends I’ve made and I love the salary, but I don’t know if I can handle Wes’s advances without kicking him so hard in the balls he chokes on them. And his advances are becoming more blatant with each passing day.

“You were really great this week, Livvy,” he says softly. My anger spikes. I won’t let any man call me that. That name is reserved only for Gray. And I know I’ll never hear it again.

“I prefer Livia and thank you.” I snap the last binder closed, spin and step around him, but not before he gently grabs my wrist, stopping me. I know the look on my face is purely lethal because he lets go like he’s just been burned.

“Would you like to get a drink?”

Hmmm…would I like to have a root canal?

“No, but thank you.”

“At least let me give you a ride home. It’s the least I can do since I’ve made you stay so late. I’m sure you’ve missed your train.”

I try my level best to smile, but I’m quite sure it comes across as more of a sneer. “Thank you, but my boyfriend is picking me up. In fact, he’s already on his way.”

“I didn’t realize you had a boyfriend,” he replied, unable to hide his disappointment.

Why the hell didn’t I think of this earlier?

“You didn’t ask. I’ll see you tomorrow,” I say with false sweetness as I walk out of the copy room and quickly make my way to my desk where I grab my purse and head toward the elevator.

“See you tomorrow, Livia,” he calls after me.

I don’t reply, but I do throw my hand in the air acknowledging his pathetic attempt to right things between us.

As I step into the elevator, I mentally pat myself on the back. I have a good feeling that tomorrow will be the start of a new working relationship between my boss and myself. A more professional one. The boyfriend ruse will surely get him to back off and if it doesn’t, I’ll just have to unleash my inner bitch. She’s been dying to take someone out.

Once the doors close, I text Addy that I’m ready for a ride and make my way down to the first floor to wait the thirty minutes it will take for her to get here. I then head to the bathroom to avoid Wes in case he catches me waiting.

Even though I vowed to stay away from alcohol for a while after last Saturday, I think one celebratory glass of wine when I get home won’t hurt. After less than two weeks on the job, I single-handedly got the sorriest excuse for a Vice President I’ve ever seen ready for one of the biggest meetings of the year. And it feels good.
More
than good.

Cheers to me.

Chapter 10

“You’d better have good news for me,” I snap when I answer my phone and stand to pace. I’ve been on fucking pins and needles all week. My patience is stretched so goddamned thin, God help the person who’s standing next to me when it snaps, which is bound to happen any minute. Even Bonnie’s smartly kept her distance.

“I do, sir. The woman accompanying Ms. Kingsley to the fundraiser is Kamryn Winthrop. She owns her own clothing design company. She’s been out of town on business this week, so I haven’t been able to talk to her yet.”

“And
that’s
your good news?” I can feel the tenuously tight grip I have on my patience slip a little more. My blood pressure is so high right now I wouldn’t be surprised if Bonnie walks in here at the end of the day to find me dead and stiff in my chair from a stroke.

“No. A background check popped up,” Burt replied.

I freeze. “For what?”

“A job. A company called HMT Enterprises on—” I hear papers shuffling before he continues, but I already know what he’s going to say. I make my way back to my chair and blindly sit.

“Ah, the loop. At the corner of West Randolph and—”

“West LaSalle,” I mumble, nearly unable to process what I’m hearing.

“Yes, that’s it. Are you familiar with them?”

“You could say that.” Burt’s never been to my office, so he doesn’t have a clue where I work. He knows my position at GRASCO Holdings, that’s it. “When was the background check?”

“Two and a half weeks ago, sir. And with that, I do have a home address for her as well.” Burt rattled it off, but I’m almost too stunned by this news to write it down. She’s been right under my nose, in
my
very building, working for one of
my
companies for the last two weeks? And I didn’t have a fucking clue.

“Thanks, Burt. I’ll mail you a check today.”

I immediately pick up the phone and call Camille. The board meeting starts in less than ten minutes and I don’t have time for this shit, but there is no way I’m going to wait another single second not knowing where to find Livvy.

“Gray, how can I help you today?” Camille’s sugary voice oozes through the speaker. Camille is a very beautiful woman, with legs that go on for miles and tits that a guy would love to sink his cock between. And if she had it her way, it would be mine doing the sinking. But I don’t fraternize with my employees. Ever. It’s not good business.

Except now I’m about to break my one cardinal rule because Livvy is apparently my employee.
Shit
.

“Livia Kinsley. Look her up and tell me her position within HMT.”

“Uh…of course. Just a minute.”

I hear her fingers click on the computer keys, but otherwise we remain quiet. The silence is deafening. I wonder what Livvy’s doing and whom she’s working for. I watch the clock and realize that I’ll be late to my own meeting. I’ve not been late to a board meeting once in the two years since we’ve formed GRASCO Holdings. Every single person attending that meeting knows how I feel about lateness.

“Camille,” I growl. “I’m in a bit of a hurry here.”

“Of course, sir. It’s pulling up now. I’m sorry, the system is running slow today.”

After several more beats of silence, she finally gives me the information I’ve been dying to hear. “Livia Kingsley. She just started a week ago last Monday as an executive assistant to Wesley Nichols.”

Nichols. VP of Research & Development.

Brilliant, but a bit flighty.

Handsome.

And very fucking single.

“Thank you.” I hang up as she starts to speak, not caring that I’m cutting her off.

I grab my folder and my cell phone and dash out the door, heading quickly to the stairs, but not before Bonnie stops me to hand me a couple of messages. The boardroom is on the thirty-fifth floor and my office is on the thirty-fourth. I take the stairs quickly, two by two, but my mind is not on the meeting ahead. It’s not on the sales or marketing or financial review that I’ll spend all afternoon listening to. It’s not on the agenda that I painstakingly put together and the business decisions that need made today.

No. It’s on the one woman I’ve longed to set my hungry eyes on again for the past three weeks. Hell, the past five years. And the fact that, in a few short hours when this meeting wraps up, I’m headed to the twenty-sixth floor to finally get the answers that I fucking deserve.

And to finally reclaim the one thing I’d thought lost to me forever.

My fiancée.

Chapter 11

My hands are sweaty, my stomach is in knots and my head is spinning.

Jake Campbell didn’t show up for the 9:00 meeting this morning because there must be a contagion of pregnancies at this place. His wife went into labor early with their first child and he was at the hospital with her. Where he should be.

But Jake then told Wes
he
would have to give the quarterly update to the board in his place and Wes freaked, promptly telling me that I would be attending the meeting with him since I’d put all of the materials together. And he needed someone to run the presentation while he talked.

Umm…didn’t they have those clicker things for that?

But that’s not why my body’s revolting against me. No. It’s not the fact that I’m not capable of hitting the little forward arrow on the computer when Wes is ready to go to the next slide. It’s not the fact that I’m sitting in a room of very powerful, very good-looking men, where I am completely out of place, because not only am I the only female, I’m also the only assistant in attendance. And it’s not the fact that this is the very first important business meeting I’ve ever attended.

Nope. It’s none of those things.

It’s the fact that Gray Colloway’s two brothers, Asher and Connelly, now sit across from me at this long table, staring. Fire’s blazing out of Asher’s sockets so hot, I wouldn’t be surprised if I spontaneously combust. And Connelly’s sitting stock still, concern and confusion wrinkling his forehead. The tension in the room is so thick it hangs like a dark, menacing raincloud, threatening to blast me with ten thousand volts of death wielding electricity any second.

When Asher and Connelly walked in together a few minutes ago, they were laughing and bantering, as I’d always fondly remembered, but the minute they saw me, they both froze. As did I. Asher’s loud voice made me jump when he yelled, “What the fuck is
she
doing here?” Um…ditto.

Connelly, always the more laid back of the two, quickly calmed him down. I heard him quietly tell Asher this wasn’t the time or place.

So while all of this was nightmarishly bad, what had me feeling like I could spew the bowl of Wheaties I had this morning for breakfast was that if Asher and Connelly were here, the chances were high that Gray wasn’t far behind. And why
were
they here to begin with? In my research, I knew HMT was recently acquired by a holding company. And then suddenly it hit me. Gray, Asher, Connelly, GRASCO Holdings.
Holy Jesus.

“Where’s Gray? He’s never late to these meetings,” Asher asks, accusing eyes never leaving mine. Everyone senses that something is wrong between the three of us, but no one dares ask, including Wes.

Connelly pulls out a cell phone and dials quickly. “Bonnie, where’s Gray? He’s late.” After a short pause, he adds, “Okay.” He shoves the phone back into his pocket. “He’s finishing up a call, then he’ll be here.”

Holy hell.

I break Asher’s stare and look down at the table, but I can still feel all eyes upon me. I can hardly breathe. This cannot be happening. This is both everything I’ve wished for and my worst possible nightmare all at the same time. I’ve thought of nothing else but Gray’s heated stare and the warmth of his hand on my bare skin since I saw him at the fundraiser. And any second now he’s going to walk through that door.

I have to quit. Or I’ll be fired. Either way, this is my last day at HMT Enterprises because after Gray walks in and sees me here, there is no way he’ll let me stay. Or that I
can
stay. I can’t possibly work in the same building as he is every single day and wonder each time I walk around the corner if he’ll be there. Or every time I walk into the gym, if he’ll be shirtless, pumping iron. Or when I step into the elevator, if he’ll be waiting inside.