Corporate Fire: Corporate Romance Book 1 (13 page)

“Then show me. Quit your job.”

Grace was a little appalled by her audacity, but she didn't want him to leave either. She never minded living alone, but now the thought of being without him made her feel a chill of loneliness.

He brought his butt up off the seat as he fastened his pants. Grace watched and wished she was pulling them all the way off instead. “The last time I took one of your dares, you ended up with a broken leg.” He sat back down and stared straight at her. She couldn't read his expression.

“Breaking my leg seems to have worked out in my favor.”

“What am I gonna do with you?” He turned the car on.

She fastened her pants and put her bra and sweater back on. “I have a whole list in mind. I might even let you into my apartment.” She said it flippantly, but her breath still caught at the thought of him being in her apartment. He would see her stuff—her personality inside her stuff. She could do this. But the more she tried to convince herself, the more filled with dread she became.

15| The Apartment

Royce took the turns down the mountain fast. Grace leaned on the console and rested her head on his shoulder. “I hope I didn't make you late,” she said, but inwardly she'd love for him to miss his flight.

“I don't think I'll miss my flight, but if I do, it was so worth it.”

It occurred to her they hadn't really discussed when she'd see him again. She pushed down the worry that he wasn't planning on visiting for a while and said as nonchalantly as she could, “So would you like to come visit this weekend?”

“I was planning on it. I guess I should've said something.” He turned and gave her a brief smile before looking back at the road.

Relieved, she said, “Hopefully my leg will feel much better by then.”

She saw him grin again. She enjoyed the views until they rounded a bend and saw Denver. It was snowing where they'd gotten each other off, but Denver hadn't been hit yet. They drove in to see low clouds near the tops of the skyscrapers. It made the afternoon dark, and she wished for the millionth time that he could stay with her that night.

She'd forgotten about Ted meeting them there until she pointed out her apartment building. At the door was Ted pressing the buzzer.

Royce pulled into a spot and said, “Looks like Ted beat us here. I'll have him help me bring the suitcases up.”

“What?” Her head whipped around. Ted was not getting near her apartment. “Um, you guys can just leave them outside my door. I'm sure you're in a rush to get to the airport.”

“Calm down. It's not like you have to entertain us or anything.”

She shook her head. “I don't let people inside my apartment. Ted can't come in. And maybe you shouldn't either.”

Royce took her face in his hands and kissed her. His hands and lips soothed her. Maybe she could let Royce in, but definitely not Ted.

He pulled back and said, “I'll just slide your belongings inside. I'm not leaving with all your stuff outside your door. That's a lot of work for you to get them inside. You're still having trouble with your crutches.”

Grace put her hand on her stomach and took several deep breaths. “Can Ted just wait in the car?”

Royce closed his eyes. Maybe he was counting down to himself because she was so frustrating. He opened them and said, “I'll see what I can do. He's harmless really. Just has a crude mouth.”

“I don't let people in my apartment. Jill's the only one who's been in it.”

“Well I'm glad you're close enough to Jill for that. I hope you call her and tell her about us and your broken leg. You need to make an appointment this week to get it set.”

Ted yelled, “There you are!”

Grace twisted her body around to look out the window. Royce put his hand on her shoulder and said, “It's okay. I'll take care of it.”

Royce jumped out. He slammed the door shut and ran around to talk to Ted. She watched Ted nodding toward her and Royce rolling his eyes. She didn't even want to know what Ted was saying.

Royce walked back and opened the rear of the SUV. “Here, just put my stuff in the rental, and I'll get her stuff. Thanks.”

What a relief. No Ted in her apartment. He grabbed her bags and set them on the ground. He came around to her door and opened it. “Which key is it?”

“It's the one with the purple band.”

He kissed her before grabbing her belongings and hefting them up the stairs.

Grace decided it was stupid to sit in the car and wait for Royce to get back. She'd have to figure out stairs and things eventually. It shouldn't be that hard. She reached to the backseat to grab her crutches. She slid them over the console and out onto the pavement. Between her car and the ground was a big step. She'd never thought about it before now.

“Hey, do you need some help?” asked Ted, coming over.

She shook her head and said, “I'm sure I can manage, thanks.”

Ted didn't look so sure and stood closer than she liked. She slipped off the seat and landed with her good foot, but her balance was off. She tilted forward, unable to stop.

Ted caught her shoulder and helped her hop away from the door. All her muscles tensed, but she managed to get out a terse, “Thanks.”

Ted closed the door behind her and said, “Hey, I wanted to apologize for Friday night. I didn't realize how much Royce liked you and really didn't think you'd remember me. I wasn't trying to rub it in about your job.”

Grace blinked. He seemed so civil, and the comment about how much Royce liked her took her back a bit. “Thanks. It's been a rough few days.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, even the women at the lodge thought you were hot.”

“What?” Heat flared through her body.

“Yeah, I met this woman named Carrie who said she was hoping to hook up with you. She was the one at the bar fucking the ski instructor and said you were watching. She saw you and I talking together while they were doing it.”

Grace thought she might black out. Was there anyone left who didn't know about her watching Carrie and the medic? Her good leg gave out beneath her, but two strong hands caught her, and Royce said, “Are you okay? What'd you say to her, Ted?”

“Nothing. I was just talking to her about watching that couple at the bar.”

Grace found her balance and backed away from Royce. “Thanks for your help home. Can I have my keys?” She managed to hold out a hand.

“No, I'm walking you up.”

“Please,” she said, unable to look him in the eye.

Royce turned around and hurried to the entrance. He unlocked the building door and held it open. Ignoring Ted, she hefted herself over. It hurt under her arms but was otherwise no big deal. Inside, she managed up the flight of steps to her apartment door without saying anything to Royce. Her suitcase and skis were waiting outside her door.

“I'm sure he didn't mean anything by whatever he said,” commented Royce.

She finally looked at him and said, “Why is it that no one was watching that couple get it on, but everyone was apparently watching me watch them.”

“They weren't, honey.” He pulled her to his chest, and she relaxed against him.

“How many offers am I going to get from that one incident?”

Royce stepped back with his hands still on her shoulders. “Did Ted proposition you?”

She shook her head. “No, just that woman, Carrie. He told me she was looking for me.”

Royce grinned. “Hot to the ladies too.”

“Oh, I see how it is. You were jealous of Ted propositioning me, but another woman is entirely different. You're NOT getting a threesome.”

“You were into it when you thought it'd be me and George Clooney.”

Grace rolled her eyes but smiled despite herself.

He held up her keys and said, “Which one is yours?”

“Just give them to me. I'll take it from here.”

“No way. I'm not leaving until you’re safe inside.”

Grace sighed and pointed to the key with the red band. Royce unlocked her door and opened it up. She held her breath as his gaze swept over the place. Except for the electronics it mostly looked like she was still in college, with a futon and crates of Cds, DVDs and new video games. Of course everything was organized and clean. “Somehow it's exactly you. I envy your big screen TV, which I bet you use for gaming and not football.”

Shockingly, she didn't feel violated or vulnerable or anything she'd feared. She smiled and limped through the doorway. “Yes, the entertainment center is stuffed with game consoles, but I'll let you watch football on Sunday when you come back this weekend.”

Royce pulled her luggage in next to the futon before he answered. He took her in his arms and kissed her with such longing that she almost offered to show him her bedroom. When he broke off the kiss he said, “I think I'll be too busy for football. I'll leave you an email about the doctor's instructions. You have to call tomorrow and set up an appointment this week. And get Jill to take you.”

Grace nodded, wanting to say many things but saying nothing. She leaned in, and he met her for another kiss. “I'll miss you,” she finally got out.

“Me too.” He turned away and headed out the door. Grace crumpled onto the couch and tried to make sense of the weekend, but it turned out to be impossible.

16| Apart

After struggling with her luggage for a few minutes, Grace kicked it with her good leg, hoisted herself on her crutches and limped over to the freezer. She wanted to do the unpacking ritual she always did when she came home from skiing, but her leg throbbed. Her heart ached even more. It was so stupid.

Grace limped back over to the couch, put her leg up on some cushions and settled a bag of ice where it was broken.

Looking at the time on her DVD player, she ran through the numbers of their relationship. She'd met Royce around 7:00 Friday morning and flipped for him. Then three hours later she'd hated him after he delivered the message that she'd been laid off. About ten hours after she lost her job, he sent her a cosmo, and she slapped him. About thirty-two hours after she met him, she raced him and broke her leg, and that was somehow the beginning of the end of her hatred for him. Followed by a night of making out and Royce stealing her heart. A fifty-six hour romance replete with an early morning fight and a make-up breakfast.

She didn't know if she could take any more.

She grabbed her phone off the coffee table and clicked on Jill's name. She wanted to spill everything that had happened, but she just couldn't bring herself to tell Jill she was in love with the man who'd fired her. Jill would think she was a total loser.

She texted, “I'm back home. Sorry again for not texting you before and for bawling over the phone.” She put the phone in her lap, and a few seconds later it rang. Jill.

“Hey,” said Grace.

“Hey yourself. I thought you weren't coming home until tomorrow. You didn't have another fight with that guy you hooked up with, did you?”

Grace stared at her broken leg and gritted her teeth. “No, he got called back to work unexpectedly, so I came home.”

“Oh.”

The one word told Grace that Jill didn't think the guy was going to call her again. She forced herself to remember all his reassuring words so she wouldn't think the same thing.

Jill said, “I so want to know what happened, but I've got my spinning classes to teach. How about a late night mocha?”

Grace stared at her leg. She couldn't just put Jill off because maybe they really could be friends beyond work, but if Jill saw her leg, she'd spill the whole story about Royce. Her throat tightened, and she felt panic setting in. “I'm pretty beat. I think I need to sort out what happened before I tell you about it.”

“Well you'd better be ready tomorrow because I'm seeing you even if that means barging into your den of solitude. Got it?”

Grace had to smile. “Okay, I'll call you tomorrow. And thanks for checking up on me.”

After Grace hung up the phone, she dug her way back into her bag to get her medicine. Knowing Jill was coming by tomorrow bolstered her spirits. She'd get Jill's opinion about the situation. She could just say she met a man who traveled a lot and didn't know if she could handle a long distance relationship.

Medicine swallowed, it was time to conquer the back from skiing unpacking ritual, but it was more like the ritual conquered her. Instead of keeping her thoughts off Royce, it reminded her that he was traveling further and further away from her. It didn't help that everything took ten times longer to do.

She unpacked and filled a plastic bag with her dirty clothes. She crutched them over to the washing machine and started a load. She somehow managed a real shower, but it was far from relaxing, as a hole in her heart grew wider and wider with Royce's absence. After fighting to get dressed, she ate a bowl of cereal over the sink and then crutched herself up and over to the couch to settle.

She grabbed her phone off the coffee table and saw she'd missed a text from Royce.

“Landed in Tulsa. Wished the whole trip you were holding my hand.”

She couldn't bring herself to answer the text. The reality of his travel gave her too much pain.

She put her foot up on the coffee table and clicked on the television. She found a movie to watch, but her mind kept drifting. When the phone rang, she answered it right away.

“Hello?”

“Hey sweetheart. God I miss you. Why didn't you answer my text?”

She waited a moment before answering, trying to collect her emotions together into something coherent. “Because everything hurts. I don't know if I can do this.”

“Do what? What do you mean?” His voice sounded tired and a little frantic, making her regret her words.

“I've never been in a long distance relationship. It's almost worse than my broken leg.”