Crashing the Congressman’s Wedding (Crimson Romance) (18 page)

Wouldn’t that make Justin proud, watching out the window while Alice was hauled off for assault?

She whimpered. What did he expect? She was a Cramer.

• • •

After a successful chat with Will, Justin decided to ride the positive wave and meet with Robert. Glancing at his watch, Justin determined the meeting was sixty minutes behind schedule, probably on purpose to make him sweat. Justin slipped a finger between his collar and his neck to scratch his humid skin. Mission accomplished.

While he waited he scrolled through emails, wondered what Alice was doing, thought about what he could say to his mother that wouldn’t cause the heart monitors to freak, and decided to try harder with Mark now that he was pretty certain the future included coming home to work at MCI.

“Congressman, the mayor will see you now,” Robert’s secretary said with a bow of her head. She turned on her heels and Justin followed.

He needed to play this perfectly. Robert was mayor of this town. It wouldn’t serve anyone to have unresolvable animosity between the Mitchells and Parrishes.

Agnes rapped on the wood door and pushed it open, letting Justin inside. She didn’t stay, closing the door behind her.

Robert stood with his back to Justin, facing the hillside neighborhood. His breathing clogged the room until he spoke. “Half those homes are falling down because people don’t have jobs that pay enough for upkeep. Do you know what’s going to change that, Mitchell?”

Whether it was a trick question or arrogant vibrato didn’t matter. “Parrish Plastics, sir.” Justin knew how to schmooze.

Robert turned slowly and narrowed his eyes. “Damn straight. And don’t forget the role you played in that. Feels good to help those who cannot help themselves, doesn’t it?”

He was friendly — too friendly — and the overzealous congeniality picked at Justin’s skin, triggering a fight-or-flight response. Words he could’ve sworn he heard from his father came to mind:
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
Certainly his father knew how duplicitous Robert could be. Maybe he spent his whole life trying to do what Justin was trying to do now.

Robert jabbed a fat finger toward the front of his desk. “Sit, son. Tell me why you’ve been ignoring my calls.”

The blood drained from Justin’s head. Seconds ticked by as he tried to corral his thoughts. Finally and without certainty, he spoke. “I’m glad we got the plant. It means a lot to our families, but it means even more for Harmony Falls.”

“Everybody wins.”

“Exactly.”

“Then why do I feel like you’re gearing up to tell me I lose?”

Justin took an extra big breath. “I’ve been thinking. What happened at the church wasn’t so much the result of faulty planning as it was the symptom of something bigger, something that speaks more to the inner workings of me than anything else … ”

“Damn it, Mitchell.” He drove a fist against his desk. “Don’t give me any of your rhetoric. Spit it out.”

With his shoulders back and chin lifted, Justin took the first step toward severing ties. “There’s no reason to form a PAC. I’m not running for president.”

Robert sniffed, his nostrils flaring. “I see.”

But he didn’t. Justin could tell by the way he gripped the arms of the chair, his knuckles turning white and then screaming red. He shook his head, offered a few breathy chuckles. “I’d like to say I’m surprised, but I’m not. How could I be after your recent lack of fortitude? First you leave my daughter at the altar … ”

“She was sleeping with Charlie Cramer!” There. He said it. No more white elephant in the room where Robert Parrish was concerned.

Robert sneered as he steepled his fingers in front of him. “Are you even, now that you’re sleeping with Alice Cramer?”

Justin lunged, slapping his palms to Robert’s desk. He’d never felt more rage, more loss of control, more … power. “Don’t talk about Alice. Don’t think about Alice. Leave her alone.” He pulled back just an inch, but made sure his voice didn’t waiver.

Robert offered a few clucks of his tongue. “An explosive temper, too. Wonder I didn’t see that before. What can I say, Mitchell? You’re a disappointment. Looks like you weren’t cut out for the job anyway. Too soft. Just like your old man.”

The words that were meant to humiliate Justin, elevated him instead. He’d lived to make his father proud. Funny to think that on one of his roughest days, he may have.

Straightening, Justin rolled back his shoulders and nodded. “I don’t want to fight, Robert. Can’t we just be proud of what we’ve accomplished together and move on from there?” Was he being too soft now? Maybe, but some things didn’t change, and Justin would always prefer diplomacy to war.

Robert’s grin was unsettling. “Move on, huh? I suppose that depends on who’s moving where. I still have plans, Mitchell, one more that popped up today, actually, and now that those plans don’t include you, stay the hell out of my way. How’s that for moving on?”

“Fine.” Justin nodded. He turned and headed for the door with no handshake or genuine words to give him comfort, just a long silent walk across the navy carpet.

When he exited the building, he drew a full breath. He’d done it, broken the ties that bound him to the Parrishes for too many years.

If he didn’t think he’d just unleashed the hounds of hell, he’d have celebrated.

Although hours had passed without a hint of trouble, each time the phone rang, Alice jumped, fearing retribution for the slap to Harold’s face. This time, when she saw the caller was Justin, she managed a little jump for joy despite her fear.

“Meet me at the alley door in ten minutes.” His voice was low and teasing, a tone that skittered up her spine and loosened the stress in her head.

“Did you bring your hammer?”

He chuckled. “You’ll have to wait and see.”

Ten minutes crawled by as she waited by the door, ear pressed to the metal, listening for sound. Finally she heard the crush of gravel. She threw open the door and saw a pickup truck squeezed into the alleyway, Justin climbing out from behind the driver’s seat.

“What on earth?” she asked, taking him in from ball cap to work boots. Lust lightened the air in her head until she felt dizzy. He was gorgeous, every woman’s construction dream come true.

“I borrowed the truck from Mark.” He walked toward her, his swagger on full display in a pair of well-worn, mouth-watering blue jeans.

“Don’t you think you’re taking this a little too far?” she asked, her eyes never leaving his body. “All I need is your hammer.”

He hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her in. “Oh I brought it. Don’t you worry.” With a smile, he kissed her nose, and then he cupped her face, dropping his mouth to hers.

Bliss, each and every time they kissed. The bliss rolled over her tongue, slipped down her throat and pooled in her belly, priming her for what came next. Sex. She still couldn’t believe they’d gone that far, and at this rate, they were so about to do it again.
But where
, she thought, her inner-director kicking in. There was no bed in the theatre … but there was a bed on that truck.

She smiled against Justin’s lips. This time he came prepared, but how prepared?

“It’s kind of cold,” she said, when he dragged his mouth to nibble her ear. “I hope you brought blankets.”

He looked at her then. “For what?”

“The bed. The truck.” She felt the flush of embarrassment a second before she heard his laughter.

“That’s not why I brought the truck, but I like the way you think.” He took her by the hand. “Come here.”

Pulling her to the back of the vehicle, he deposited her at the open gate where building supplies packed the bed.

“Oh.”

“You sound disappointed,” he teased.

She was, for two reasons. “Where’d you get this stuff?”

“Around.”

“You found two-by-fours and hardwood flooring lying
around
?”

“Sure.” He slipped his hand under her shirt and circled the small of her back.

The pleasant chill wasn’t enough to chase the nagging worry away. “For free?”

His hand stilled upon her skin. “Not exactly.”

She swatted at his arm and stepped away. “I said I couldn’t take your money.”

“You didn’t take my money. This is a gift. A one-time gift. Consider it a theatre-warming present.”

“There’s no such thing.”

“There is now.” He hauled her to him again. “Tell me the sight of that wood doesn’t get you excited.” He splayed his hands against her bottom and held her tight against him. “Think of what we can do with wood like that … all the holes we can fill.”

Screw worry. She tossed her head back and cackled. When they were together like this, it was easy to pretend nothing else mattered. But as her laughter died, she caught shadows on his face. Maybe it was the low light of the alley or the too-little sleep the night before. Whatever the cause, the darkness was there, in the clench of his jaw and the black of his eyes.

Alice smoothed a hand across his cheek. “Where’d you find the time to buy and load this stuff? I know you had a busy day.”

He bit his lip, once at first, but then again and again, until it was a full-blown, worried chew. He shrugged. “What can I say? I multitask.”

He also wasn’t telling her everything. Despite the lightness on the phone and the flirtation when he appeared, something was bothering him. She wished he would confide in her. Then again, she’d had a stressful day, and she wasn’t confiding in him.

Maybe if she went first …

“Harold came to see me.”

Justin’s shoulders tensed beneath her hands. “And?”

“I told him the theatre wasn’t for sale.”

“Good. How’d he take the news?”

“Not good … ” she closed one eye, scrunching half her face. “I slapped him.”

“You what?”

“I slapped his face. On Main Street. I’m surprised you didn’t hear about it already.”

A muscle ticked in Justin’s cheek as he gripped her upper arms and held her away from him. She braced for a scolding that didn’t come.

“Did he hurt you? Touch you at all? I swear to God I’ll … ”

“Justin.” She laid a hand on his pounding chest, hoping to calm him, hoping to calm her, more than a little shocked at his concern. Sure, he was everyone’s knight in shining armor, but it had never been appropriate for him to be hers. “I’m fine. He didn’t hurt me. He grabbed my arm, but I was never scared, never threatened. He just said things that upset me.”

On an exhale, Justin let her go, stepped back and scrubbed his hands over his face until his fingertips lifted the hat on his head. “I’m glad you’re not hurt.”

So was she. She was even happier that this conversation didn’t go down the road she imagined — with Justin furious at her for acting out in public — again.

“But after the day I’ve had, after what I did, I sure wish you hadn’t slapped him. That makes everything worse.” He grabbed his hat by the brim and yanked it off his head, plowing his other hand through his hair.

The alley air cooled around her, and she wrapped arms around her waist for warmth. She wanted to prod about his day, ask what he did, but his feeble insinuation that she’d caused him more trouble pecked at her brain. “So you would’ve rather I stood there and let the man sexually harass me while he threatened my theatre than stand up for myself?”

“No. That’s not what I’m saying. I just … ” — he plopped the cap back on his head and crossed his arms over his chest — “ … I wish you had handled it better.”

Of course he did. She sucked a mouthful of air and swallowed, hoping to break through the shame stuck in her throat. “Again I fall short of your expectations.”

“Don’t do that.”

She laughed for no good reason. “Do you even realize that while you’re trying to make things right you’re still telling me what to do?”

He hung his head, kicking the gravel at his feet. “I’m sorry.”

She’d never been a fan of his tendency to over-apologize, but this time, the apology was warranted. And while she’d have loved to seen him grovel, maybe even admit the slap to Harold’s face was an appropriate response, he looked so beaten. “Apology accepted, but you still wish I’d handled things differently, don’t you?”

Justin lifted his head and nodded. “Yes, I do. Alice, you can’t go around slapping important people.”

“Even if they’re assholes.”

He gave a weak chuckle. “Especially if they’re assholes.” Two strides and he was close enough to touch. “Those are the ones who’ll make your life miserable.”

His words resonated with her, causing her shoulders to slump and bringing a sigh of resignation to her lips. “So what would you suggest I do if I find myself in that situation again?” She held up a hand. “Notice the difference here is I’m asking for your opinion, but I’m not giving you reason to think I’ll listen just because you told me so.”

He smiled, set a hand on the curve of her waist, and the world was right again. “If you find yourself in that position again, I suggest you give a verbal warning, that you won’t tolerate that behavior, and if it continues, you walk away.”

“That simple.”

“Yep.”

“My way’s more dramatic.”

Justin smiled, and the expression lightened the gloom. “That it is.”

“I like drama,” she teased, more than ready to get back to the flirting.

“I know you do, and that can be a good thing, but you may have to keep it in check. I suspect they’ll be more confrontations before this whole thing blows over.” The shadows crawled across his face again, but before she could ask why he banished them with another, brighter smile. “Until then, maybe we can make a little drama of our own.”

“You’re cheesy,” she said, wrinkling her nose.

“And you love it.”

Alice rested her head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat. “Only ’cause I love you.”

“Now who’s being cheesy?” He wrapped her up tight like he’d never let her go, but she knew better. Alice Cramer was always one outburst away from losing him.

All the more reason to enjoy it while it lasted.

• • •

Justin tossed another broken floorboard onto the pile of debris. They’d repaired the majority of damaged boards in the lobby, and the physical exertion helped rid him of some excess stress. Enough remained.