Page 54

“People are actively siphoning money from the company, Natalie. It puts my job, your job, and every other job at risk. So it is a big deal. It’s a very big deal.”

I sigh because I don’t know how to argue with that. Then I peek through the blinds at the blankets of water pouring from the sky.

“Fine. But are you sure it’s safe? The warning starts within the hour.”

“We’re ten minutes away in Tuck’s Denali, on a route the city still lists as open. If it changes, we turn around.”

“I don’t think Tuck’s biceps can ensure your safety in this storm,” I say skeptically.

“No, but his jacked Denali can,” Marcus says. “Even he almost needs a ladder to get inside the thing.”

I get an instant visual. It tracks that Tuck would drive something like that. It goes with the rest of his bulldog facade. After being trapped in an elevator with him, I learned that his big, tough-guy persona is just that: a facade. He’s actually a teddy bear.

Marcus arrives an hour later, and Jamie swings the door open before I even have time to collect myself. He’s coming inside. Marcus is coming into my home. And while my apartment is more like a condo, it’s much grander than that name implies. No one in my family would be okay with me and Jamie living in a humble dwelling. Still, it’s quaint in comparison to his mansion.

“Ash! You made it!” Jamie beams and ushers him in before he even has time to close his umbrella. Even with it, he’s soaked to the bone, and I almost feel bad. Until, of course, I remember that this was his idea, and I’d told him not to come.

“Easy, buddy, I’m getting water all over the floor,” he says.

“That’s okay. Take your shoes off. Mommy doesn’t like shoes in the house,” Jamie says, and my cheeks glow red.

“Jamie…that is no way to talk to Mr. Ashford,” I tell him, shaking my head as Marcus finally gets the umbrella under control. But there’s a hint of amusement on his face as I take the umbrella from him and hang it on the coatrack. He bends down to untie his shoes.

And that’s when it hits me. He isn’t wearing a suit. He’s dressed like he was on his way to the gym. Black fitted gym pants, tennis shoes, and a heather gray t-shirt that almost looks gunmetal from how damp it is.

“It’s alright,” he says, “I don’t let people wear shoes in my home either,” he says to Jamie with a wink. Then his eyes draw up to mine.

I watch as he slowly stands; it almost feels seductive. I know it isn’t though, but it doesn’t stop me from watching him. He notices.

“Sorry about the clothes, I just got done at the gym when you called,” he says.

“Umm, yeah, it’s fine,” I stutter. “It looks good. I mean nice. I mean… It’s fine.”

Oy…

“You went to the gym in this storm!?” Jamie blurts out.

“I was at my home gym,” Marcus explains.

“You have a whole gym at your house!?” Jamie asks.

“Kind of,” he answers, picking up the messenger bag he’d set down a moment ago.

“Mommy has a yoga mat, but she doesn’t ever use it,” Jamie adds. My cheeks flush and a smile crosses Marcus’s face.

“She doesn’t really need it,” he says, and I have to look away.

I show Marcus my office, which I had spent the last thirty minutes preparing so that we could work together. Not that it was messy. I’m not a messy person. But I’m not used to anyone else working in here either, so I did move some things around and added another chair.

He nods and sets his things down, and Jamie skips in.

“My room next! My room next!” he says, hopping up and down excitedly. He’s still in his Cars pajamas and there are tiny little Maters covering him from shoulder to toe.

“Oh, sweetie, we’re not giving Mr. Ashford a tour of the whole house,” I say, and Jamie stops jumping with a thud and a disapproving scowl.

“Why not?” he asks, frowning, and I look up at Marcus, who is making almost exactly the same face.

“Yeah, why not?”