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Turning away to reach for the remote, I put on the news, which was my morning routine when getting ready for work. As late as I was, I needed to prepare myself for the day ahead, and the news always made me feel alert after watching it. Even if the thought of calling in sick was tempting.
As I walked out of my pants and underpants, giving my ass cheek a good old scratch on my way to the bathroom door, my feet came to an abrupt stop.
‘Anthony Whitlocke and Jared Crawford…’
My name. In the news. Why? I spun around in shock, to see Tiff’s parents on the screen. Turning up the volume, I didn’t even feel when the remote fell from my hand. Silence hit me first until realization came in a series of taps and gradually louder beats until there was a pounding resonance in my brain.
“Shit, shit, shit!” I said to myself, rushing toward the shower.
Fuck. This was bad. This was very bad. And as much as it would have been nice to take the rest of the day off to climb in bed and sleep this hangover off after a warm shower, there was no way I would miss work after what I just watched. The company and the friends I had left needed me.
I couldn’t even begin to let myself think about what this meant for Tiffany.
Chapter 6
Tiffany
Onanyotherday,my outfit at the moment would’ve been the attention grabber. Office attire with some pretty ugly, unmatching sneakers that were amongst the shoes Jared had bought for me. This one was slightly bigger than my feet but even if it slapped the back of my heel, at least it wasn’t scraping it off.
The guys weren’t answering their phones all day, and this wasn’t the time to avoid me, not after watching what my parents said about our situation all over the news. After taking several hours to myself to cry at the loss of my parents, the lack of a supportive call from Chris and being ignored by my three men, I decided to march down here because even though they were ignoring me, they were the only ones who wouldn’t slam the door in my face if I showed up.
But perhaps coming to Crawford & Beam wasn’t such a great idea. People were rushing out of the building with boxes of stationery in their hands, bumping into me on the way out. Some of them reached out to stroke my hand in reassurance; others turned their eyes to the floor as if they weren’t sure how to react. The ones who weren’t rushing out of the building, all turned to look at me as soon as I stepped through the door. I had never been faced with so many curled lips and upturned noses in my entire life. One would think they were long-lost cousins or something since they were wearing the exact facial expressions my mother wore.
My body begged me for a hole in the ground that could bury me as I sank into myself. It felt like a wave of energy zapped across my skin, freezing me in place as I looked around in shock, thinking about how easy it would have been to turn around and run out the door, straight back to my car.
But I had to know how the men were doing. Even more, I needed to see them.
Selfishly, I needed to be held.
Each step toward the elevator felt like my soul was being sucked out of my body by tiny vacuum cleaners that everyone around me held in their hands. Finally, the elevator door opened, and I was relieved to find that it was empty. Tapping the button to close the doors, I prayed that no one would step in here just to confront me with any questions.
The elevator dinged to a stop at the partners’ floor. Even Melissa kept her head down as I walked past her. That stung. It felt like I was a contagious virus or something that people were either angry with or needed to protect themselves from. Taking a deep, shaky breath and trying to suck my tears back into my eyes, I stopped at Jared’s office first.
Opening the door, I was relieved to find that I didn’t need to stop anywhere else. All three heads turned to look at me, which made me feel like I was about to crumble.
“Tiffany,” Jared simply said as if he were expecting me. Taking two steps forward, my feet felt like lead and as I closed the door behind me, I stumbled.
Soon, hands reached out to catch me, pulling my head in the direction of Anthony’s gray eyes. He cleared his throat and tore his eyes from mine, speaking to the door behind me rather than to my face. “Are you okay?”
Okay? I was overwhelmed. It felt like the weight of the world came crashing down on my shoulders. I was the furthest thing from okay but looking into their pale faces, tensed with anger but drained from blood, I knew they were going through it.
“Are you guys okay?” I asked, turning the question back on them.
Anthony held onto my arm and walked me over to the sofa where Jared and Mario hovered over me like hawks. Mario joined me on the sofa so that Anthony was on my left, and he was on my right. Jared kneeled before me, his face hard with worry and self-control. Anthony’s arm around my shoulders felt so nice, so warm and welcoming. And as Mario moved some strands away from my forehead to examine my flushed skin, tingles rushed through my body. It was hard to resist leaning into his touch. So, I didn’t. He didn’t remove his hand either.
In fact, his thumb rested on my chin, tilting my face upwards so that I could drown in his mesmerizing blue eyes. The warmth of Jared’s body kissed my knees and soon, fatigue was replaced with the need that had been tearing at me all week, this morning. Their presence felt embracing, and their colognes were sensational. Between my legs ached, and my breasts throbbed. My lips felt naked without them.
Forgetting all about my reason for coming here in the first place and consumed with desire, I leaned forward into Mario’s parted pink lips. The scratch of his mustache against my upper lip felt magnified. The sensation of it stroked my spine. A deep, breathy moan escaped me as I deepened the kiss, reaching my arm out to feel Anthony, stroke his hair, his beard, anywhere while I parted my legs for Jared, running one leg up his arm.
Their groans excited me, and I wanted to kiss Anthony but feared breaking the kiss from Mario. I didn’t want to shatter this moment. But they did. In one sharp tug away from mine, Mario pulled his lips away, jumping up from the sofa. Jared scooted backward, and Anthony growled, walking to the far end of the room, looking at me like he was fighting his every instinct and urge to pounce on me. I wanted him to.
Mario cleared his throat. “Honestly, Tiffany. This is looking really bad,” he said, breaking the spell and answering my earlier question.
“Huh?” I asked, my voice hoarse.
He straightened his shirt cuffs, and Jared stumbled to his feet. “Yeah, I’m guessing you know what your parents said about us on the news. What they said about you…” Jared’s voice cracked. “I’m sorry about that, by the way.”
Shrugging, I straightened up as Anthony got me a cup of water from Jared's water cooler.
