Building Our Love (Griffin Brothers #2) (5 page)

“I am happy, Angie.
Thanks for noticing.”

I get to work answering
emails and returning phone calls from the Chicago office and some of
the international offices too. I’m just finishing a call when Ryan
walks in, stopping at my desk. “Can I see you in my office, Chloe?”

“Of course, Ryan,”
I tell him with a smile. I get up and follow him in. I close the door
and lock it behind me. I head for him, but he holds up a hand to stop
me.

“I need to go over a
few things with you for the Seattle project, including your salary
and timeline. It’s time to make it official. Please take a seat.”

I do as he asks, trying
hard not to show my disappointment. I thought I would be able to
touch and kiss him when I wanted to as long as it was behind closed
doors. Obviously, I was wrong. I pull myself together and tell him to
go ahead and tell me everything.

“First off, this is
your salary for the project.” He writes something on a post it note
and slides it across his desk to me. I pick it up and look at it. My
eyes go wide when I see the number on there.

“Are you sure about
this, Ryan? I think this is too much.”

“It’s not too much.
You’re worth it. No one else has even come close to understanding
the project and what I want. The things you told me last night were
perfect.”

“Thank you. I was
hoping I was on the right track.”

“You are. Now, moving
on. The building is well under way and should be done in the next
three months. I would like to have a list from you ASAP of your
inside structural needs so that they can incorporate those as they
go. I’m going to have someone from the secretarial pool take over
answering the phones for you, but I would like you to continue to
answer and screen my emails if you think you can still do that.”

“I can handle it. You
aren’t going to hire a new assistant?”

“No. Once the Seattle
project is over, I don’t have anything big that I can assign you to
for a few months at least. You’re doing a great job, and I want you
to keep working for me in between interior design projects. I will
assign you to as many small ones as I can, but it won’t be a lot of
work for you. Are you alright with that?”

“Yes, yes I am Ryan.
Thank you so much.” I give in to my urge and run around the desk to
hug him and place a kiss on his lips. He responds for a minute but
then pulls back.

“You should get back to your desk,
Chloe. I’ll have Ellen from H.R. notify you when the official
papers are ready for you to sign.” I start to move away. “One
more thing. I need you to send a dozen red roses to Cel. Here’s the
message to put on them and her address.” He writes something on the
paper and then takes out his phone to look up her address. He writes
that down, too, and hands me the paper.

Cel, I’m sorry about the night at
KA
. I’ll make it up
to you soon. You can pick the place next time. Ryan.

I feel like such a fool
as tears start to form in my eyes. I know he told me he only wanted
sex, but I thought that I was getting through to him. I quickly turn
away and walk out. I drop the paper onto my desk and go across the
hall to the single bathroom, where I lock myself in and let the tears
fall.

I don’t know if I can
do this. If I can sit by and watch Ryan date another woman openly in
front of me. But that’s exactly what he had to do in Chicago. He
had to watch me pretend to be with that bastard, Adam. That was
pretend, though. I know he’s been dating other women while we’ve
been sleeping together. He hasn’t thrown it in my face until today,
though.

What if he wants a
relationship with this Cel woman? I start to freak out as I remember
what I left in his office for him. Oh God, what was I thinking? It’s
too late now. I did it and if he gets mad, so be it. I clean up my
face and go back to my desk, placing the flower order.

* * *

Ryan

I can’t concentrate
on work. I feel like shit. I saw Chloe’s tears even though she
turned away quickly. I thought I could get control back if I hurt
her. That it would make me feel better. Control I started losing when
I saw her sitting at her desk when I walked into the office. She was
concentrating so hard, and it melted my heart a little more, knowing
that she wants to do a good job for me.

Then she walked into my
office in that square neck, sleeveless pink dress. The top looked
like it was molded to her slim frame and small, perfect breasts. And
the skirt flared out. I knew that if I pushed it up, I would find a
sexy, lacy thong under there. I wanted to throw her on top of my desk
and make her come again. When she came around my desk before I could
stop her and kissed me, I wanted to hold her tight, but I needed to
remind us both of the boundaries. This can only be about sex. It has
to be only about sex

I notice that my day planner is on
the wrong day and flip the page. There’s a small piece of paper
taped to the center.

Reason #1 that I LOVE YOU: You let me keep your shirts so I can
smell you when I fall asleep, and then again when I wake up in the
morning.

It takes me a minute to
catch my breath. Chloe must have left this in here before I came in.
And then I had her send flowers to another woman. Fuck, this is bad.
She laid it all out there for me, and I just stomped all over her
heart. Yeah, she did that to me in the past, but I didn’t need to
be the kind of asshole who insists on returning the favor. She seems
sincere when she says that she wants a second chance and I know that
Yasmin gave Scott another chance when he needed it. Now they’re
happier than anyone I know other than my parents.

But I don’t know if I
can trust her again, especially when the things she says sometimes
make me think that she’s hiding something important from me. That’s
why I’ve insisted on it just being sex between us while I date
other girls. I can handle sex.

I need to do something
for her, though. I can’t tell her that I love her. Even though if
I’m honest with myself, I know I do. I have to hold onto that for
now. I won’t let myself be taken in by her again. I told her I’m
not that kid any longer and I meant it.

I can’t just ignore
the note. Then it comes to me. I remember seeing these little books
at Yasmin’s book store. One was someone writing about why they love
someone, but the other one was about why someone was awesome. I can
do that. I can tell Chloe why I think that she’s awesome.

I write it out and walk
out of my office to her desk so I can give it to her. I step in front
of her desk and wait for her to acknowledge me. “I ordered the
flowers. They promised to deliver them immediately.”

“Thanks, but that’s
not why I came out here.” I’m interrupted by my cell phone
ringing.

* * *

Chloe

Ryan looks down at his
phone and seems to debate answering it. He looks at me and then
accepts the call, putting the phone to his ear. “Hi Cel. Did you
get the flowers?” He listens and then responds. “I can’t
onSaturday. My parents are having a company party at our house.”
Another pause. “No, I don’t have a date. I’ll pick you up at
6:30. Do you want to go to another show tonight? How about Love?”
His face lights up with a smile. “I can’t wait to see what you
pick out to wear. I’ll see you then.”

I’m trying really
hard to hold it together while my heart is breaking. Again. I remind
myself that this is my fault. I came to Las Vegas knowing Ryan
probably wouldn’t take me back. Now, I need to accept that and try
to move on. At least I have this job. “What did you need to see me
about, Ryan?” I ask him, forcing my voice to sound steady.

He looks sheepish and somewhat
remorseful. “I wanted to give you this.” He drops a piece of
paper on my desk and then walks quickly back into his office and
closes the door. I look down and am shocked by what I see.

Reason # 1 that I think you are AWESOME: You like to sleep in my
shirts (and you look damn sexy in them).

Talk about mixed
signals. Ryan just made a date with another woman in front of me, and
then he gives me this. WTF? I thought I could do this, but I’m not
so sure. The lines are blurring too much. If he just wants sex, then
why is he giving me something like this? But, if he wants more, why
is he dating someone else and flaunting it in front of me. I drop my
head to my desk.

“Are you okay,
Chloe?” I look up and see Alex in front of me.

I’m happy to see her,
and I smile at her. “Alex! Yes, I’m fine. Just trying to figure
something out.” I stand up and hug her. “I’ve missed you so
much!”

“I missed you too.
Thank you for sending me the basket of movies and chocolate when my
parents died. I wanted to call you, but I couldn’t. Uncle Ryan was
so hurt when you broke up with him. I had to be on his side. But I
missed having you to talk to.”

“I’m glad that you
liked the basket. I thought that it would be better than flowers. I
understand why you couldn’t call me, but I’m glad that you came
to see me today.”

“I wanted to go to
the guest house and see you sooner, but I didn’t know if that would
be okay because I didn’t talk to you for so long.” She looks down
at her shoes. and I want to rid her of her embarrassment.

“Alex, you can always
come see me or call me. No matter what.”

“Grandma said that
you would feel that way. She thinks you must have had a reason for
leaving Uncle Ryan before. Did you?”

“Yes, I did, Alex. I
love your uncle more than anything, and I wouldn’t have left him if
I had had a choice.”

“Can you tell me why
you did it?”

“I wish I could,
Alex, but I made promises that I have to keep.”

“I understand, but if
you ever want to tell me, I will listen. Just like you always
listened to me when I needed a girl closer to my age to talk to.”
She looks nervous as she continues. “I was hoping to talk to you
about something if you have time.”

“I always have time
for you. Do you want to go grab a coffee downstairs?”

“Actually, I have to
be at Yasmin’s book store soon for my volunteer shift. I was hoping
you could take me, and we can talk on the way.”

“Scott’s Yasmin? I
was hoping to meet her soon, and I would love to take you. Let me
just ask Ryan if I can leave.”

“You can take her,”
Ryan says from behind me.

“Hi Uncle Ryan!”
Alex runs behind me to give him a hug.

“Hi honey!” He hugs
her tight. “You need Chloe, huh? I remember when the two of you
used to be holed up in her room for hours. She wouldn’t let me in
until you were done. Is that going to start happening again?”

“Are you two back
together? I mean, I know Chloe is living in Uncle Scott’s old place
and working here, but I didn’t know about the two of you!” Alex
is so excited that I feel bad about having to burst her bubble.

“There’s nothing to
know, Alex. We aren’t getting back together. Ryan is seeing
someone, though. You’ll get to meet her at the party on Saturday.”
Ryan looks at me with a stunned expression, and Alex just looks sad.
I feel sad, but I won’t let it show. “Now come on, let’s get
you to the book store on time. Thanks for letting me take her, Ryan.”

“Of course Chloe.”
He says in a tight voice. I look up in surprise and see him clenching
his jaw. What’s wrong with him? I don’t have time to figure it
out as Alex grabs my arm and guides me out of the office.

* * *

Ryan

Well, I totally fucked
everything up today. First, I made Chloe send Cel flowers. Then, I
try to make it up to her with something sweet, only to end up
inviting Cel to be my date to the party this weekend and to Love in
front of her. Then I make Alex think that we’re back together only
to have Chloe tell her that I’m seeing someone. Because I led her
to believe that Cel means more to me than she actually does.

What the hell is wrong
with me? I need to decide if I want her back completely in my life or
not. I can’t keep doing this back and forth thing. It’s not fair
to either of us. As much as I want to make her suffer for what she
did to me, I don’t have it in me to keep trying to be that kind of
guy. And as I think those thoughts, I know what I want. Who I want.
It’s Chloe. It’s always been her. It’s time for me to give her
that second chance. I need to tell her that. I’lldo it tomorrow,
though. I think she may be too upset to listen to me today. Now I
just need to cancel my dates for tonight and Saturday.

After I’ve explained
to Cel that I can’t see her anymore and that I’m sorry for
leading her on, I think about what I’ll say to Chloe. I know she’ll
be happy for us to be together again, but I still need to make up for
my behavior. I may have felt like it was warranted, but I shouldn’t
have hurt her on purpose. This isn’t a contest. It’s our life.
Our love. I decide to stop and pick out some flowers for her, too.
She more than deserves them. With my plan in place, I spend the rest
of the afternoon working, knowing that I’ll be back together with
Chloe for real starting tomorrow. I can’t wait to see her and tell
her how I feel.

Chloe

Listening to Alex and
trying to help her sort out her problems with the girls at school is
keeping me distracted from my heartache over Ryan and his date on
Saturday. “So, this girl Meg is saying that Rose can’t be part of
your group because she doesn’t have a lot of money?”

“Yeah, but, I really
like Rose.”

“Then you know what
you need to do. Is being part of this group of mean girls really that
important to you?”

“No, it’s not. Meg
is a bitch to almost everyone and seems like she just wants to borrow
my clothes all the time. I thinks she likes me more for my closest
than for me.”

“See. You knew what
to do without even asking me.” I smile at her. She’s grown into
an amazing young woman since I saw her last. I always knew she would.