For Keeps (5 page)

Almost worried about the two of
them being seen together, she started to refuse, then decided she
didn’t care and followed him out.

* * *

The rest of the day passed by
slowing and Valerie found herself counting the minutes until she
would be free from the tension in the office. Restless, and needing
to stretch her legs, she turned the screensaver on and made her way
down to the coffee machine. Passing by the elder Princeton’s
office, she couldn’t help but overhear him ranting loudly to
someone. Not meaning to eavesdrop, but unable to contain her
curiosity, she stopped to listen for a moment.

“
He’s rebelling, and
I can guarantee he’s just trying to piss me off by screwing
that chubby piece of trash in this office. I have half a mind to fire
her, just to get her away from him, but she’s brilliant and
costs me practically nothing.” There was a pause. “No, he
hasn’t. But if he uses this plump little tart and marries her,
just to get the damn trust fund, I’m writing him out of my
will, and I’ll make sure he can’t get a partnership at
any firm in the state, no matter how well he scores on his bar.”

Valerie had heard enough, and the
sick feeling in her stomach nearly caused her to vomit as she hurried
away from the office door, wanting to be as far away from there as
possible. She rushed outside and down the street, telling herself not
to get too worked up, not to cry. She had no reason to believe Tyler
had any real feelings for her anyway. Why should she be upset about
what his father, some old rich creep, thought of her?

Of course, she knew the answer.
She’d gotten her hopes up that there was more between them than
just great sex. Now, reality set in. She’d had a good time, and
so had he. But it hadn’t meant anything. Either she was part of
some rebellion against his father, or she was an easy mark to make
sure he qualified for the money in his trust fund. No matter what it
was, she was nothing more than a passing fling and as the truth hit
her like a ton of bricks to the chest, she struggled to breathe.

It all made sense now. In fact,
it was the common sense she’d refused to acknowledge when they
first met. Her gut instinct had told her that something wasn’t
right, that Tyler was too good to be true. If she’d just
listened to her mind instead of her heart, she wouldn’t be
hurting right now. And she wouldn’t be making a fool of
herself.

Finding strength in her anger,
she lifted her head and turned to go back to the office, intent on
giving her notice. She was qualified enough and she certainly
deserved to be part of a team that respected her and treated her
better than the hateful way Tyler’s family did. And Tyler –
he would never persuade her to give into his pretend desires ever
again, that she was sure of. With resolve, she spun on her heels and
headed for the office complex. She was done playing games.

* * *

“
Where’s Valerie?”
Tyler demanded as he stormed into his father’s office. He’d
been waiting to see her for over an hour, but it looked like she
might not have come back from lunch. He could only assume that his
father had something to do with her absence.

The older man frowned. “What
are you talking about, Tyler? You come storming into my office, and
it almost sounds like you’re accusing me of something.”
He sounded so blasé that Tyler definitely didn’t buy it.

“
Look, I don’t know
what you’re trying to pull, but you have no right to get rid of
a hard working employee just so I don’t break your stodgy old
rules. So, I suggest you get her back, or you’ll lose me, too.
I’ll walk out that door right now and never come back.”

His father chuckled. “And
what about the trust fund?” He stood and came out from behind
the desk, crossing his arms menacingly. “When you don’t
have a job, or the means to support your prissy little lifestyle?
What are you going to do with yourself? You don’t know how to
survive without my silver spoon in your mouth, son.”

Tyler clenched his fists at his
side. He wanted nothing more than to deck his own father right now,
to break that nose he knew had cost the old man a fortune.

“
Tell me what you did,
Dad.” His voice was a low, threatening growl.

With a disgusted expression, he
waved Tyler off and sat back down. “I didn’t do anything
except tell her I was sorry to see her leave and send her with a
small severance check when she came in here and gave her notice. So,
son, perhaps the question to ask is, what did
you
do?”

Though he didn’t want to
believe it, his father wouldn’t lie at this point. He wanted to
hurt Tyler, so he would’ve happily admitted if he’d fired
Valerie, or if he’d said something to her that made her quit.
Confused, Tyler could only imagine what may have happened to make her
want to leave so quickly without saying goodbye.

He stormed back up the stairs,
ignoring the elevator and taking the steps two at a time, and grabbed
his things. How likely was it that one of his cousins had finally
crossed the line so far that they’d run her off? He hurried
back to the parking garage, sliding into his car. Within seconds he
was peeling out of the parking lot, heading straight for Valerie’s
house. He tried calling her, but he only got her voicemail.
Frustrated, he left a message.

“
Valerie, it’s me.
Listen, I don’t know what happened, but I want to talk to you.
And if it’s something my cousins said or did, or something my
father said, I’ll take care of it. I’m not going to let
anyone hurt you. I’m on my way to your place, hopefully you’re
there.”

He hung up and cursed, weaving
through the streets with careless abandoned. His only thought was
getting to Valerie as quickly as he could.

* * *

Hanging up the phone, Valerie
breathed a sigh of relief. She’d been afraid she’d made a
mistake walking out on her job, even if she needed to get away. She
didn’t know how long it would take to find another one, and
while the senior Princeton had cut her a decent check that would get
her through a couple of weeks, she knew she needed to find something
quickly before she fell further behind.

She’d gone back through her
email as soon as she’d gotten home and found a request she’d
received around the time she’d started working for Princeton
from a criminal law firm that was almost as big and well known as
they were. At the time, they hadn’t been offering a paying
internship, and she’d turned it down.

But she’d called one of the
girls in her class who had taken up an internship with them to ask
about the firm, and they were hiring for a decent salary. So, she’d
contacted them directly and they’d been thrilled and relieved
to discover that the position was still available. She’d be
starting on Monday.

Her phone had beeped during the
call, and she’d pulled it from her ear long enough to look at
the caller ID and see she had no intention of answering it. After she
hung up, she saw the voicemail light on and debated listening to the
message, deciding against it. It would only hurt more to hear Tyler’s
voice right now, especially if he was calling making excuses for what
she had uncovered.

Hesitating for only a brief
moment, she erased the message without listening to it, she decided
to take a shower and try to relax. She pulled off her shirt and
skirt, padding to the bathroom to turn on the faucet. When someone
knocked on her door, she growled to herself. She’d forgotten
what it was like to be home during the day, with salespeople knocking
on the door constantly. Throwing a towel around her shoulders and
holding it over her chest, she went to answer the second knock,
opening the door just a crack so she could look out and tell whoever
it was she wasn’t interested. But when she popped the door open
a crack, all words were lost, and she found herself staring into the
piercing blue eyes that still managed to take her breath away.

There stood Tyler, square on her
doorstep, his face inches from the door opening. He didn’t
speak, but his eyes told a story of confusion and pain. Valerie felt
the butterflies flutter through her belly but taking a deep breath
she found her voice long enough to question him.

“
Tyler, what are you doing
here?”

He shot her a look, more of a
wince that spoke of his uncertainty.

“
You just left without
saying goodbye. Something had to have happened. Valerie? What’s
going on?”

She shook her head, her anger
returning at his feigned innocence. “Nothing, Tyler. I just
found a better offer and would rather work where I’m treated
with respect.”

She started to close the door in
his face, but he pushed his palm against it, holding it open.
“Valerie, talk to me. What the hell is wrong with you? Did I do
something? Because I don’t remember having said or done
anything to piss you off.”

She scowled at him. “Sometimes,
it’s the things you
don’t
say.” She tried to close the door again, to put space between
them, but he was too strong.

Tyler didn’t understand why
she was so angry with him. Had one of his cousins told her something
vile and untrue that would have her in such a mood? It was a logical
explanation.

“
Valerie, whatever those
guys told you about me, or whatever you heard that has you so upset,
I’m sorry. I just don’t understand… please, talk
to me.”

She scoffed. “Oh, I don’t
blame your family at all. Who would want a fat piece of trash from
the wrong side of the tracks poisoning the bloodline? Tyler, you
should just leave. Just forget about it…about me.”

He saw pain on her face and it
broke his heart. He had to know why she would feel this way, had to
know why everything that had been so incredibly wonderful only a few
hours ago was suddenly turning to stone.

“
Trash, Valerie. I wouldn’t
be with you if you were trash.”

She raised an eyebrow at him,
trying to hold back the tears that wanted to flow unhindered down her
cheeks. “I’m not stupid, Tyler. I was an easy mark,
right? Why? Because I’m not skinny like all of the girls at
the office? Because you thought that maybe I hadn’t dated in
awhile and you’d come rushing in and sweep me off my feet? I’m
not so desperate, Tyler – and regardless of what you or your
family think of I’m a decent, kind person who deserves to be
loved. Really loved. Not just a quick fix for a guy looking to
secure his trust fund.”

As realization set in, Tyler’s
eyes swirled grey, resentment for his father replacing the look of
confusion with a look of pure hatred.

“
Valerie, that was never
my intention. I’ve bucked against that rule since it was put in
place. I wasn’t dating you to make my father happy. He very
much disapproves of everything I do, so I stopped trying.”

Valerie shook her head. “Is
that why you took the job at the law firm? Is that why you’re
studying to take the bar? Tell me, Tyler, what is it you really
wanted to do with your life? If you stopped trying to make your
father happy, you would have gone ahead and joined a hockey team,
wouldn’t you? So, tell me why I should believe that you aren’t
using me?”

Tyler’s face fell, and
Valerie instinctively wanted to reach out and touch his cheek in
comfort. But she held back, too angry still to show how much she
actually cared. It was too late for that. She’d fallen for
someone who had no real interest in her, and she sure as hell wasn’t
going to settle for that.

“
I walked out, Valerie.”
He almost choked on the words, his emotions out of control. He was
usually so passive, so laid back about everything. He never felt
passionately about anything, even his adrenaline highs. He didn’t
understand the depth of emotion he swam in right now, and it
threatened to drown him.

“
I asked my father where
you were, and when he told me you left, I told him I didn’t
care about the trust fund and walked out.” She’d stopped
holding the door, so he pushed it open further and stepped inside,
closer to her. She squeezed the towel tightly around her,
defensively, still eyeing him warily. “And when I left, I came
straight here.”

Valerie sighed. It sounded good,
but how could it be the truth?

“
Go back to work, Tyler.
You’d hate your life without the money. You need it. You need
the yacht, and the motorcycle, and the fast cars and all the finer
things in life. You don’t need me. And if it’s the job
you’re worried about, I already have another one lined up. The
joy of being at the top of your class is that everyone wants you.”

But Tyler refused to listen. “I’m
glad you found another job, if that’s what you want. But
something I’ve realized since I met you is that, with all the
‘finer’ things in life, I’ve never been more than
content. I’ve never been on fire about anything I’ve ever
done in my life, with the exception of hockey. That’s the only
thing I’ve ever been passionate about.” He put a hand on
her shoulder, and she twitched but didn’t’ pull away.
“But I’m passionate about you. Valerie, you have changed
my life. You’re a beautiful, sexy, intelligent woman who
deserves all the finer things in life herself. And I would rather be
with you than have my father’s money. I can make it in this
world without him. As long as I have you.”