Twice Smitten (A Modern Fairy Tale) (13 page)

The irritation now gone, he smiled. “I never said why there would never be sex. Just that it wasn’t an issue between us.”

She huffed, exasperated. “How is it you expect me to trust you when you lie?”

“It’s evading,” he said with a thoughtful expression.

“Same difference.”

His gaze turned serious, but the smile was still playful. “When you want honesty from me, I’ll give it to you.”

She straightened at the words. “So, you feel it’s ok to evade unless the person is deserving.”

The smile dropped from his mouth. “I’m saying, with you, we’ll have a relationship that is based on what we need.”

She huffed out a sound filled with disbelief. “And what I need is evasion tactics?”

“You’ll only let me close to you if I’m everything you believe me to be.”

“That’s some screwed logic.” But Abigail couldn’t tell him he was wrong.

She kept him at an arm’s length, and when it came right down to it, she couldn’t say why. What was it about him that put her on guard? A more troubling question, why did Drew go out of his way for her?

“The point still is you lied,” she said.

He sighed. “What’s it going to take, Abby?”

The tone held so much vulnerability, she had to grip the shopping cart handle to keep from walking forward to comfort him. “We can’t,” she murmured. “Friendship is what I can give you. Nothing more.”

The Drew she wanted to know met her gaze. There was so much in those brown eyes she didn’t want to put a name to. Abigail had to look away.

“We can’t be friends.” His soft laugh sounded tired and defeated. “Another lie I told you.”

Gathering some courage to ask the next question, she said, “If I ask you for honesty, will I get it?”

“Yes.” His gaze didn’t waver.

“Why didn’t you tell Greg what you thought? Why’d you ask me instead?”

He didn’t hesitate to give it to her straight. “My cousin was blindly happy about the engagement. Until he met Yvonne, I had never seen him so sure about anything. So in love with anyone. For Greg, love is simple. It will be the thing that gets you through the bad times.”

His jaw tightened “But, you weren’t sure, and you’re sure of everything. You don’t doubt yourself even when it’s the wrong thing to crusade for. Yet, you didn’t seem certain of the relationship with Greg.” He shook his head. “The simple truth is that you weren’t happy. We weren’t close. We weren’t anything, but I wanted you happy.”

He stuffed his free hand into the worn jeans, and let his words fill the silence. He thought she was sure of everything. If he really knew her, he would know that doubt clouded her every decision. Stubbornness made her seem opinionated. In her family you couldn’t let your insecurities show. Not with women who were so independent they ran right over you. One had to stake her claim or would be left with nothing. Worse, you’d be dragged behind the will of someone else.

Abigail chose her words carefully, “We can be friends, but you have to always be honest with me.”

His lips twitched. “Leave the charm at home?”

“More like don’t do things to please me. Do things because they please you. I can take care of myself.”

“You seem to always take care of the people around you. Would it be so bad to let me pick up the slack?” He paused. “As a friend?”

She wanted him to. Her limbs startled to tingle at the thought. She could see him carrying all the baggage she could no longer bear.

Just go for it
, Abigail could practically hear Pamela say, but her mother was the reason she was here at this store. Her mother went for it all the time. The details? Why bother with those? Matter of fact, other people could take care of them.

“Never mind,” he said. “I’m pretty much done shopping. Monday?”

The abrupt ending to the conversation threw her. “Monday then.”

He grabbed the nearest cereal and tossed it into his basket. “Monday,” he said again before walking away.

She watched the saunter from behind. Nice. Really nice view. Heat rushed up to her face, and all the why nots left her brain. “Damn, Pamela,” she muttered.

Chapter Ten

“’I can’t fight it’,” Emma sang through the phone line. “’I just can’t hide it.’”

“I know, I know…you should stop or I’ll have to hit you with something.” Abigail swivelled her chair to face the window.

Drew had yet to make it to her office. Yes, Jim had given Drew an office for himself on loan, but he’d rarely used the space. Her morning felt empty without him there to antagonize her or vice versa. She scowled down at the view. “So, what am I supposed to do?”

“Nothing.” Emma squeed again. “We’ve got a week to put together an engagement party. We want something small and intimate, but I’m going to be calling in favors. I’ll save up all the big ones for the wedding.”

“What’s Sasha in the clink for?”

“It’s not jail, it’s a party,” Emma said with more cheer. “And invitations. She’s started on them already.”

“Oh, so I get the second phone call. Figures. I’ll be bringing all the joy and cheer, but Sasha gets called first.”

“When you have a party and need invites, who do you call first?”

Abigail wouldn’t deny the truth, but she had to argue with someone. “That’s not the point. Formal wear?”

“And,” Emma’s voice went conspiratorial, “A guest.”

The door behind her opened, and the guest Emma had in mind came into the office. His aftershave filled the room. She couldn’t quite describe the scent, but it probably held a designer label. All Abigail could think was “go for it.” If anything, the smell was brimstone in a fancy bottle.

“There will be no need for a plus one on my invite,” Abigail said.

She turned the chair away from the view to the other just as appealing one. The day’s suit was pinstriped and tailored to a ’T’. A red clip pinned down the cerulean blue tie. He’d forgone a jacket, or had left it in the borrowed office, and sported a navy-blue vest that matched the striped pants. The closed expression gave nothing away and it worried her the most.

They hadn’t made it to friends yet, and if her sanity held, they wouldn’t ever be lovers, but in the past they’d always managed banter. Though he wore a mask with charm or a playboyish slant, he’d been open in a way.

“Emma, I’ve gotta get to work, but let me know if you need anything else,” Abigail said into the phone.

Emma gasped. “Oh, he is standing right there?”

Abigail’s gaze slid from his. “I will call you later or see you at the shop.”

“He is.” Emma sighed. “Invite him already.”

She opened her mouth to reply, but the dial tone rang in her ears. Placing the phone back into the cradle, she considered Drew. “Good morning.”

“Morning. When will your team be ready?”

All business. No flirting on the horizon. Good. This is what she wanted from the beginning. He was the one who had broached the idea of friendship. She could live with her office being devoid of any warmth for the next couple of weeks if it meant keeping her team.
Keeping her heart
, she thought without reserve.

Damn, Pamela
. “For a presentation or a meeting?”

“Presentation,” he said without any character, like an android someone had plugged in the night before to unleash on her the next day.

“Presentation?” She pushed for an explanation while his lifeless demeanor continued to bother her. “Another day and I am sure we can put together a rough idea of what Lancaster has in mind.”

“A late afternoon meeting? We can all bounce ideas off each other and meet again tomorrow for the final go through.”

She picked up her pen to keep the nerves busy. “I thought you would be here for weeks?”

“I will. A rough final isn’t a final-final. Sounds good to you?”

He hadn’t cracked one smile since entering the office. She tapped the pen on the desk-sized calendar. Abigail didn’t know what she wanted from a professional relationship with Drew, but this wasn’t it. Being personable had advantages; it made an exchange of information less cold and self-serving.

She leaned back in her chair, rocking it slightly. “Have a seat, Mr. Carter.”

Still no smirk from her tone or the use of his surname. He folded into the chair and settled into it stiffly. Not at all like he had sat down at the wedding. “Ms. Johnson?”

“What is it?”

“What is what?” He didn’t look confused so he knew exactly what she meant.

Her worry deepened. “This new personality for one. You not coming to my office for anything other than to find out my schedule, for two.”

“I’m being professional.” She raised her brow and finally he smiled. “I’ve had time to think and maybe you’re right about any relationship between us being a conflict.” He let out a frustrated breath. “I’ve also thought about other factors.”

Abigail was getting what she wanted. Why wasn’t that enough? Why didn’t this exchange feel right? She dropped the pen on the calendar, because what she wanted was the right thing to do.
Go for it
. What her gut told her to do was the wrong thing.

Less than thirty seconds of him being unsociable, standoffish and she broke. She missed the way they talked. Abigail tucked her tongue behind her teeth. The truth, she missed him. Maybe her gut’s message had very little to do with Pamela’s advice and more to do with Drew making her blood go hot at the sight of him. Her heart downright pumped, leaving her heady and giddy when they were at odds. She felt alive when he flew under the radar.

Could she have her cake and eat it too? Drew would be professional. More so than she originally believed. He would be objective when it came to her team. She bit down softly on her tongue and considered all the angles. He’d come to the same conclusion—Abigail’s team was fine. Not one of them needed to be fired and replaced. Relationships she may be wrong more often than right. But in her job? She didn’t miss a step. It was something she’d come to count on.

Drew sat there quietly with a guarded expression and his demeanor had to be questioned. Wanting to know what was going on wouldn’t cross a line or create havoc. Taking down another wall between them wouldn’t automatically mean gloom and doom. And if this led to more? It wouldn’t cross a line either. Her personal and professional life would stay separate.

Abigail picked up the pen again, and going on a hunch, she said, “I thought we’re going to be honest from now on?”

He shifted forward. “The truth?”

“The absolute,” she said.

He let out a small laugh. “I was starting to feel stalkerish, so I’m toning it down.”

A corner of her mouth twitched. “Wanting to be my friend is stalkerish?”

Finally, life came back into his eyes. “Wanting to be close to you like I do when you don’t want the same thing feels stalkerish.”

She rocked the chair for a moment. “It’s complicated between us.”

He laughed louder. “Crushes are usually unrequited. Haven’t had one in a very long time. I forgot how it makes you a little unstable. It’s complicated because you’re crushing on me back.”

“I never said I had—” She stopped when his expression called her on the bullshit. “A little crush, but it’s the charm.” She huffed. “You’ve honed it very well. It beckons to a woman like a fly to honey.”

He shook his head. “You can’t even admit that it’s me you like. Period. Point blank.”

“It’s hard.” She shifted in the chair. “It makes me feel…” She shrugged.

He met her gaze. “Vulnerable.”

Abigail knew she didn’t have to agree, but maybe it was time to stop putting up a front with him. “You’ve seen me at my worst.”

“Worst?” He rubbed at the stubble on his chin. “Who a person is and how they treat people when they are at the bottom is the best way to get to know a person.” He unfolded from the chair to stand. “My family may have thought—”

“Or still think,” Abigail said with a smile.

“Still think you’re the anti-Christ, but I don’t believe they’d have wanted someone to marry Greg who didn’t love him the way he deserved. Someone who knew from the beginning she couldn’t put her all into the marriage.”

She crossed her arms, feeling every ounce of the vulnerability. He did know her, in a way. He probably couldn’t say what was her favorite color, or meal, but he knew when it came down to the wire she’d make the tough but right choice. Abigail’s chest tightened at the surprising emotion welling inside her. He hadn’t said what he said for any long game strategy. Drew meant the words he’d spoken.

Unsettled at the truth, she put them back on track. “Let me round up my team. I’ll e-mail you a time to meet up for
tomorrow
.”

“Works for me.” Drew rose from the chair, nodded and went to the door. He paused. She held her breath, but he walked out of the office.

Letting the breath out slowly, Abigail conceded she was well and thoroughly screwed. She threw the pen on the calendar. All this time he’d been trying to show her the real him. A part of Abigail despised him for making her connect with him, especially when she should have been running in the other direction.

The truth was, what was between them wasn’t complicated at all, but simple. Abigail was prepped and ready to be had by Drew.

“
Damn, Pamela
,” she grumbled.

*****

Drew was a pervert. No Peeping Tom by any means, and he didn’t necessarily have fetishes. Nothing wrong with trying out things that made you curious, at least once. No, none of that nominated him to pervert status.

In a room full of people, he was harder than a brick just by watching Abigail command a room. The lazy roll of her hips as she moved in front of the Smart Board reminded him of a lioness on the prowl. Not that far-fetched to place glasses on the edge of her nose, a ruler in her delicate hand and dress her up in something short and tight. Who would have thought? Drew finally saw the appeal in a school marm fantasy.

While his imagination played in that kinky sandbox, Abigail bandied ideas back and forth with both teams without an ounce of insecurity he’d witnessed the day before. Her gaze intensified at the whiff of a good idea. She meted out a criticism without sting. It was no wonder he was crazy about her.