I shot up and pressed my white-knuckled fists on the table. "She's not going anywhere. And if you try to move her, I will dissolve this partnership fast.”
Cade scoffed at me. “You’d give up everything we created for someone you just met?”
“I'd give up my life for her.”
Evan smirked. "You're finally admitting you two are a couple?”
“I love her,” I admitted, sitting down. “I'm not going to hide it anymore. And when the time is right, I'm going to ask her to marry me. She's the one.”
I didn’t miss the incredulous look that passed between Evan and Cade. They both shifted in their seats before looking at me. Cade was the first to speak. “Are you sure this is what you want? If so, I'm happy for you, man. She’s fantastic. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned. What if it all goes wrong? I don’t want to lose a talented employee because of your dick.”
“It won’t go wrong, and you don't sound happy for me. In fact, you sound like you would rather I wasn't involved with her at all.”
"That’s not the case,” Evan chimed in. “You’ve heard the gossip, right? Josie is having a field day.”
I nodded. “I’m ignoring it. Aubrey isn’t paying any attention to it, either. I know Josie is behind it. We all know how she gets. She still thinks we’re kids just out of college and that one day, I’ll go running back to her.”
Cade pursed his lips and blew out a breath. He then turned to Evan. “Since the call center is your baby, you have to be the one to get Josie under control. We’ve had to fight too many fires because of her attitude.”
“I'll have a word with her,” Evan said, “but I can't promise anything. She's a law unto herself. She has been from the beginning.” He scrubbed his hands over his face. “Her nose is still out of joint over your breakup.”
“That was seven years ago. And we only dated for a month. It wasn’t like we were engaged or living together. Can we buy her out? That would solve a lot of issues for everyone. Giving her five-percent in the company was stupid.”
Evan drummed his fingers against the table. “There’s no way she’d sell.”
“Probably not,” I agreed.
Cade clicked and unclicked his pen, something he did when he was feeling impatient. The staccato beat was as annoying as fuck. "Can we stop talking about Josie and your sex life and get on with things.”
After the meeting, I made my way over to Aubrey’s desk. I was pleasantly surprised by her outfit. For the first time ever, she wasn't wearing a sweatshirt. Instead, she wore a fitted T-shirt that said Nerd? We prefer the term intellectual badass. The scars on her arm were on full display.
"You look very badass in that T-shirt.”
She beamed. “I've got this boyfriend who suggested I stop hiding from the world. I took his advice.”
I laughed. "It sounds like your boyfriend is a pretty smart man.”
“He is. And he makes me feel like I’m the most beautiful woman in the world.”
“You are the most beautiful woman in the world.”
She giggled. The delicious sound shooting straight to my dick.
“You're such a sweet talker. I'll reward you for that later.”
"I already can’t wait.” I went into my office to get on with my day, but, as usual, my thoughts kept wandering back to Aubrey. I didn't want to hide our relationship anymore. I wanted the world to know she was mine.
I picked up the phone and called my mom. When she answered, I asked, “Can you recommend a jeweler? There’s something I want to ask someone.”
After spending hours with the jeweler my mom had recommended, I whistled the entire way back to the office. Since money was no object, the jeweler had made the setting for me there and then. If it didn’t fit, we could go back tomorrow and have it sized.
I tapped the front, right pocket of my jeans to make sure the ring was still there. It was. Probably not the best place to keep something that cost as much as a small house, but I wanted to keep it on me.
Tonight, I would take her out for dinner, and afterward, I would ask her to marry me. A niggling thought flashed through my head. What if she said no? What if marrying me was the last thing she wanted to do? I shoved my negative thoughts away. If the previous few weeks had shown me anything, it was that she loved me as much as I loved her. And with every minute we spent together, she opened up to me more and more.
She’d shared how her mom lived with guilt over the accident. Shared how her brother lived with bitterness. Growing up, he’d felt neglected because of all the care and attention Aubrey had needed.
The family drama that had stopped her from applying for our internship program on time was because of him. He had been arrested for domestic abuse. Her mother had wanted him to move in with her, but Aubrey said no way could that happen.
She’d left college in the middle of the semester to go home. Her brother, she said, was meaner than a hungry box of snakes. If he moved into the trailer, he would do nothing but drink then abuse their mom the way he had abused his wife.
She told me how her dad couldn't deal with seeing his baby girl in pain or hearing her screams every time they brought her to the hospital. One day he upped and left, leaving her mom to handle everything. In Aubrey’s eyes, she was Wonder Woman. In my eyes too.
Her mom still lived at the trailer park where Aubrey’s accident had happened. I planned to meet her one day soon and thank her for raising such an amazing daughter.
Chapter Ten
Aubrey
Life couldn't get any better. I was in love. One-hundred percent head over heels, dreamy, swoony in love. There were days when I still had to pinch myself because I couldn't believe the path my life had taken.
I had a job I loved. I had a man who worshiped me and gave me orgasms galore. A man who had helped me find the kind of confidence I’d only ever dreamed of. For the first time since I was a kid, I stopped hiding my scars.
Today was the first day I’d walked into the office wearing a T-shirt. In the elevator, I thought I was going to lose my breakfast. But everyone had been sweet if a little curious. They didn't stare at me with sympathy in their eyes, and whenever they asked me about what had happened, I was honest.
They seemed awed that I had survived the trauma of being so severely burned. Some offered helpful advice like what essential oils to use to help the scars fade. Some had recommended plastic surgeons. I smiled and nodded and thanked them for their suggestions. I didn't tell them that I’d tried every medical and nonmedical treatment under the sun.
With Noah's help, I had come to accept my scars and was no longer afraid to let the world see them. They were part of me and made me who I was.
Before grabbing a sandwich from Willow’s truck, I stopped by the restroom. As I was finishing up, someone else came in. Josie’s grating voice echoed around the tiled room.
“I don't know why he’s even with her.”
She must have been on the phone with someone because there was no other voice but hers.
“How can he even touch her? I mean, just the sight of her melted skin makes me want to puke. I’m already sick of the sob story. Big whoop. So what if she was burned as a kid? She’s using it to get sympathy. Well, she won’t get any sympathy from me. I guess her face is pretty enough. But I can't imagine anyone wanting to touch her.”