“Sorry, love, but I don’t recall that. I can check if you like?” David’s eyes twinkle with merriment at his wife before he winks at me.
“You both suck,” I declare for no other reason other than the fact their family and I can say that without either of them taking offense.
Carys opens her mouth, likely to make some rude comment, but David reaches over and lays his hand over her mouth. “Don’t think about responding, my love. Ward doesn’t need those kinds of details.”
“Damn right I don’t.” But watching my sister’s eyes turn from amusement to burning fire at her husband’s words does make the corners of my mouth twitch. “I should have done that to her when we were younger.” I nod at the hand over Carys’s mouth.
My sister shoves her husband’s hand away before growling, “I’d have bitten you so fast, it would have been… Oh, it sounds like Angie’s back!” The mercurial moods Carys is having make me wonder if she’s pregnant again.
When I ask that aloud, the horror on her face makes me bark out a laugh. “Why, Carrie, Ben isn’t that bad,” I tease her in return, some of my good humor returning when I think of my little nephew.
“And right now he can cogitate, move faster than I can, and…ooh! Excellent choice, Angie!”
I whirl around in my chair and freeze at the sight before me.
Angela Fahey may be the most dedicated and loyal assistant I’ve ever met in my life. She is efficient, organized, and should have left working for my sister to grow her career long ago. Of course, this has nothing to do with the fact she causes so many conflicting emotions to run through my system day after day when I come through the doors of LLF, LLC.
I’ve wanted her the moment I saw her, and I refuse to do a damn thing about it. I’m scarred enough by loving and losing my parents that I’m afraid I’ll make the wrong decision—again. And I’ll—again—have to watch someone I love get hurt, or worse.
But despite the logic in my brain, my body reacts to her presence every damn day I see her.
I resent the hell out of her for it.
Despite being pulled up, her thick auburn hair falls in waves past shoulders I’ve imagined are as creamy-skinned as her perfect heart-shaped face. Intelligent, serious blue eyes, high cheekbones, and a perfect bow mouth round out a face that should be gracing magazine covers instead of answering phones for my sister’s—no, our—law firm. If I wasn’t bound by an ethical clause Carys added to not do a background check on previous hires, I’d bet a million dollars I easily could afford I would find Angie has a modeling background with her perfectly ramrod straight carriage, those long legs, and the smooth-as-glass face she wears.
But none of her physical attributes are what holds me entranced at the moment. It’s what she’s holding in her hands.
Damnit, it’s a birthday cake.
“You have got to be fucking shitting me,” I growl.
“Ward…” David warns.
“What part of ‘I don’t ever want to celebrate my birthday’ do any of you not understand?” I shout at the room at large.
Carys’s lip begins to tremble. “Christ,” I swear. Shoving myself out of my chair, I bump into Angie, who stumbles backward. The cake she’s holding bobbles in her arms before it slides backward and lands against her ample bosom—clearly ruining her blouse and staining her ever-present black suit.
Flashes of what I could do with a macerated cake and icing with this woman pop into my brain. And even though there’s nothing in our employee guidelines preventing me from asking her out, I can’t act upon any of them as I’m almost certain she’s involved with someone—someone who I see too often for my own peace of mind.
A tide of dark fury rises through me. Feeling like the monster I know I am, I slip my hand into my pocket and peel off a few bills. Tossing them onto the table, I fling a hand out. “That should buy you a new outfit to replace the one you just ruined on my sister’s behalf. It’s the least of what she owes you for pulling this stunt.”
I storm to the door and slam it behind me, leaving Carys, David, and Angie in silence behind me. I need to get out of this office—away from anyone or anything who can remind me it’s my birthday.
And the anniversary of the day my parents died.
I move with the crowds down by Fifth Avenue, having no particular destination in mind other than escape. It doesn’t matter if it’s in a crowd; I’m just as alone here if I was sitting back at my condo. If anything, the pain of watching the tourists explore the city I love so much is almost worse as I remember my father lifting me up against the rail surrounding the viewing deck to get a better view of the skaters.
“But why do all these people come in to the city to skate here, Dad?”
“I can’t say, Ward.” My father handed me a cup of cocoa he bought from a local street vendor. “But it’s a good thing they do.”
“Why?” I tipped my head back to look up at him.
“It gives people jobs. And jobs mean people have extra money. Around this time of the year, a lot of people don’t have money for nice things like you and your sister get.”
I’m bumped from the side by a rushing mother who’s dragging her children along single file. “Likely to make their time to skate,” I observe. But my new position puts me directly in the line of sight of a vendor selling hot chocolate. And suddenly, I want some. I need my parents here today in any way I can have them.
After all, if it wasn’t for me, they would be.
After waiting for fifteen minutes on line, my hands wrap around the paper cup. I inhale and the scent brings back even more memories of my childhood. Leaning against the railing, I sip slowly as kids in snowsuits that make them as big as marshmallows try to skate around the rink while some whirl around so fast they’re a blur.
I don’t know how long I stand there lost in memories of long ago until a familiar head of flame rushes past me.
Angie.
She’s close enough I can see her face is set in tight lines, and I know it’s my fault. I feel my parents’ disapproval settle over me. You aren’t living up to the man they raised you to be, Ward, I chastise myself on their behalf. I call out her name, but she doesn’t turn around.
I don’t know if she heard me as she rounds the corner, but even if she did, I can’t say I’m surprised she ignores me. I certainly would have. I was an unmitigated ass and not just to her, but to the only people in the world I give a damn about.
I turn away from the skaters and make my way around the rink to our building. It’s time to face my sister’s fire and her husband’s ice.
After I get off the elevator, I enter the door with the engraved Celtic knot sandblasted on the frosted glass doors with the discreet LLF, LLC beneath it. “Love, loyalty, friendship. How much damage did I do to mine today?” I murmur before pulling the door toward me.
The wooden doors with the same branding are cracked open. I wince as I hear my sister’s choked sobs. “…figured if it was just us…”
“Shh, Carrie. It’s Ward. He knows you meant well.”
“But what about Angie?” she cries.
“Sending her home for the day was the right thing to do,” David reassures her.