A Mutually Beneficial Secret: A Spicy Secret Office Relationship RomCom (The Unexpected Book 3), page 19
I swallow my bite and pretend to ponder her words. “Huh. Piper sure hasn’t been complaining.”
Ella snickers and Kenzie glares, seemingly disappointed she didn’t rile me with her frankness.
“Maybe it just doesn’t last long enough to feel like dessert for her,” Kenzie adds.
I give her a feigned smile. “Or maybe I’m just so good at ‘dessert’ that she doesn’t need it to last for hours every time. Would you like me to have a chat with Bentley for you?”
Ella’s laughter echoes around us, and Kenzie merely smirks. “Touché, Adamson. Touché. You’re going to fit right in with us.”
“Fit in? He’s going to be the second-best thing that ever happened to Piper,” Ella says, and I don’t bother to ask what the first is.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
SOUL SISTERS
Piper
My time with Ella and Kenzie is over, and I don’t know how to say goodbye. Not when I know Ella is going to be trying for a baby and Kenzie will likely be planning a wedding with Bentley sooner rather than later. My heart feels like it’s being shattered all over again. Possibly even worse this time.
Tears track down each of our cheeks as we hug outside the airport security. “I want to be getting on that plane with you,” I murmur between them.
“I can shove you in my carry-on if you’re feeling flexible,” Kenzie offers as she swipes at her face.
Ella squeezes my hand as we all pull apart. “It’s going to be okay. You’ll be out for Easter next month and we’ll figure the summer out while you’re there.”
I nod and try to smile, but the action just doesn’t happen.
“At least you have Colin, and we know you’re not all alone here,” Kenzie says. “We like him, Pipe. Like, really do. I hope the two of you can figure out a way to make this all work.”
God, I hope so, because the need to quit my job and go home to North Carolina is stronger right now than it’s been at any point over the last two months.
“I’ll let you know when we do,” I reply and wrap my arms around both of them again. “I don’t think I can let you go.”
The tears start anew, and my chest burns with agony. I can’t release them and watch them disappear through security. I need them too damn much.
Ella grabs my face with both of her hands and stares intently at me. “Everything is going to be okay. I promise. We’re going to go, but it’s not forever. We’ll hug you again in four weeks, and we’ll see you just as soon as we land.”
Seeing through video chat isn’t the same as seeing them like I am now, but I didn’t need to tell Ella that. She knows it and I get that she’s only trying to make me feel better.
My eyes move between the two of them. “I love you, but I’m going to go first. I don’t think I can watch you walk away.”
Kenzie hugs me one last time. “You’re the bravest person I know. Remember that, no matter what happens next.”
Kenzie saying nice things to me isn’t helping. I just need to leave, because prolonging the goodbye is only making me cry more.
Ella blows me a kiss. “We love you. Drive carefully.”
I nod and quickly turn around. When I get to the exit, I glance back to find them still standing there and waving at me.
Damn it. Why did I have to have the best friends in the world? Why did they have to make me miss them so much?
I take a shaky inhale, then wave once more before practically running to my car. When I get there, I let myself wallow in the hot tears trailing down my face for a few minutes.
As I start my car, I know there’s only one other person who might be able to soothe the aches I’m being assaulted with, and I point my tires in his direction without thinking twice.
When I get to Colin’s, the garage is already open for me, and I park beside his car. The tears have stopped falling, but the hollowness inside me is still there, as if someone is having a grand time carving my chest out with a spoon.
The door opens and Colin steps out, arms open. I fall into them willingly and start to cry all over again.
His hands move comfortingly over my back, and he whispers sweet words in my ear that I can barely process through my own misery.
I know Kenzie and Ella aren’t dead, but the agony inside me says the distance between us is nearly the same.
Dramatic? Sure, but I don’t care. Those two women are my soul sisters, and I don’t know how I ever thought I could survive being apart from them.
Colin leads me inside and guides me to the couch, where it seems like he was working since his laptop is out. “I’m going to get you some tea and be right back. A good cuppa makes everything better.”
I nod robotically, unable to reply verbally or look to see his face, even though I know he’s only trying to cheer me up.
His footfalls sound through the otherwise quiet room, and then I hear the sweetest sound coming from behind me.
Sir Charles is on the back of the couch, and his green eyes are staring at me with all the love the feline can offer.
I reach for him and snuggle him to my chest. His head pushes against my chin, and my shoulders shake all over again. Maybe I need my own cat to keep me company in my lonely house.
Colin returns with the tea, but I don’t reach for the cup. Instead, I keep Charlie in my lap, using him for the comfort I so badly seek.
The drink is set down next to me on the end table, and Colin takes a seat on the coffee table in front of me. “You know, before I moved here, I used to travel for work quite a bit. I have more airline miles than I could use myself. We could book you some flights, so you know exactly when you’ll get to see them again.”
I sniffle and finally meet his caring gaze. “I can’t take time off work just because I can’t manage to let go of my best friends.”
“Why not? They’re not just your friends. I saw that this weekend. Ella and Kenzie are your family.”
There’s no judgement in his tone or the way he looks at me, and that finally allows me to breathe a little easier. “They really are my family. I don’t know how I thought I could do this on my own.”
Colin reaches for my legs. “I’d like to think you’re not alone here.”
His words hit me in the feels. There’s a new tightness in my chest that has nothing to do with missing my friends and everything to do with the conversation that’s been long overdue.
“How, though? I can’t just be friends with you now. Not after everything that’s happened between us. Yet, we can’t keep seeing each other. Selfishly, I’m not ready to let you go yet, but we both know this can’t last, no matter how much we wish otherwise.”
Saying that out loud lifts a weight off me I didn’t realize I’d been carrying. Even if breaking up with Colin will hurt like hell, it’s better to do it when it’s on our own terms and not because we were forced to because of work.
His hold on my thighs tightens, and I finally release Sir Charles to accept Colin’s comfort. The cat jumps onto the other couch cushion with a soft meow before circling and laying down within my reach.
Colin turns his palms upward, and I place my hands in his. He is biting his lip and avoids my gaze for several beats.
“What is it?” I ask, hoping the dread that’s clawing its way up my throat isn’t as real as it feels.
“Let me get some biscuits to go with tea before I tell you.” He’s up and out of the family room before I can ask what’s going on with him.
Oh, God. Did Steve finally say something? I’d stupidly assumed that no news was good news, but maybe Colin had been shielding me from whatever happened since I’ve been out of the office. Have I already lost my job?
Breathing becomes harder, and I lean forward to put my head lower as I try to get my shit together. I grab on to the coffee table and attempt to think more positive thoughts, but it’s really fucking hard in the moment with my emotions already all over the place.
Colin’s laptop pings with a new email, and I can’t stop my eyes from looking up at the screen that’s right in front of me.
The subject of the email is “Piper’s Chapters”, and the sender is Steve, but it’s a reply to an earlier email. Colin doesn’t have his email set up like mine. I can’t see the body of the message. Only a short preview. One that makes bile rise in my throat.
Did Piper make her choice yet? I need to know…
I move to click on the email, but Colin walks back into the room. My heart is breaking even as I look up at him. “What did you do?”
“Fuck,” he mutters before setting the plate of cookies on the table and reaching for me.
I jerk away from him. “Tell me what that email is talking about, Colin.”
He takes a deep, shuddering breath as he sits next to me again. “Please, try to keep an open mind as I explain what happened and know that none of this was supposed to happen the way it did.”
“What happened?” My words are clipped, and I’m not sure how to process the thoughts that are running through my mind as I wait for him to explain.
“The morning you sent those chapters to me, Steve came to me right after I’d read them. He said we needed to have a meeting and when we got to his office, he told me he saw us at the movies and that I had to end things with you. When I told him I couldn’t do that, he said then we both might be fired.”
“So you sent him my chapters to save your ass? Was that your plan all along? To throw me under the bus for writing?” I snarl. He’s not painting a pretty picture so far.
His head shakes frantically. “No, and absolutely not. My plan was to—”
I can’t take anymore. I stand up abruptly, scaring the hell out of the cat and cutting off Colin when I shout, “Enough. It doesn’t matter what your plan was. You violated my privacy in the worst way. You knew I was nervous about those chapters. You know how hard it was to share that part of me with you. You had no right to share them with anyone else.”
I’m halfway to the kitchen when he reaches for me. “Piper, please hear me out. It’s not what you think, love. I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”
I laugh in his face, pulling further away from him. “Well, you sure did a bang-up job of that. Just leave me alone.”
“Please, don’t leave like this,” he begs as I get to the door leading to the garage, but I don’t bother to respond.
My heavy feet carry me forward, and I don’t hear Colin follow when I close it loudly behind me.
I came to him so that he could make me feel better, but now, all I feel is regret.
Regret for moving here. For going to that club and kissing him. For allowing anything else to happen. For being all alone and having no one else to truly blame except myself.
Chapter Thirty
FUCK
Colin
Once the shock of Piper’s reaction begins to wane, I rush after her, but when I get inside the garage, the automatic door is already opening and she’s climbing into her car. Even still, I know I have to try to get her to hear me out.
“Piper, wait. I was only trying to help—”
She cuts me off with a glare and sharp tone. “Help who? Because if you really think what you did was for my benefit, then you’re not who I thought.”
I rush forward, hoping to reach her before she has the chance to back out. “It isn’t like that. I swear. You might not realize it, but the way you talked about your book…” I let my sentence trail off when her head begins to shake.
“Colin, how I feel about anything else is irrelevant right now. You crossed a line. One I can’t pretend doesn’t hurt me deeply.”
She gets in her car and shuts the door when I approach. I press my palm against the window and kneel so I can see her face. She’s looking forward, a tremble in her tight jaw. “Please, Piper. Don’t leave like this.”
When she doesn’t move or reply, I allow myself the small hope that she’ll hear the rest of what I wanted to say, but then she mutters, “Goodbye, Colin.” And my chest feels like it’s caving in.
I don’t get another word out before she starts backing up and exiting the garage without giving me another look.
Damn it. This is so much worse than any of the scenarios I predicted. I’d thought she would at least hear me out. Sure, I did this partly so we could be together, but a big piece of me just wants to see Piper do something for herself that she’s been hiding for so long.
She’s a damn talented writer and the world should know that as well.
“Fuck,” I snarl while I head back inside. I royally screwed things up, but I’m not giving up. Even if I have to write her a letter so she can know everything, I won’t walk away from her without having tried everything I can think of to make things right.
If she still doesn’t want me, then I’ll quit Alliteration and let her live in peace. This is an all-or-nothing situation for me, and I’m willing to risk everything for her. No matter where I end up when things settle.
Chapter Thirty-One
A FAVOR
Piper
I sent an SOS text to Kenzie and Ella, but since they’re still in the air, I spend several hours pacing, rage-cleaning, and blasting music through my house in an attempt to drown out my thoughts.
It’s hard to believe that Colin shared my work with someone he had no right to. Work he knew I’d been overly private about. Work I thought he understood is incredibly special to me.
Clearly, I’d been wrong to believe he was as perfect as he’d seemed.
The worst part is that the longer I stew on what happened, the more I realize that I’m done here. There’s no way I can continue working for him, and I don’t see the point in staying in LA if I can’t do the work I love.
No, I’ll be going home with my tail between my legs, and I’ll even owe Alliteration money for my moving expenses since I signed a one-year employment contract.
Damn it. Why did Colin have to do this?
Maybe it’s better this happened. There was no way for our relationship to work out. A messy ending was bound to happen. I just didn’t expect that to be at my expense.
Finally, my phone rings and it’s a video chat from Kenzie’s phone, but she and Ella are both on the screen when I answer.
“What the hell happened?” Ella asks with a frown, and I see a restaurant booth behind them.
I rub a hand over my face and let out a heavy sigh as I lean back against my headboard. “I don’t even know. I was so upset after leaving the airport and Colin was trying to make me feel better by saying all these nice things, but then he admitted to doing something he thought would help for some asinine reason. Instead, all he did was break my trust in the worst way possible.”
Kenzie snarls. “Did the fucker cheat?”
“Okay, maybe not the worst way, but still awful. He gave the chapters of my book to his boss Steve.” My sadness has begun to wane and is replaced by anger. So much anger from the betrayal I feel.
Kenzie and Ella share a look, and I’m confused why they’re not raging on my behalf. Confused and frustrated, because I need their support right now.
“Um, Pipe. Did you consider that maybe he did you a favor?” Kenzie asks, her tone soft and curious.
My eyes bulge, and my chest tightens. “Excuse me? Why would I think that?”
The two of them share another too-long-for-my-liking gaze. Any calm I’d been trying to hold on to snaps. “What aren’t you guys saying?” I demand.
Ella sighs, a small smile lifting on her face as she takes the phone so that I can see only her. “Piper, you know we love you unconditionally, and we’re so proud of all you’ve accomplished with this job, but you’ve been miserable ever since you started editing full-time. I don’t think you’ve noticed it, but coming to visit you, we see things clearer now.”
“See what?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
Ella continues, “The only time you glowed about your work while we were there was when you talked about the book. We thought before you left that you’d only been meh about editing because you weren’t settled, but now that you are, you still don’t seem to have the love for it like you think you do. At least, that’s how it feels from the outside looking in.”
My head shakes in disbelief. I don’t understand what they’re saying, and I really need them to help make me feel better. Yet, they’re only confusing me more. I love helping my authors make their books shine.
Kenzie steals the phone back and grins. “Don’t look at us like that. We’re only saying these things because we love you and would have said them before, but none of it really came together until Ella started reading the pages you sent her.”
“What do you mean? What does my book have to do with any of this other than Colin sending those chapters to someone he had no right or reason to?” I feel dead inside. I can’t remember a day when I’ve felt worse or more alone.
Kenzie sighs, but her tone remains kind. “The book has everything to do with this. Did Colin tell you why he shared those chapters?”
I shrug, then wipe away the new tears on my cheeks. “I didn’t really give him the chance to. He said Steve threatened to fire us if we didn’t break up, so he shared them likely to save his own ass.”
Ella frowns. “That doesn’t seem like something the man you’ve talked about these past two months and who we got to know over the last five days would do.”
No, it doesn’t, but there’s no other reason I can think of as to why Colin would have done what he did.
“How did you find out that the chapters were shared?” Kenzie asks.
“He was working on the couch when I got there. His laptop was open, and an email came through from Steve. I could only see a small part of it, but he was asking if I’d made my decision. Probably wondering if I’d decided to quit, which sounds like a really fucking great idea right now.”
Kenzie and Ella share another look, and if they were in front of me, I’d be trying to choke them both. “What the hell aren’t the two of you saying?”
