“I’vesaid this before, but apparently you weren’t listening, so you’re going to hearit again. You’ve been lucky in your career so far, Miller. No major injuries,no arrests that stuck. But your luck will run out. Like I toldyou when you first came here, I’m not your friend. I’m your boss, and Iput my ass on the line for you. I promised you then that if you gotsideways, I’d throw you to the wolves. That starts here. Now. Pack your stuffand get your sorry ass to the airport. You’re booked on a flight to Denver, andyou’re on indefinite suspension. When you get there, you’re reporting for drugcounseling before you even think about doing anything else.”
Beckettnodded, hiding the emotions roiling in his gut. Suspension. Not being able toplay. For how long? Fuck, fuck, fuck!
WithCoach standing sentry in the hallway, Beckett entered the room and softlylatched the door behind him. His teammate stirred with a grunt beforeresettling, and Beckett ducked into the bathroom, stripped, and turned on theshower full blast.
Howthe hell did I get so far down this road?
.~ * * * ~.
Paige guided her shiny, new gold Toyota Tacoma—herbaby—curbside at Denver International as she scanned the passengers. When shespotted Adrian, her heart beat a little faster. She broke out in a smile as heopened the door, tossed his bag in, and slid into the passenger seat.
“Hi.”She leaned over the console for a kiss.
“Hi.”He pecked her lips.
“Howwas the flight from London?”
“Long.”He buckled up. “You really didn’t have to come get me.”
“Iknow, but I wanted to see you sooner. Besides, I wanted to show off my newtruck.” She nosed the vehicle into the stream of cars heading away from theairport. “Well? What do you think?”
Helooked around the cab, flipped open the glove box, powered the window down andup, and patted the console. “Not bad, though I still don’t understand why youdidn’t go for something more upscale. The Denali’s much cushier.”
“I testdrove one. The thing was a monster. Plus, it gets about two miles to thegallon.”
“No, itdoesn’t,” he chuckled.
“Well,this one suits me better. It’s my size and easier to handle.”
Heglanced at her. “Well, it’s your car.”
“AndersonHomes’ first company car. Isn’t that so cool?” she gushed.
Heslouched against the door, closing his eyes. “Good for you, sweetheart. Tookyou long enough.”
Hershoulders slumped an inch, and her chest deflated. Not that he noticed. He’stired.
Shegripped the steering wheel tightly. “Um, Adrian, I know you’re exhausted, butdo you mind if we take a little detour on our way home? It’ll only add a minuteor two.”
Heopened one eye and fixed it on her. “What for?”
Shecleared her throat. “I want your opinion on a property. I’ve been chatting upthe owner, and he wants to sell, but his house is in bad shape. I was thinking,well, this might be the perfect one to scrape for that new build I’ve beenwanting to do.”
“What’sspecial about this one?”
“Itabuts the park, it’s just down the street from my current project, and it’s gota newer two-car detached garage. One less line item on the budget.”
Heflapped his hand. “Fine, but can you make more than chump change? Your lastremodel brought in, what, a measly forty grand? And how much time did you putinto it? Did you ever calculate your hourly rate on that project like Isuggested? I doubt you made a hundred an hour.”
Anangry swell began rising from her belly. “The margin is huge on the scrape. Asfor the remod, forty grand is a great profit in this market.”
Botheyes open now, he gave her a contrite grin. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. It’s justthat I deal in numbers with a few more zeroes, and sometimes I forget.”
He sat upa little straighter. “How’s your new assistant? What’s her name?”
Paigechose to bury Adrian’s stinging slight and focus on a bright spot. “Her name’sKatie. She’s only been there a week, and she’s already organized the office.”
“Well,thank God for that! Construction aside, that’s where you need the mosthelp, Paigey. Now maybe our house won’t look like a bomb just went off.Remember what I said about getting friendly, though. Never get close to youremployees, or they’ll eat you alive. Especially these constructiontypes—they’re the bottom of life’s barrel.”
As shedrove, Paige stared at the flat ground stretching before her like a swath ofbrown suede. In the distance, it was swallowed up in dusky green pines andglittering high-rises framed by the serrated Rockies. A brilliant azure skycompleted the sublime scene. The sight usually brought a smile to her face, andshe locked on to it, trying to lose herself in it.
Shehadn’t always been in disarray—Grandma had brought her up better than that. Butlimited hours in a day had forced Paige to prioritize. Acquiring projects,managing them, selling them off—that was what she loved to do. She was good atit, so she’d aimed her attention there. It was where she made her money.
Grandmawould have understood. No doubt, she’d have cheered Paige on, been her biggestfan. She’d have pulled Paige into a pillowy, rose-scented embrace, telling herhow proud she was. Paige could almost feel Grandma running her hand along hercheek and cupping her chin. “Don’t sweat the little stuff, honey,” she’d havesaid.
A tearstung Paige’s eye, and she scrubbed it away.
Turningher gaze, she glimpsed Adrian sleeping, his head resting against the doorframe. Maybe he thought Paige had relegated him to the “little stuff.” She’dhave to work on doing better.
.~ * * * ~.
Hours later, Paige cleared the table, insisting Adrianrelax. She’d made his favorite comfort foods—meatloaf, mashed potatoes, andgravy—as part of her campaign to convince him he was as important to her as herbusiness was. Maybe she’d inspire him to delay the next business trip.
“Thatwas good, Paige.”
Surprised,she stuttered a step into the kitchen. “Thank you,” she called over hershoulder.
“Don’tsound so surprised,” he laughed. “You know you’re a good cook.”
Shestrolled back into the dining room and placed her hands on his shoulders,dropping her mouth to his ear. “Is that all you married me for?”
Hepatted her hand. “One of the reasons.”
Settlingherself into her chair, she rested her chin in her hands. “Why did youmarry
