"If you already knew, why did you ask?" I grit and turn Holly back, pulling her close to my side. Feeling the need to protect her from the bitterness of my father.
I was hoping they would never have to cross paths. I knew the bastard wouldn’t be happy about the events.
“Holly, this is my father, Garrett Morgan.” I brush my hand down her arm. “Father, this is Holly Jenkins. And now that you two have met, I guess you can go.” I wave my father out the door. Holly gives my fingers a gentle squeeze telling me wordlessly she’s here.
“How much do you want Holly?” my father barks, saying her name with such disdain while ignoring me.
Holly’s normal rosy cheeks pale. “Pardon?” she whispers and stares down my father.
“How much would it take for you to leave and never come back? That is what you really want, right? Trying to lock my son in and then leave him high and dry.”
“I—what? No.” Holly frowns and glances up at me. “Liam, you know…”
I press my fingers to her lips. “I know.”
“Oh, don’t act all sweet and innocent,” my father snaps. “Everyone has a price.”
“Not everyone. Have a nice day, sir.” Holly plasters a sickly smile on her face and then makes her exit.
“We’ll see about that," my dad huffs, watching her exit.
"You need to leave, Dad. You've done enough for one day and I have a meeting. I wouldn’t want you to think I was running your company into the ground with my shenanigans.”
“Have you done a background check on her?”
“For fuck’s sakes. Why can’t you just be happy for me for once?” I roar and the old man crosses his arms over his chest. “I have a son. Your grandson, by the way, who I care for more than anything in this world after knowing for only a few days. I’ll give my son everything I have to make sure he’s happy if I have to. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do?” At the statement, my father’s brown eyes soften.
His shoulders slouch. “I only worry about you, son.”
“I don’t need your unsolicited worry. Please leave.”
A few hours later I find Holly on the fifth floor with a sledgehammer, beating at the drywall. She’s changed into a t-shirt and a pair of jeans that make her ass look edible. Her hair is pulled back into a tight ponytail and she’s wearing a pair of ugly protection glasses making her look like she walked out of the HGTV Channel. Damn, if she isn’t hot right now.
She groans loudly as she lifts the hammer over her shoulder and slams into the wall, making a good sized hole in the drywall. I watch her for a bit, and I find my mind drifting to the image of her in the little red robe she was wearing the other day. The one that kept riding up, exposing just the curve of her bare ass, and the sides of her breasts every time she bent over. The innocence of her forgetting she was wearing it around me.
"You do demo now, too?" I chuckle, as she lays the hammer down. She's breathing heavy, and her forehead shines with a light coat of sweat from hauling the hammer that is bigger than she is.
"It's fun." She grins. "It helps get the aggression out. You should try it." She hands me the sledgehammer and slides her goggles off. "Go on, give the wall a whack. Trust me, you'll feel better."
I take the hammer and wield it into the drywall. As the drywall crumbles, I realize she’s right, I do feel a lot better. I hit it over and over again, thinking of all the shit with my father, the issues with work, till the wall is down to the studs.
"You're really good at wielding that hammer, Thor."
“Was it just like you remember?" I wiggle my eyebrows and her cheeks go red.
“Oh my god. I set myself up for that one.” She bows her head and covers her face with her hands.
“You did." I laugh and grab her wrists, removing her hands from her face. Her cheeks are still pink, but there’s a spark of something shining in her green orbs. "You don't need to be shy around me, Red."
“Oh, it has nothing to do with being shy, Mr. Morgan.” Her voice lowers to a sultry pitch and she wets her lips.
Fuck she drives me crazy.
“Is that so?” I step in closer to her. She shrugs. I’m seconds away from taking her in my arms and giving her a kiss that will leave her spinning when there’s a harsh clatter of metal from the left of us and it makes Holly jump back from me and clear her throat like she got caught with her hands down my pants. Her cheeks are blood red and she’s covering her smile with her hand as Glen steps into the room, adjusting his hard hat as he looks between us and the destruction of the drywall.
“Hey Holly.”
“Hey Glen.” Holly waves nervously, not making direct eye contact.
“I see you got the drywall down.”
“I had some help. Have you met Liam Morgan yet?” Holly points over to me, with a bright smile on her face.
“I have, it’s nice to see you again, sir.” He walks over to me and shakes my hand.
“You too. You’ve been doing great work.” Glen Arnold was brought in when Angela was hired, but Holly had admired his professionalism and approach and kept him on board.
“Thanks. Holly here is talented and easy to work with. Her ideas are a hundred times better than Angela’s plans. Did you know she wanted to make some type of Aquarium? Thought it would bring
