I pinch the bridge of my nose. “I had no idea.” But it doesn’t surprise me.
“Well, I wanted to make sure you know what you have, Mr. Morgan.” Glen puts his arm around Holly. My girl. And he smiles at her, making her blush. A blush that’s only reserved for me. “Holly’s a talent you only see once in a lifetime.”
“Thanks, Glen.” She bows her head but peeks up shyly at me through her lashes.
“I’m very much aware.” I grind my teeth and slide my arm around her shoulder, pulling her back to me. It appears I’m not the only one who has been swayed by her charms.
“Glad to hear it.” Glen smirks and moves over to the demoed drywall. “So Holly, I'll have the crew finish up the demo and then put the studs in for the new walls and then the electricians will be here after.”
“That sounds perfect. I don’t know what I would do without you.” She grins up at him proudly and my jealously is spiking like crazy. This is all new. I’ve never been jealous before. It’s a wild feeling deep in the pit of my stomach, to the point I feel nauseous. I’m not even sure why I feel like this, but all I know is I need to get her away.
"Holly, can I steal you for a minute?" I grab her arm, pulling her away from their conversation.
“Sure.” But she says the words with uncertainty.
“I’ll catch you two later.” Glen chuckles as I watch him disappear further into the room.
“He likes you,” I whisper in her ear as we make our way to the elevator.
“Who?” She wiggles out of my hold and pushes the down button.
“Glen.”
“Seriously?” She giggles, but they fade as quickly as they came on when she realizes I’m not kidding.
“Yes.”
“Oh god. He doesn't. He just knows.”
“Knows what?”
“Mr. Morgan,” she utters sternly. “You can’t tell me you’re the CEO of this powerful company and have no idea what I mean.” She rolls her eyes and steps back into the corner of the elevator as she eyes me up and down. “He knows.”
“You’re going to have to spell it out in black and white, Miss Jenkins.”
She laughs. “He knows you’re the father of my son. But he thinks we are “together.” I haven’t told him otherwise.” She shrugs. The elevator doors slide open and she steps out ahead of me.
“Who told him?” I ask as I catch up to her.
“Was that classified information?” She raises an eyebrow.
“No.”
“Well, that’s good to know,” she huffs. “If you must know. He saw you, me, and your son hanging out in front of the building the other day. He asked me about the ‘happy family situation’ out front and I told him. I had nothing to hide.” She shrugs and tries moving ahead of me through the lobby.
“Okay.’
I sling my arm around her shoulder, needing her close and to show her I have nothing to hide either as we move through the busy lobby. I feel the looks and the whispers of my employees as we make our exit, but I don’t care.
She’s mine.
I take her across the street and treat her to an iced coffee at LoAnna’s Café. The café is quiet this time in the afternoon and I lead her to a corner booth. Above us is an abstract painting I can’t make sense of.
“What did you want to steal me for?” she asks playing with the straw in her drink.
“I wanted to apologize about what happened earlier with my father."
“You don’t have to. I shouldn’t have stepped in. I only did because I thought you might have wanted the interruption. We could all hear the yelling in the hallway.”
Jesus, that will definitely give my employees something to talk about. My team is already made up of the nosiest bastards out there, though it's used to fight corruption, not to dig through my dirty laundry.
“I hope you know his thoughts aren’t mine.” I brush her hair back off her shoulder.
“I do.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.” She chews on her straw. “So, you two don’t get along I take it?” A tiny smile graces her lips.
“What gave that away?”
Her eyes dance playfully around the café. “Oh, you know that radiating tension that filled the room when I walked in. Long story?”
“You could say that. Maybe one day I’ll explain. Just not today.”
“I was serious though.”
“About what?”
“I don’t have a price. Even if he offered me my own island with all the suntanned, oiled hotties fanning me, while feeding me all the grapes I wanted, I wouldn’t take it.”
“Oh really?” I chuckle.
“Yeah, I mean if I took that deal it wouldn’t be very fair to Matty. I would become way too distracted to be a good Mom to him.” She giggles. “Seriously though, there’s nothing I want. You have all the power here.”
“And I told you I’m not going anywhere.”
She bites her lip and her face falls somber. “I did hear some of the things you were saying to him before I interrupted.”
Great.
“How much?
“Just the part about being a better father then he was.” Her hand reaches over and collects mine. “I know it wasn’t my business, but it would be wrong for me not to tell you that you're already doing an amazing job and I don’t think you’ll have anything to worry about.”
“I needed to hear that.” I lift her hand and kiss her knuckles. “Thank you.”
Matty and Holly are cuddling on my couch watching Scooby Doo, while I sit outside stewing. We ordered dinner and
