Authors: Jodi Redford
Leo rubbed his brow and tried his damnedest to focus his full attention on the remaining few minutes of their presentation with the three Ruskers Ethnobotanicals members camped at the conference table in his office. One glance in Dev’s direction confirmed that his mind wasn’t entirely on the meeting either.
Leaving Sidney home alone went against Leo’s better judgment. What if she’d decided to take a shower, got dizzy, and ended up slipping and cracking her head open? His gut roiled at the possibility.
Pushing aside his disturbed paranoia for the time being, he collected a handful of the tincture samples from their packing box and passed them out to the execs. Taking that as their cue to wrap things up, the men stood and shook hands with him and Devlin.
After indulging in a few minutes of small talk that only added to Leo’s frustration, he and Dev managed to herd the Chatty Cathys to the exit. Leo returned to his office and snatched his keys and cellphone. He stopped in mid-step when he noticed the missed text message on the display screen.
Check your email.
The sender was Sidney. Relief welled in his chest at the visible proof that she wasn’t passed out unconscious on her shower floor.
He checked the time stamp on the message. She’d sent it almost an hour ago. Damn it. This is what he got for leaving his phone on mute. He hesitated, more than tempted to leave the email for later since it would only prolong him getting back to her condo. Why the hell was she doing work from home anyway? They’d specifically told her she was taking the day off.
Growling at her stubbornness, he bit the bullet and logged into his email. He scrolled down to the one she’d sent and clicked it open. When he realized it was a letter instead of the report he’d assumed he’d find he frowned and leaned in for a better view.
Dear Leo and Dev,
This is my notice that I’m leaving your employment. I can’t do this anymore.
I’m sorry.
Sidney
Chilled to the bone, he scanned her words again, his stomach bottoming out. Feeling like he’d been gut punched, he gripped the edge of his desk, his knuckles cramping.
Dev appeared in the doorway. “Hey, what’s taking you—” Concern flashing across his face, he stepped inside the room. “What is it?”
Leo swallowed past the bitter misery in his throat. He couldn’t get the words out. He couldn’t even fucking breathe. Feeling like he was going to puke, he stared at her email. No matter how many times he read it the results were still the same.
She was walking away from them.
Tied up in his agony, he barely registered Dev’s sudden presence beside him. After a few minutes of heavy silence, he knew that his partner had noticed the email and finally understood the reason for Leo’s anguish.
How could everything go to shit in the blink of an eye? He couldn’t wrap his head around it. What the three of them shared went far beyond a science experiment. It even surpassed basic chemistry.
“Why would she do this?” Dev demanded, the pain in his voice evident.
The giant gaping hole in his heart refusing to mend, Leo dragged his hand down his face. “Because we fucking scared her off. That’s why.” He’d known something was bugging her last night, but he’d refrained from grilling her about the cause. Then this morning with her being sick, he’d figured that might have partially been the blame for her moodiness.
Damn it, they should have pushed her to open up to them. How was holding everything inside going to solve anything?
He shook his head, grim determination temporarily pushing his misery to the wayside. If she thought they were going to just stand by and calmly let her run from them without an adequate explanation she had another think coming.
He shoved up from his seat and met Dev’s gaze. “Way I see it we have one of two options. We sit here singing the blues. Or we go talk some sense into the woman we love.”
“I opt for number two.”
“Same here.”
Their wills banded in unity, they locked up the office and headed to Sidney’s. The drive was the longest tense-filled twenty minutes of Leo’s life. His pulse didn’t settle until he pulled into the main entrance of her condo community.
One way or another, they’d find a way to break past her fears—whatever they were—and convince her they were meant to be together. If she was uncomfortable because of the employee and boss situation they’d find a way around it. Hell, they’d make her a full partner. And not just in their business. In their lives too. Because bottom line, that’s where she belonged. For good.
***
The hard rap on the front door jerked Sidney awake. Adrenaline leaving her lightheaded and shaky, she burrowed under the afghan, her stomach queasy. She’d known they wouldn’t let the email pass without a confrontation, but the actual reality of them being on the other side of the door was something she couldn’t face yet.
She should have gone with her first instinct to camp out at her parents’ house the rest of the week. Yeah, it would have been a cowardly way out. And a temporary one at that. But it would have given her some time to recover from being a complete emotional wreck.
Another fierce pounding rattled the door. “Querida, we can stand out here all day doing this. Doubtful your neighbors will appreciate it though.”
They wouldn’t. Especially the crabby woman in the unit two doors down. No doubt that’s why Leo had chosen to forego the doorbell. The threat of a filed complaint from the condo association was a surefire way to get what he wanted.
Exhaling wearily, she left the warm comfort of the couch and trekked to the entry on wobbly legs. She closed her eyes and sucked in a fortifying breath, counting to ten. By fifteen, her nerves still weren’t cooperating and she was dangerously lightheaded again. Releasing her breath before she passed out, she slid the deadbolt free and opened the door.
Her tiny front alcove was even more diminutive than usual thanks to Leo and Dev’s overwhelming presence. She’d been right about being ill-prepared for facing them. Because they were—and always would be—the living, breathing embodiment of a future she desperately longed for and could never have.
She covered up her sniffle with a cough. Balling her fists at her sides, she steeled her spine. “I take it you got my email.”
Dev crossed his arms over his chest. “Yep. And your resignation is declined.”
“That isn’t your decision to make.”
Leo mimicked Dev’s posture. “We
both
decline it.”
She trembled inside, too heartsick to dredge up a glare at their maddening stubbornness. “That isn’t what I meant, and you know it.”
Leo stalked forward, forcing her to take a quick step back into the entry. Her body shaking—this time from his nearness—she held tight to the edge of the door. “Please, I just want you to leave.”
“Not until you give us one damn good reason for shutting us out like this.”
Her eyes stung with the promise of a new wave of tears. This was precisely the reason she’d needed time to get her shit together before having this conversation. Crying and getting emotional would only make things worse. “I can’t keep fooling myself that any of this is real. Don’t you understand that? It isn’t healthy.”
The fierceness slowly eased from Leo’s features. “Why would you think any part of this isn’t real?” He stroked his fingers along her cheek, his dark gaze searching hers. “Last night, when we made love, was that not real? Or how about yesterday morning in the lab? Was that a figment of your imagination?”
Her lip trembled. “That was all for the test trials.”
“Querida, we haven’t even given you the elixir for the last two days.”
She frowned, her foggy brain slowly chugging through the stockpile of her memories. Now that she thought about it, maybe they
hadn’t
used the Xtacy. An unpleasant thought occurred to her. She almost didn’t want to ask, but she had to know. “Is that why you’re here? Because you two didn’t get all the data you need?”
“Why the hell would you think that?” Leo’s big hands bracketed her face. “Sidney, the damn Xtacy program means nothing.”
“You both put over a year’s work into it. Obviously it means
some
thing.”
He blew out a frustrated breath. “The point I’m trying to make here is that this has nothing to do with the program or a damn science experiment. We need
you
. It’s as simple as that.”
His choice of words spiked her pulse, but for once it was her brain that delivered the much needed lecture on keeping her head out of the clouds. “You’ll find a replacement for me. I’m not the only secretary in the world, you know.”
He leaned back and studied her. The intensity of his inspection was making her uncomfortable, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away from his gaze. Finally he blinked as if a startling revelation had fallen over him. “You think that’s all you are to us.”
“What, your secretary?” She frowned. “What else could I possibly be?”
“Sidney, you’re
everything
. Even before you signed on for the Xtacy program, you were all I thought about. Every damn day I’d look for excuses for hanging around the reception area just so I could see your smile. And don’t even get me started on what gloomy mopes Dev and I tend to be when you’re not around.”
Dev nodded. “Joe and Margie actually draw straws on who has to deal with us when you’re on vacation. Apparently we’re
not
as fun as a barrel of monkeys.”
Her head buzzed as she tried to process their mind-bogging admissions. “W—what are you saying, exactly?”
Dev crowded in next to Leo and cupped her cheek. “That we love you, baby. And we’re damn well not letting you go.”
The noise in her brain increased to a dull roar. She stared into their eyes, the emotion swirling in the depths of their irises making her heart skip a beat. “Y—you love me?”
“Since the first day you walked through our doors, sweetheart.” The emotion she’d been too terrified to pin her hope on shone even brighter in Leo’s gaze.
A sob caught in her throat. “This can’t be real.” It couldn’t. Hearing those words come out of their mouths? Even in her wildest fantasies she’d never concocted something so crazy.
Leo slid his mouth over hers, his tongue slipping past her lips. She submitted to its wicked invasion with a whimpery moan. Her traitorous nipples tightened and her insides melted. He pulled back, his smile stealing the little breath she had left after his kiss. “Tell me that’s not real.”
Dev scooted Leo over and drew her into his arms. His lips stroked over hers in a tender caress before he rubbed her nose with his. He tipped her chin upward with his knuckle, forcing her to become lost in the warm glow in his eyes. “Or that.”
The tears broke from their dam again, dribbling down her face and likely making her look like a royal hot mess. But with the release of her emotions came a true freedom. She didn’t have to run anymore from the intensity of what she felt for Leo and Dev. Because they felt it too. Somewhere in this wild, insane time with them the fantasy had become...real.
They whisked the dampness from her cheeks and she gripped their wrists, her heart expanding with a joy she’d never thought possible. “I love you too.” Releasing the three words she’d kept locked inside for so long lifted the heaviness from her chest and she could breathe again. In that moment of clarity, it was all too obvious exactly how much the baggage of her past had been weighing her down.
And that was maybe the true fantasy she’d been living in all this time—the stupid fallacy that protecting her heart somehow made her invincible from hurt, when in fact it was the opposite.
Leo and Dev picked her up and took turns swinging her in their arms and kissing the living daylights out of her. Laughing like a fool, she cupped their dear faces, happiness spreading to encompass her entire being. This was her future. These two wonderful, amazing men who loved her. Loved
her
.
Who needed a fantasy when reality was so much sweeter?
At the ripe age of seven, Jodi Redford penned her first epic, complete with stick-figure illustrations. Sadly, her drawing skills haven’t improved much, but her love of fantasy worlds never went away. These days she writes about fairies, ghosts and other supernatural creatures, only with considerably more heat.
She has won numerous contests, including The Golden Pen and Launching a Star.
When not writing or working the day job, she enjoys gardening and way too many reality-television shows.
She loves to hear from readers. You can email her at
[email protected]
and visit her online at
www.jodiredford.com
,
www.jodiredford.blogspot.com
, and
http://www.lustwithalaugh.com
.
Jodi is also on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/jodi.redford.3
and Twitter
https://twitter.com/jodiredford
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