“Sounds like a smart move,” he agrees with me. “Speaking about Mr. and Mrs. Aragon, we spoke with her mother’s doctor earlier today. We all decided that the change of atmosphere might help with her depression. There are plenty of clubs she can join around town. You might have to fly Mrs. Aragon to Portland because the therapists won’t come all the way to Baker’s Creek, but we’ll try our best.”
“Thank you for doing this for me.”
“I won’t lie to you. Blaire is doing it for Sophia, not for you. Grovel so she’ll forgive you, because if my woman is upset, I’m not going to be happy either. Also, her being unhappy with the Aldridge boys is making it harder for me to convince her to marry me now.”
“What are they doing to her?” I understand my part on this whole I hate your brothers, but apparently, I’m not the only one.
“Pierce is on her shit list because of Leyla, Vance doesn’t want to tell her anything about Crawford, and you are an asshole. That’s enough to hate us as a unit.”
“She adores you,” I remind him.
“But my brothers are infuriating.” He takes two more beers out of the case just as Pierce makes his way to us.
“Am I allowed to sit with you?” He shows us a bottle of single malt that he’s carrying along with three tumbler glasses.
Hayes and I nod, and we change the subject. I try to concentrate on the conversation, but my thoughts go back to Sophia. Her shallow breathing after kissing her in the elevator. Her pupils dilating as I buried my finger inside her. And the poisonous thought that keeps pushing its way through my head when I think that maybe, just maybe, she could learn to love me.
Who the fuck are you kidding, Henry Aldridge? You have to force a woman to be your wife. Your mother couldn’t be bothered with you when she realized her boyfriend was never going to become her husband. No one has ever been with you because of you, but because of your value. The only reason Sophia tolerates you is because you pay her well. If she had it all, she wouldn’t give a fuck if you live or die.
Would she?
Sophia
I’m not that different from Henry Aldridge. We both like to peer over the horizon and ponder about the future. Believe me, it’s easier to look at the future than try to fix the present. Maybe it’s a way to escape, or just the way my brain is wired. I’ve always said, if you can’t control your present, at least create something new for your future.
Though it’s a great motto, I don’t use it much in my personal life. I focus mostly on work. Sometimes I get lost inside my head while planning a better product, a better campaign, and a better…world. Concentrating all my energy on one single problem can keep me in the zone for hours.
To my despair, at the moment I can’t focus on anything that has to do with work.
Why am I obsessing about my boss?
I touch my lips and close my eyes thinking about the kiss. Sliding my hand down, it travels between my legs. I recall his long finger dipping inside me as his heel brushed my mound and almost made me come. I let out a loud sigh and open my eyes. This isn’t happening. I refuse be attracted to a man who is making me uproot my life just because he can.
I focus my energy into something else. But I can’t. My mind goes back to the elevator and the things we could have done if… No, I refuse to fantasize on my desires. Staring at the ceiling I begin to find ways on how I’m going to make Henry pay for making me move to Baker’s Creek.
What’s the point?
Well, it’s not as worthless as wishing I was resting my head on top of his naked, broad, muscular chest, sleeping after hours of making love. I should be meditating. That might be the best way to get some needed sleep. It’s around four in the morning when the notifications on my phone start going off.
I’m hoping it’s Henry because I could use an excuse to get mad at him and stop thinking about his taut body and imagining the ways we could fuck. When I read the headline, I grunt.
What did you do, Henry Aldridge?
There are several articles about Merkel. The hotel conglomerate firing not one but several of its top executives late Wednesday night. I click the link to our website where they posted a news release signed by him. Wait—why didn’t he tell me about this?
He apologizes to all his employees and those directly affected by his oversight. His vision for the company is to have a safe environment for not only his guests but those who work for him. He ends the speech saying that we are all a family, and he assures them that it won’t happen again. I get out of bed and check my computer to see if there’s any email from him. There’s nothing. Who did he fire, and why wasn’t I informed about any of this?
Sophia: Why am I not a part of this press release?
Henry: You were asleep. Pierce, the public relations department, and I took care of it.
“I could’ve used this as an excuse to work instead of thinking about you all night, you selfish prick!” I whisper shout to myself.
Sophia: It’s never stopped you before.
Henry: Leyla stopped me.
I smirk. Of course she did. I calm down because it wasn’t intentional. She doesn’t know about my toss-and-turn-restless night.
Sophia: Who did you fire?
Henry: I’ll email you the list.
“There’s a list? I leave you alone for a few hours and you fired people. I can’t with you, Henry Aldridge!”
Sophia: It was going to be hard to search for a new VP of operations, now… Why would you do this?
Henry: Pierce requested all the complaints we’ve received since my grandfather died and I became the CEO. The list is long, and they never took any action until you arrived. Needless to say, I let go of the director of human resources too.
Sophia: Why would you do that without giving me a heads up?
Henry: I have this under control.
Sophia: Anything I can do to help?
Henry: We need to replace all the executives that I let go. It’s an entire operation that should be done in about a week. I think we can do it, don’t you?
Sophia: I could take on one of those positions.
Henry: Though I know you are capable, I think we have to find someone permanent for that position. You have a lot on your plate.
I stare at the phone dumbfounded because it doesn’t sound like him at all. He’s apologizing and giving me an explanation.
Sophia: Blaire, is this you? Did Vance killed him, and you are taking over his company?
I’m about to press send when he texts me again and leaves me even more confused.
Henry: Please make sure to send me your plan on how we’ll be running Merkel from Baker’s Creek. If you don’t have it ready, prepare a proposal that I can look at when you arrive. It’s imperative that we have a handle on that front.
Sophia: I’ll send you the draft I have, and I’ll start gathering resumés from our current employees. Plus, I’ll have human resources post the positions on our website.
Henry: Sounds like a good start. I’ll have my phone next to me in case you need any help.
Sophia: Are you feeling well?
Henry: I could be better. Message me when you’re ready to work on the company’s restructure. Let me know how things go with your parents.
Sophia: I just read your email. You let go of all your top executives. What happened?