The Innocent Liar (8 page)

Chapter Fifteen

F
iona was tired, she was confused, she was nervous; she was every emotion she didn’t like to feel all wrapped up in one jumbled mess by the next morning. Wednesday was supposed to be just a half day of work, but she was dreading it regardless. Stepping off the last step into the corridor was difficult. She could hear men in the other room, but she had no idea which men were there and just what any of them thought of her.

Mike’s gentle eyes were the first to find her, and she smiled at him. Well, he didn’t seem to hate her. Aaron glanced at her quickly and then looked away, but it wasn’t rude. Aaron was one of those who
literally
always had something better to do than whatever it was he happened to be doing. Chris’s eyebrows shot up in that I-want-to-eat-you-alive
sort of way
,
but oddly, not a single man leered at her as though she were rocking their boat in some unforgiveable way.

Even Jake, who popped into the room moments later, only paused for a half a second when he caught sight of her. He seemed nervous, unsure maybe of how he was supposed to act, but he shook it off quickly and approached her. “Feel like I owe you an apology for last night.”

And here she was thinking she owed the apology to him.

“Believe it or not,” he said, “we’re not usually so dramatic around here.”

“Oh, no, I think I should be apologizing…”

“Candace should be, but she’s not going to be, and that’s probably a good thing.” He studied her for a moment. “She did this, not you, so you don’t need to feel bad about anything. She was just trying to get a rise out of you, or me maybe.”

He shook his head as though that seemed strange, and she was guessing it was. Jake likely didn’t inspire enemies easily.

“Maybe just Eli,” he continued.

And speak of the devil.

Eli came in, shirking out of his coat as he walked. He didn’t still until he’d looked up and caught the crowd of onlookers watching him. “What’s everyone standing around for?” He was his serious-as-hell self, and in one second flat, shoulders shrugged as though the men were actually relieved to see Eli was being a dick like usual. The men went back to work, but Jake stalled for a moment, and Eli watched him.

“Listen, if I don’t see you before I leave for the day, have a great Thanksgiving.” Jake’s attention was back on her.

She smiled. It was hard not to. When he leaned down and pecked her quickly on her cheek, she could feel her cheeks burning instantly, and when she glanced to Eli as Jake walked away, she was startled. His lips were parted slightly, and his jaw was working as though he might morph into a tiger at any moment and tear Jake’s throat out, but then he saw her. He clamped his lips shut tight, and his nostrils flared before he turned and walked up the stairs.

She followed, though not closely. She wasn’t at all sure she was ready to deal with him, and when she made it to her desk, she did everything in her power to keep her eyes from shifting up to him. Apparently, though, he didn’t need an invitation.

“I closed the store today, but I’m going to need someone there next week. I’d like you to go familiarize yourself with the inventory and the store. There’s a large black binder on the desk somewhere that has a spec sheet for every piece of furniture in the store. I suggest you review it. You don’t have to memorize anything, but everything you could possibly need to know about any particular item is in there.” He tossed a key on her desktop and walked away without another word. Apparently, he was upset with her. She was pretty sure it was supposed to be the other way around.

She let herself into the store five minutes later and wandered around for a while. A sign on the door said they were closed for the holiday and would reopen Monday, so she didn’t have to worry about being disturbed, which was a good thing. She was clueless about this business other than how to run payroll, put together his bids for him, and remind him when he was going to be late for an appointment.

She moved from one piece to another, holding the large binder in her arms and reviewing the page protector covered spec sheets. He was right. Everything she could possibly want to know about a table, from the date the piece was started and completed, what kind of wood, what kind of stain, what kind of poly or linseed oil was used to finish it, to the price, to the woodworkers who completed it, was all spelled out clearly. The binder was more organized than she’d taken him to be. She certainly didn’t think he was disorganized by any means. In fact, his home said clearly enough he appreciated an ordered life, but she just never imagined a group of men could track every last aspect of their work with such detail when they couldn’t even seem to remember they’d left four-month-old meatloaf in the break room fridge. Impressive.

She spent nearly two hours looking at the pieces before she took a break and sat at the desk to snoop for a while. The desk was obviously one of Eli’s designs and the cash register that sat on top was an antique. It didn’t much matter as they appeared to simply use it for adding, running a tape receipt, and tracking the daily till. A laptop was on the desk as well, and a small stack of blank invoices she was guessing they used to track their inventory. The system was a bit archaic by today’s standards, but looking at the eclectic surroundings and the authentic style of everything in the showroom, she was guessing it was intentional. The atmosphere was charming, rustic, a bit masculine, and completely alluring. She liked it here. It was almost easy to forget the man who controlled this world could be so harsh and rough. His world didn’t look like either of those things, and as she took in the atmosphere, she forgot all about just how difficult he could be.

Until he walked in.

She looked up from the desk. She was flipping through the spec binder again, and when she met his eyes, she sucked in a quick breath and stood. “You do really impressive work.” She wasn’t sure he deserved a compliment, but she couldn’t think of anything else to say, and it was one thing she could say without having to lie.

“Thank you.” He leaned against a large dining room table sitting nearby as he looked at her. “I’ve sent everyone home for the week, so you’re free to leave whenever you’d like.” She expected him to leave then, but as she stood nervously behind the desk, he stayed rooted to his spot against the table. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

“Why did you kiss me?” She regretted the question the moment she said it, and his brow wrinkled as he shook his head, apparently surprised she’d asked.

“I had my finger in your pussy, and you’re asking why I kissed you?” He smirked, but it fell from his lips quickly as he looked away. “Why did you let me? I’m a jerk, remember?”

“I don’t think you are. You’ve done so much for me—”

“Stop!” He raked his hand through his hair roughly as his face pinched in anger. “Don’t you get it? I haven’t done anything. I gave you a fucking loft that was sitting empty, I did my
father
a favor by hiring you, not you. I humiliated you the first time we met and likely more times than just that, and I tried to fuck you on the stairs last night knowing full well my own employee likes you, and frankly, would be far kinder to you than I’m even capable of.”

He looked nearly disgusted at what he was saying, and she had no idea if he was disgusted that she professed to respect him or that he didn’t believe he deserved that respect.

“You think because I gave you twenty bucks when you were broke and bought you lunch when you were hungry that I’m some decent man, and I’m telling you…I’m not.”

Now she was certain his disgust was aimed at himself.

“My own wife left because I couldn’t figure out how to care enough to be kind.”

He watched her with a defeated look on his face, and it almost broke her heart. Nothing of what he said hurt her feelings. He was telling her exactly what he thought of himself, and he was being brutally honest. This man didn’t have a clue how to like himself.

When he turned to leave, she suddenly felt desperate. She’d hated that he’d walked away from her the night before. His dismissal hurt now as much as it did then. “If you’re such an asshole—” he turned back to her slowly “—then why are you here trying to protect me from yourself?”

His eyes closed slowly as she watched. “You’re not here to get a boyfriend, remember?” He paused as she watched him. “So why does it matter?” He shook his head in frustration, and when he spoke again, his voice was quiet, and he was focusing on her feet. “Go out with Jake. He’s a good man—a really, really good man. He’ll treat you right, and I’m guessing you need that. I don’t know your story, but I’m pretty sure you deserve that much.” He shook his head in defeat as he turned and walked out while she stared at the door dumbfounded.

She grabbed her coat and the keys a couple minutes later, flipped the lights on her way out, and locked the door behind her. She got lost counting the sidewalk cracks as they passed under her feet on her walk back to the shop. She was wearing jeans, but she had on her new heels and a fitted white button-up dress shirt. She admired the sheen in her fake patent leather crimson heels from a discount store as she thought about Eli. He made it hard not to. She focused on him for so long that she actually yelped when someone said her name.

“Oh! Hi, Jake.”

He was walking toward her about twenty-five feet down the sidewalk from the workshop. Fiona wasn’t at all sure she wouldn’t have simply walked on by had he not stopped her. At just that moment, Eli stepped out of the shop door. He froze in place when he caught sight of them. Jake’s back was to Eli, but Eli stopped mid-step studying her from up the sidewalk. She forced herself to look back as pain bit into her. This hurt more than it should. He was right. She wasn’t here to get a boyfriend, so why did she feel like she’d just lost one?

“Thought maybe you’d want to grab a pizza tonight. My family’s all in town, so no traveling for me.”

She caught one last glimpse at Eli as he looked away, rounded his SUV, and then drove off. It still hurt, and she was still confused.

“I’m not really in a place where I’m ready to date right now.” She was pleading for him to understand with her expression. He wasn’t someone she could ever want to hurt.

“Well, are you in a place where you can get to know someone a little better?” He cocked his head playfully, and she laughed. “Listen, it’s just pizza, not a marriage proposal.”

She laughed again and nodded.

They ended up at a small little pizzeria in town, sitting across from one another in a booth, sharing a pitcher of beer and a large pizza. He was too nice not to like. He was handsome too. Women checked him out constantly, and she couldn’t for the life of her figure out why his attention was so steadily glued to her, seemingly incapable of even registering his fan club.

“Ever been married?” He was stuffing his mouth when he asked the question.

“Umm…Yes. You?” She was being a bit too honest, but beer tended to do that to a gal.

“No. Tell me about that. What went wrong?”

“You know how sometimes you think you know a person, and then one day you realize they’re…well they’re a stark raving lunatic with homicidal tendencies and a bad case of sociopathy.” She smiled, knowing he wouldn’t realize just how true her words were, and he laughed.

“I think I’ve had a relationship or two like that.” He laughed again. “That bad, huh?”

“Not great.”

“Well, here’s to saying goodbye to the past.” He lifted his beer, clinking the rim with her glass, and she nodded. “But I have to say…there’s some discussion about whether you intend to stick around…” He trailed off as he eyed her curiously. “Taking bets even.” He raised his hands as if defending himself. “Hey, I’m on you staying. Ten dollars, and I expect a return on my investment.”

“And the other guys?”

“Aaron said he’d suck your dick if you’d stay.”

“I don’t have one…”

“Thank God for that.” He laughed as his eyebrows shot up.

“So Aaron thinks I’m staying?”

“No. He thinks you’re going to leave. He just really doesn’t want to sweep up the shop anymore.”

Perhaps it was the beer, or perhaps it was just her mood, but she busted out laughing to the point her nose burned as beer backed into her sinuses.

“Careful now.” Another radiant smile. “Chris said something I can’t repeat and still call myself a gentleman, but he thinks you’re staying. Mike got a bit wistful but decided you were staying too.”

“And Eli?” She looked away. She wasn’t in the right company to be asking, but how could she not?

He didn’t miss a beat, and the subtle coolness in his eyes said there was still a margin of resentment remaining in his approach toward Eli. “Said you wouldn’t be here long, and we were fucking idiots to even take bets.”

It shouldn’t hurt to hear him say it. What did she expect his response to her question to be anyway? Of course Eli expected her to disappear quickly. She simply didn’t like thinking he wanted her to. Rather than say any of that to the simple man sitting in front of her who didn’t understand her qualms or concerns, she smiled. “Guess I know who my real friends are, huh?”

“Hmm. By that estimation you’re bosom buddies with Chris.”

“Yay for me.” She drained the last of her beer and pushed her plate away. She was stuffed, and when the check was laid on the table, she was thrilled she actually had cash in her wallet to help pay. He didn’t let her, but the fact she was now at a place where she could at least offer felt good.

It had been years since she’d worked and not relied on another to support her, and there was surely something about it. She wanted to stay here. She wanted a life here. She wanted a nice quiet existence where she could take care of herself, and this place was taunting her. Why couldn’t she have it? Oh, yeah, cause she was a wrongly wanted criminal on the run from men who thought she might be a threat to them when really she’d gladly stay quiet for the rest of her life just for the chance at peace. That’s how life slapped you in the face when and if it wanted to. Beautiful thing her life had turned out to be.