I smile, donning my ‘I’m so happy’ look, and excuse myself from the group. I know I saw Maddox walk in a little while ago, and if I plan on getting the information I need from him without others around, I have to do it soon, or it will be hours before I get a chance to corner him alone.
For the last few months, I’ve been trying to avoid letting one of these overprotective apes in on my issues at the office. The North Carolina branch of my insurance agency has been having issues. Big issues. I only caught wind of it because one of our larger clients called to inform us that they would be moving their account to another agency. One they claimed could give them better rates. Knowing damn well that wasn’t true, I started digging and when I found the number of times their account had been overbilled, I was shocked. When I began to understand that the problem was bigger than I had realized, or ever imagined, I knew it was time to call in help.
Enter Maddox. He’s been helping me, with the promise that he will keep his mouth shut unless he notices something potentially dangerous. How dangerous could this really be?
The only plus to the giant cluster fuck that my company has turned into is that I don’t have time to miss Beck. Well, I don’t have time to miss him with the same bone crushing intensity that I have been. Still, it won’t ever be easy to be in the same room with him. Not when I can feel the invisible line that seems to connect us pulling tight every time we’re around each other.
There have been a handful of times over the last two years when I haven’t been able to hold those walls up anymore, and we’ve come together with the same ferocious lovemaking that we always create. And each morning after, I make sure I’m long gone before he even wakes. Neither one of us mentions those stolen moments, but I know him . . . I know he wishes that just once, I would be there in the morning. I’ve made a promise to myself that last time would be it. No more hurting him because I’m too weak to keep my walls up.
“Looking for me?”
I am so lost in my thoughts that I almost run right into Maddox. He doesn’t give me a chance to fall because his hands shoot out to steady me until I catch my footing.
“Uh, yeah.” I look up into his unreadable eyes. Maddox has always been the master of giving nothing away when you look at him. His face is almost always expressionless, his bottomless eyes hard, and his large frame is never anything but intimidating. To be honest, he would scare the daylights out of me if I ran into him on the streets. Maddox Locke looks like a man that eats babies for breakfast.
“Found me.” His gritty, deep voice rumbles his normal ‘as few words as possible’ way of speaking.
“Yeah, I noticed when your hard ass chest almost knocked me out. Were you just going to let me break my neck?” My patience, for the most part, is in small supply these days, but for some reason, Maddox, and all his asshole tendencies, just works for me. I know that part of it is him knowing something about me that no one else does.
“Probably. Seemed pretty lost in thought there, so I’m not even sure you would’ve heard me say anything anyway. Noticed you and Beck doing your normal bullshit, too. Which do you want to avoid talking about more?”
“Don’t be an asshole, Mad. Did you find anything out from the files I sent you?” I’m pretty sure I sound as desperate as I feel, maybe even borderline manic at this point. I know he told me he wouldn’t say anything to the others, but depending on what he’s found, that could change everything. And the last person that I need to find out that I’m in trouble is Beck.
“Yeah.”
That’s it? Are we serious right now?
“Please, don’t play games with me. This is serious, Maddox.”
“Yeah, I know it is. I know it’s serious because I’ve dug deep enough to know just how dangerous this can be for your pretty little ass if you keep being so obvious with your detective work. Hell, you might as well just show up and tell the whole office what you’re looking for.” He narrows his eyes and does that stupid manly huff and grunt thing that is supposed to put me in my place. Fat chance of that happening.
“Tell me what you found. Please.” I know, before he even opens his mouth, that I’m not going to like what he tells me.
“Adam Harris. Age thirty-six, single, agent in your company for the last eight months?”
“Yes, I know who you’re talking about. I hired him myself. He had a good resume, and all of his references checked out. He might not have finished top in his class or anything, but he had enough work history in the insurance field for me to give him a go. Hell, his last employer told me he didn’t want to let him go!” Okay, I might be close to losing my calm, because this guy was nowhere near my radar.
“That would be the one. Seems like Mr. Harris has a nasty little habit. The kind of habit that costs a lot to keep up.” The confused look on my face must have clued in the fact that I’m not exactly following him, because almost as an afterthought he added, “Drugs, Dee. He’s so far in debt with his drug dealer that I’m not really sure how he’s still breathing.”