Maybe losing the life she thought she was going to have with Grant could give her a second chance with . . . other things?
Lucy curled around Alexa’s ankles and let out a pleading meow. On a sigh, Alexa bent down to give the sphynx some love. “Don’t worry, Luce. Everything’s going to be all right. We’ll figure it all out. I promise.”
Though Alexa didn’t know who she was trying to reassure most.
“WANT ME TO come in with you?” Maverick asked from the driver’s seat of his truck.
Alexa looked out the window to the sleek glass building that housed Slater Enterprises. Would going inside feel as strange as going home had felt? Maverick had let her into her house so she could shower and change, and the first thing that had dropped a ball of nerves into her gut was that her ring hadn’t been hanging on the door knocker. Which meant Grant had seen it after all. Which left her wondering even more about what he’d said—and what he hadn’t said—when they’d spoken on the phone.
The second thing that had left her feeling uncertain was the question of whether she should take anything beyond Lucy’s nearly empty food and kitty litter and her own clothes, toiletries, and things for school. She didn’t even know whether to take her car. Maverick convinced her that she should, and he had a new guy who was joining the Ravens drive someone over who could take it back to Mav’s house. Otherwise, she’d only taken what was definitely hers.
And Mav made sure she had all of it so she didn’t have to come back. He’d personally carted loads of hanging clothes and suitcases full of personal items out to his truck himself until the other Ravens showed up to help.
The third thing that had felt so weird about returning was how much she didn’t feel like she belonged there. It was almost like poking around a stranger’s house, her nerves telling her she was going to get caught at any moment. She could almost imagine it’d been months since she’d last been there—years, even. It was more than a little surreal.
Finally, Alexa shook her head, her eyes still glued to the Slater Enterprises building. Wondering. Worrying. Debating. But she had to do this. She had to be strong. It was time. “No. It’ll be okay. If I get worried, I’ll call you to come get me.”
“Look at me,” Maverick said. Alexa’s gaze cut to him. “Promise me.” He arched a brow over dark blue eyes filled with fierce concern, his expression so serious it emphasized all the hard angles of his face. It made him beautiful to her, although he’d probably think that was a ridiculous thing to think about him. But how could she find his protectiveness, concern, and support anything but beautiful? She knew too well what the opposite looked like.
“I promise,” Alexa said, making her words strong and sure when her insides felt a whole lot like someone was taking a mixer to them. But she was going to have to face Grant some time. No sense in putting it off, and doing it in public had all kinds of advantages over doing it privately.
He gave a tight nod. “I’ll be here when you come out at five.”
“Okay.” She resisted the urge to lean over and kiss Maverick, because despite the couch, she had no idea what they were or weren’t. She opened the door and climbed out. Hesitating, she looked back in. “Thanks, Maverick. You didn’t have to do all this for me, and . . . yeah . . . just, thanks.”
“That’s bullshit,” he said, eyes blazing with an intensity she didn’t really understand. “You’re family. It’s what we do. But you’re welcome.” He winked.
For some reason his expression and his words made her ache with yearning—a yearning that there was more between them than just history. “Okay.” With a little nod, she pushed the door shut and headed inside.
Alexa’s nerves were on high alert as she entered the building, part of her sure some sort of trap would spring on her the moment she walked through the doors. But there was only Christina, smiling at her but her expression also a little concerned. “Hey. Your mom okay?”
Confused, Alexa nodded.
“It’s just that you’re never late unless your mom has an appointment,” Christina said.
“Oh, uh, no. Mom’s fine. Thank you, though.” She debated what to say, and then decided it would be better not to say a word. Not yet. “I’m sorry to run, but I’m late for something.” She thumbed over her shoulder as she moved away from the desk. “I’ll see you later, though?”
“Okay,” Christina said, clearly catching on to her weirdness. Not that Alexa could worry about it just then.
She made her way to her office, sure that everyone knew what’d happened, like everyone could just look at her and see that her world was falling apart. But she pasted on a smile, offered greetings as she passed her colleagues, and finally made it to her desk.
A gigantic over-the-top bouquet of fresh flowers in a thick crystal vase filled one whole end of her work space. Three dozen flowers in bold, bright colors, leafy foliage, and baby’s breath made an arrangement so big it could’ve been for a wedding. Or a funeral.
She opened the card.
Alexa—
Come home to me where you belong.
Love, Grant
She sighed. It almost didn’t matter that he hadn’t given the flowers as an apology, because him apologizing wouldn’t change how she felt. The note bothered her for other reasons. She was worried that it revealed Grant’s stubborn unwillingness to hear what she was saying. That he was ignoring the fact that she’d taken off her ring. And it bugged her that he’d put her in the position of having to keep the flowers in her office or else give her coworkers a reason to wonder why she wasn’t keeping such an exquisite gift from her fiancé less than two weeks before their wedding. She moved them to the credenza to get them out of her way and then dove into all the work the model home and a few of her smaller projects required.
Maverick texted her throughout the day making sure she was okay, and who knew that the word fuck could sound so sweet? I’m fucking worried about you. He’ll fucking pay if he hurts you. IS IT 5 OFUCKINGCLOCK YET? That one came complete with a winky face. And when a big tough biker dude sent you shouty caps and a winky face, it could make you smile.
Otherwise, no one disturbed Alexa all day. It was four o’clock before she knew it. And she was both relieved and anxious about not yet having seen Grant.
Of course, his knock finally came.
“Alexa,” Grant said, stepping into the office wearing an exquisitely tailored blue suit. His gaze cut to the flowers off to the side before he closed the door. “Did you like the flowers?”
“They’re beautiful, but you shouldn’t have,” she said, not trying to hide the edge in her voice. She clasped her hands on top of the desk.
Grant came closer until he stood right in front of her, forcing her to look up to meet his eyes. “Of course I should. I’d do anything to make things right.”