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I whip my head around. “She’s married?”
“Yep. Crazy right?”
“I’m confused. Last night she threw Cooper’s ring at him.”
“Austin told me the entire story. She told Cooper she would leave her husband if he’d commit to her. Cooper proposed, and she was supposed to be leavin’ the guy, but she hasn’t. Before he left Friday, he told her it wasn’t gonna work out.”
“Sounds like a heapin’ mess to me.”
“You got that right, but Austin says Coop really loves her.”
Cooper wasn’t kidding when he said things with his girl are complicated. Thinking about it baffles me. It also reminds me how you can’t choose who you fall in love with, no matter how convoluted your relationship might me. He’s trying to move on with these other girls, forcing them to fill a void, only it’s making his situation worse. Now I do feel bad for him, and I hope Battle and Austin can take his mind off of his troubles.
Tucker decided to ride home with JT and Ginger. Austin, Battle, Marty and I spend the drive talking. The more time I spend around Austin, the more I like him, and the more I see how perfect a fit he is for Marty. He’s larger than life, egotistical, an often vulgar, but he has an enormous heart.
We stop at my place first. Battle walks me to my door, and like a perfect gentleman, thanks me for joining him this weekend. I want him to do more than hug me goodbye. I want the man that said I’m his woman to haul me into his arms and kiss me until I’m weak in the knees. He doesn’t and disappointment ripples through me as I close my door, followed closely by the ugly finger of my conscious reminding me I wanted more than a sexual relationship.
I peel myself out of bed for work. My body feels like it weighs a thousand pounds. While the weekend wore me out, it was the best weekend of my life. I’d do it all over again. I should have taken today off as I originally planned, but I have a ton of work.
I’m not looking forward to speaking with Mr. Fenton about Battle no longer being a client. Battle emailed him the news, and I haven’t heard from him, which can’t be good.
As my bad luck would have it, my boss and I arrive at the same time, meeting up in the parking lot. He greets me cheerfully and doesn’t appear to be upset as we walk to the office.
“Mr. Fenton, I’m sorry about Mr. McCoy’s account. I know you wanted it, but …”
“But the two of you dating is against company policy.”
I stop mid stride, as my mouth falls open. “You know?”
“I didn’t until Mr. McCoy phoned me this morning.”
We continue walking, and I say, “We weren’t … I mean we … It …”
His light laugh tells me he isn’t upset. “You don’t have to explain. I admit when I received Mr. McCoy’s email telling me he was going with another firm, I was surprised. I stewed on it all weekend it fact, but after he called this morning offering five new clients for you to handle, I got over it.”
“He did?”
“Yes, he even had their files couriered over. They should be on your desk.”
They are on my desk in boxes, and all over the floor. All five of them: JT, Cooper, Austin, Scooter, and Tucker. I get busy sorting through the massive heap of paperwork. At least the guys, unlike Battle, have bank accounts and their paperwork is in order.
My desk phone rings, and I answer it. “You need to talk some sense into your boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I tell Ginger.
“Do you know what he did?”
She doesn’t sound angry, so it can’t be that horrendous. “No, but I’m sure you’re gonna tell me.”
“His granddaddy left him a fortune, Faye, like enough to buy a country.”
I already know about his trust. “And?” I push, assuming there has to be more.
“He donated every damn dime. Half to a breast cancer research fund and half to an autism foundation. I couldn’t stop him. As soon as we opened the account, he had me write the checks. I didn’t mail them yet. I think you should talk to him. He needs to stagger the donations over years to help with taxes.”
His insanely generous donation works against my finance manager logic. I advise my clients to invest their money, build their future—not give it away. However his doing so makes me fall for him a little harder.
I consider telling Ginger about Evelyn and Erinn, but I don’t know how Battle would feel about it. He’s a private guy.
