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Aillard wrinkles his nose. “She scares me.”
The corner of my lips twitch. “Go through her assistant. He’s not as scary.” Thinking back, I try to gauge Detrick’s reaction when I tossed out that I was Bex’s ex-husband. He definitely hadn’t been privy to that information beforehand. I wonder if she told anyone she’s been divorced? I know I don’t make a habit of going around mentioning it. Even the tabloids, as vicious as they are for stories, have no knowledge about that part of my life. As soon as I graduated from college, the news articles about the divorce had been scrubbed from existence.
“Perhaps we’ll accompany you to the first few volunteer gigs, make sure you’re comfortable with what’s going on.”
Now it feels like they’re my parents, snooping on a plan they set into motion to make sure I follow through. Even my father rarely breathes down my neck nowadays. “I think you’re more interested in shoving your nose into my business than you are about doing any philanthropic work.”
Aillard lifts his hand to rub at the base of his neck. “Truth? We’ve never seen you interact with Bex. King and I are a little nervous she might murder you if we’re not there to supervise. Me more so than King. Whatever background check he ran has put him at ease. That and Emilia telling him to butt out of your business now that he created a fix to your issue.”
“And Whitney isn’t telling you to leave me be?”
“Whitney wants to meet Bex,” Aillard sighs. “She wants another friend in this city. And she’s not above forcing a friendship onto your ex for her convenience.”
Whitney is, by far, the nicest person I’ve ever met. She has a moral compass most of us would dream of and a large heart. While I would prefer everyone to stay out of my business so I can keep my head down, let the tabloids see I’m not as villainous as they like to portray, I can’t tell Whitney no. Both Emilia and her are the perfect counterparts to their significant others. They’ve brought to life the love that King and Aillard previously denied themselves.
Rubbing my jaw, I lean back in my chair and try to work through all the emotions this conversation is bringing forth. Part of me doesn’t want to share Bex. I know it’s asinine because I’ll be sharing her with the rest of the charity event we’ll be attending. Still, it’s different than when my friends are around to stare at everything and eavesdrop.
Fuck.
I close my eyes. There’s absolutely no reason I should be wanting to keep Bex hidden away from their prying eyes and ears. This was their idea. It’s perfectly reasonable to want to ensure that volunteering is actually going to convince the rest of the world that I’m not a drug addict.
“Let Whitney force her friendship,” I say. Hell, Bex would probably love her because it’s impossible not to. “I’ll go through the list, determine what would be an easy start and send you the details before I send them to Bex’s assistant.”
“Sounds good.” Aillard stands up out of the chair, adjusting his suit and tie. Then he looks at me for a long moment, like he’s trying to come to terms with something. “At some point it’s going to slip,” Aillard mentions cautiously.
I grab my highlighter to go back through the list, not particularly understanding his comment. “What will?”
“The mask you wear to hunker down your emotions.” With that, he turns and leaves my office.
7
“Bleeding hearts aren’t for everyone.” - Bex
I shift uncomfortably out in front of the church. Several people wave hello as they enter the building, but none of them are who I’m looking for. I glance down at my phone for the fourth time, quadruple checking that I sent the right address to Thorin when he told Detrick what charity he wanted to try first.
Two days later, here we are.
And I don’t know who’s going to be more surprised by how this evening goes, me or Thorin.
More car doors slam in the parking lot that’s quickly filling up. Only a third are volunteers, the rest are parents dropping their children off. A brunette catches my attention as she weaves through the crowd straight for me. The only reason I can even tell is because I’m standing at the edge of the front sidewalk, far from the doors so I don’t impede anyone trying to get through to sign their kids in.
“Bex?” She stops before me but I have no idea who she is. Her brown hair is in pigtail braids, jeans and a tank top that frills at the end. Her hazel eyes are kind as she smiles at me. Maybe one of the parents or volunteers told her to find me.
“Yup. Nice to meet you.” I reach out and shake her hand. “Are you new to volunteering?”
“Oh yes.” Her eyes move back towards the crowd. “I’m so excited to see what tonight brings.”
Well, the enthusiasm she has will go over great with the kids, that’s for sure. “It’s always a fun adventure,” I tell her. “Are you volunteering by yourself? Did Teena send you out here?” I ask. Teena runs KKIS, or Keeping Kids in Spades, which is a nonprofit that utilizes churches as a free babysitting ground for parents who need someone to fix meals, help with homework, entertain children while they attend night classes, grocery shop, or a plethora of other reasons every Wednesday night.
“Uh no.” She blinks at me before turning back towards the parking lot. “Actually I’m with some people. I thought you knew we were coming.”
We? I blink several times at her before following her gaze where two men are walking in our direction. The first thing that hits me is that Aillard and Thorin look beyond out of place right now in their thousand dollar suits and fancy haircuts. Clearing my throat, dreading the answer I already know is coming, I ask, “Exactly who are you with?”
“Aillard Brookwell and Thorin Ravenscroft,” she beams. “My name is Whitney.”
“Are you their assistant?” I don’t understand why this woman would willingly spend time with either of them. Oh shit. What if she’s dating Thorin and that’s the reason she’s here? I feel like an idiot, wishing I could smack myself in the forehand.
“Girlfriend,” Whitney corrects. Then she does the strangest thing. She bounces over to Aillard Brookwell, a man whose icy stare could extinguish a fire, and smacks a big kiss on his lips. He actuallysmilesat her, like her happiness is refreshing.Thisis the Whitney that Nana Noel was talking about from the gossip sites.
