Page 18 of Breaking Point (IceHawks #1)

Grayson

GRAYSON

were you at my house this morning?

KIERAN ASHFORD

no, why? Were there puck bunnies?

GRAYSON

no, and why the hell would that come to mind from that question?

KIERAN ASHFORD

they follow me

GRAYSON

right. Did my food follow you too? Because I seem to be missing two-thirds of my pantry

I checked the Ring cam footage

you know you earn enough money to open your own grocery store right?

KIERAN ASHFORD

yes I’m quite fond of my bank account

GRAYSON

That’s great

so tell me why you went to my house, filled up bags of my food, and took it home with you?

hello???

do you need directions to your nearest grocery store?

KIERAN ASHFORD

I plead the fifth

“ N o?”

“Absolutely not! And you’re delusional to think I’d ever say yes. What do you think I am, a glorified prostitute? All power to those in the profession but I am not some puck bunny you can pay off to be seen on your arm like a piece of meat!”

I jump up at seeing the flash of anger and surprising hurt in her gaze. “Bella, it’s not like that.”

“No? Then what is it like, Grayson?”

Hearing my name tumble from her lips, even in anger, does something to my chest. It loosens a knot I didn’t even know was there and that frightens me, but not as much as seeing the rage in her eyes.

But I’m stumped on what to say. “I don’t know what it would look like. Lucy just brought up the idea to me.”

She scoffs. “I’d apologize for being unprofessional but clearly professionalism has been thrown out the door!” She spins, leaving the groceries on the counter as she snatches her bag and rushes down the hallway.

“Go after her!” Lucy snaps.

“This is your fault!”

Despite saying the words I’m already heading after her—running more like it. God, she takes long strides for someone of her small height. “Bella, wait!” I call, though she’s already out the door. Cursing under my breath, I call again, “Bella, please stop!”

I make it to her side just in time to wrap my hand around her wrist before she can open her car door. Electricity races up my arm from where I’m touching her smooth skin.

Until she turns on me, fire in her gaze as she shoves me off her. “Don’t touch me! ”

I hold up my hands in surrender, my eyes going wide as my heart pounds like a jackhammer. “Bella, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for offending you and I’m sorry for touching you, but please don’t leave.” Licking my suddenly dry lips, I find myself begging, “Please don’t leave.”

She may think it’s because of what Lucy is asking of her but it’s not. And I’m not entirely sure why I’m begging her not to go, but all I know is that she can’t.

I can’t not see her again.

God, what has she done to me? Why is my chest constricting and my stomach flipping at the idea of her honey-brown eyes never locking on mine again?

Even as she stands there, shooting daggers at me with them, I hold her gaze because they do something to me that I’m afraid to analyze too closely.

“When you look at me, do you just see another woman to use at your disposal?”

My head rears back as if she slapped me. “No! No, my god, Bella, no, not at all!”

“Then why me?”

My mouth opens, then shuts. That’s a good question, I’m not sure why Lucy picked her but I know why I’m considering it. “Because you’re the only woman that I can be myself around and still manage to breathe.”

Bella pauses, her eyes flashing wide and the flames in them diminishing slightly as she sucks in a sharp gasp.

“I’m not sure why Lucy wants you to do it. I’m sure there is logic to her madness but she only told me her idea right as you walked in. And to be quite frank with you, I cannot stomach the idea of having to do this with some stranger.”

“I’m no more than a stranger.”

“No, you’re not.” She’s never felt like a stranger. On that first day I cursed myself for not remembering her and such a monumental time because she felt familiar, like we had already met.

She licks her lips and, God help me, my gaze zeroes in on it.

“Grayson, I have only known you for a week and in that week—” She shakes her head, stopping herself before her brows rise along with her chin. “Why not use one of your many puck bunnies at your disposal?”

“So they can assault me in my sleep? Violate my privacy again?”

She inhales sharply and I can see it, my words landing. I can see her mind spinning, the cogs in it turning…until a wall slams shut.

“I’m sorry, but you’ll have to find someone else to fake it with.”

She turns, opens her car door, and throws her bag on the front passenger seat. Right before she can slam the door, I grip it, her wild brown eyes snapping to mine as I duck my head in her small sedan and invade her space. She sucks in a sharp breath.

“Are you coming back tomorrow?”

I don’t know why the thought of never seeing her again makes unending dread fill my body, but it takes the reins of my mind and tongue.

She frowns. “Grayson?—”

“Please come back,” I find myself pleading.

Her gaze flicks back and forth, searching mine. “I’m not quitting, but I’m also not sticking around for people to guilt-trip me into doing this.”

Something uncoils in my chest and I sigh. “I understand. I’m sorry we sprung this on you.”

“I meant what I said. I hope it works out and you can stay on the team, but you’ll have to find a way to do that without me.”

Swallowing thickly, I pull back and dip my chin, trying my best to not show how rejected I feel right now. Maybe she has a boyfriend?

Or maybe she doesn’t want to be seen with such a fuck-up.

“Drive safe, I’ll see you tomorrow,” I say.

I walk away before I can watch her leave.

The door slams shut behind me and my feet are nowhere near as quick to drag me to the living room as they were to rush after Bella.

If no one was sitting in my living room, I’d rub my chest because it won’t stop aching.

I’ve never been fearful of losing an assistant, let alone one that has only worked for me for a couple of days.

What the fuck is wrong with me? Is it the alcohol?

That would make sense. I’ve never been nervous around women or had such panic of losing someone I haven’t known for long. I don’t see why I’d start now. This is all just anxiety, a reason for my body to lean toward the thing it’s craving—alcohol.

Turning to Lucy, I find her eyes still on the front door hallway, her assessing look making me feel uneasy. All the while, Kieran flips through Netflix while eating cereal.

“You should have spoken to me about this before we sprung it on her.”

Lucy’s gaze searches mine before she shrugs. “We don’t have much time, Grayson.”

“Yeah, well, I nearly lost a good assistant.”

“But you didn’t,” she points out, a small smile on her face.

Biting my cheek, I turn and head into the kitchen. If I’m going to be sober, I want one last drink, one where I know it’ll be my last?—

When I open the newfound spot for my liquor cabinet I’m stunned to find my printer nestled atop the shelves instead of amber liquor, along with paperwork and office supplies. My hand freezes on the cabinet handle.

“I’ll be damned,” I whisper.

“What?” Kieran asks around a mouthful of food as the unforgettable Gilmore Girls intro song fills the living room.

Lucy tsks. “This is not the time for Gilmore Girls !”

“Hey! It’s always a respectable time for those women!”

Shaking my head, I close the cabinet and move on to the next, pleasantly surprised to find the pantry stocked with food despite the bags of groceries sitting on the counter.

I move on and on and on, opening up every navy blue cabinet and drawer in my kitchen, accompanied by the sound of my agent and best friend’s worried murmurings behind me.

“Crawford?”

“Yeah?” I answer absentmindedly as my heart grows so full of warmth I feel as if it’s about to implode.

“What are you doing? Do you want to rearrange?”

“No!” I blurt, a small smile stretching across my lips despite trying to hide it.

I come to a screeching halt at a small weekly whiteboard calendar leaning against the kitchen’s backsplash. Before I can think I’m swiping it up, along with the whiteboard marker.

“I think he needs to be evaluated,” I hear Kieran whisper.

Scrawling a message along the top notes section, I can’t help but grin as I see my messy scrawl next to her precise neat one.

Then standing to my full height, with my hands on my hips, I take in the surrounding kitchen and exhale a rush of air, releasing tension in my shoulders I didn’t realize was there.

“She reorganized.”

Lucy cocks her head. “Did you not want her to?”

“Every assistant has come in here and moved everything into the wrong spot and without me telling her, she moved everything back to where it’s meant to be.”

Lucy and Kieran look at me like I’ve grown a second head, but they don’t get it.

She didn’t ask for my assistance; she didn’t ask where I liked things.

I didn’t even tell her to reorganize. She watched me closely enough to gauge I hated where everything was.

Not only that but…perhaps we are in sync.

Somewhere, somehow on the same wavelength, because how does this beautiful girl know how to fix everything just the way I want it to be?

Perhaps she can fix my broken soul.

“Earth to Grayson!” Lucy calls out, rounding the large white cloud sofa.

“Why her?” I ask.

Lucy stops in her path. “No one would believe a sudden relationship with anyone in your circle or someone well known. They’d know it’s a PR relationship. Your new assistant, however, who isn’t known online or in the media…that is believable. ”

Something like disappointment blooms in my chest.

I thought she could feel the crackle of energy that fills the room as my and Bella’s gazes collide.

My eyes slide to the clock on the oven. She’s only been gone for fourteen minutes but all I can think about is when she’s going to walk back through my door tomorrow morning.

“No one pressure her,” I declare, a tinge of panic in my voice. “I don’t want to lose her.”

What is it about the woman with the smattered freckles that has my heart skipping beats at the thought of seeing her tomorrow?