Page 8 of Forever After All (Pine Harbour #2)

Alice

I am so out of my depth in this job.

Why did I think it was a good idea to take a job in sports marketing when I don't like sports?

Ah, yes. It's because I'm a fucking idiot. I've tried to learn what I can in the past year but I still struggle, and my god, there is so much to learn.

"Holy fuck…do you know who that is?" Brenna, one of the other secretaries, leans in and whispers, nudging me in the ribs as she does.

I adjust my specs, narrow my eyes and scrunch my nose as I try to make out the back of the man walking towards to the first-floor meeting rooms. All I can tell is that he’s tall, looks good in a suit, and has shoulder-length curly black hair.

I shrug. "Not a fucking clue, Brenna. In case you didn't already know, I have no idea who any of these people are because I’m a twat who thought applying for a job she knew nothing about would be a good idea.

" I sigh and slump back in my chair, contemplating my resignation letter.

It would be a real shame because this is the first job I've had in a very long time that I really like. I have been here for a year now. I thought this would get easier, but it hasn't. Every time I think I know stuff, something comes up that I’ve never even heard of, or maybe that’s just the imposter syndrome rearing its ugly head.

"Well, THAT is Macaulay De Luca. Goaltender for the Springfield Seals.

" Brenna beams at me like I should know who she is talking about.

"He's the guy that all of you hot, single girls lust after.

Alice, don't worry. You're an amazing secretary.

Everyone loves you. Half of the reason why you're doing so well is because you're not trying to fuck the football and hockey players. "

I remind myself why I like this job. Brenna is a scream.

We've become firm friends. The athletes, despite popular rumours, have all been lovely.

My boss, Anna, is great. It's so good to work with a female lead team in a male-dominated environment.

My job title is secretary, but we get involved in anything administration related—reception, hotel bookings, taking minutes at meetings.

We also get to attend functions, rub shoulders with sports people, and organise charity events.

Rubbing shoulders with sports people is a huge draw for some of my colleagues, but because I have no idea who most of them are, I have no desire to embarrass myself trying to fit in.

As much as I like Brenna, I have yet to tell her I'm friends with the Carter Green. I want to keep that part of my life away from this part of my life. Not that I think it would be weird for her to know, but I do know he is quite a big deal around here, and I don’t want people to think he’s the reason I got this job to begin with—because he isn’t.

Brenna is a huge hockey fan and will undoubtedly know who he is.

Like he can read my mind, my phone pings with a message from him.

Carter: Hey, Alice. How is work today? I'm in the area. Do you want to meet me for lunch?

My tummy rumbles at the thought of food and I rub it through the fabric of my skirt. I skipped breakfast today as I woke up late, so food seems even more welcome than normal.

Me: Sounds good. My lunch break is at 12:00. Does that work?

Carter: Perfect.

Before I have chance to respond, the Friday morning phone rush starts.

"Good morning, Calder Marketing, Brenna speaking. How can I help you today?" Brenna's dulcet tones fill my ears. "Of course, I'll connect you. Hold please." Her professionalism knows no bounds.

The phone next to me rings.

"Good morning, Calder marketing, Alice speaking. How can I help you?"

"Good morning, Alice. It's Anna. I'm running late today. Can you cancel my first two meetings?" My boss sounds stressed on the other end of the phone.

"Sure thing, Anna. Are you okay?" I ask, slightly concerned as my usually cool, calm, and collected boss sounds quite fraught.

"I'm fine. Really. My fucking car broke down, so I'm going to be later than planned."

"Do you want me to send a car? I forgot to say, Macaulay De Luca is already here."

"Of course he is. The one time he shows up early, and I'm going to be late! Can you delay him for me? If you can send a car, that would be great." Anna sounds a little annoyed at the guy showing up to his meeting on time.

"Absolutely. A car is on the way, it'll be ten minutes. We'll keep Macaulay busy." I say as I tap on the keyboard, sending a message to one of the company chauffeurs.

"You're a lifesaver. I owe you." Anna disconnects, and Brenna shuffles in her seat, practically vibrating.

"So…how much do you love me?" I shoot her a grin .

"Please tell me that when you said ‘we'll keep Macaulay busy’ you really meant ‘I will send Brenna to keep Macaulay busy’ because if you did mean that, then you've just shot to the top of my best friend list. Seriously, Jake will be SO jealous if I get to meet the Mac De Luca."

"Brenna, I've never met someone who wanted to make their own husband jealous of their job before, but have at it!" I laugh in response and wave my hand at her, trying to usher her towards the doors.

"Are you kidding me? If I go home tonight and tell him I shook Macaulay's hand, he'd probably lick it and ban me from washing ever again."

"You have such a weird marriage."

"I'm not arguing with that!" she shouts back at me as she runs to the meeting room doors.

Twenty-five minutes later, Anna rushes through the door looking flustered but still beautiful.

She’s in her early forties, with a blonde bob, blue eyes, and a Pilates body to die for.

I'm fairly sure you could bounce coins off her butt.

She's about five-foot-two, but you wouldn’t know it with her huge personality making up for her height.

"Brenna is in meeting room two with Macaulay. Here’s a coffee. Skinny latte, no sugar. You look great. Go get 'em.” I smile, holding out the coffee.

"You' re a lifesaver, did I ever tell you that?" Anna grabs the coffee and heads through the glass gates to the meeting rooms.

"You've told me twice today, Anna." I grin and give her a small thumbs-up.

A few moments after Anna moves through the meeting room corridor, Brenna comes back towards me with the biggest smile on her face. She bounces off the floor with sheer excitement when she walks.

"So, I'll ask again. How much do you love me?" I tease, returning her smile as she slumps down into the chair beside me.

"Jake will probably invite you for a threesome after that. Mac just gave me two tickets to their game tomorrow! He was so cool!"

"Oh my god, that's incredible! How exciting!" A genuine warmth spread through my chest, seeing the happiness radiate from Brenna. "I will say, though…I've done a lot of things in my time, but a threesome has never crossed my mind."

A low, rumbling male laugh echoes across the lobby and we both stop dead, aware of our very inappropriate conversation.

"Oh my god, it's…" Just when I think that Brenna couldn't possibly get any more excited today, she does.

"Carter Green. Yep. This one, I know." Dear god , he looks fine as hell.

I try not to smile as he walks towards us.

Carter is draped in an all-black suit, shirt, and tie.

He takes his sunglasses off and presses them up to sit on top of his head.

I would swallow, but apparently I've forgotten how to.

That hotness shouldn't be allowed. His brown hair is brushed back, reaching the collar of his shirt, and his muscles are incredibly evident through his clothes.

Not that I'm looking closely. Not at all.

Brenna's mouth pops open, and I whisper, "I'll explain later."

"Hey, Carter. Why are you here?" I ask, feeling a little too uncomfortable. It’s the first time I've seen him since the day after Autumn’s wedding, and I wasn't expecting to feel so flustered.

Once again my cheeks redden slightly, betraying me.

Even though I knew we were meeting for lunch, seeing him standing in front of me makes my brain malfunction a little.

I wasn't expecting to feel so awkward if I’m being totally honest.

"We said we'd meet for lunch, but you didn't reply after my last message. I wasn't sure where we were meeting, so I thought I'd come and pick you up," Carter answers and looks between me and Brenna.

I look at the clock. 11:45. The morning flew by and I didn't realise how close to lunchtime it was.

"Sorry, I didn't even think about that. The front desk has been crazy today." I organise papers into a folder, prepped for Anna’s afternoon meetings.

"Alice, just go now.” Brenna nudges my chair leg with her foot, making me look at her.

“Come back when you're ready. You did me a solid today, I owe you.

" She nudges me again, but doesn't take her eyes off Carter.

"Then you owe me an explanation and a piping hot cup of tea .

" She leans in and whispers the last part.

"I left my purse in the back office. I'll be back in a second," I say as I stand from the desk.

"I didn't know you wore glasses," Carter says.

He tilts his head to the side and regards my face.

I move my hand to the side of my face and feel for the frame of my glasses—like me wearing glasses is brand new information.

For a split second, I didn't seem to remember I wore them either, for some reason.

As I walk through the sliding doors behind the desk, I hear Brenna making polite conversation with Carter.

"Looks like we're both finding out things about Alice today that we didn't know!

Hi, I'm Brenna. It's so cool to meet you.

My husband would freak!" Brenna stands from her seat. “He’s a huge fan of yours.” She holds out her hand to shake Carter's.

"Sorry, I should probably try to be cooler about this, given that it’s my job and everything, but I absolutely can't."

As soon as I’m out of sight, I grab my purse from the back office and power walk to the restroom to check out my reflection in the mirror.

I need to make sure I’m presentable after all.

I look very much like the stereotypical secretary today.

Black skirt suit, white shirt, flat pumps, long hair pulled back into a slick bun, thick-rimmed glasses framing my green eyes—which I somehow forgot about—and red lipstick washed over my lips tops off the look.

I look…kind of great, I will admit. I make sure there is no smudging from my mascara, and head back to the lobby where Brenna and Carter are still chatting.

"So, let me get this straight. Your brother is Alice's best friend's husband?"

"That pretty much sums it up, yeah," I hear Carter confirm "And now Alice and I are really good friends. We shared a room together the night of their wedding too." He sends a devilish smile in Brenna's direction.

I glare at Carter as Brenna looks up at me. He winks at me, fully aware she is lapping up every second of this conversation.

"Anyway…" I cut through the middle of this weirdly gossip filled conversation. "We must be going. See you later, Brenna." I smile cheerily at my colleague, who is still looking bewildered, and drag Carter out of the building by his elbow.

"You're a douchebag," I hiss at him. I cannot bring myself to be fully pissed off at him and it shows.

"Hey. She wanted a story, so I had to give her one." He shrugs, acting like he didn't just give my entire office some coffee break gossip fuel .

"You're paying for lunch after that." I poke him in the ribs, and he flinches.

"I was going to pay for lunch anyway. So the joke is on you.” He laughs as we begin walking.

As soon as I get back to the office, Brenna will be vibrating in her seat, demanding information.

I can trust Brenna, I know I can. So I don't mind telling her about the wedding night, because it’s probably hilarious from an outsider's point of view.

We all love hearing stories of other people embarrassing themselves. Lucky for her, this is quite the story.