Straight Flushed (Hot Pursuit #1)(4)
I was at the ripe age where women started popping out children by the droves. But at twenty-six, I couldn’t imagine being someone’s mother. A shiver ran down my spine at the thought. That role wasn’t me, at least not yet. I had a great boyfriend and enjoyed my job and my life as it was.
I continued into the library. There must have been thousands of books on the two towering sturdy wooden bookcases. I pictured Avery sitting on the leather couch in the middle of the room sipping scotch and reading late into the night. I wondered if he was more of a biography man, or if he was the Sherlock Holmes type. I’d have to ask him at some point if it ever came up.
I glanced around the dark room of burnt reds and greens then stumbled upon an old picture of a much younger Avery and a friend. I glanced at it quickly, their arms draped casually over each other’s shoulders and each holding lit cigars, standing on a beach but wearing suits rather than typical beach attire. It looked like they were having a good time, wherever they were. I put the picture down and continued walking through the other rooms, checking all the windows and doors as I went.
My mind began to race again, reliving one moment from the day that could have gone wrong. We’d driven Avery all over the city delivering documents and attending a banquet, but it was a meeting at the park earlier that continued to bother me. I had broken protocol and had left Avery’s side. It was a hard rule, and I never broke rules.
Avery had told me to leave him, insisted actually, before he’d crossed the park to meet a man who’d sat shadowed under a tree by himself. After a ‘what’s the big deal’ look from Vance, I felt forced to oblige. As Vance and I stood side by side waiting for the meeting to end, he’d said, “Keep the client happy.” Standing in the library, the words echoed in my brain. Avery represented one of the company’s biggest clients. Keeping him happy was good for business, but keeping him safe was the business. I’d obsess about it privately ad nauseam until I could talk it through with Gabe. I’d kept my eyes glued to Avery the entire time, and the meeting had gone on without incident. Even though it had, it wouldn’t stop my rambling mind.
I finished checking every nook and cranny and wandered back into the kitchen. I had an urge to poke through the luxury French door refrigerator so I could start an emotional eating binge. I wanted something sweet and lots of it. But then something salty sounded good too. Maybe I’d make Vance stop on the way home and pick up a pint of moose tracks ice cream and some Cheetos. And wine. Definitely wine.
Avery’s soft footsteps approached. I stood at attention: feet shoulder width apart and arms behind my back. He walked in wearing a thin, navy blue cotton robe tied in a square knot around a slightly paunchy belly. Not a single one of his silver hairs was out of place. Then I noticed the flawless brown leather slippers on his feet. I grinned, remembering a conversation from a year earlier.
I’d been guarding Avery at a convention and noticed something odd about him. He always wore expensive, tailored suits, custom shirts with his initials embroidered on the cuffs, and beautiful silk ties, but it was his shoes that drew my attention that day. They were worn, so worn I might have called them tattered. His black wingtips had begun to fray close to the soles, and the leather was deeply creased and cracked. It was odd that a man of his wealth would walk around in anything less than the finest footwear.
Avery had come up to me out of the blue and began telling me a story. He’d said, “You know, Miss Cain, my mother and father were eighteen and dirt poor when they emigrated here from Ireland. They struggled to put food on the table.” I’d looked at him curiously. It seemed an odd and a rather random moment to go into a family anecdote, but I was taught to respect my elders, so I listened with attentive ears. “My mother was a seamstress and had to save her money for an entire year in order to afford a new pair of shoes. During that year she’d cut out pieces of cardboard in the shape of her feet and used them as inserts inside her shoes to get her through another day.” I’d thought he was cute, like a grandparent telling me a tale of the olden days. He added, “A person doesn’t get rich spending money replacing something that still works. Looking down at a pair of old, worn shoes like these reminds me that I’ve walked a long road to get where I am. It keeps me grounded.” Heat had flooded my cheeks. He’d seen me staring at his shoes, and I’d apologized profusely. “I guess they could use a fresh coat of polish, huh?” He’d winked.
I smiled fondly at the memory. That was only one incident of many where Avery reminded me of the person he was. I admired him because he was a good man. Despite his wealth, he was always humble.
“Thanks for staying so late, Miss Cain,” Avery said, stepping more deeply into the kitchen.
His eyes were sunken in showing rare signs of fatigue. Something in his life over the last few weeks seemed to have been taking its toll on him. Probably just the stress of a high paying job.
“It’s no problem, sir. Everything is clear down here. I’m waiting for Vance to come in from finishing his sweep outside then we’ll be out of your hair.”
“There’s no rush.” He reached into the fridge and pulled out a chocolate cake. The thick aroma of chocolate and sugar teased my senses. “Would you like a slice?” he asked.
“Oh, no thank you, sir. I couldn’t.” I pressed my wet tongue to the roof of my mouth and swallowed the product of my overactive salivary glands.