Forever You're Mine (MINE #4)(27)
After wading it up in his hands, he bent to hand me my shorts, stuffing my panties into his pocket. I quickly stepped into my shorts, mentally trying to think of what to say next, and finally remembering that we were at work and…shit…I was going to be late clocking back in from my break. We needed to talk about what just happened. Shit, we needed to talk about a lot of things.
“The f*ck’s goin’ on in here?”
Shit.
Shit!
Archer stood in the open doorway, glaring at Cannon. “You have got to be f*ckin’ shittin’ me right now.”
His dark eyes met mine before they looked me up and down. Shaking his head, he let go of an irritated sigh. “Get your ass back to work, Cora.”
“Yes sir.” My heart was in my throat as I slid past him, a strong look of disappointment etched across his hard face.
He lifted his clenched jaw, effectively dismissing me before returning his hard gaze to Cannon.
This was not good.
When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves.
~Viktor E. Frankl
We walked in silence to his office where he tossed me a new staff t-shirt and lifted his small trash can for me to throw my other one away. “This has become a real problem with you,” he said, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt.
“Archer, listen…”
“You’re fired.”
His words knocked me a step back. I knew I was in deep shit, but fired?
“Fired? For what?”
“You seriously askin’ me that?”
“Yeah, we were just…”
“Fuckin’,” Archer finished and anger swirled hot in my veins. “I could hear you all the way in here.” I opened my mouth to speak but he didn’t give me the chance. “I can’t control what you do on your own time, but I can damn well control what happens on mine…and that shit,” he pointed towards his closed office door. “Ain’t goin’ down.”
I stood there, shocked. I kept trying to come up with something that would save my ass, but as I punched my arms into my t-shirt, I came up short.
“So that’s it?”
“What the hell were you thinkin’? The last thing Cora needs is an * like you messin’ with her head, or worse, her heart.” Archer rounded the desk, pressing his finger to my chest. “I’m only gonna say this one time, even though I know you already f*ckin’ know, you hurt her…you answer to me. Understood?”
There was so much rage blazing through my body. I was scared to speak. Afraid to move. Knowing if I did, I would take his ass out. Archer was a tough son of a bitch, but with one swift move, I could snap his neck clean in two.
Fortunately for him, I was able to retain enough forethought to deny my brutal urge, reasoning that Katy and Cora were tight. I knew Archer protected what was his, including anything that was hers.
“I get where you’re comin’ from, but it’s not like that. I f*ckin’ care about her.” I ran a frustrated hand over the top of my head. “I care about her a lot.”
He studied me for a moment before he nodded and collected a step back. “Well, if you care about her or your job, you should not be f*ckin’ her in a storage room at work.”
I’d gotten carried away. That assf*ck texting her pissed me off, and the need to remind her who she belonged to trumped everything else. Maybe this was for the best, being around her at work would be constant torture. Shit, it already was. There’s no way I would be able to keep my hands off her.
“You gonna fire her too?”
“No, just you. She’s a hard worker as long as she’s not distracted.”
Grateful Cora still had her position, I left without further discussion and headed straight for the bar.
“What happened?” Cora asked, nervously.
“He fired me.”
Eyes wide, her hand flew to cover her mouth. “Fired you?” Cora shook her head in disbelief. “Shit, Cannon do you think he’s gonna fire me too?”
I reached for her hand to pull her closer. “No, you’re fine.”
“Thank God.”
“I’ll be back to pick you up around midnight.” She nodded, and I squeezed her before letting her go.
On the way out, I fished for my cell to call Holden. He answered on the second ring. “What up, man?”
“You home?” I asked.
“Yeah,”
“Mind if I swing by?”
“Nope.”
“See you in ten,” I said before ending the call.
When I returned home from my last tour in Iraq, I spent less than three months at home before moving here. The memories were just too much. I couldn’t take it. I knew I had to get out of there before something bad happened, so I loaded up what I could and drove until I was certain I’d put enough distance between me and my past.
That’s how I ended up here.
I met Holden Brooks not long after I arrived in town. I’d stumbled upon Archer’s while I was out riding around one night. Friendly as he was, he talked to everyone. Knew everyone. Found out I was new in town and offered me a job right on the spot. I knew we’d be friends right away. Holden Brooks was the kind of guy that everybody was friends with and one of the few people I trusted.