Bound Beneath His Pain (Dirty Little Secrets 1)

“Oh, yeah, baby, they called.” Liv gives me a big smile.

Relief washes over me as I smack my hand to my heart, nearly sagging against the row of cabinets next to me. “Thank goodness.” Micah told me that Peter wouldn’t allow Jenny to be picky too long and he’d been right. “I knew Peter loved the house, but it’d been 50/50 when it came to Jenny.”

“He must’ve convinced her.” Liv pours herself a black coffee and takes a sip before adding, “Which is good, because let me tell you, that woman sends me more emails than anyone I have ever met.”

I laugh softly, understanding completely. “Have you—”

“Of course I have.” Liv smiles. “The Purchase Agreement, for the full asking price, is being drafted as we speak, and I’ll have it on your desk in a half hour to review.”

“You’re the best,” I tell her.

“Yes, I am.” She leans in a little closer to me. “But enough about my awesomeness; how are things with Micah? What happened after he showed up at your place yesterday?”

I glance at the door, making sure no one is entering. “Well, we’re back on.” My stomach knots a little when I add, “He asked me to go to a gala with him tonight, but I said no.”

Her brows shoot up, though in the same second, Anderson enters the break room, moving toward us at the coffee machine. My cheeks warm with my embarrassment, knowing he probably heard what I said.

Liv hastily puts on her most professional expression. “Again, a job well done on the Lowe deal, Allie.”

“It wouldn’t have happened without you,” I reply, making sure Anderson hears Liv kicked ass, too. “Thanks for the hard work and late nights.”

She winks at me and then saunters out of the break room, leaving me alone with Anderson.

He grabs a mug from the cabinet and makes himself a piping-hot cup of coffee. “Congratulations on your deal.”

“Thanks.” I smile, picking up my mug and carefully taking a sip.

Anderson’s not moving away, so I look up at him, finding him watching me. “Why aren’t you going to the gala tonight with Micah?” he asks.

“I would like to go with him.” I quickly glance at my coffee cup in my hands, feeling my cheeks become hot at his interrogation. “But we all know that going anywhere as Micah’s date will lead to a big tabloid story tomorrow.” Anderson’s not moving or saying anything, so I peek up at him again, finding genuine surprise on his face. “To be honest, I’m not really ready for that.”

“Hmm,” Anderson says, sipping his coffee.

I can tell he’s wondering over my answer. I imagine most women would jump at the chance to be photographed on Micah’s arm.

But then I become the surprised one when Anderson asks, “Can I show you something?”

“Um…okay.” Coffee cup in hand, I follow him to the hallway and then into the elevator. We whizz down to the bottom floor, and soon I’m heading into one of the offices on the lower level. The second I step through the glass doors, I stop dead, gawking at the sign behind the receptionist.

Holt’s Homes.

We don’t find houses.

We find homes, so you can create memories.

While the sign is making me do a double take, something else makes me completely speechless. I recognize the people in this small office, who are waving at me and saying hello as they walk by us. It’s all my old Richardson co-workers, just in a much nicer office, with some new employees, too. I glance sideways at Anderson. “What is this?”

“This is the old Richardson and the new Holt’s Homes,” he explains, waving out at the cubicles. “Instead of swallowing Richardson, Micah made a new division of Holt. The sixtieth floor—which includes you and Liv—will handle the upper-class residential sales for Holt. Here, at Holt’s Homes, their focus will be on the middle class, mostly families.” Anderson scans the office from left to right and then smiles at me. “Eventually we hope to see this department grow, but for now we’ll start small and build it up.”

I can’t believe he did this is what I want to say. Instead, I say, “Wow.” But I also can’t believe what I’m seeing: We find homes, so you can create memories. I’d told Micah that’s why I loved selling real estate. I’m realizing that he didn’t only keep his word, he took my ideas and somehow folded them into Richardson to make the company more than it was before.

Yes, this is his company, but my mark is all over it.

Anderson apparently hears the shock rumbling in my voice, since he comments on it. “Yes. What Micah did here…it’s unthinkable for him.”

I place my coffee cup on the desk next to me and then turn to face Anderson fully. “What do you mean?”

He leans a shoulder against the wall, folding his arms. “When Micah’s team told him that we were all against this happening, since it didn’t make sense for Holt to invest money into Richardson, he invested his personal money into this new venture. Which in itself is a risk, since he won’t see a return for at least a year, considering he’s paying Bennett Inc. to get Richardson up to speed.”