There could be no talking her way out of this. “I wanted another look at the contract,” she said.
“You could have asked me.”
Allison dropped the folder into the drawer and closed it. “Sorry. I would’ve asked if you’d been here. But no harm done. Now, if we’re finished, I’ll get back to work.”
Heart pounding, she rounded the desk, intent on leaving. He stepped in front of her, blocking the path between the desk and the door.
“We’ll be finished when I say we are,” he said.
He moved closer, trapping her against the desk. His face was so close that she could see the pores in his skin and smell the liquor on his breath.
“I’ve been wondering whose side you’re really on, mine or his,” he said. “Maybe it’s time you showed me.”
Resisting would give her away, Allison knew. She had to keep up this masquerade until she got safely out of the room. “This isn’t a good time, Garrett,” she said. “Not with your girlfriend out there at the front desk.”
“Monica?” He laughed, but he didn’t let her go. “She’s a lot of fun, but we’re not exclusive. Believe me, sh
e won’t mind.”
His arms went around her, hands sliding under her blazer. When he kissed her, thrusting with his tongue, his mouth tasted of onions and whiskey. Allison remembered the phone, tucked into her inside pocket. What if his groping hands were to find it? She had to keep it safe until she could get free of him and get out of here.
From down the hall came the sound of approaching footsteps—a woman’s footsteps, probably Monica’s. She might get a shock if she opened the door, but right now that was just what Allison wanted—anything that would let her escape. Please, Monica. Please open that door . . .
The door opened. Allison heard a gasp as Garrett’s arms released her. She stumbled to one side, wiping her mouth. When she looked past Garrett, her heart dropped.
It wasn’t Monica who stood in the open doorway.
It was Brianna.
* * *
Stifling a cry, Brianna wheeled and bolted back down the hall, toward the front desk. From somewhere behind her, she could hear Allison’s voice. “Wait, Brianna! Let me explain!”
But Brianna didn’t want to hear her stepmother’s explanation. She didn’t want to look at Allison or hear her voice. All she wanted was to be somewhere else.
One hand fumbled for her car keys as she raced out the front of the building. As she unlocked her car and flung herself into the driver’s seat, she could see Allison coming outside, waving and shouting something. Ignoring her, Brianna gunned the engine and roared out of the parking lot.
Half blinded by tears, she drove randomly, scarcely aware of stop signs and traffic lights. Her cell phone had begun ringing and ringing. After glancing at the caller ID and seeing that it was Allison, she turned the phone off and kept driving.
Finally, reminding herself that another traffic violation could land her in jail or cause her to lose her license, she pulled onto a quiet side street and stopped at the curb.
Shaking, she buried her face in her palms. She felt sick to her stomach. She had just begun to like Allison, to see her as a trusted friend. And now this.
Brianna’s fist pounded the dashboard. For Allison to betray her was bad enough. But to betray her own husband—Brianna’s generous, loving father who’d given the woman everything her greedy little heart desired—that was truly unforgivable.
And Garrett—he was a single man now. But that didn’t make it all right to carry on with his partner’s pretty young wife. For years, Brianna had considered him her friend. But he would never be her friend again. She remembered how Allison had warned her away from him. Never in a million years would she have guessed that Allison wanted Garrett for herself.
The lying, conniving, faithless bitch!
What now? Brianna knew she wasn’t ready to go home and face her father. She needed to cool down. And she needed to talk to Liam.
Looking around, she realized that she wasn’t far from the Lakeside Forest Wilderness Area, a natural hiking park in the heart of Branson, with miles of winding trails. A peaceful walk might be just the thing to calm her nerves before she decided what to do next.
After parking at the trailhead, she tightened the laces on her sneakers, took her phone, and locked her purse in the trunk. She chose one of the easier trails that wound through thickets of oak, redbud, hickory, and the tall, cedar-like trees called ash junipers. As a little girl, Brianna had hiked this trail many times with her mother, who had known all the trees, flowers, and animals along the way. How she wished her mother could be with her now.
* * *
Allison had tried to call Burke twice. There was no answer on his cell or on the house landline. Only after the third try did she remember overhearing a phone conversation yesterday between Burke and his friend Hoagie—something about going out for burgers and beer today.