Protecting Her: A Romance Bundle

Jason

It was Monday, and I was sitting at my desk staring at my computer screen. Work was the last place I wanted to be that day, but I really didn’t have any choice. I needed to be functioning and awake, ready to take on the challenges of the day. Instead, I was sitting there thinking about Friday night, Saturday morning, and Tiffany. Everything had seemed so perfect, and after that kiss, I’d thought for sure she would be ready to come out to the family that we were together. After she told me it was all too much too soon, I had sunk down into my thoughts and hadn’t even texted her back yet. There were several times I picked up my phone and stared at the messages, knowing I didn’t want to leave her hanging, but my pride was hurt, and I couldn’t seem to gather my thoughts well enough to get the words out. I probably wrote out ten different messages over the course of two days and never sent any of them. I was hurt and worried at the same time, something that was more than a bit confusing.

I knew it was probably hurtful to her that I had bailed like that. I had worked so hard to protect her from getting hurt that I felt terrible about blowing her off, but I needed time to think about everything. I guess I had gotten ahead of myself in my thoughts with us and my family. I ended up not even going to dinner, telling everyone that I wasn’t feeling well. When Tiffany said she didn’t want to go with me, I couldn’t help feeling rejected, having tried so hard to make her feel comfortable and loved. It crossed my mind that it could have something to do with Jordan and how he’d picked up a girl at the bar that night. She hadn’t responded in any way and had even told me about her revelation about their relationship, but I couldn’t help thinking maybe her lack of reaction had been my wishful thinking. I never thought I would be in a relationship with a girl where I was worried she could be thinking about my brother. I was starting to understand how tricky something like this could be. It wasn’t just about how other people viewed our relationship. It was also about how we viewed each other in the situation. As much as I didn’t want to find out she was thinking about Jordan, she probably, equally, didn’t want me to worry about it. I hadn’t really given a lot of thought about how all of this could affect us on the inside. Not everything was peaches and roses in this situation, and eventually, we would have to face that head-on.

However, even if she had denied my invitation because of Jordan, I couldn’t really be mad about it. It was really wishful thinking, hoping that I could stepped into the picture and, all of a sudden, she no longer cared that she had just been brutally dumped. I guess it was hard for me to understand how any of that felt. After all, I was coming in with a fresh viewpoint, a fresh heart, and no hard feelings toward anyone. Well, at least not the kind of feelings that would hinder me from being in a relationship with someone. The last thing I wanted to do was push her further than she was ready to go or end up the rebound guy. If she did have leftover feelings for Jordan, which was completely possible because she’d thought she was in love and had been married to the guy, even if it was only for a short time, then we would handle those feelings as we went. I had to be open to the understanding that, as much as her revelation sounded great, it may have been a combination of her wanting to move on and the excitement of our relationship just getting started. I would need to understand that part of our lives and be able to handle it without taking it personally or assuming it was in any way showing of her lack of feelings for me. It was such a tricky situation, and I also didn’t think about how I needed to put Jordan’s feelings into the mix either. After seeing his lonely face at the bar, I had felt my first real tinge of guilt. Yes, it was quickly extinguished when Tiffany walked into the room, but that didn’t take away from the fact it was there for at least a moment. He had to be feeling something, and as much as I wanted to paint him as the evil guy, I knew my brother wasn’t a complete asshole. He put up a façade to make people think he didn’t care at all, but beneath the surface, I knew there was more going on in his head than any of really understood.

I sighed and got up from my desk to grab a cup of coffee. Luckily, the office was quiet since my father had investor meetings all day and almost everyone was on call for him. I was left to man my station and get some work done. Work, however, was the last thing on my mind, and I had paced the hallways at least five times since everyone had gone to the meetings. My brother would be back soon to take a break. He hated those meetings even more than my father and would use any excuse to nab a few minutes away. As I fixed my coffee, I glanced over at Tiffany’s dark office, wondering if she would ever actually come back to work. It was going to get interesting once she did. How the hell would that dynamic actually work? I guess either we would be faking it while at work, or everyone would know and hopefully all the kinks would be worked out. Either way, I hoped she came back soon, for both personal and professional reasons. She really did keep the office on its toes, and without her here, things were lagging behind. I knew my father saw it, especially with the temp having a hard time filling her shoes and taking three times as long to get the files together. Tiffany had spoiled the company with her determination and dedication, and that would be a really hard thing to find a replacement for.

When I got back to my desk, I saw that I had received a new email from HR talking about the upcoming cocktail party the company was putting on. It was on Thursday, scheduled in celebration of the quarter ending, an impressively successful quarter. It was going to be a formal event in one of the large hotels in the city. Everyone from the office, the investors, and several of our biggest clients would be invited. There would be booze, food, dancing, and a lot of friendly conversation. I really wasn’t lookin

g forward to it because I often spent most of the years past events explaining why I hadn’t brought a date. I was getting tired of the jokes made about it being past time for me to get on the marriage train. Obviously, marriage wasn’t a foolproof plan to happiness, and even Jordan, who had gotten married, wouldn’t make it to the cocktail party with a wife on his arm. No doubt that he would at least come with a date, though. He was smart enough to know that taking some girl with him was less of a headache than listening to the clients joke about your lack of matrimonial support.

I sighed and tapped my finger on the button, knowing I would have to RSVP before my father caught wind that I hadn’t. Immediately, I thought about Tiffany and wondered if she already had plans to go to it. I took a deep breath and fished my phone out of my pocket and dialed Tiffany’s number. I hoped she wasn’t too angry at me for not returning her text messages. I was being a little bit sensitive about everything, and I knew I shouldn’t have been. To my surprise, she picked up on the first ring, her voice sounding relieved and settled. I guess I had affected her more than I thought I would. I started to feel bad about it.

“Hey,” I said with a sorrowful tone.

“Hey,” she replied with a happy voice.

“I want to apologize for getting upset about you not wanting to eat with my parents,” I said. “It was really insensitive of me to not think it might be a little strange and maybe too much.”

“It’s okay,” she sighed. “I’m sorry I was so blunt and short about it.”

“You weren’t,” I replied. “I was just being sensitive. I blame the booze and lack of sleep.”

“I can accept that,” she laughed. “So, what’s up?”

“I wanted to see if you wanted to go the cocktail party for the end of the quarter?”

“Of course,” she said. “I’m already signed up to go.”

“Am I going to fight your date?”

“No,” she laughed. “I am going solo with the hope there is a hot man waiting for me there. Preferably named Jason.”

“That’s pretty specific.” I chuckled.

“Yeah, you know me.” she giggled. “I like to plan out everything perfectly.”

“I don’t blame you,” I replied, walking around the office. “Okay, well then, I will see you there.”

“Absolutely,” she said before hanging up.

I clicked the phone off and stood staring out the window, clutching the phone to my chest. I was relieved she wasn’t upset with me, but at the same time, I still wondered what was going on in her head. Was she really okay with my apology? Had she said no to dinner because of the speed things were going or was it because of Jordan? Speaking of Jordan, my attention turned quickly as I heard him clear his throat behind me in the doorway. I turned quickly and smiled, wondering how long he had been standing there.

“So, is the new girl coming to meet us at the cocktail party?”

“I hope so,” I replied, thinking about Tiffany’s sweet face.

“Good,” he said suspiciously. “I can’t wait to meet the girl that has taken my brother’s attention from everything.”

I smiled nervously as he tapped the doorframe and walked from the room, looking me in the eye as he passed into the hallway. Fear dropped into the pit of my stomach wondering why he was acting so strange. Was it possible he knew what was going on but just wanted to confront it head on? The last thing we needed was for Jordan to lose it at the cocktail party. Not only would he embarrass the company, but he would put Tiffany through even more crap than she had already been through with him. On the other hand, the sooner he knew, the sooner he could start to work it out in his head. If Tiffany truly felt she and Jordan had not been meant for each other, then somewhere deep down, he had to have felt that, too. But knowing my brother, he was not looking deep down inside. Instead, he was looking only surface deep where anger and jealousy were mounting.

I had always looked forward to the cocktail parties, mostly because I could remember going to them as a child and dancing the night away with my mother. My father had always turned these events into fun outings for the family, and he didn’t stop just because we had grown up. Now, I was going to get to share that with Tiffany, even if no one else knew about us. Sure, she had been to them before with Jordan, but he’d always left her sitting alone at the bar while he went perusing through the crowd, trying to make a name for himself. This time, she would be there with me, and I wanted her to have a blast.

Chapter Sixteen

Tiffany