Smokescreen

“No, son, she’s not. What’s up?”

“I wanted to thank her for the stuff she sent my grandma and brother. The whole church is buzzing about her too. My grandma calls her an angel and I thought I should thank her.”

Surprise washes over me, we’ve only been home for four days. How did she already send things to his family and then it hits me. Laci and Landon. “She’s not here, but I’ll tell her you sent your appreciation. Take care.”

“Mr. McCoy, thank you. I’m not sure I ever said it, but thanks.”

“Yeah, Pedro, yeah.” I hang up and slump my head. It was an asshole goodbye, but he caught me off-guard. I want to throw trust into him, but my business sense says he has to earn it. Thinking about his situation, I see similarities. If he’s as honest as he seems, he’d do anything for his family, just like me.

My phone rings again and Stella’s face flashes on the screen. “Hey, babe.”

“Where are you?” she shrieks.

“Packing up now, what’s going on?”

“Hurry home. Everyone’s here to watch the game.”

“Really?” I groan and pack my stuff. “We’ve been working like hell the last few days since we got back. I was hoping for a night alone.”

“Sweetie, I’m sorry. I thought you might like a night with family and friends. We can kick them out at half time, but something tells me Mason and Matt won’t leave.”

“You told them where you live? Is nothing sacred anymore?”

She giggles and hushes someone behind her. “We’re at your house tonight. I thought you may miss home and you have a better TV. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Stella, cancel your appointments in the morning. We’re working from home.”

“I can’t—”

“No arguments, we’ve been working sixteen hour days this week and last week was fucking crazy. Besides we have some stuff to talk about.”

“Okay, Max, I’ll label it as a ‘meeting.’”

“Label it whatever the fuck you want, but know it’s a naked meeting. You should be in the office by lunchtime.” I hang up and grab my things. Before I get into the elevator, I see Edward scowling at me from behind the reception partition. His look is cold and calculating. I push the button staring him down. My meeting with Jake can’t get here fast enough.

Stella groans lightly and rolls over. I’ve been watching her from my desk for half an hour, trying not to wake her. But as soon as she realizes my side of the bed is empty, she sits up dazed. Her head turns toward the bathroom and then turns to me.

“What are you doing?” she asks sleepily.

“Working a bit.”

“What time is it?”

“A little after seven.”

“Why the hell are you up? Do you ever sleep?” She falls back onto my bed and the sheets slip down her naked body.

I jump to my feet and make my way to her side of the bed in a second. “Yeah, I slept, then I worked out, showered, and decided to work until you woke up.”

“You worked out? Showered? What the hell is wrong with you? I thought we weren’t going anywhere this morning.”

She throws an arm over her eyes and I take the opportunity to kiss the skin up to her elbow, then pull her arm down so she has no choice but to look at me.

“I didn’t go anywhere. I have a home gym down the hall. I showered because I was gross, and we are staying here this morning. We have a meeting at ten, but until then, it’s us.”

“You have a home gym? Where?”

“Yeah, babe, there’s about two thousand square feet you’ve not seen yet. Two more rooms and a gym.”