Fall From Grace

“Anna saw her a month ago eating dinner and she had a rock on her hand the size of an eyeball.” Faye fiddles with the fabric of a dress before looking up at me. “But Carson doesn’t know.”

“What?” I shriek.

“We thought it best we not tell him. Even your brother knows. He was the one that confirmed the engagement and so he and Noah have been keeping it from him.”

Well now I’m confused. Why would he act like such an ass when I brought her up? I decide to tell Faye everything that happened. From the being sick to him taking care of me to the sex to the argument we had.

“He really hasn’t gotten rid of her shit?”

I shake my head. “I mean, the closet is just empty. The dresser. The bathroom cupboards. He could take it over. Most people would. He didn’t like that very much when I brought it up.”

“Still doesn’t make sense on why he would be so mad at you for asking questions,” she says.

I sigh and flop down in a chair by the dressing rooms. “I think he started to have feelings for me.”

Faye purses her lips. “Well that makes sense. He swore off women for the rest of his life. Tiffany really did a number on him.”

“Yeah, and since I said to him I was just his employee he was fucking, it didn’t go over well.”

The store employee walks over with champagne and two glasses. “I hate to eavesdrop, but I can tell you need this.”

Faye grabs a glass then flops down next to me. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“Just let me know whenever you want to try something on.”

“Thanks,” I say as I drink half the glass of champagne.

“Why do you think he has feelings?”

“I don’t know,” I say as I run my fingers along the fabric of the pink velvet chair. “It’s the way he looks at me sometimes. The way he touches me. I mean, taking care of me when I was sick doesn’t usually fall under fuck buddies.”

“True.”

“I haven’t worked in his office the last two weeks. I’ve cordoned myself off with the interns. I don’t want to face him. The few times we do talk, it’s awkward, and it’s usually him being an asshole demanding me to get him things.”

“He doesn’t deal with feelings well. At least that’s what Hunter has told me. He was always a manwhore. A player up until he met Tiffany. And even then, he was cautious. His brothers always warning him she was only with him for his money. But he didn’t believe them, not as he started to fall for her. He wanted to propose for a while. But held off to be sure. And they were happy, at least from the outside they seemed happy.” She pauses and looks up at me. “Do you have feelings?”

I nearly spit my champagne across the fitting room. “I can’t.”

“That didn’t answer my question.”

Fuck. This is not something I want to talk about. I can’t talk about it. Especially with alcohol in my hand because I know the truth will come out. Of course I have fucking feelings. And I don’t know why. We agreed to just sex when it was a one-night stand. Even when I started working for him it was still just sex. But after the last month. The teasing, the jokes, the brief touches, and the kisses, fuck, those kisses did me over. If I just got his monster dick and nothing more, I might be fine. But those damn kisses. The way he trails his lips up my neck and whispers dirty things into my ear has ruined me.

I clear my throat and put on a straight face. “I don’t know.”

Faye smiles at me deviously.

“What?” I ask her.

“You do.”

I shake my head. “No.”

“You do. Don’t lie to me, Grace, I saw it when you stared off, when you let those thoughts stew. Hell, he took care of you when you were sick, you’d have to be a sociopath to not catch feelings. My husband is a doctor, and when I’m sick, all he says is there are meds in the cabinet.” She sighs and grabs my hand. “Look, I’ve known Carson a long time. I knew him in high school and I know him now. He’s always been a player, but deep down, I know the kind of soul he has. You spend one weekend around him and his family, you’ll see the way he treats his mom. You just know. He has a huge heart; he just hides it behind thick walls. It’s okay if you like him. Because I guarantee he likes you too, more than he wants to admit. And these two weeks of tension between the two of you are going to explode.”

“Well it can’t. My brother will literally kill him.”

“Owen will get over it. He will always be your brother, but Carson, he won’t always be yours.”