Reed's Reckoning

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“I’ll call you after my meeting okay?”

“Okay.”

“Your house or here tonight?”

“Mine.”

“Right, have a good day.” He steps back, grabs his travel mug, and winks at me.

Damn him! He knew that kiss would leave me thinking about sex. I snap out of my haze and help Davis with his shoes, kiss him goodbye and then grab my own stuff for work.

Phillip is waiting in my office when I arrive. Since it’s earlier than usual, I am surprised to see him.

“Good Morning, Phillip, how are you?”

“Doing well.”

“Great how was your weekend?”

“It was nice. I saw you had a nice one too.” His playful tone alerts me.

“What are you talking about?”

He types into his phone and hands it to me. I gasp at a picture taken of us on the beach on Saturday. Reed is leaning over me whispering in my ear and I have a death grip on my chair. Our bodies are perfectly on display and Davis is in half of the picture. The caption reads “Local football celebrity, Reed Matthews, enjoys a day at the beach with his new girlfriend and son”.

“Ari, I don’t usually ask personal questions, but I am very curious how did I not know who Davis’s dad is?”

I slink down in my chair and throw my head back. Explaining our situation is becoming exhausting. “Phillip, it’s a very complicated story, but Reed and I dated in college and broke up. He was drafted, and I kept the baby a secret. The only people who knew the truth were in my tiny inner circle.”

“That’s quite a secret, but I’m sure you have your reasons.”

“Why are you so interested?”

“This is going to be a huge topic of conversation around here and I wanted you to know you have my support. I still can’t figure out what happened a few weeks ago with your clients. Then with my secretary spreading rumors and leaving, your name is a prime topic. Now with Reed in the picture, you’re major news.”

“Oh God—you’re right! I may just go back to wishing for my boring little life.”

“Nah, boring is overrated.”

We laugh a bit and then go over the itinerary for the meeting later today. The client has a multi-million dollar portfolio that needs managing and I will take prime responsibility with Phillip as back up. He generally doesn’t do hands on financial work, but because of the size and nature of this account, we are presenting a team approach. He finally leaves around ten and I’m starving and thirsty.

The break room is packed, but gets quiet when I enter. After grabbing a water and a granola bar, I turn to go back to my office. Before I walk out of the room, Jay, another advisor at the bank, yells across the room.

“Ari, is it true? Are you officially Reed Matthews woman?”

“It is true, although I like the term girlfriend better.” I joke back with him.

“Girlfriend is good, I can work with girlfriend. It means you aren’t officially off the market.” He grins and winks at me.

“Well, then I guess I am his woman because he would argue I am indeed off the market.”

“Burn!” someone yells and Jay clutches his heart as if he is hurt.

I laugh with them and leave the room. My stomach does a happy dance thinking about being ‘Reed Matthews woman’.

Chapter 23

Reed

This feeling can only be described as amazing. It took all week, but my lawyer finally got everything together for me to put my name on Davis’s birth certificate. All I need now is a few signatures and a notary. I didn’t call ahead of time to confirm, but I’m pretty sure Ari’s bank will have a notary. And I want to surprise her. This week has been busy for us both and I can’t wait for the weekend. I have so much free time during the day and it sucks that Ari is at work. I want to talk to her about a vacation before training camp starts, but she keeps telling me how busy her new account is keeping her.

I drive into the bank parking lot and see Ari’s car parked in the back. I hate her fucking car. A thought comes to me and I call my guy at the dealership. I tell him what I want and make an appointment for us to go into Jacksonville tomorrow afternoon. The next call is to my housekeeper asking her to stock my house with food for the night.

The receptionist stares at me with wide eyes when I walk in and her eyes drift up and down my body. When she meets my gaze, she licks her lips seductively and smiles. I smile back and ask for Ari with complete indifference. A few people stare at me, and an older man with greying hair comes out of an office. When he sees me, he walks over quickly and reaches out his hand to me.