Should’ve Known It’s You (Not You Again #7)

Chapter 33

CHAPTER 33

AUSTIN

A s I finished my morning workout, I checked my phone. There was still no word from Kenny, though. Tons of other notifications and messages but nothing from the only person I wanted to speak to right then.

I hated that I’d become this guy, but I couldn’t stop checking my phone, thinking about her, and wishing she would just speak to me already. I was going nuts wondering how the dinner with their folks had gone last night and worry was chewing through my gut because of her silence.

While I wasn’t fond of inaction, Kenny and I weren’t really in a place where I felt like I could check on her, and the only thing worse than waiting around for her to reach out to me would be to force my company on her.

After the way she’d left things yesterday, it was clear she needed space. I couldn’t stomp all over her boundaries just to make myself feel better—regardless of how much I wanted to.

When she was ready to talk to me, she would talk to me. I just fucking wished she would be ready already.

Sighing, I wiped sweat from the back of my neck with a towel. Then I hit the showers, knowing I had to keep myself busy or else I would race right over to her place. After spending longer than necessary under the spray, I got dressed and headed into the office, where I was immediately bombarded with questions about the float from my coworkers.

It started as soon as I walked into the breakroom to make the coffee I needed to start my day. A young analyst dude whose name I didn’t even know approached me first, making a beeline for me as I walked in.

“Mr. Merrick?” His eyes were wide as he regarded me, looking me up and down like he was checking for injuries. “I was so sorry to see what happened at the parade, sir. For what it’s worth, I thought that float was awesome before it got destroyed.”

I blinked back my surprise. I hadn’t been expecting this—even though I probably should have. “Uh, thank you. It’s a real pity it had to go out that way.”

“Absolutely, sir.” He nodded enthusiastically, stepping aside for Annabeth, another one of the bankers, to take his place.

“You’re going to press charges, right?” she said darkly. “This kind of damn lawlessness can’t go unpunished.”

“They’re not pressing charges.” Someone else scoffed from the coffee machine. “Don’t be ridiculous, Anna. Those people were protecting city property.”

The guy tossed his hands up and shrugged when I glowered at him. “I don’t mean any offense, Austin. It’s just that too many of our local heritage sites have been destroyed by big business. These places should be restored to their former glory and opened as museums to the public.”

I drew in a deep breath, desperately reaching for every last shred of self-control. Finally managing to find some, I kept my voice even as I strode over to grab a mug from the cabinet.

“You’re sadly mistaken if you think that the Dahlia Hotel and Restaurant qualifies as big business, Andrew. I’d also suggest you look at the facts instead of the speculation before you go making any more bold statements.”

“Facts?” He scoffed. “Pray tell, Merrick. Which facts haven’t I taken a look at? It’s a fact that the house is part of our local heritage. It’s also a fact that it’s about to be torn down to make way for yet another elite, boutique hotel where rich businessmen can take their mistresses for a quick fu—” Laughter I couldn’t stop bubbled out of me, causing him to cut himself off in favor of arching his eyebrows at me. “What?”

“None of what you just said is factually correct except that the house is part of our local heritage. We’re not tearing it down, genius. It’s the exact opposite, actually. We’ve been cleaning it up in order to hopefully restore it to its former glory. If we can get the funding to do that. But the hotel itself will be open to everybody.”

“If you’re not tearing it down, where’s the hotel going?”

I stared at him blankly. “It’s a small hotel. The house will be the hotel, the whole of which is also going to be a restaurant. The idea is to create a cozy, welcoming space where members of the community can go when they’re missing home.”

“Oh.”

I finally filled my mug with coffee and sent him a pointed look before I left. “Like I said, find out the actual facts before you make a fool of yourself.”

With that, I strode out of the breakroom to my office. I found my boss waiting for me, which was a surprise. Tim South managed our team of investment brokers, but he rarely stepped into the ring if he didn’t have to. He’d trained us up, but after that, he’d told us he didn’t micromanage and to do our jobs well so he wouldn’t have to.

“Tim?” I frowned as I strode around my desk to set down my coffee. “What’s going on?”

Sliding his hands into his pockets, he tilted his head and stared at me, his green eyes cool and his chin slightly raised. “I understand that the Dahlia Hotel and Restaurant is a client of yours. I’ve come to warn you against continuing to help them.”

“It’s not really a client,” I said. “The owner, Kennedy Sweet, is an old friend. We’re working together on that basis. The firm has nothing to do with it.”

Tim stared me down for another moment, then nodded and relaxed a little bit, the tension bleeding out of his tightly held features. “I can accept that, but if the firm gets any bad PR from this, you’re going to be out on your ass just like Tate, Austin. Friend or no, I urge you to consider that before you keep helping her, alright?”

I inclined my chin in a nod, but honestly, I found the threat off-putting. For the last nine years, I’d been nothing short of the top-tier employee here and I was one of their top earners. Tim’s warning made me question my position here.

Obviously, I’d always known I was just another employee, a cog in a much larger system, but to my mind, I’d earned a lot more respect than this.

“With all due respect, Tim,” I said, finally rolling my chair out from under my desk and sitting down. “Kennedy Sweet and the Dahlia Hotel and Restaurant is no concern of the firm.”

He slanted his head at me. “Perhaps not, but bad press featuring the name of one of our investment bankers certainly is our concern. I’m on your side here, Austin. All I’m saying is that helping a friend might not be worth the risk you’re taking.”

“Thanks, but I’ll be the judge of that. Was there anything else?”

He held my gaze for another beat before he shook his head, walking backward toward my door with his eyes still on mine as he showed me his palms. “That’s it for now. Just be careful. This thing might just blow up in your face.”

I nodded. He finally spun around and left. As soon as he was gone, Mindy came into my office, her eyes round and panicked as she looked at me. “What was that all about? Tim didn’t look happy, Austin. The last time I saw his face like that was the day they fired Tate.”

I waved it off. “It’s nothing. He just wanted to talk to me about the debacle with the float.”

“Are you getting fired?” she asked nervously, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. “Because having you around is the only thing that keeps me sane around here, which means that if they fire you, I’ll have to quit, and I can’t afford to do that.”

I smiled. “Relax, Mindy, I’m not getting fired. The float has nothing to do with the firm, and I told him that. He’s just being paranoid. And kind of a jerk.”

“Are you sure?”

I arched an eyebrow at her. “What do you think?”

She looked into my eyes and searched them for confidence. She must’ve found it because she suddenly smiled and inhaled deeply through her nostrils. “Thank God. I really don’t think I could stick around here if you’re gone, and my kids need me to ride it out for a few more years until they’re all done with school.”

“You’ll be the first to know if anything changes, but as of right now, I’m not worried and you shouldn’t be either. Kennedy isn’t a client of the firm, nor is the firm officially on the record for her business.”

Relief swept across her features as she nodded. “Thanks, Austin. Just let me know if anything does come up, alright? I definitely prefer to be prepared.”

“Of course.”

She sent me another smile and left, tapping away at her phone, probably letting her husband know that the crisis had been averted. Once she was gone, I finally got to work, going about my day with Kennedy still constantly on my mind.

I also couldn’t stop checking my damn phone for a message from her, but once it finally came through, what she’d said did nothing to assuage my worry.

Kennedy Sweet: We need to talk.

I sighed.

After waiting all night and all day for a text from her, this wasn’t exactly what I’d been hoping for, but that was literally all she wrote. I stared at my screen for a while, wondering if she was going to elaborate, but she didn’t.

Eventually, I replied the only thing I really could to a message like that.

Me: Sure. When and where? Just let me know. I’ll be there.