Page 102 of Rebooked For Us
He shook his head, “Congratulations on a successful infiltration and grift. Son, I was protecting you from this. She trapped you.”
“Man, get him the fuck outta here.”
“Bye bye, Ruben.”
Security arrived and he left without another word.
The second the door shut, my stomach turned over completely, no warning, no mercy, and I was up out of my chair and moving for the small bathroom off the conference room before I could say a single word about why.
I made it. Barely.
I heard the door open behind me a moment later, and then Ducane’s hand was gathering my hair back, his other palm flat and warm against my spine.
“I got you,” he said, low. He’d said it a hundred times before. I wanted to hear him say it a hundred more. “I got you, baby. Just let it out.”
I didn’t have the strength to be embarrassed. I just knelt there, shaking, one hand braced on the trash can, letting him hold my hair. My body relaxed as he started to rub slow circles into my back.
“That was a lot,” I finally managed, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “Watching you do that.”
“Was it too much?”
“No.” I let him help me up. He steadied me at the sink while I rinsed my mouth and avoided my own reflection. “It was everything I didn’t know I needed to see. I’m proud of you for standing up for yourself. For us.” My voice cracked right at the end. “My headache is back and now this.” I gestured weakly.
Ducane went very still behind me. I caught his eyes in the mirror and watched the exact moment the math started running behind them.
“Skye.” His voice had changed completely. “When’s the last time you?—”
“Uhm, we should probably stop at Walgreens or something.”
“Skye, please, baby, don’t play with me.” He was fighting a smile so hard it looked like it hurt him. “What are you saying?”
“Ducane, I don’t know, that’s why we need to go to the store. It cou… I could be.”
We stoppedat a Walgreens on the way home, and Ducane stayed tethered to me. Hand in hand the entire time. The aislewas daunting to say the least. The last time I’d had to do this, I was alone with five dollars to my name.
“Which one do we get, Spot? And why the fuck are there so many options?”
I laughed because I was thinking the same thing.
“I know, but I say we grab one of each. I didn’t do this last time.”
“What did you do last time?” he asked, wrapping his arms around me.
“I went with the cheapest option from Dollar Tree. That was what I could afford at the time. But now that I’m the boss of your law firm, I think I can spring for a digital screen one.”
His arms tightened around me, and I relaxed into him as a deep rumble rattled against me.
“What’s funny?”
“You, that’s what. Get one of each baby.”
“So, I’m not the boss of the law firm? Is that what you are saying?” I asked, smiling as he stepped back and shook his head.
“You’ve always been the boss. Now come on, I know you’re tired and so am I.”
“You just want to lay up under me all night.”
“As long as you know,” he said softly, slapping my butt.
