Page 16 of Blood Ties
Since I was out of work early, and for the foreseeable future, I decided to call Shawn. We met up at the Bethesda Fountain. It wasn’t quiet, but I found a sort of comfort watching the people go by.
“Gaby, they can’t fire you over that!” Shawn seemed genuinely more upset than me, but my priorities were lined up differently than they had been.
“They didn’t fire me Shawn. That was the point. I’m on leave.”
“A permanent leave,” he mumbled under his breath then looked guilty when he remembered I wasn’t hard of hearing. “Gabs, they didn’t have any right to do that.”
“Shawn...”
“I know.” He threw up his hands. He and I would just continue to go round and round until one of us conceded. “What’s Grayson think?”
I beamed. “He told me to do whatever made me happy. Given, leaving my job doesn’t give me a thrill, but not letting those bastards have what they wanted, does.”
“Must be nice dating a billionaire that can support you.”
I groaned. “Shawn, he isn’t going to support me. I just...you know what never mind. I gotta get going. I haven’t told Grayson about it yet.”
“I thought you just said...”
“He told me to do whichever, I just haven’t told him that I have yet,” I yelled over my shoulder as I walked away; ready to be done with the conversation.
I couldn’t fathom why Shawn didn’t understand. Even if I wasn’t dating Grayson, a job was something I wanted, not a necessity. It had nothing to do with his billions and I had no intention of staying out of work to become one of those women that were simply arm candy for the rich enthusiast they were with. I enjoyed working. I had enjoyed my job, but I wasn’t about to have them manipulate me or treat me horribly. I could always find something else or maybe Ralph was right and it would blow over. But as with everything, it always came down to Grayson’s money. I’m sure everyone thought it. My coworkers, my boss, the higher ups at Gates and Summers, although I had never thought Shawn was one of them.
When Grayson arrived home later that night, I was sitting at the bar with dinner spread out while swirling a glass of wine. I figured he wouldn’t want to spend his time cooking after his first day back at the office and lord knows I couldn’t cook to save my life, not unless Grayson was walking me through every step, which would be even more exhausting for him then just cooking himself, so I opted for takeout. I had everything set out. Plates, silverware, glasses, wine and even blood heating for an after dinner nightcap. He grinned devilishly at me when he entered.
“Look who was the busy bee,” he declared leaning down to kiss me.
I lingered on his lips for a moment then gave him one brief kiss before breaking away. “It’s what I do now,” I shrugged.
He pulled back. His brow knitted in confusion. “Your job?” I looked down shaking my head. “I’m sorry, baby.”
I shrugged. “It’s okay. I opted to take a leave of absence. It holds my job so they can’t replace me permanently. They will be using temps until I quit.”
Grayson chuckled. “That’s my girl, sticking it to the man.” I giggled. “You know you can always plan our parties at work and not just because I love you,” he rushed through the last part when he saw I was getting ready to protest. “All my people thought you did a wonderful job.”
I grinned at him. “I’ll keep that in mind, but tomorrow I’m going to start looking for something else. We both know being a housewife isn’t my forte.”
Grayson tilted his head to the side studying me. “You know you don’t have to. I mean, if you like, you can take a break. Enjoy a breather. Just relax. When you’re feeling refreshed, start job hunting or don’t. I make...”
“Don’t even go there.” He frowned when I cut him off. “I appreciate the offer.”
“Just think about it,” he suggested and I agreed.
After dinner and our nightcap, which Grayson looked at in disgust, we headed to bed. I figured it would take a while for him to wrap his mind around the idea of blood. When he was feeding from me it was instinct mixed with lust. He didn’t have the time to over think it.
“I’m exhausted and I know this is such a woman thing to say, but can we just cuddle,” Grayson beseeched as I crawled into bed.
I giggled as I moved into the crevice his arm was making for me. “We don’t have to have sex every night, Grayson.”
He sighed. “I know, but we’re just so amazing at it. It seems like a waste when we don’t.”
I poked him in the chest and he chuckled. “Was today hard for you?” I inquired. Grayson had an empire to run, but his cravings wouldn’t care about that. They were in charge, especially for a newbie. I hoped the blood I sent him with was enough.
“It wasn’t easy.” He adjusted to look at me. “Do you know how wonderful people smell and how different?” I nodded, biting my lip to keep from smiling. “I never noticed before,” he added.
“It gets easier. Soon you’ll be around them and be able to see them as people instead of walking lunchables. Did the blood help?”
“It did,” he noted looking away mortified. I wasn’t sure why. “I took a little sip before anyone walked into my office. And you were right. It even got a little easier throughout the day.”
