Page 42 of On the Fly
“Okay. Can’t we ask the company accounting department for a breakdown.”
Emma laughed. “Well, the ‘department’ is one person and—”
“One person! There’s no way one person ran financials on an entire airline.” Erik interrupted her. She couldn’t blame him. She’d had the same response.
“Yep, Rosie Demascus is the entire accounting department. She worked hand in hand with your father. No one else for over fifteen years. And she’s out of the country on maternity leave. Ander didn’t want to have to track her down unless we had to.” Emma sighed. “Your dad was the nicest man. So encouraging and supportive of any ideas I had for my department, but going through these files and learning everything I have over the last week… He was paranoid. I don’t know about what, but the man didnotlet anyone in on how he ran this place.”
Erik blew out a breath. “Okay. Lot to take in.” He slumped in Ander’s chair behind the desk. “When I walked in, he tossed something in here.” Erik leaned under the desk and came up with a crumpled paper. “It looks like a letter.”
Emma brought her hand to her mouth, stifling her gasp. It had to be the letter from his father that she’d found in the safe. That had to be what drove Ander out of the office. Erik smoothed the wrinkles from the page.
“It’s a letter. From Dad.” Erik scanned the page.
“They were in the safe. There’s one for each of you.” Emma held up the manilla envelope with all the letters.
“Ander mentioned the note.” Erik hopped up from the chair and practically ran to her. He flipped through the contents until he located the letter with his name on it. That was the reaction she’d expected from Ander when she’d seen the letters, but he’d been more annoyed than intrigued. Emma didn’t need to read the letter sitting in the middle of Ander’s desk to know whatever it held had upset the man she cared for more than she should after just a week.
“I better go. I’ll be back tomorrow to help sort through things again.” Emma grabbed her bag, then glanced at the now closed safe. “You know the combination, right?”
Erik’s attention didn’t leave the letter he held in his hands as he said, “Mmm hmm. Okay, sounds good. Thank you for everything,” and headed back to Ander’s desk chair.
Emma hurried out the door. Now that she’d found the source of the issue, she might be able to help. She didn’t know the content of that letter, but over the last week, she’d figured out that Ander’s view of his father didn’t align with anyone else’s.
When Emma rounded the corner to the elevator, shock barely described her state at seeing Ander leaning against the wall, his head tilted back, eyes closed, waiting for her as he’d said he would. She truly hadn’t expected him to be here. The fact that he hadn’t left her sent a thrill through her.
“Hey,” she said, drawing his attention. He pushed away from the wall. Emma’s heart plummeted at his stony expression. If she didn’t know him, didn’t know what a wonderful man he could be, she’d have run the other direction from that stare.
“’Bout time,” he grunted and jabbed at the button to call the elevator. He’d shut down on her and she didn’t know what to do. “We need to get you packed and on your way home.”
That pronouncement elicited a sharp gasp, pain slicing through her. She opened her mouth to ask him to explain or to tell her what had him so upset, but the elevator pinged and the doors whooshed open. He stepped on. The pain she saw in his averted gaze didn’t stop her words, but the layers of ice and stone did.
Emma drew in a deep breath, hitched her bag higher on her shoulder, and stepped onto the elevator. “If that’s what you’d like me to do.”
“It’s best for everyone.” No emotion entered his words. He’d retreated into the persona she’d seen on her flight out to California. The elevator doors closed and the swoosh, sealing them inside, felt like a harbinger of stormy times to come. As the car descended through the building, the finality of his proclamation settled into her.
What had happened? A simple letter couldn’t cause such a swift change in personality. They’d gotten to know each other, but she didn’t know this man beside her. She feared she’d been well on her way to falling for the Ander she’d been with this week. They fit together so well. But he’d warned her in the beginning that this was just temporary. She hadn’t realized the entire week had been an act. Emma’s stomach churned. No, she’d met the real Ander once he’d let his guard down. This…person…standing beside her was the act.
Emma cleared her throat in the silent elevator car, trying to get air into her lungs. She’d be strong, not let on how upset she was. He’d helped her last weekend. If that was all it was, then she’d have to learn to live with that.
Ander was also her boss. She glanced at him quickly without moving her head. If she pushed this man, he’d fire her rather than deal with any drama. She’d seen the type when she’d worked in other corporations. Her hands were tied. She couldn’t get through to the Ander she knew with the blocks of ice he had around him. To keep her job, she’d have to let him go. She’d do it, for now at least.
The elevator dinged on the parking garage level. Ander stepped out and held the door for her again. They walked in silence to his car, where he opened the passenger door. The dichotomy between the aloof, no-nonsense words and the gentlemanly actions was disconcerting at best.
The short drive to the hotel became the longest, most silent car ride of her life. Balanced on pins and needles, Emma held her tongue, no matter how much she wanted to find a way to fix this situation. The tension rolled off him in waves. Her heart broke, even if he was being a complete jerk. The only break in the silence came with a phone call. Ander answered with a clipped, “Hello,” and grunted twice in acknowledgement of something before hanging up and shoving the phone back in his suit coat pocket.
The valet attendant opened her door and Ander met her and guided her into the hotel. She hadn’t realized he’d stopped abruptly again until she’d taken a few extra steps away from him, the heat of his hand at her back falling away. She turned to see what had garnered his attention now.
He drew in a breath and met her eyes for the first time since she’d walked out of his office to find him at the elevator. The frosty demeanor hadn’t thawed one iota. He smiled at her but having seen a real smile over the last week, the one he shot her now did not compare. The fakery of the whole thing sent chills down her arms.
“Emma, thank you for all you’ve done, but this is where we part ways. You’ve got a job to do, and my family and I can handle the rest ourselves. You’ve got a ticket for a flight back to Atlanta in the morning. A car will pick you up at eight twenty.” He gestured behind him to the front drive of the hotel. “I’m giving you the room for the remainder of the night. I’ve had the staff move my luggage to a new suite. If you need any help with the social media department, don’t hesitate to contact my office.” He stepped forward and it took everything in Emma’s arsenal to hold her ground and not retreat. When he laid a hand on her arm, she suppressed the automatic flinch. “Take care.” With that, he walked away toward the main hotel desk.
What in the holy bejeezus just happened?If Emma were in a better frame of mind, not so blindsided by the complete change in Ander’s character, she might have joked—who was that masked man?—but nothing funny could come from the last half hour. She stared after him as he spoke with the receptionist. The only thing that got her moving was the thought of having to ride up the elevator with him should he retrieve a key card and head that way.
Her legs felt like gelatin and her stomach twisted. Maybe she didn’t know him at all. She’d only known him a week, but they’d been together around the clock, talked about all sorts of things as they’d gone through the paperwork and had dinner and taken walks to clear their brains of all the numbers…and had the best sex of her life. They’d connected in a way she never had before with anyone. Was her heart going to stop beating? The ache in her chest wouldn’t cease.
On automatic pilot, she got on the elevator, breathing out heavily when the doors shut her inside with no other riders. She could hold it together until she got to her room. She could. She blinked back tears that wouldn’t be stopped. How could she be so stupid?
She had known better than to let him get to her. His online bio showed what a ruthless jerk he could be with companies, but he’d never been that way with her. Not until tonight. Emma straightened her spine and tossed her hair over her shoulder. She needed a tactical retreat. Ander couldn’t be reached in his current state. She’d try to figure out what was going on once she got to back to Atlanta.
