Beneath Your Beautiful, page 20
I can’t be curious about something like that. Not with what Gideon has put me through. I know what it’s like to have someone hold your life in their hands, and it’s not freeing or fun. My thighs press together. I need help.
Fox
Now admit you are fantasizing about it.
Cleo
This is not a When Harry Met Sally moment. Oh, yes, Fox. Just there. Right there. Oh, my God. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Ooooooh.
Fox
Your acting talents are commendable, but you won’t be needing them. If I have you screaming my name, it will be while your eyes cross and your thighs shake.
Cleo
Sounds like I’ll be needing medical help.
Fox
No, but I might with how hard your thighs will have my head in a vice.
I blink at the explicit imagery.
Cleo
I have a date. With your best friend.
There’s the bucket of ice water that’s needed for this situation.
Fox
We both know you’d eat Samuel for breakfast and still be starving.
Cleo
He’s a nice guy.
Fox
He is, but is nice what you want?
It’s what I should want. But I definitely shouldn’t be fantasizing about arrogant alphaholes with boundary issues.
Cleo
Rejection isn’t working, and I need to burst Samuel’s bubble. I’m not this perfect woman that he’s built up in his head.
Fox
He wants to marry you.
Cleo
Hahaha
Fox
What’s funny?
Cleo
Shouldn’t you be more concerned with your perfect prom queen? Amy or Annalise or something, right?
Fox
Jealous?
An uncomfortable flip happens in my stomach.
Cleo
Absolutely not.
Fox
Liar.
Cleo
Dum dum de dum…
Fox
What?
Cleo
Announcing the new Mr. and Mrs. Fox Alderidge. Aww, look everyone, we knew they were end goals even in high school.
Fox
Tomorrow, I don’t want a truth.
Cleo
No?
Fox
No. I want a promise.
Cleo
For what?
Fox
You’ll see tomorrow.
Cleo
That seems dangerous.
Fox
It won’t hurt anyone.
Cleo
Not helping.
Fox
How about this. When the request is revealed, you’ll at least give it more than a passing thought before rejecting it.
Cleo
Just what in the hell are you asking me to do?
Fox
You’ll see. Goodnight. Dream of me.
I swipe up and block Fox. This phone is so Helen can contact me, not her overbearing grandson.
Fox
Nice try.
Cleo
What the hell?
Fox
*winky face*
Cleo
You are impossible.
Fox
I’m aware.
Cleo
Good night.
Fox
Dream of me.
I drop the phone back on the charger and rub my hands over my face. This guy is going to be the death of me. Quiet life I said… then fate stuck me in the path of Fox Alderidge with a peace-out sign. I wave the one fingered salute back at her before doing exactly as he said—dreaming of him and all the wicked, wicked things he’s put in my head.
CHAPTER 29
FOX
My goal is to make her feel alive, but my methods might be unconventional.
The tracker on Cleo’s phone puts her a few miles from the house in the direction of the national park. I check in her bedroom, but the duffle bag is still there. Next, I check in the main house, unable to find Duke, so I guess that means she’s either made a run for it with my dog, or she’s taken him for a walk.
My grandmother perches on a stool at the counter, eating her breakfast. Next to her plate is another one wrapped in foil.
“Ready for your big date with Amalee tonight?”
I blank my features. “Yes.”
She chuckles. I can fool the best of the military, but not my own flesh and blood. “You know, this could be avoided if you’d ask Cleo out yourself.”
I uncover the plate and slide onto the stool next to her. “I don’t want to date her.” She hums in the back of her throat. “What?” I snap.
“It’s amusing how you believe your own lies.”
“Cleo is a complication I don’t need right now.”
“That’s the truth at least.” I shovel in the perfectly scrambled eggs.
“Plus, Sam is smitten.”
“Sam is smitten with a make-believe version of Cleo that doesn’t exist.”
“Agreed, but that is up to him to figure out.”
“Don’t hurt her, Fox.”
I jerk back. “I would never hurt a woman.”
“Not physically, you twit. Did I ever tell you how I met your grandfather?”
“No. If it was love at first sight, I don’t want to hear it.”
She snorts. “Your grandfather was relentless, and I was not amused. He was all wrong for me. At least, that is what I thought.”
“Wrong, how?” As far as I knew, they were madly in love until the day he died.
“The guy I’d decided I needed was someone who was easily manipulated, a push over, someone to be by my side, to support me, but not get in my way.”
“And that wasn’t Gramps.” He was the opposite of a pushover. Difficult is a better word to describe him.
“No, it wasn’t, because what I needed was a partner, someone to call me out on my bullshit, to pull me back to Earth when I was spiraling.”
“He definitely did that.”
She nods as her eyes glaze over. “So what I’m saying is, you might believe you want and need a woman to bend to your every whim, who won’t question or challenge you. But that’s not how we improve or become the best version of ourselves. Left unchecked, we start to believe our own shit. What you need is a puzzle piece that fits your jagged edges. Someone who soothes your worries and helps you see the qualities in yourself you miss, but accepts the shortfalls and still loves you for them.”
“And you think Cleo is that for me?”
“No. I think you might be that for each other.”
“She’s leaving.”
Her head snaps to mine. “What?”
“I already stopped her once, but we are on borrowed time. She’s leaving us in less than a month. I can’t get attached to a woman who is running.”
“Yes, you can.”
“It will only hurt us both.”
“Then I suggest you give her a reason to stay, one bigger than the demon on her tail. Help her to stand strong, to face whatever shadows are chasing her. Be a sentinel at her side. Don’t smother her, and for fuck’s sake, Fox, stop kidding yourself that the only reason she scares you is because you know deep down that she could be it for you.”
She’s wrong. I already know all of the above. In the space of a few days, Cleo has captured me in her spell of contrasting snark and softness. I’m strong enough to be at her side, but she has to let me in.
I don’t see Cleo for the rest of the morning. I have a few errands, some meetings and emails that need my attention. I also put out a tentative message to a contact.
Fox
I need your services.
Ghost
Is this you calling in your favor?
Fox
Yes.
Ghost
Noted. What do you need?
Fox
I have a woman who is hiding her identity.
Ghost
You need to know who she is?
Fox
Yes, but I also want to know why she’s running.
Ghost
Got it.
Fox
But you need to leave no footprint. I suspect whoever is chasing her is high profile. The extent she’s gone to hide her identity suggests they have means.
Ghost
I’ll ignore the insult that I would ever leave even a whisper of my snooping for anyone to find.
Fox
I have her photo. If you want fingerprints or hair, I can get it.
Ghost
Who is this girl?
Fox
That’s what I’m asking you to find out.
Ghost
Not what I meant. Who is this girl to you? You’ve just traded in a highly valuable favor for her.
Fox
My grandmother’s assistant.
Ghost
That’s all?
Fox
Yes.
Ghost
I don’t know if you are lying to yourself or just me.
Fox
Does it matter?
Ghost
Send me the photo. Let’s start there.
I send the photo I snapped of her without her knowledge and send a prayer that the Ghost doesn’t trigger a manhunt for Cleo. They are the best, so I don’t know why I’m worried. Perhaps it’s the guilt of prying into her past when I said I wouldn’t. But Gran’s words resonated with me. In order to get Cleo to stay, I have to slay her demons. She isn’t going to tell me of her own accord, so I’ll make moves in the background and she will only know once I’ve made it safe for her. Sure, she might be pissed at me initially, but once she realizes I’ve done it to give her a future where she’s free to decide her next moves without the fear of being found, she’ll forgive me.
Hopefully.
The package has arrived. It’s bigger than I thought, and as I place it on her bed, I contemplate if I should open the box. Lay them out like a bouquet? No, that’s weird. No need to make it weird. I’ll just leave it on her bed.
Instead, I drop a note on the top.
Cleo,
The helping hand you need and for you to feel as beautiful on the outside as you are on the inside.
I blink, and before I can second guess myself, I change into my running gear and take off. I loop around the side of the property border and check the fencing I put up hasn’t been disturbed. It hasn’t, but there are two new cigarette butts in the exact same spot. Maybe I’m being paranoid and it’s just someone out for a walk who needs a cigarette break and likes this particular spot. The spot where the bushes had a massive hole in them. Yeah, I’m not being paranoid. I just have to figure out what they are here for—or rather, who.
The rest of the property border looks okay, but I make plans for tightening up security. Some covert cameras won’t go amiss. Perhaps they will reveal who is skulking around us. Silent trip alarms could work, although I wasn’t lying when I said we get big wildlife, and I don’t want to freak Cleo out over every armadillo that crosses into the yard. Maybe I can just hook it up to my phone. The other thing I need to do is teach her how to use that weapon before she hurts someone she doesn’t mean to—or misses someone she does.
Halfway through my run, my phone buzzes against the strap on my arm. I stop and pluck it free.
Cleo
What in the ever-loving fuck have you bought me?
I smirk.
Fox
A helping hand. Maybe it will help you loosen up a little?
Cleo
PERSONAL BOUNDARIES.
Fox
I’m not sitting on your bed waiting for you with them. I’m proud of my restraint and boundaries.
Cleo
Oh my God. What is…
The three dots appear then disappear.
Fox
Did I lose you? Did you decide to play? Should I cut my run short to help? *eyes emoji*
Now I can’t get that image out of my head.
Cleo
There’s something wrong with you.
I chuckle as I start walking.
Fox
The promise…
Cleo
No.
Fox
You said you would hear me out.
Cleo
If it’s to do with anything in this box, I can safely say the answer is a very firm no.
Fox
Tonight…
Cleo
What about it?
Fox
Wear the pink and black on our double date.
Cleo
The pink AND the black. Are you insane?
That’s a strange word to put in shouty capitals.
Fox
Calm down. I didn’t ask you to go naked.
Cleo
No, because that would be more reasonable, and honestly, you would have more of a chance.
My brows lower at her overreaction.
Cleo has blocked you.
I roll my eyes and chuckle while unblocking her from my master account.
Cleo
I am flushing the phone down the toilet, and your presents are going in the trash.
Doubtful on both accounts.
Fox
Live a little. What do you have to lose?
Cleo
My dignity.
Fox
I thought I picked out some very classy items.
Cleo
You thought wrong.
Fox
It’s not like anyone is going to see it, unless you plan on making Sam’s dreams come true?
Cleo
But you will know I am wearing them.
Fox
