After All by Kristen Proby Page 0,1

brother-in-law Quinn. “She’s been suspended until Monday, and I already have her phone in my desk. But Carter.”

He stops and looks down at me with worried blue eyes. I can see that he’s impatient to get to his daughter, to find out what the hell is going on.

“You really need to listen to her before you fly off the handle.”

“I don’t fly off the handle,” Carter replies. I roll my eyes.

“Of course. You’re completely calm at all times.”

“Thanks for taking care of things, Nora,” Carter says as he walks to his door and both men walk into the office.

Every day is the same.

Thanks for taking care of things, Nora.

About thirty minutes later, the three of them come walking back out of the office. Quinn hugs Gabby, nods at me, and heads to his office.

“We’re headed home,” Carter says grimly. Gabby’s still looking miserable, but no longer scared, and that makes me happy. Her father may have moments of impatience, but he’s right, he’s rarely flown off the handle. I just know that when she tells him she made Claire bleed, his temper may flare.

“Do you want me to drop dinner by later?”

“Oh, I’m full,” Gabby says. “That ice cream filled me up.”

Carter stops and stares down at his daughter, then over to me. “You rewarded her for being suspended by taking her for ice cream?”

“I didn’t reward her, or punish her, for anything.”

“Christ,” he mutters. “You need to remember your place, Nora. Taking my daughter out for ice cream after picking her up from school is not that place.”

I’m shell-shocked. Are you fucking kidding me?

But before I can respond, Carter grabs Gabby’s hand and they disappear down the hallway to the elevator.

I need to remember my place.

I didn’t sleep well last night. I tossed and turned, Carter’s voice in my head, until I finally flung the covers off and started cleaning my apartment.

It sparkles this morning, and I’m no less pissed off.

I’m in the employee lounge, pouring my second cup of coffee of the day, when Carter comes walking in the room.

“Leave us,” he says, effectively clearing the room. His voice is hard, his hands shoved in his pockets.

The last person out of the room shuts the door behind them. I don’t pause as I stir the sugar and cream in my coffee, watching him with cool eyes.

I’m damn pissed.

“Nora,” he begins, and then he sighs. “We need to talk.”

“You bet your ass we need to talk,” I reply, setting my cup aside and walking to him, seeing red. All my frustration and anger has bubbled up, and there’s no stopping it now. “You’re my boss, and I respect you, but you do not get to talk to me like that. I need to know my place, Carter? Well, for the past five years, my place has been doing whatever the hell you need me to do for you, including parent your child. I take her on the weekends you work. I take her to the doctor. I take her to after-school activities.”

I shove my finger in his chest, on a roll.

“Don’t you—”

“Would you stop running your damn mouth for two seconds?” He grabs my wrist and pulls me against his tall, lean body. He’s breathing hard, his blue eyes are bright. “I’m trying to apologize here. So if you’d stop dressing me down for a minute, I could get the words out.”

“Go on.” I swallow hard, trying to ignore the fact that this is more physical contact than I’ve ever had with Carter in my life. He’s warm and firm, and I’m not proud of the way my breath hitches when he leans his face closer to mine.

“I’m sorry for what I said.” His voice is calmer now. “I was out of line. I was upset at Gabby, and I took it out on you. You didn’t deserve that.”

His eyes fall to my lips and his breath catches. Is that lust I see in his eyes?

“I don’t know what we’d do without you, Nora. I’m sorry for what I said.”

“Okay.”

“Do you forgive me?”

I swallow hard and nod. “Yeah. Of course.”

I can’t think straight. I need to pull away. To escape back to the safety of my desk. But we don’t pull away. Instead, Carter leans farther into me, as if he’s unable to fight it. His hand slides from my hip, up to my ribs, and my nipples tighten, yearning for his touch. I don’t have time to question our actions as his mouth descends toward me, but just