Chapter 172

Aria’s POV

Maybe I should have seen this coming, with how much concern was flooding Jackson’s face, but his words still took me by surprise. So much so that I was stunned for a minute. Unfortunately, in that minute when I was gaping at him, Jackson confused my silence for agreement.

“You have to report him,” Jackson said. “Just because he’s the boss, that doesn’t give him permission to do whatever he wants.”

“That’s not what’s happening,” I told him. “I swear everything between Liam and me is above board.”

“Not with the way he’s looking at you, Aria,” Jackson says.

“Jackson, please,” I said. “I appreciate your concern, I mean it, but things aren’t happening like you think. I swear.”

“Aria…”

“I’m serious, Jackson. Let this go.”

Jackson clenched his jaw, clearly unhappy with my command. Out here on the track, I was still in charge, and he had to listen to me. If I said to drop something, he had to drop it, even though I could tell he really didn’t want to.

“Fine,” he said curtly, clearly unhappy.

I was able to return the topic of conversation back to his nutrition and other issues, but with how often he looked back up at the bleachers – and presumably Liam, watching me – I suspected this matter hadn’t been totally resolved.

Meanwhile, knowing Liam was looking at me in such a way, his affections so obvious that others could see it at such a distance made my heart race.

Liam needed to be more careful. He was endangering the secrecy we had worked to maintain.

But also, I blushed slightly, warmed by his attention. Despite our problems – and they were many – we still had softness for each other.

Maybe things would work out between us after all. I really hoped they could. If only we could find the time to sort out all the misunderstandings and the secrets…

Well, no time to dwell on such things, especially while on the clock.

Ignoring Liam, and the feelings his watchful presence stirred within me, I focused on my work.

Liam’s POV

I only watched Aria for fifteen minutes or so, before I returned back to the office to continue my work. With Aria occupying my thoughts, I found Joanna much easier to ignore. Downsizing the browser window of Samuel, I even pushed him out of my mind long enough to complete my essential tasks.

By lunchtime, I’d managed to handle quite a bit of work. It was amazing how much I could get done without having to put out so many fires – fires started by my own father. Markus seemed to be giving me a break today. It was a relief, though I knew it wasn’t meant to last.

For lunch, I decided to head offsite for a quick bite, needing a minute to clear my head and get away from Joanna, who had ordered in and was eating at her desk.

As I descended the stairwell, I saw Jackson coming up it. I moved to the side, expecting us to pass each other. Instead, when he spotted me, he moved directly into my path.

We both stopped, him a few steps down from me. He glared up at me without saying a word.

I waited a beat or two, then prompted, “Did you need something, Jackson?”

“Yes,” Jackson said. “You could say that.”

Uh. Okay.

His tone was off. Usually he spoke to me with a kind of nervous politeness, like he wasn’t sure what to say or how to act around his boss. I’d always tried to encourage a casualness between myself and the drivers, despite the fact that I was in charge. I wanted them to be able to approach me with anything.

That desire was the only reason I held onto my patience here, despite Jackson seemingly willing to test it.

I waited another beat, for him to explain himself. When he didn’t, I found myself forced to prompt him again.

“What is it?”

“I don’t care if you are the boss, it’s wrong to harass your female employees,” Jackson said, clearly annoyed and angry.

Truly I had no idea what he was talking about. “You believe I’ve acted inappropriately with my employees?” I asked with disbelief. Hastily, I thought back, trying to remember any moment where my actions could have been taken out of context or interpreted in an inappropriate way.

For the life of me, I couldn’t imagine what Jackson was alluding to.

“I saw you at the track today,” Jackson said. “Staring at Aria.”

Oh. Oh, no. Could my love for Aria have been so obvious that even Jackson could see it? “I was just watching…”

“Don’t lie,” Jackson snapped.

He must have truly been enraged to be bold enough to speak to me this way. I found I couldn’t be angry. Instead, I felt a sort of pride. Jackson was a good man who wanted to speak up for his co-worker.

Unfortunately, while that co-worker was my wife, I couldn’t tell him so because she wanted to keep things secret. Without ruining Aria’s trust in me, I had no idea how I was going to set the record straight.

I had to try to talk my way out of this, without revealing anything, or Jackson would likely go to HR and this could blow up into a big mess.

Going to the track had seemed like such a good idea at the time. I hated how wrong I was about that. I placed the secrecy of my marriage at risk.

I’d never really wanted to keep it a secret to begin with, but Aria did. Especially now, things felt so fragile between us, I didn’t dare test the limits of that secret and her trust.

“You have the wrong idea about it, Jackson,” I said.

“I know what I saw.”

“I was just looking.”

Jackson narrowed his gaze. “You are trying to say you haven’t approached her? Haven’t given her any ultimatums? Haven’t demoted her when she turned you down?”

“Absolutely not,” I said firmly. I held his gaze with my own, hoping he could see the sincerity in my eyes. But then I glanced away, because the truth was, Aria was important to me, which I was keeping a secret from Jackson.

“I don’t believe you,” Jackson said. “But I am warning you. I don’t care if you are the boss, you will leave Aria alone. If you don’t, I won’t just go to HR, I will personally make your life a living hell. And I know plenty of other guys around here who will help me.”

It pleased me that Aria was so well liked here that she had several white knights willing to come to her rescue. I was glad she was protected like this here at work. I wasn’t so glad the person she was currently being protected from was me.

“Jackson. This is unnecessary.”

He stepped closer, his body tense like he was about to take a swing at me.

Aria’s POV

The phone on my desk rang, so I answered it.

“Aria?” I recognized the voice of Liam’s assistant. “You are going to want to get over here right away.”

“What’s going on?” I asked, concern rising. His assistant wouldn’t bother me if it wasn’t important.

“I think Liam and Jackson are about to fight…”