Fulfillment by Golland, M. (best large ebook reader .txt) 📕

of losing you. Not just physically butmentally. He knows what it feels like to lose someone bothphysically and mentally.”

I looked up ather. “Gareth?” I whispered.

“Yes, Gareth,”she confirmed. “Alexis, please let me help you get through this. Iwant to help you, not only for Bryce but for you. I have a deeprespect for the woman who tamed Mr. Bryce Clark.”

I stared ather wide-eyed. “Okay.”

Dr Carrot-topJessica was not all that bad after all.

CHAPTEREIGHTEEN

Nate andCharlotte FaceTimed me the following day, and I had missed themterribly, only having briefly talked to them on the phone a coupleof times since seeing them. I desperately wanted them to come home,but I had to gain a good frame of mind before I let them see me,and before I explained to them what had happened to me over a weekago. The good thing was, I had a positive outlook now and trulybelieved Jessica would help me get to the good frame of mind that Ineeded. It had felt nice talking with her and I looked forward totalking to her again. We had arranged to meet every day for thecoming week, and I felt terrible that I had made the wrongassumption about her. A book’s cover did not always reflect itscontents.

***

Bryce and Ihad made up when he returned after his false-imprisonment ploy. Hehad been right in doing it though, and he had the best intentions,so I could not stay mad at him. We were starting to get on eachother’s nerves, however, and we would deliberately bait each otherover the smallest things. I was starting to think it had more to dowith sexual frustration than anything else.

One of thethings I had been doing that was getting on his nerves was tryingto scratch underneath my cast. It was so God damned itchy, and Icouldn’t wait until the following Monday to have the cast removedand the moon boot fitted. In the meantime though, I desperately hadto relieve the horrid irritating sensation on my leg, and I wasdoing it by using all means possible. This was pissing Bryce off,and the fact that he was trying to stop me from doing it waspissing me off.

I woke upTuesday morning fidgeting, trying to scratch a really deep spotdown near my ankle which was practically impossible to reach.

“Alexis, forfuck’s sake, stop scratching,” he groaned into his pillow.

“That’s easyfor you to say. You don’t have a tube of fucking plaster attachedto your leg irritating the shit out of you.” I stuck my finger backdown into the cast, but it fell way short of the spot.”

“You have beentossing and turning all night,” he growled.

“I know. I’mthe one who has been doing the tossing and the turning.”

I got out ofbed, hopped to the bathroom and opened the vanity cupboard.Excellent. I grabbed Bryce’s comb and wedged it down into mycast, relieving the annoying tingling.

“Oh yeah,that’s what I’m talking about,” I purred with relief.

“What are youdoing?” he called out from the bedroom.

“Nothing, mindyour own business,” I called back, smiling and lapping up therespite by happily pulling the comb up and down my leg.

“Hunny, stopthat.” He had gotten out of bed and was standing in the door way.“The surgeon said not to poke things down into your cast.”

“No! I don’tcare what the friggin’ surgeon said. He is a hypocrite. He put thisstupid, heavy, irritating, ugly piece of shit on my leg. He doesnot get to tell me not to itch.” I scratched a little more,desperately trying to push the comb in deeper.

“Alexis, giveme that. Hang on a minute, is that my comb?” he questioned, witheyebrows raised.

“Yes, itis.”

He put hishand out.

I yanked thecomb back out and threw it at his chest. “I hate you.”

He laughed.“No, you don’t.”

I hopped pasthim. “Right now? Yes, yes, I do.”

***

Bryce and Ihad been working sporadically over the past week. He’d told me thatI didn’t need to, and that Abigail and Lucy were sharing my workload. It’s just, I wanted to work. It helped stop my mind fromreverting back to the events of the accident. I still couldn’t stopthe flashbacks, and Jessica was still working on methods to help mewith it.

She had helpedme immensely throughout the week, having a covert talent in makingme open up to her completely, which was obviously a good thing. Iwas functioning again, thinking clearly and not diverting off mypath to recovery—well...not as much—I still had moments ofself-defeat. Now, that I was back at work—sporadically or not—Ienjoyed the distraction, but I kind of felt useless, a hindrance; aburden even.

Ever since Ihad taken on the role of P.A for Bryce, I had brought nothing butdramas to the job. Most of it was, in part, a result of hisintroduction into my life, but regardless, I still felt someoneelse could do my job better than me. I didn’t want to disrupt hisbusiness life like I had disrupted his personal life.

Jessica hadtold me to tell Bryce everything I was feeling when I was feelingit. I had also told myself this before having my talk with Jessica,but I guess her being a professional and instructing me to do itkind of pushed the thought into an action.

I hit thebutton on my phone and buzzed Bryce in his office.

“Yeah?” heanswered in his sexy, I’m-a-busy-billionaire-businessman voice.

“I think youshould replace me,” I said quite frankly.

“Excuse me?”he replied, uncertainty in his tone.

“I suck, andI’m a nuisance. There are plenty of other women who are better thanme,” I explained.

“Alexis, canyou come in here for a moment, please,” he said softly, but stillall businessman like.

“No. Ican’t.”

“Alexis!”

“Bryce! Iquit.” There, I said it. That wasn’t too hard now, wasit?

His dooropened all of a sudden and he walked out into the foyer.

“You wannatalk?” he asked.

I shook myhead.

“You want meto talk?”

I shook myhead again.

“You want meto come over there, pick you up, carry you upstairs and spank yoursexy arse?” he said, quite casually.

I thoughtabout it. Hmmm, actually yes, that does sound like a goodidea.

He noticed mypause and made his way to my desk.

“No,” I saidquickly, with apprehension and playfulness in my voice. Shit!Too late.

I grabbed holdof my desk just in time, as he bent down and put his arms gentlybehind