Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Cutter~

Merritt was setting her stuff up in one of the spare bedrooms, and even though my penthouse was over eight-thousand square feet and there was plenty of room in the place, I felt her presence in my house like we were sharing a one-bedroom loft.

Merritt was finally here.

After two years of doing my best to accept that she was going to marry another man and create a life with him, Merritt was in my home after having broken things off with her ex-fiancé, and I knew that I was only going to have one chance at this.

Though our relationship had been strictly professional these past two years, that still hadn’t stopped me from noticing all the things that made Merritt Dale unlike all the other women that I’d ever met. While her looks were enough to turn a man stupid, Merritt was more than just her blonde hair, blue eyes, and sexy figure. The woman was intelligent, witty, engaging, ambitious, and possessed basic common sense, which was worth its weight in gold in this day and age.

She was also loyal to those that she loved. I knew all about her parents and how she spoke to them once a week like clockwork. I also knew about her brother, and Merritt was close to him, despite his military career and how much he traveled. She had no real friends, but that was probably because she spent every waking moment working for me. Nevertheless, I’d never heard her complain one bit about her lack of friends or social life. Merritt Dale was a doer, and if something needed to be done, then she did it, no questions asked. She was the perfect personal/professional assistant, and I’d cut off my right arm before losing her in any capacity.

Holding myself up in my office, I pulled out my phone, praying that Cotter wasn’t busy with Aelix. For something that was just a sexual arrangement, Cotter took the time that he spent with Aelix seriously.

“What’s up?” he asked, answering on the third ring. “Is this about Japan?”

“I’ve got her, Cotter,” I blurted like a rookie.

“Merritt?” he asked, already knowing that there was only one ‘her’ that I obsessed over.

“Yeah,” I answered. “She’s at my place.”

Silence.

After a few more seconds, he said, “I’m confused. If you finally got her in your bed, then why the fuck are you wasting time calling me?”

I let out a sigh. “She called off her engagement earlier this week-”

“And you’re barely telling me this now?”

“Can you focus?”

“Yeah, I’m focusing on how you think it’s acceptable to keep important information from me,” he huffed. “What the fuck, Cutter?”

“Are you really making this about you?” I asked, already rubbing my forehead with my free hand. “It’s a long fucking story.”

Silence.

“I hate you.”

“You wished that you could hate me,” he snorted.

As quickly as I could, I gave him a quick rundown of the past week, including how I’d shown up at Merritt’s place uninvited, then had browbeaten her into staying with me. Though Cotter did deserve an apology for the oversight, I didn’t have time for that right now. Right now, I needed to bounce ideas off him. Besides, it wasn’t like he could stay mad at me forever.

“I still have no idea why you’re calling me,” he said when I was finished with my recap.

“I don’t want to scare her off,” I admitted. “And if I tell her that I’ve been in love with her for two years, I’m pretty sure that she’d run for the door and never look back.”

“Well, obviously you’re not supposed to tell her that,” he practically snapped. “You’re supposed to woo her, Cutter.”

“Did you seriously just use that word?”

“It’s a valid word when used appropriately, and this is an appropriate time to use it,” he shot back. “She’s fresh off a breakup, so the last thing that you want to do is overwhelm her with more feelings.”

“Who the fuck gives a shit about feelings?” I bit out, frustrated. “I’m trying to keep her from ever leaving my place again. That’s what I need help with.”

“Then you need a lawyer, because that’s false imprisonment, Cutter,” he retorted.

“I’m serious, Cotter,” I replied, doing my best to keep it together.

“I know you are, and that’s the problem,” he countered. “Merritt isn’t a merger, Cutter. She’s not your latest acquisition. She’s a human being.”

“Are you done?” I deadpanned.

“Look, it’s common knowledge that you’re ruthless when it comes to getting what you want-”

I barked out a laugh. “And you’re not?”

“I’m not the one rationalizing committing felonies to force his assistant to live with him,” he pointed out like an asshole.

“Just wait until you fall in love,” I snorted. “Let’s see what you’re willing to do then.”

“Luckily, I’m in no danger of falling ill with that particular affliction any time soon, so let’s get back to you, shall we?” he drawled out, clearly clueless about his real feelings for Aelix.

“I only have one chance at this, Cotter,” I told him, explaining why I was acting like a lunatic, instead of the cold-blooded, rational, calculating powerhouse that I was. “Only one.”

“Then take holding her against her will off the table for right now,” he advised. “Start off slowly, Cutter. I don’t know…cook her dinner tonight or something…something domestic like that. Show her the side of you that no one else sees.”

“There is no other side of me that no one sees,” I reminded him. “I’m me, and I act accordingly to whichever situation that I’m in. What the fuck, Cotter?”

My brother let out a heavy sigh over the phone. “Have you ever cooked a woman dinner before?”

“Just Mom,” I answered.

About a year after Cotter and I had gone to live with Phin and Sheridan, we’d started calling Sheridan by Mom. It had started out as a way to annoy her, but since Candy hadn’t minded, no one had bothered to correct us. Yeah, Sheridan used to get side-eyes in public whenever we’d call her that, but she never asked us to stop, and fuck what other people thought anyways.

“Mom doesn’t count as a woman,” he replied easily. “I meant one that you were ever romantically involved with.”

“First, I’m telling Mom that you said that,” I warned him. “Second, I’ve never been romantically involved with a woman before. You know the deal, Cotter.”

He sighed again.

The fucker.

“That’s my point, you jackass,” he retorted. “Do the things for her that you’ve never done for any other woman. Plus, if you tell Mom that I said that, I’ll deny it.”

“Payback is a motherfucker, Cotter,” I said. “Remember that.”

“Look, just cook her dinner, then…rub her feet…I don’t know,” he muttered, clearly realizing that he was just as ignorant of this shit as I was.

“You’re no help.”

“You’re one of the youngest billionaires on the planet, Cutter,” he said pointedly. “You didn’t become one by being stupid. Cook her some damn dinner, then go from there.”

“I should have called Phin,” I muttered.

“Because he’s any better at this shit than we are?” Cotter snorted. “He blackmailed Mom into going to dinner with him, or did you forget?”

That got a chuckle out of me. “Yeah, I’d forgotten about that.”

“Look, I’m at the office right now,” he said, surprising me.

“This late?” While I wasn’t surprised that he was working on a Saturday, it was already past five.

“I plan on sleeping in tomorrow,” he replied, letting me know that he was headed to Aelix’s after he left the office. “So, you can call me until around eight. After that, I can’t guarantee that I’ll answer.”

“I’m your brother,” I reminded him. “Your twin even.”

“Yeah, well, that doesn’t do one thing for my dick, so if I have to choose…”

“You’re an asshole.”

“Yeah, look in the mirror.”

“Talk to you later,” I chuckled, loving Cotter for exactly who he was.

“You better,” he threatened. “Don’t think I won’t show up at your place for details.”

“God, you’re such a girl.”

“Eat a dick.”

The phone went dead, leaving me shaking my head and wondering what to cook for dinner.