I'm sitting in the front seat of what can only be described as a decrepit van. There are car seats in the back. Like, for human children. Suddenly Alex seems a lot more complicated than he was at first glance.

I don't know exactly where he's taking me. We stop at the only gas station in town, buy a loaf of bread, and drive to a small house set back on a large yard decorated top to bottom for Halloween. My kind of people.

Then, without a word, he disappears inside and I sit in the car, covering my freezing skin with his oversized jacket.

Each moment brings the cold closer to my heart and has me second-guessing everything. He doesn't deserve to be dragged into my mess. He has a house with decorations and a van with car seats and he wasn't kidding when he said he had things to worry about.

I'm in the middle of listing all the ways getting into a mess with this guy is a bad idea when he sprints through the yard and rips the driver's door open.

"I can't let you lose your job," I shout to be heard over the now-roaring wind.

"And I can't let you get tossed around by the rudest man alive," he responds simply, sliding into his seat and throwing a small back into the back seat.

"You definitely could." I glance back over my shoulder. "I can hold my own."

"I have no doubt of that." He lets out a little huff of air somewhere between a laugh and a scoff, running his hand through his hair. "But he really thinks he can get away with murder, doesn't he?"

Can't help but nod. He's right. "If there's one thing I've learned about Luther Bellsworth, it's that he gets what he wants."

"Except when it comes to you," he points out, rolling the car into reverse and backing out onto the narrow street toward the highway.

"Except when it comes to me, I guess." I shrug. "He did a pretty good job reminding me I wasn't allowed to make that decision, though."

"He did what?" Alex's eyes pop out of his head and I'm scared we're going to hit something with how intently he's staring at me instead of the road.

"Just what you know already, I'm sure. He bought the Stalwart so he could fire me. Jessica keeps me informed of the goings on and he wasn't supposed to be in today, but..." I don't know what to say, so I lift my shoulder and drop it, twirling my fingers around the end of his jacket in my lap.

"So, what are we going to do, then?" he asks, subtly shifting the conversation away from whether we are doing it.

But I can't leave well enough alone and have a slight need to self-sabotage. Or that's what Becky says. "Before we get to that I need to know." I resist the urge to turn around and look at the car seats. "What made you change your mind?"

His smirk lights up his eyes. "The man of the hour."

"You have a bone to pick too?" I ask, pulling myself further into his coat as the car blows barely warmed air into my face.

"Who doesn't?" He looks straight ahead, guiding us out onto the highway. "But I've never been willing to risk it before today."

"Don't do this for me," I spurt. "Please. I can't have your kids going hungry or whatever."

"My kids?" His eyebrow raises, and I gesture to the backseat.

"You don't know, then?"

"Know what?" What on earth am I supposed to know about a man I barely know and can't stop thinking about, pray tell?

"You know my sister? She's got the kids? Surely you know her."

That's a bit of a gut punch because I do know his sister. But if I'm being honest, we haven't kept up since high school. I heard about her husband, but otherwise, I don't know much. "I haven't really paid much attention, sorry."

He shrugs, flashing me a smile. "The car seats belong to my nieces."

"Oh," I say, because I have no idea what else to say. "Well, I don't want anything bad to happen to them either."

"I think they'll be okay."

"What if we get caught?"

"Slow down, Jack. When did I become the adventurous vindictive one?" he asks. "It was much more fun when I could just do whatever you asked of me. Coming up with the plan isn't going to be my strong suit."

And that snaps me back. Because I know what we're doing. I've been planning it for weeks and it's perfect. "Make a left when you hit Pedantro Avenue," I direct. "We have a stop to make."

* * *

"Are you ready for this?" Alex asks, tugging at the strap on his backpack as we trek through the downtown park filled with trees.

"Are you ready for this?" I counter, pulling my hood up and using my hair to shield my face. My own backpack weighs heavy on my back, but we're going to need the supplies.

"I think so," he says with a nod. "Yes. I'm ready."

"Once we go inside there isn't much protecting us beyond the technical legality of playing a prank."

"I know," he nods again. "I want to do this."

He very much does not look like he wants to do this, but he has a determined look in his eyes that's calculating. Like he's going to do it with or without my help. If this weren't so outrageous, it would be a little bit attractive.

Focus, Jack.

"Let's go," I say, gesturing toward the back staff door we know doesn't have a camera. "Lead the way."

And he does.

So I follow him through the door, up two flights of stairs, through a maze of cubicles to a computer where he types with gloves on until it beeps three times. "We're good," he says, as though I know anything about what he's done. "Let's go."

He presses a button on his phone and drops it into his pocket. Then, he reaches back and grasps my hand, warmth around my ice, and he leads me through the rest of the cubicles to the elevator, pressing the button to go up all the way to the top floor as soon as we enter.

"The cameras are out, so we should be okay." He's bouncing on his heels and fiddling with the hem of his coat. Worry settles in the pit of my stomach.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I finally ask. "We can just go if this is going to be a problem for you." I really don't know why I'm trying so hard to talk him out of it. Maybe because I know I would never go through with it if I didn't have a friend.

"You can go if you want," he says through gritted teeth. "I'm not okay with what he did today and I had no way of getting back at him over it but you gave me one and I'm taking it. I'm not going to ask if it's a good idea. For once I'm just going to do."

That sounds like the most unhealthy coping mechanism I have ever encountered, but who am I to judge when my coping mechanism is flaunting my boobs in Halloween costumes until my ex notices so I can... do something I haven't figured out yet.

We all get through life as best we know how, but I can't help but feel like I'm corrupting him or something. Which is ridiculous. And I'm not sure why I've developed a sudden urge to protect him from me and my antics.

"Don't overthink this, Jack. We're going to be fine. Security's out for twenty-three more minutes and we've got plenty of time. Please don't ruin this for me. I'm pretty sure it's going to be my only act of rebellion and I really want to experience it."

Suddenly it's obvious his jittering wasn't only nerves, it's also excitement. "You really do want to do this, don't you?"

"Something about getting back at Luther is extremely appealing, I have to admit. I have whole calculations on how much his arrogance costs this company and he ignores all of it. So shocking him out of it makes sense. It's rational."

Nothing about his reasoning is rational. Which is what worries me. It's so wildly out of character from the Alex I've already come to know. "You sure you aren't just doing this because of how he acted in the bar?"

"Not just that. Though I will admit it is factoring in. I don't have time for a full assessment right now, Whitfield. You in or you out?" The elevator doors slide open and he steps into the dark hallway, reaching his hand through the sliding doors, palm up and inviting.

"Fuck Luther," I grit, reaching out for his hand. "Let's do this."

And I mean it. Fuck him and his controlling disaster. Fuck him thinking his money can get him whatever he wants. And fuck him for making me worry about this man so much I almost talk him out of his own decision. I'm a big girl and I do what I want. Luther does not control me.

And I'm not in charge of Alex.

His hand squeezes mine and guides me through the offices until we finally reach the main elevators and a hallway I recognize from the three times Luther let me come up to his office.

"Almost there," Alex says when I slow down. "It's just-"

"Down the end of that hall to the right," I finish. "I know."

My heart leaps into my chest and hammers in my ears as we approach the office, rounding the last corner until we're face to face with the door. "Luther Bellsworth, CEO."

"We're here," I whisper, reaching out to press the keypad with the code he's used for absolutely everything since before I met him.

Three short beeps and a red flashing light.

"Damn it. I'm wrong."

"He changed it?" Alex whispers, digging his phone out of his pocket and hesitating for a second.

"Let me try again." I take a deep breath and step forward, switching the order of two numbers I think he'd be most likely to shift.

Three beeps and a flashing red light.

"One more try before I have to manually override," he whispers reverently, breath heating up my neck and sending a shiver through me.

"I can do it," I breathe, risking it all on a gut feeling that led to the break up in the first place.

Five.

Four.

Twelve.

One long beep and a green light.

That fucker. I knew it!

I slam the door open and race inside, flipping my backpack off and slamming it onto the desk, zipper open before I can think. It's a good thing I didn't open that door before I bought the supplies or I might be getting Alex into a world of trouble.

Alex stands frozen in the doorway, watching me as I rip open bags of fake spider webs and blow up spiders and flattened pumpkins. "Come on, then," I offer. "Let's get some ghosts and balloons going. We don't have long."

The reminder of time seems to snap him into action. In a second he's beside me, ripping his own bag open and using the little hand pump we bought to blow up balloons at possibly record speed, tying them off quickly and throwing them into the corner behind the desk.

I set a timer for fifteen minutes, giving us enough time to get out after it goes, and get to work. First, I tie off the fake ghosts to the ceiling tiles. Then, I spread the fake spider web over everything important to the day at work and set to work blowing up all the spiders and Jack-o'-lanterns. A little nod to the name he refuses to call me. What I wouldn't give to watch him try not to scream when he sees the spiders.

But figuring out how to get a video is a problem for future Jack. Right now I have a mission. And I need to get the rest of the decorations up, starting with getting the spider webs and baby spiders wrapped around the pile of balloons Alex has quickly amassed.

"Five minutes," he says between balloons. "We gotta hurry."

His fingers tie off the balloons with record speed, throwing a new one at me faster than I can wrap them.

By the time we're done, there's no space to move and when the alarm on his phone starts beeping, we race to the door, backpacks in hand, shoving as many balloons into the office as we can before we snap the door into place.

"What are we going to do with all these?" I ask, picking up the stray balloons that had spilled into the hallway while we ran from the room.

"We could leave them," he says, no longer looking at his watch or phone for the time.

"He'll know something's up if we do that," I reason, trying to hug all the balloons and failing.

"How do you feel about the copy room?" The glint in his eye is catching.

"Does he ever go there first?"

"No." Alex smiles. "But it would make the front desk staff happy to see some Halloween spirit."

"Done," I agree. "But we have to work fast."

We race down the hallway, him collecting all the balloons that fly out of my arms as I sprint down the hall.

"Two minutes," he says when we arrive. "You have two minutes tops."

Now it's my turn to smile. Challenge accepted.

* ~ * Author's Note * ~ *

Hello! We are back! Thank you so much for your patience as I got my feet back under me. You are all the best readers a girl could ask for. I will have a little break with this book, but I'll be back with a new chapter mid-January! And then I'll be back to regular updates. (I'm also updating Roatan Plunge weekly if you want something while you wait). If you want notifications whenever I post chapters, you can always follow me authorelizasolares :)

See you next time for the follow up to the greatest prank Jack was willing to pull on office property... but not the biggest prank that will be pulled in this book.