Page 93 of Falling for the Boss's Son

They found a park bench and Jesse began unpacking the bag of food. He handed her a sandwich, took one for himself, then motioned for her to eat. He didn’t ask her what was wrong again until after she had finished eating. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“I don’t know if I’m being paranoid or not.”

“You’re going to have to give me more than that.”

She blew out a frustrated breath. “People are acting weird around me. Kind of like they did when it came out we were an item. But we’ve been seeing each other for a couple of weeks now and the looks and the quiet whispers were getting less. Now they’ve started up again and I don’t know why.”

“I’m going to talk to my dad and Craig about putting up some cameras.”

His change of topic threw her as did his mention of his dad’s head of security. “What are you talking about? Cameras?”

“There are cameras in the main traffic areas, the lobby, the main hallways, and in front of the elevators. That leaves too many blind spots.”

She was still confused. “Jesse, I’m not following you.”

“Monday night, I thought I heard the stairwell door closing. No one else was in the building except for me and the security guard. When I asked him about it, he thought it might have been the cleaning crew, but I have my doubts.”

“What does that have to do with the office gossip mill?” she asked.

“Someone left a note on your desk yesterday.”

Maybe his change in subject hadn’t been so random after all. “We don’t know if what’s going on today has anything to do with the other two things.” They didn’t know it didn’t, either.

Jesse stood and she followed suit. He found a nearby trash can, threw what was left of their lunch away, then returned to her side, taking her hand in his. “I’d been thinking about the need for more cameras anyway. This just accelerates the timeline.”

They made their way across the grass toward the bus stop. “What are you hoping to find?”

“I’m not sure, but if we can at least narrow down who’s been hanging about your desk and roaming the stairwells after hours, that would be a start.”

Cassie thought about that during their bus ride back to the office. She wasn’t sure finding out who was leaving her notes would accomplish much. Sure, they could report them to Human Resources, but there was no real way to prove they were leaving her anything inappropriate. Not unless there was a camera pointed directly over her desk with a resolution that allowed them to read whatever note was left. That seemed like overkill. Not to mention, an invasion of her privacy.

Blake was still in his office when they returned. Jesse gave her a pointed look and headed into his dad’s office.

* * *

Jesse gave a brief knock before walking into his father’s office. His dad looked up. He started to smile, then he saw the look on Jesse’s face.

“Close the door.” Blake waited until Jesse took a seat before saying anything. “What’s going on?”

As a rule, Jesse had tried to keep things professional between him and his dad at work. He didn’t barge into his office unannounced, nor did he regale him with tales of office gossip. “We need to discuss increasing security in the building.”

One of his dad’s eyebrows rose in question. “Is there a security threat I’m unaware of?”

“That’s yet to be determined.” Then he told him about Monday night.

“Do you have any reason to believe it wasn’t the cleaning crew?” his dad asked.

“No. But something about that doesn’t feel right. Even if the cleaning crew were in the stairwell, why would they come to the floor only to turn around and leave again?”

His dad nodded. “I see what you mean. And they have supplies and equipment. I doubt they’re hauling them up the stairs when they have access to the elevator.” It was one of those little things that didn’t add up and Jesse liked things to add up.

“There’s also something else I think you need to be aware of.” Jesse considered not telling his dad about Cassie’s note, but after thinking about it, he felt compelled to give his dad the whole picture. “Someone left a note on Cassie’s desk yesterday while we were at lunch.”

“People leave Cassie notes all the time.”

Jesse knew that. “The note was…ominous.”

This time both his dad’s eyes narrowed. Blake was protective of things and people he viewed as his. Cassie fell under that umbrella as his assistant. “Did someone threaten her?”

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