Page 21 of Without Apology

CHAPTER NINE

Peyton

I was a mix between hurt and angry. The collision of my personal life with my work life had caught me completely off guard. Mostly my pride stung from the way Simon had dismissed me so coolly. I recognized we’d only been out once, and he didn’t owe me anything, but dammit, he didn’t have to make me feel like a fool. It seemed a cruel joke that I’d have to work with this other version of him over the next few weeks.

Megan tapped on my door and came in, wide-eyed. She took one look at my face, which must have been showing a fair amount of stress, and shut the door behind her.

“Oh, fuck. They promoted Jeff over you. Are you fucking serious?”

I shushed her. “No. Nobody has been promoted yet. But we’re starting an audit. That will be happening over the next couple of weeks, like I indicated in the staff meeting.”

She wasn’t stupid. “Because George is selling.”

“You know I can’t tell you that even if I was aware of it.” I couldn’t lie, but I also didn’t want to break confidence.

“Since we once talked about the possibility of George wanting to sell after Carol had cancer, it’s not hard to jump to that conclusion. His heart just isn’t in it any more. Hell, it’s how Jeff got hired and has been such a shit these last three years. George was checked out for his wife and not able to pay attention like he normally would have to staffing issues.”

I couldn’t agree more. Before his wife had cancer, he would’ve been one of the first to notice a bad hire and taken care of it.

“Anything else upsetting you?”

I wanted to tell her. Especially about Simon being my date from Saturday, then finding him here this morning. But I couldn’t burden her with it. My friend tended to be unable to hide her true emotions, so if I wanted her to do well with the interview, I couldn’t spill any of my issues.

I chose to paste on a smile. “I have a long list of audit items. Plus, one of the guys on site with the purchasing company is competing with Jeff for asshole of the year.”

“What can I help with?”

That’s what I loved about her. Always willing to pitch in. “I’ll forward you the items. We’ll go through it and mark any questions. Then tomorrow we’ll get started. I need to email Emma, my audit liaison, to find out where she wants us to put the documents as we gather them.”

I left on time that night. Mainly because I knew the rest of the week I wouldn’t be so lucky. Knowing this reminded me to call my brother-in-law and ask him to stop by to take care of Cooper later in the week. Kevin wouldn’t mind, but I’d be sure to offer to babysit soon to repay the favor.

Since I was tired of checking my phone, hoping Simon would contact me, I blocked his number on my cell phone. Now I could imagine he was trying like mad to get a hold of me and couldn’t. It was silly, but hell if it didn’t make me feel better than waiting and hoping for him to reach out.

What I hadn’t expected when I pulled in my driveway was a beautiful bouquet of flowers on my front porch. A card said, “Thinking of you. Hoping to get a minute before Friday.”It was from Simon.

What the hell? He must have sent these before he found out I worked at Maddox Consulting. Before he’d been a dick and pretended he didn’t know me. Although I was tempted to drop kick them off the porch, I realized I couldn’t. They were too pretty. Maybe I’d tell Kevin to take them to my sister tomorrow when he came by, so someone could enjoy them.

Cooper was super happy to see me when I came through the door, putting the first real smile on my face all day.

Since I was in the mood for a pity party for one, I slipped into my pajama bottoms and a tank top, threw my hair up in a bun and poured a glass of wine. When the doorbell rang, I contemplated changing my clothes, but then decided against it. After all, who was I looking to impress?

Certainly not the man I found standing on my porch when I opened the door.

It was Simon. Still in his suit from the office.

“Can I come in?”

I hesitated.

“Please.”

The added word tipped the balance. I backed up, allowing him to pass, but I didn’t say a word. After all, he was no longer the nice guy I thought I knew from our date.

He set his keys on my kitchen counter and looked around. “Where’s Cooper?”

“In the backyard.”

“I tried calling.”

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