Page 117 of Crazy for this Girl

He licks his bottom lip, and my focus falls to it. “No, that’s another COO at the Vegas location. Real ass—he’s already in.” He motions for me with his hand to follow, and hesitantly, I do.

This new CEO must be a real piece of work if Elliott is bent out of shape about his arrival. Normally, he’s messing with the staff, but is serious when he needs to be.

Today, his black suit is perfectly pressed and put together besides the unclasped button. I can see what the little bitch downstairs, Victoria, sees in him, but I also have a code to not sleep with my boss or anyone else I work with.

“He’s a little stiff, so don’t be put off when I introduce you,” Elliott says as he continues walking. “He’s already moved into my office.”

My face twists. “Your office, why?”

He glances over his shoulder at me. “I’m stepping back down to COO for the Miami location. You’ll be in good hands, Laynee. I promise.”

What in the actual fuck?

“My two-year contract is with you,” I rebut, irritation immediately brimming to the surface of this conversation. “That means—”

“Your contract will extend with the new CEO.” He abruptly stops walking halfway to his, now, old office, and turns to face me. “This is actually his company. I ran it for eight years for personal reasons. This won’t affect you in any way. In fact, I won’t be going down to Miami for some time. Not until the Chicago branch is up and running as it should. So, we’ll still be working with each other except you won’t be answering to me as much. I’d still love it, though, if you brought me my coffee. I’m sure you can tell I’m a coffee snob.”

Don’t really care.

“I just…” I think of a way to say my next words with the utmost respect and calmness, but all I can focus on is why the hell didn’t he tell me that I wasn’t going to be his assistant anymore, and that he was about to pawn me off to someone else who I might not like to work for at all.

“He’s a little rough around the edges, but he’s dedicated. I won’t be leaving him high and dry here, nor you, while things begin to change.”

“I’m just...shocked that you didn’t tell me all of this sooner.”

His brows knit. “Didn’t I?”

My jaw feels like it’s about to shatter into a million pieces. And I don’t bother to hold the look of pure aggravation on my face for my, now, not boss. “No.”

Hence my utter confusion.

“Well, it’ll all be fine.” He assuredly takes another sip of his coffee, and, for the first time, he glances down at my outfit as if he’s assessing me. “I’ll introduce you both, and you’ll do exactly what you were doing before. He’ll probably want different coffee, if at all. I think he drinks the souls of humans.” I just blink at him, and he smiles. “I’m just kidding.”

I don’t laugh, and he rises on his toes at his lame joke that probably works on Victoria, but it won’t in this situation.

Elliott clears his throat. “Let’s go get this over with, shall we?”

I reluctantly follow him again, my stomach in knots. My once lucky pair of shoes not feeling so promising anymore.

This is such utter bullshit.

I hate being caught off guard, thinking that when I walked in today, there would just be another body in the office, not that I would be pawned off to work under someone else.

When Elliott turns the doorknob to his old space, I suck in a large breath, pulling in all good vibes from around me to hopefully have this turn up in a good outcome.

It’ll chill on the Victoria visits, at least.

I swear she’s always trying to find a reason to see Elliott, which means she and I had to be within bitch-slapping distance from each other.

I wanted to strictly work with Elliott.

She believed I wanted to fuck Elliott.

Hence our death glares and fake pleasantries.

Elliott walks in first and cheerily prompts in an easy tone, “Alright, here she is. Meet your new assistant. And be good to her, she’s the best.”

I turn the corner, stabbing the spot where Elliott used to sit with my sole attention, when it’s immediately sucked in and bleeds out profusely on the dark hardwood floors.

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