Page 23 of Take It Offline

“I’ve never dated Amy.”

He laughs, easy and smooth. I ignore how good it sounds.

“Maybe you should,” he teases. “She’s pretty great.”

Like I haven’t worked with her for years. I already know how great she is.

“I appreciate the advice,” not that I asked for it, “but I’m not interested.”

“Because you already have a partner?”

“No.”

“Huh.”

I lay my hands flat on the desk and inhale slowly.Don’t do it. He’s trying to get a reaction.“What?”

He shrugs one shoulder. “I’m surprised, is all.”

Right. Charlie probably couldn’t imagine anyone being interested in me.

“Not all of us need to constantly have our ego stroked.” Among other things.

I’m met with a silence that makes my stomach sink. Shit. It’s clear we’re both stressed, and fighting won’t help. Besides, wasn’t I the one who said we would be better to simply leave each other alone?

I stand, hoping he’s waved it off, cool and calm as always, but no luck. Though he’s trying to hide it behind a smile, his entire body is tense and his face is drawn in exhaustion.

“I’m sorry. That was inappropriate. It isn’t an excuse, but today has been a bad day in an even worse week.” I release a long breath. “Regardless, I shouldn’t take it out on you, and I really shouldn’t have commented on your personal life like that.”

In five years, I haven’t spoken to anyone in anger, but Charlie seems to be the exception to every rule.

Even now, he doesn’t act the way I expect him to. “Hey,” he says, and though there’s no fight in his voice, his smile is brittle. “Don’t worry about it.”

With nothing left to say, I go back to work. But I feel off-kilter the rest of the afternoon.

“Emma?”

And with that, Roberts remains the undefeated champion of “how to ruin my day with one word.” But I plaster on a smile as he calls me into his office.

“How is progress coming along?” he asks when I’m seated.

Better now that I’ve saved the document offline. But I suspect he knows that already.

“It’s still too early to tell, but I’ve had some good conversations with Legal?—”

“Because I’m sensing some friction between you and Charlie. If you don’t think you can work together, it might be a good idea for you to receive some coaching on emotional intelligence.”

No.

My stomach sinks down to my Jimmy Choos.

Awful,awfulman. So awful it’s almost impressive. If there was a league of awful, he could go pro. Fan club, sponsorships, the works.

Instead, Roberts is determined to practice on me. Who knows, maybe during the offseason, he catches up with Scrooge and the Grinch to swap tactics.

“No. No friction,” I lie, my throat tight.

“Would Charlie agree if I asked him?”

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