Page 60 of Honor

Once I do, his gaze trails over me, but unlike Cleo, he lingers when his eyes reach mine.

“Why is she calling you that?” she questions him. “Evie has always called you Mr. Hunt.”

I bite the corner of my bottom lip to keep a smile at bay.

“And now she’s calling me Reid,” he answers succinctly. “You have a meeting in five minutes, Cleo.”

“Do I?” she asks before she glances at the watch on her wrist. “Oh, shit. I do.”

She inches around him and tosses me back a wave. “I’ll let you know if I’m free for lunch. Maybe we can meet up for a sandwich or something.”

“Evie has lunch plans,” my boss says, surprising both Cleo and me.

Even though I know she’s in a mad rush, she stops to question him. “Why are you calling her Evie? Something big happened, didn’t it? Or I’ve fallen into an alternate reality where you aren’t a…”

Her voice trails, but Reid picks up her sentence right where she left off. “Hard-ass?”

Her head shakes from side to side, but the smile on her face is too broad to hide. “You said it, not me.”

“I am a hard-ass,” he admits. “Especially when one of our top investment analysts is on track to be late to a very important meeting.”

“Double shit,” she mutters. “I’m out of here, but I want to know more about what’s changed between you two.”

“That’s none of your business,” he informs her as he shoots her a look. “Go now, Cleo.”

She takes his advice. Even though she’s wearing four inch heels, she sprints to his office door before disappearing out of sight.

“She’s going to keep asking me why you’re calling me Evie and why I’m calling you Reid.”

Mr. Hunt glances at me. “She won’t.”

He may think he knows his employees, but he doesn’t. Cleo won’t drop this, and I, for one, don’t see the big deal in telling her that Reid and I are in the same wedding party. Knowing Cleo as well as I do, I suspect she’ll ask me if she can tag along as my plus one since she adores weddings.

“She will,” I argue playfully as I set off toward my desk.

“Cleo’s about to be bumped up to a senior position within her department.”

Shocked by that news, I don’t try to hide the surprise in my expression. “What?”

“We made the decision a week ago.” He skims a palm over the lapel of his gray suit jacket. “Baden and I couldn’t reach an agreement on salary terms, but we did last night over dinner, so he’ll deliver the good news to her this afternoon.”

“She’ll be thrilled,” I whisper.

“She’ll be more than thrilled when she sees the terms we’re offering her,” he says. “They’re a step up from what she has now.”

“A step up from having a ride back and forth to work?” I laugh softly. “What could that possibly be? A private helicopter that lands on the roof of this building to drop her off each morning and pick her up after work every day?”

His gaze latches on mine. “No helicopter, I’m afraid, but I think she’ll be happy when she reads our proposal.”

“I know she will be.” I nod. “Cleo does good work for the company. She deserves everything you’re offering.”

He walks toward me with even steps. “Is that regret I hear? Do you wish you would have negotiated a ride back and forth to work?”

I wish I had asked for a higher yearly salary, another week of paid vacation, and a lunch allowance, but live and learn.

I shrug. “Regrets are a waste of emotion, sir.”

“Reid,” he corrects me. “It’s Reid, remember?”

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