Page 48 of One Big Little Secret

“You were the one smiling at her like an idiot.”

“Yeah, I’ve been keeping an eye on the situation and reading your reports.” He brings up said reports with a single deafening click. I’ve been making them as I go, determined to do her justice as a capable manager while noting room for improvements.

It’s never a surprise that Archer has been keeping track.

He always likes to feel like he’s the one in charge while Dexter and I are just along for the ride, even when we all agreed I should be in charge.

“Nice to know you trust me to do a good job,” I say sarcastically.

“She’s gotten to you that much? Man, that’s fucked.” Now his eyebrows rise. “I didn’t think having someone do their job would get under your skin.”

“She hasn’t gotten under my damn skin.”

“Right.” He leaves his papers to one side. “She’s doing well from what I can see. Going above and beyond with her suggestions and the research summaries attached. That’s the kind of attitude we should reward in management.”

“I didn’t come here to talk about Salem,” I snarl.

“Salem, huh? Don’t you mean Miss Hopper?”

“Goddammit, Arch, there’s no need to be a face-slapping cock.” That’s the way we relate to each other, though, by pissing each other off to breaking point. Then sanity steps in when we need it. “I came by to talk about our expansion prospects. I need an update about the second quarter.”

“You mean the ones I’m overseeing?”

I give him a pained smile. “Guess we’re both in the same boat, huh?”

He sighs and leans back in his chair, though there’s a gleam of appreciation in his eyes.

He knows how to be fair when it comes to this shit, I’ll give him that much.

Accountability is always serious business in this company.

That’s the Rory way, and we all play our part.

“Now that you’ve put your attitude away, let’s talk like adults,” he says.

I spendthe rest of the week walled off in my office, only dropping by The Cardinal to make sure it’s running smoothly.

It always is.

I’m annoyingly satisfied to see just how well Salem takes to this management role like a duck to water. It’s even more undeniable now that we have real guests booking stays and bringing in revenue.

Throwing up distance doesn’t evict her from my head any faster. Though I keep my cool when she’s around, I’m dreaming of the distant day when I can move the fuck on without her dragging on my mind.

Especially without the memory of everything we did years ago, when we could share the same oxygen and not want to throw shit at each other.

For three entire days, I don’t see her.

She doesn’t intrude on my space, and when I drop into The Cardinal to see the latest progress, she’s conveniently busy.

If she doesn’t want my intrusion, fine. I’m happy to beat it back to Lee’s Summit and work in my own office again.

My stomach churns at the horrid thought that I might be more bothered by that than her.

And I’m just thinking maybe we’ll get through this mentorship sham without having to spend a ton of real time together when there’s a knock on my door.

“Mr. Rory?” Salem pokes her head through.

The neat bun she’s been sporting most mornings hangs loose now, sending dark curls dancing around her face. “I’m sorry to disturb you, if this is a bad time—”

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