Page 41 of I Won't Be In On Monday

"She's got a body under that shirt, and I want to take that shirt off."

"Really, Liam?"

He starts laughing."Okay, I'm joking. I don’t really want to take that shirt off, and I'm not really into sexy nerds, but she'shot, and I do know that she makes a good assistant because I’ve had so many dealings with her.”

“You’re not getting my assistant.”

“Fine,” he says, “but you can help me find someone.”

“I’ll see what we can do.” I’m pissed off, and now I don't want him in the office. Who knows what he will try and pull to get Juniper away from me.

Chapter Thirteen

Juniper

“So, how did it go today?” Skye asks me with wide eyes, a knowing look on her face as she leans forward. Her green eyes are sparkling as if she knows a deep, dark secret that she's dying to share. Skye may be a new friend in my life, but it feels like we're old friends. She's been dating Kingston, another partner at the firm, for the last couple of months, and I've never seen her happier. In my heart of hearts, I know that I want what she has... true love.

“How did what go today?” I ask, picking up my glass of water and taking a small sip. I avert my eyes from her gaze because I wonder if she knows that I have a crush on Remington Parker. It's not like I'm trying to hide it, per se, but I definitely don't want to look like the loser in the office who has an unrequited crush on her boss. Because I am not Skye. I'm not bubbly and cute, with fiery red hair. I don't tell my boss off and then sashay out of the office. I don't have that fire in me... other than inside of my head. Sometimes I wish that I were a woman who could speak up more. I wish I knew how to flirt. I wish that I had unbridled sex appeal that could bring a man to his knees.

“You know… how did it go with Remington this morning? Now that he knows he’s a dad, I was wondering if he was going to act differently.”

“Oh, actually, it went fine. I saw Canyon this morning, and she seems to be doing really well.”

“What do you mean you saw Canyon this morning? Were you at his apartment?” Her jaw drops as she slaps her hand on the table in excitement. The cutlery jangles for a few seconds, and I see a man at the table next to us looking over. “Dang, girl, did you spend the night there and not tell me?” She makes an O shape with her mouth. "Did you and Remington do the dirty?"

“No, Skye.” I can't help but roll my eyes. “I did not go from cleaning out his apartment and being annoyed to banging him a couple of days later."

“Well, then how did you see Canyon this morning?” She picks up her glass of water but doesn't take a sip. She is hanging on to my every word, and I wish that I had something more interesting to share with her.

“Because she came to the office with Mr. Parker.”

“With Mr. Parker?” She raises a single eyebrow and starts giggling. “Since when do you call him Mr. Parker?”

"Since he started getting on my nerves. Fine, she came to the office with Remington.” I pause. "Remington ‘the douchebag’ Parker."

“So, Remington DB Parker is letting her skip school already?” She looks taken aback. “He sounds like he’s going to be a great dad.”

“No, no, no. He didn’t let her skip school,” I say quickly. I don’t want her judging him because, even though I do, it makes me feel bad if other people think he’s a bad father. Because, quite frankly, I feel like he's trying to do a good job. He's new to the role, but he's not useless. In fact, seeing him in that role makes me like him even more. I feel like I am stuck in a weird stasis.Remington confuses me to no end, but I still can't help but be enamored by him.

“So, why was she at the office?” Skye looks confused. "Did he not know where she goes to school?"

"He had an early morning meeting with Liam Gallagher, you know that British guy who brings a lot of money to the firm.” I pause. “In fact, he came in today."

“Oh, yeah,” she says, nodding. There's a knowing look on her face. “He came in to see Kingston, too. Girl, he's hot. If I wasn't madly in love with Kingston, I'd throw my hat into the ring for a night with him." She giggles like a naughty schoolgirl. "I heard he's actually going to be working in the office starting next week. All the women in HR are going to go crazy.”

“Oh, I didn't realize that,” I say, shrugging. “But yeah, anyway, he had a meeting this morning with Remington. I think Remington thought it was going to be on the phone, but Liam showed up. I guess it makes sense that he showed up if he's going to be working here now or something.”

“I don't know the details.” Skye shakes her head. “But Lila and I were talking about it, and we were saying, if we were single, we would totally go for him, because he's just so cute.” She waves her hands back and forth. "And he's a total flirt."

“He is a player if ever I saw one,” I say and start laughing loudly before lowering my voice. The man at the next table is staring at us again. I sure hope he can't actually hear our conversation.

“Aren't all the men in the office players?” Skye makes a face. "I swear to the heavens above that nearly all attorneys think they are God's gift to women. Must be all that money they make."

“That’s true. They do all seem to have egos for days,” I say, nodding. “Anyway, he had this meeting, and it was early, so he brought Canyon with him. After the meeting, he took her to school.”

“Oh, okay, I'm surprised he didn't ask you to take her to school.”

“I think he probably wanted to, but he took one look at my face, and he knew that there was no way that I was going to be doing his fatherly duties for him.” I grin at her. "I may be a doormat, but I'm starting to stick up for myself.”

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