Page 57 of I Won't Be In On Monday

“It was a long time ago.” There's a distant look in his eyes. “When I was a teen, she was the love of my life. Things didn't work out, obviously. But I loved her.” He stares at me. “And when I look at you, I don't look at a man who's been in love, whose heart has been broken, who's experienced things he doesn't want to experience again. I look at a man who is solely focused on work.”

“Well, is there really anything wrong with that? I mean, it allows me to be here on a Friday night.”

“What about your daughter?”

“What about her?” I ask.

“Isn't this the first Friday night you’ve had her, yet you're here in the office with me and Juniper.” He looks at his watch. “She'll be arriving in a couple of minutes.”

“She's okay. She likes Juniper. Plus, Lila and Skye are babysitting her. And let’s just say, they all got along like old friends when they showed up.”

“What I love about your office is that you're all a family,” he says. “And while I personally don't believe in sleeping or messing around with the help, it seems that it's a thing here.”

“It's not a thing here. We're professional, and we just?—”

He starts laughing then. “Dude, I’m not saying anything about the ethics of relationships with people in your office. Trust me. I’m no saint.” He winks at me. “Anway, what’s the plan for tonight because there is no urgent case that we’re working on, and I do have a date in about an hour that I don’t want to miss because I have a feeling it’s going to be a very good night for me, if you know what I mean.”

“I have a plan,” I say, smirking.

“Okay, and what’s that?”

“Get a call in about thirty minutes and hand me the phone. I’ll say that the other side is willing to settle, and we can leave. Iwill apologize to Juniper. Give her a bonus in her next paycheck and all will be fine.”

“All this just so you can ensure she didn’t go on a date with lover boy?”

“He’s not her lover.” I glare at him.

He holds his hands up, “Hey, no need to shoot the messenger. I mean, you’re not emotionally invested in this in any way, are you?”

I stare at him for a couple of moments without saying anything. His words have obviously struck a chord that I have been trying to ignore. Why did I make up this scenario to ensure Juniper didn't go on her date tonight? It obviously had nothing to do with me thinking Marco was going to take advantage of her because I didn't know the man, not at all. Before I can think too deeply about the inner workings of my brain, I hear a tapping on the door. I look over and see Juniper standing there. I wave her in.

“Hi,” she says, looking slightly embarrassed. “Good evening, Mr. Gallagher.”

“Hey, Juniper, you’re looking nice,” he says, looking her up and down. She's wearing a pair of sweatpants and a baggy T-shirt, and her hair is slightly disheveled.

“Is everything okay?” I stare at her, slightly befuddled. She's never come into the office in anything other than professional clothing before.

“It's Friday evening. I'm tired. And I figure I might as well be dressed in something comfortable if I'm going to be here all night. It’s not going to be a problem for you, is it, Mr. Parker?” There’s a slight edge to her tone, and I can tell she's annoyed at me. Maybe because I didn’t make her come. I knew she’d been close.

“Not a problem at all. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.”

“It's fine. Thank you for caring so much,” she says in a saccharine tone.

I see Liam giving me an evil grin, and I just shake my head. “I'm just going to go and get a coffee from the break room,” he says, as he heads toward the door. “I'll be back in a little bit.”

“Sounds good,” I say. I turn to Juniper. “Would you like to have a seat?” I nod toward the chair, and she shakes her head.

She walks over to me and stops dead in front of me, looking up into my eyes, her own eyes shooting darts of fire. “Are we going to talk about earlier?" She presses her lips together.

“Earlier?” I grin. “Hmm?”

“Nothing,” she says looking down, blushing.

“I think I need you to finish that sentence,” I say, grabbing her by the shoulders.

She stares up into my eyes again. “You're insufferable, Mr. Parker.”

“I told you to call me Remington.”

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