Page 19 of Crude Heir

History. Now my curiosity’s going. Could this be the reason he changed after going home? If so, life might be getting interesting for him in the near future. “Then she’s probably justified in wanting to throw something at you. I’m living proof you need to keep your personal life and work life separate, playboy.”

“It’s not like that.” Yet, the way his voice changed tells me that’s not true. “We went to school together.”

“Oh, then maybe I should go down there and meet her. Just the fact she’s ‘Elena’ and not ‘an admin’ is enough to pique my curiosity.”

“Why don’t you put your energy into finding someone who can follow the coding.” Not one to pass up a chance to get a jab in, he adds, “You should do okay. Nerds are in now.”

“Asshole,” I reply with good humor.

We’ve been friends long enough for him to know I get off on giving him a hard time because of the de Marco looks. I can’t complain; I’ve had my fair share of women. But none of them…my levity fades away on the heels of the thought. I usually end withnone of them have caught my attention. Only that isn’t exactly true right now. “But yeah, there’s someone who comes to mind.” Someone I need to find out more about if I’m to get past this damn obsession.

“Gotta go, man. My girl’s here.”

Those are words I thought I’d never hear from the guy. More than ever, I’m convinced his change of heart all those years ago stemmed from whatever happened with Elena. “Good luck withyour girl.”

Much to my amusement, he hangs up.

Chapter 8

Nicole

“Is it true?”

I look up from my computer to find Wanda, my gossip-loving coworker from accounts payable, leaning against the doorway of my office. She has an oddly knowing grin on her face that spells nothing but trouble.

I’ve always found her knack for office gossip somewhere between impressive and annoying. Right now, it’s tilting decidedly toward annoying.

I blink, momentarily confused. “Is what true?” A prickle of unease slides down my back. Somehow I know she’s about to drop a bombshell, and I have a target painted squarely on my butt.

She crosses her arms, one eyebrow raised. “You and the office hottie are a thing now?”

I balk, my brain stuttering to a halt. “Excuse me?”

Oh god. How far has this nonsense gone? Wanda’s the biggest busybody in the building. It’s possible someone came to her fishing for gossip, since she’s shameless about point-blank interrogating people for juicy details. Just like she’s doing to me now.

She narrows her eyes. “Word is, you and...” She leans back, glancing left and right down the hallway to make sure nobody’s in the area before continuing in a conspiratorial whisper. “Derrick are pret-ty tight these days.” She punctuates this with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

My cheeks flush with embarrassment. “You’ve got it completely wrong,” I insist, even as my pulse kicks up a notch.

Wanda saunters in and plants herself in the chair across from my desk, as if she owns the place. She drops her huge purse in her lap with a thump. “Oh, come on, you can tell me! I can keep a secret.”

Yeah right, this woman couldn’t keep her mouth shut with industrial-grade adhesive.

I shake my head adamantly. “No, really. I don’t know what crazy stuff you heard, but—”

She steamrolls over me. “That you and Mr. Hottie McHotcakes were looking preeeetty cozy in the elevator yesterday.” Her eyes twinkle with relish over this juicy tidbit.

I have to resist the urge to bang my head on my desk. “It wasn’t like that at all,” I say through gritted teeth. Honestly, this office is like a bunch of teenagers sometimes. “Derrick was just trying to help with a computer issue I was having. That’s literally it.”

Wanda cocks her head dubiously. “So the Director of IT himself is troubleshooting your computer issues.” She purses her lips. “Mhm. Suuuuure.”

I’m this close to snapping at her to mind her own damn business. But that would only fan the flames. “Yes, the Director happened to step into the elevator when I was riding up,” I explain, gathering every bit of patience. “Nothing more than that occurred, I assure you.”

“Shame, if that’s all you were riding—” she says with a grimace.

“Wanda!” I gasp, mortified at the innuendo.

She holds up both hands in mock surrender, though her eyes twinkle with mirth. “Okay, okay! But you can’t blame me for being curious. I’ve got a sixth sense about these things. And trust me, I’ve seen the way Derrick looks at you. Plus, I heard he came to your rescue when Jenae was giving you a hard time yesterday.”

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