Page 76 of Storm

“—no chance in hell! You need to get the fuck out of here and wait with the rest of the trash.In the waiting room!”

Storming over, Sandra keeps spewing shit, shoving a knife deep, killing every bit of what was left of her job security.

“The captain doesn’t need some bitch stalking him day and night for a few bucks to feed her five kids. I thought I made that pretty clear over the phone.”

My hand settles on the door and I shove it open further, making Sandra jump. Running my eyes quickly over Miriam, I note that she doesn’t seem bothered by the confrontation since she’s still relaxed with her head laying on her arm on the edge of my desk.

“You good?” I ask, ignoring Sandra’s sputtering and explanation.

I’m relieved when Miriam just shrugs. “I’mfine. Though your receptionist might need to lay off the coffee and stop inhaling so much hairspray.”

Sandra scoffs, but I shift my body to place it between them. Glaring down at her, all I can get out is, “Follow me to HR.” I step toward her, which has her scrambling backwards until I’m fully out of my office and I shut the door behind me. To everyone standing around, I bite out, “No one goes in there.”

Taking a wide berth around Sandra, I hear her heels clicking on the floor as she runs to catch up, but I don’t slow as I take the stairs two at a time to avoid being alone with her in the small space of the elevator.

“Sir! Captain Cooper. Please, let me explain. I went in there to drop off some files and she was lying around your office like she owned the place!”

I say nothing and keep walking, but she persists.

“Please, Sir. I know it’s not appropriate because you’re my boss, but I know if you just took some time and really thought about it, I’d be perfect for you. You can do so much better than someone trying to baby trap you and?—”

Whipping around, I backtrack and tower over her. “Enough with the damn files and bullshit excuses. There was nothing in your hand,Miss Burns. I’ve told you already, I’m. Not. Interested. Not now, and never before. That woman you just insulted has more to offer in her little pinky than… It doesn’t matter. Now, not another word until we get up there.”

She stays silent, except for the random sobs she’s mustering up for a pathetic pity party. Marching into HR, I head right to the main office and bark out, “I don’t care who the hell handles it, but she’s done. I want her fired now. As soon as I get home, I’ll email over my statement of what just transpired. You’ll also receive reports from half a dozen other staff members to collaborate as well as a non-member of our personnel. Questions?”

I only hear crickets, so I turn and leave without another word or a backwards glance at Sandra. Fuck her for pushing me to my limit, andfuck herfor insulting my girl in the process.

CHAPTER 35

EZRA

I freeze when I hear a car door slam and immediately find Tatum’s eyes. “She’s here,” I breathe out, then rush for the front door.

“Give her a minute, man!” he shouts as I slide across the tiled floor and hurry to the front of Kevin’s house.

Whipping the door open wide, I stumble to a stop and press my lips together. Kevin is climbing the front steps to his covered porch withmi pétalocradled against his chest. I look at him in worry and he just shakes his head, telling me he’ll let me know later. She’s fast asleep and has never looked more beautiful. I want to take her, but I know it’ll wake her up.

“Is her room ready?” he asks quietly, and I nod, stepping back to hold the door as far open as possible. I shut the door quietly as soon as they’re inside. He doesn’t slow as he takes her straight to her bed.

I shift anxiously on my feet outside the room while he gets her settled. There are a few soft murmurs, but I can’t hear a damn thing. Both Kevin and Tatum leave the room where Tatum and I had just been organizing and wiping things down, snicking the door shut behind them.

“Where’s Rich?” Kevin asks, and I jerk my head to the kitchen.

“Putting food away. What’s going on?” I can tell he’s pissed about something, but is reluctant to go into it right next to her room.

Richard is unloading grocery bags as we walk in, only to pause and raise a brow when he sees Kevin’s face. “That isn’t promising. Did she refuse to come?”

“No, it’s not that. She’s exhausted and sleeping in the bedroom.” Sitting on a stool, he sets his elbows on the countertop to brace his head. “It’s not anything of significance, really. You know my receptionist at work, Sandra Burns? She decided to confront Miriam while she was waiting in my office. Said a lot of nasty shit.”

Tatum sits next to him and studies his profile. “Miri doing okay?”

“She says she’s fine, but that couldn’t have been nice to hear. I’m pretty sure that woman is the one who deleted my text about the paternity appointment, but I can’t prove it. Even if I asked, it’s not like she’d tell me the truth. The woman has been infatuated with me for a while now, but it was easy enough to ignore until she started messing with my personal life. I took her to HR and fired her.”

Kevin fills us in on what that bitch said to our girl, and I find my eyes being drawn in her direction more and more the longer he talks. The conversation leads to scheduling conflicts and when each of us can be here to cover all parts of the day, but I’m not listening any longer.

Without drawing their attention, I take a few steps backwards until I’m near the doorway, then turn and head to her room. It doesn’t matter what my schedule is, I’ll fucking change it. I’ll just put in a leave of absence or something. The searchand rescue stuff is volunteer based anyway, so guiding hikers through boring trails can just be rescheduled.

I turn the knob slowly, blowing out a breath when there’s no sound from the hinges, and slip into her room.

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