Page 52 of A Break in Communications

He shook his head, ashen-faced. “We can’t do that.”

And the only way the situation could have gotten better—Lucy appeared at our side, taking the tablet from my hand with a pointed smile at Rick, and with a few swift taps, she unlocked the tablet, tapping the home button and handing it back to him. “It’s a five,” she said, “not an S. Good luck with work today, Richard.”

He went bright red, taking the tablet back and shutting it off instantly. “I tried that,” he said, but he turned away,apparently satisfied, and walked away a little too quickly. I shot Lucy a look, folding my hands in my lap.

“How the hell do you know his personal device’s password, Masters?”

“It’s not his first time.”

Right. Guess that made sense. “Any clues on why he couldn’t take it to the store?”

She leaned against the desk, kicking one foot up over the other, inspecting her manicure. “Didn’t want them to see the page he had open, I imagine. College girls. I’ll let your mind fill in the rest.”

“Ew.”

She smiled slyly at me. “Had a good morning, darling?”

I woke up with the bed feeling empty, got hot when I saw the tree and thought of you, and breakfast didn’t taste the same when you didn’t make it.Seriously, what the hell had happened to me over one weekend? I turned back to the computer. “Not used to seeing you in late. Slipping on job performance, Masters?”

“Ah… had a wild weekend. Stayed up late last night. Don’t regret a thing, though.”

Why I’d decided to take a shot on that subject, I’d never know. I felt my face prickle, and I kept my head down, focusing on the work. “Mm-hm. I hope you’re not planning on making a habit out of it.”

She smiled wider. I’d made another mistake. “I’d actually love to, but we’ll have to see.”

“Uh… uh-huh. Right. Well, if you let your job performance slip, that’s your own problem,” I mumbled.

“You hear from Kelcey?”

Thank god she’d offered me an out. I didn’t normally have my foot in my mouth. Lucy had just been getting a different side of me lately… Masters had. I was trying to correct myself. “Shecame over to me to try making small talk, and I decided to try crushing her dreams. Didn’t go too well. Told her how Veronica is just looking to bleed her dry and that she told me how Kelcey’s a dumbass she only wants for her money, and Kelcey basically saidoh, cool, off I go to change her mind.”

“Can’t fault Kelce on persistence, I guess.”

“I can. She’s too damn persistent.”

“It’s kind of charming, though. Maybe I just empathize,” she said, inspecting her nails again. “Prestons, ever unattainable.”

“Uh…” How did I not have a response to that? I felt my face prickle. “Lucy—Masters, this isn’t the time or place.”

“Well, just name the time and place and I’ll be there, sweetheart,” she said, pushing off from the desk with a wink, but I knew her expressions well enough to know her heart wasn’t in it.

We couldn’t do this kind of thing. I was stringing the woman along, no better than Veronica. I needed to give her the dignity of a firm break. Not one more concession, not one more… stolen moment… flirtatious remark… anything.

I had a job to do. And I was focusing. And Lucy wasn’t distracting me.

Chapter 15

Anna

I worked late that night. Lucy stayed late, too, but she didn’t harass me, not aside from a few sly glances my way when she walked across the office or headed to the breakroom for a coffee machine that—to Kelcey’s credit, wasn’t actually broken, miraculously. Guess I owed her an apology. I kept my head down, pretending not to notice Lucy, and when I packed up and headed for the elevators, she followed me, and I stopped at the elevator waiting for it to arrive, shooting her a look.

“What do you need, Masters?”

She glanced casually at her phone. “To harass you over those documents for the G&S case, of course, darling.”

Ugh… right. I’d honestly forgotten about it in the middle of all the… right. Lucy coming over to my apartment every night to work with me? I didn’t need that. I’d get nothing done.

I’d gotten enough of a head-start. And… honestly, though I’d never admit it to her face, I felt guilty. For breaking her heart, I guess, even though it felt weird to think that could be a thing.

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