Page 13 of Faking the Book Boyfriend

“Fair enough. Love you, Grammy Jane.”

“Love you too, beautiful Gemma Morgan.”

As soon as we hang up, my email pings with a new mail notification. It’s Trey Donatucci. That was fast. He’s asking to meet tomorrow evening at the bar I suggested.

Chapter

Three

GEMMA

It’s Monday morning,and I’m in my office. My boss pokes her pretty face in the door. “Hi, Gemma. I didn’t think I’d see you today. I thought you were traveling?”

“There was a weather system coming in, so I left a day early. I got back into town last night.”

She scoffs. “And you still came to work?”

“If I have no good reason to fall behind, then why bother?”

“Hmm. I suppose that’s why you’re one of my top ten favorite employees.”

I raise an eyebrow at her, and she giggles. There are only ten people working in this small law practice.

Darian Lawrence Knight is the best boss a girl could ever hope for. She’s semi-retired and only comes into the office one or two days a week. After training me in corporate law, she turned over the reins to me and pays me accordingly. I’m more than grateful for this situation. Most of my law school friends are miserable or struggling to work their way to the top, with terrible bosses who ride their asses all day and night. Not me. I’ve got a great jobthat I love.

I sarcastically reply, “So thrilled I made the cut.”

“Just barely. How was the signing?”

“It was great, thanks for asking.”

She clutches her chest. “I just finished your new release. Oh, Gemma, it’s your best book yet. I cried, I laughed, I swooned.” She gives me a cheeky smile. “Jackson also says thank you.”

I let out a laugh. “I don’t think you two need any help in that department.”

Despite being around fifty, Darian and her husband are very…active. Even in her office sometimes. It’s the source of many jokes around here, though we’re all a little jealous of the passion they share.

Darian was widowed in her mid-forties. The other people in this office say she had a rough few years after her husband passed, but then she met Jackson and things took a turn for the better. I only know her with Jackson. He’s madly in love with her. Fairytale love. I may have based a few book characters on the two of them. They’re like a romance novel come to life. In fact, maybe I should write their story. It would be a great book.

She winks. “What are you working on today?”

“The Henley contracts.”

Her face falls. “If you have to meet with him in person again, I want you to take someone with you.”

“Yeah, yeah. It wasn’t a big deal. You’re an attractive woman, Darian. I’m sure clients have hit on you in the past. Sadly, this situation isn’t news for women in the workplace.”

“Hit on me? Yes. But John Henley was more than hitting on you. He was completely out of line, Gemma. Nothing about the situation is acceptable. I wish you’d let me fire him as a client.”

She went nuts when I told her about John Henley’s constant sexual innuendos. They were truly over the top. I have a dirty sense of humor and can handle a lot, but it wasn’t the time or place, and it certainly wasn’t innocent fun. He was pushing to see if I’d bite on any of it.

I shake my head. “I’d rather hit him where it hurts. His pocketbook. It’s a lot of billable hours for us.”

“I don’t care about the money. I care about you.Neverbe alone with him. Am I understood?”

I nod. “Yes. I promise.”

“Jackson may have thrown him a little elbow at a fundraiser last week. He made it clear to John that he doesn’t do business with anyone who mistreats women. If that doesn’t set him straight, I want you to tell me right away. Zero tolerance. I let you talk me into giving him one more chance. It’s the only one.”

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