Page 38 of Hate Notes

"Rough morning?" he asked, voice deceptively mild.

"Listen," I started, "about last night?—"

"When you said my butt has caused a significant drop in your workplace productivity?" he asked, tone completely flat. "Or when you suggested my gluteal muscles could cause facial injuries?"

I dropped into the plush chair across from his desk and covered my face. "Please tell me you made that up."

"You texted me about it in the middle of the night with a number of emojis I have never seen before. Check yourself, if you don't believe me."

God... If you are up there, just smite me now. Better yet, open up a portal to an alternate dimension where I made better life choices.

I peered through my fingers to find Orion actually smiling. I was getting a very good look at those cute dimples of his, too. Seeing his smile did interesting things to my stomach. Or maybe that was just the hangover. Probably the hangover. Definitely the hangover.

"In my defense," I said, "your sister kept refilling my wine glass."

"And that made you develop an obsession with my posterior?"

"I am not obsessed with your—" I stopped, noticing his smirk. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

He moved to stand in front of his desk, putting himself directly in front of me. Putting himself closer to me than was strictly necessary, and the proximity was already making me feel like I was getting a hot flash. "We should discuss appropriate workplace behavior,” Orion said.

"Right," I said, straightening. "Very professional. No more commenting on body parts. Got it."

"Or booping noses."

I groaned. "I was hoping that part was a nightmare."

"If it helps, Catman seemed to approve of me."

"He's a terrible judge of character. He once tried to adopt a raccoon. We had to have an intervention."

Orion's laugh was unexpected and...nice. Really nice. The kind of nice that made me forget about my hangover for a second. The kind of nice that made me want to make him laugh again.

"About last night," he said, his voice turning serious. "I want to make sure we're clear about?—"

A knock at his door made us both jump. Roman stuck his head in.

"Sir? You asked me to let you know when the meeting was about to start.” Roman glanced at his phone, then gave a quick smile. “Five minutes."

Orion stood, professional mask sliding back into place. "We'll finish this discussion later, Miss Hartwell."

"Looking forward to it," I said, then immediately wanted to kick myself. "I mean, not looking forward to it. Just... acknowledging it. Professionally. Like a professional who professionally acknowledges things. Professionally."

His lips twitched. "Get some coffee, Ember. You look like hell."

"Gee, thanks, Da—" I clamped my mouth shut. "Thanks. Just... thanks."

"And Ember?" he called as I reached the door. "Nice shoes."

I looked down at my feet, realizing in horror that in my rush, I'd put on one black heel and one navy one.

Perfect. At least I couldn't possibly embarrass myself any more today.

Then my phone buzzed with another text from Cole.

Cole:Just thought of that thing you used to do with your tongue. Remember?

I stared at my phone in horror. Apparently, today could still get worse. Wonderful. And there went my appetite for lunch, which was especially frustrating because Ilovedlunch.

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