Page 21 of (Un)Planned

“Which it won’t.”

“Ifit does,” Alex said pointedly. “And if it doesn’t work out, you’d be the one without a job—the one without a backup plan.” She pushed her breath through her lips. “No matter what happens, I’m on your side, Calla. But if things start to change, promise me you’ll think this through.”

Her words struck true, battling all my inner defenses.They were the same ones I’d told myself a thousand times, but hearing them from someone else’s lips made them feel more real. Alex was right—I had just started finding my place in this big, overwhelming city. Was I willing to throw it all away for a guy who could never give me everything I wanted?

I shook my head, forcing those thoughts away. “Alex, you don’t have to worry. Nothing is going on between Theo and me. He can barely stand me most days. You should worry more about him firing me than fucking me.”

She smiled knowingly back at me. “Maybe.”

During my entireride to work, I thought about my conversation with Alex, wondering if she saw something I didn’t. God knows I was able to see how she felt about Cole long before she owned up to it.

I closed my eyes, letting my head rest against the plush leather seat of the town car. My head was so confused, and all I wanted to do was erase last night from my memory, to pretend I’d never seen that side of Theo, never known what it was like to have his heavy stare weigh on me.

Would it be possible to pretend nothing happened, to go back to who we were weeks ago before the lines started to blur?

That was it.

I had to remember my first few days when the lines were much thicker and we hadn’t torn down so many boundaries between us, when I thought I’d just be another girl at the desk and Theo was my asshole boss.

My resolve steeled as the driver dropped me outside of our building. It became stronger as the elevator climbed thefloors and the door eventually opened to the Wallace and Associates lobby. I waved a quick hello to Eloise and some of the other associates before heading to my desk.

I peeked into Theo’s office, letting out a relieved sigh that it was empty. He must have already taken off for his breakfast meeting. Now that I’d avoidedthatconfrontation a little longer, I tucked into the kitchen, finding my favorite mug and brewing a coffee pod. Just as I did, the door swung open, and Jack strolled in, taking a minute to let his gaze drift down my body. I rolled my eyes. Jack seemed like a nice enough guy and a close friend of Theo’s, but something about him didn’t sit quite right with me. He walked up behind me, glancing at my coffee cup.

“Working for Theo requires a lot of caffeine?”

I barely contained my groan. “The morning requires caffeine for most of us, Jack.”

He laughed but stepped out of my space, and I instantly breathed easier when he was on the other side of the room. “So, Calla, have you considered my offer?”

“What offer?” I turned, propping my hip against the counter. “About coming to work for you? I didn’t think you were serious.”

“Oh, I would never joke about that,” he chuckled. “But I’ve seen your work, Calla. I think we could be a good team.”

“Pass.” I turned to the fridge to load my coffee with creamer. It was a common joke with my friends that my coffee cup had more cream than anything else. Sue me if I didn’t love the flavor of coffee, just the happy little side effects. “Theo and I have a pretty great thing going.”

“So I’ve heard.” I looked up at him, noticing that the joking look had left his eyes. “Be careful, Calla. I know you’re just getting to know him, but I’ve worked with Theofor years. He’s one of my closest friends. I know he’s a good guy, but when Theo wants something, he can be a little short-sighted. People who get close to him tend to get hurt.” He stepped closer to me. “You seem like a good person, Calla. I’d hate to see that happen to you.”

His words should have soothed me, serving as another reminder of the long list of reasons why Theo and I would never be anything more than what we were, but something didn’t sit right with me, like he was alluding to a situation I had no right to know about.

“Thanks.” I tightly smiled at him. “But I’m more than capable of handling myself.”

“I know you are.”

I tried to push past him to head to my desk, but he stopped me with a hand on my arm. He leaned in, whispering close to my ear. “Listen, I don’t want to be the one to tell you this, but there have been some rumors about the two of you. Some of the other agents are wondering why Theo hiredyou, a girl with no experience, to help him run this place when he had his pick of assistants.”

“And?”

“Just something to think about.” Jack tried to inject some earnestness into his words. “In this business, sometimes a rumor is worse than the truth.”

He walked through the opposite door, leaving me to ponder his warning on my own.

ELEVEN

Something was wrong.

Sure, it could have been one of the thousands of tasks piling up on my desk, or the fact that my phone had not stopped ringing all day. And those should have been my greatest concerns. However, today, my entire focus was on my assistant, the same one who was pointedly ignoring me.

Ever since I returned from my morning meeting, Calla had been acting off. There was none of her usual sass, no quips, no obnoxious nicknames. Hell, after five straight hours of “Yes, Mr. Ayad.”, I was getting desperate to see one of her smiles, willing to do anything to get some of her usual spark back.

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