Page 235 of Savage Bosses

I leaned back in my office chair. Glancing at the clock on my laptop, 6:15 am, I moved forward to get back to work. Time was getting away from me. I came in early for a reason. Letting Judy-Lynn distract me was not conducive to keeping my schedule.

Other projects were also slipping, but none as bad as Amber. I moved Ellen to project management lead on the business solutions side of my company. Her years of service weren't worthless to me because of one mistake. Jerry was the bad apple. With him gone, everything should work out.

Judy-Lynn was my issue now. Her work was excellent, but I was still avoiding her, only speaking to her via email and brief interactions if we passed each other. Teddy was suspicious.

I made Jason swear to secrecy and told Teddy I was dealing with an ex. That was partially true. Cat did call me, and Judy-Lynn and I—

Knock. Knock.

It was time for Teddy's daily stare and interrogation. I wasn't scared of him. He wasted his time. I wouldn't crack.

“Come in. Let's get this over with. I have work to do.”

The door opened, except it wasn't Teddy.

“I will try to keep this short.” Judy-Lynn strutted into my office in black pants and a low-cut emerald top. She looked fabulous in green. Something about her in that color—

And I was hard as a rock.

“Several matters take precedence over your impromptu visit to my office. I do have a company to run. Consult my calendar.”

Her fingers tightened on the edges of the tablet she held, causing the case to creak. “I did, and it was open. Perhaps your assistant is in error?”

Teddy was the closest I had to a true assistant. He was a partner. While he did manage me occasionally, lying about him was ill advised. Why poke the sleeping tiger when I could save his ire for better situations and my actual enemies? “I came into the office early to finish some work before my other meetings.”

“Then your schedule is open.” She sat in the chair before my desk and crossed her legs.

An image of her in the high splits of her battle dress came to my mind. She may have been covered up, but she could wear the hell out of her clothes.

“Now, I won't take up too much of your time, but I need to catch you up since you haven't approved the final mockups for Graphics.”

“That's because they are not there.”

She blinked at me a few times, then furiously swiped at her tablet. It didn't take much for her to grow frustrated. Teddy noted that she was patient.

Maybe she was just that way with him.

I shifted in my seat.

“Here they are.” She held up the tablet facing me so I could see the folder she pointed to. “This is the mockup folder.”

“Yes,” I nodded. “I see mockups for the Fruity phone, but what about the Robot platform? I want both in beta.”

She frowned. “I don't see that on the project—“

I took the tablet from her and swiped at the project task list. “I added this requirement two weeks ago.”

“But that will put us behind,” she sputtered.

“I consulted your updates before I modified the plan. You have more than enough time padded into the schedule.” It was impressive how she managed to get the project back on schedule and give it enough time to spare. It was too cautious. A safe dating app wouldn't wow at Love Con, at least not in that way. Aroma would beat us.

“Okay.” She took a deep breath while nodding. “I respectfully add that this is why I need to consult with you from time to time. These types of changes don't alert the team so we can immediately address it.”

Damn, she was right. “Understood.”

I opened my mail and began scanning for anything requiring immediate attention. After a few moments, when she didn't get the hint, I cleared my throat. “Yes?”

“Okay, great. I have your attention back,” she said as though I didn't dismiss her. “Now that I am aware of your changes, I will get with the team and inform them. I assume overtime is approved for those who wish to use it.”

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