Page 20 of Come Home to Me

“It’s always nice talking with you, Mr. Wilde. Mr. Kent is waiting for you.” She gestures toward his door. I thank her and step into his office.

“Ahh. Frank.” Brian Kent stands and extends his arm over his desk, his cufflinks flashing in the recessed lighting.

I grip his hand. “Good morning, Brian.”

He releases my hand, smooths his jacket over his ample waistline, and then sits. “I’m going to get right to it,” he says, his jowls wiggling and wobbling as he speaks. He smiles, though his eyes look anything but friendly. They pin me to my chair, hard, cold, and judgmental. It’s not a look I’m used to seeing aimed my way.

“Of course,” I say, with a carefully neutral smile.

Brian leans back in his chair. “When Bree Marshall lodged her complaint about you, we listened, of course, but knowing the kind of man you are, we decided to transfer her, separate you two, and move on without taking any punitive action against you.”

I start to speak, but Brian holds up his hand.

“You aren’t the first man Ms. Marshall has accused of inappropriate behavior in the workplace. We’ve investigated in the past and have found very little information to corroborate her stories. So, again, looking at your stellar record and your upstanding behavior over the last several years, we believed Ms. Marshall to be in the wrong. However—” Mr. Kent lifts a furry eyebrow “—when Violet Dunham walked into this office at the beginning of the week and quit, naming you as the one and only reason, we had to question whether or not we made the right decision regarding Bree Marshall.”

I sit up to my full height. “I can assure you that nothing happened with Bree.”

Brian holds up his hand again while I choke back a hefty dose of righteous indignation.

“And now…” He presses his palms together and rests them under his chin with a long sigh. “Not two days after Ms. Dunham quits this firm because of a failed relationship with you, we receive a resume from a charming young woman. Beautiful. Witty. Obviously intelligent. We were excited to find such a wonderful replacement so quickly. However, at the very end of her interview, she mentioned your name.” He lifts his brow, sending a tremor of activity across the loose skin on his cheeks and neck.

Anxiety spins through me, but I’m not worried. This is when I’m at my best, when the pressure is on, when the deck is stacked against me.

Some people would crumble, but not me.

Not Frank Wilde.

I’m the lump of coal that becomes a diamond. When the going gets tough, I get tougher. I sit patiently, waiting for Brian to continue.

“And so,” he says, leaning forward. “That brings me to my first question. Are you romantically involved with Sarah Carmichael?”

I think of Sarah sitting across from me at Guard and Grace, the look in her eyes as she studied my face.

Of the two of us at Derby’s, the rush of energy jolting through my body when we touched.

The way her body reacted when I pressed my hand to her lower back.

The heat between us.

The almost kiss.

The tension as we sat side by side in that elevator.

The fantasies of her body writhing beneath mine that kept me up last night.

I smile. “Let me assure you, I am not involved with Sarah Carmichael, romantically or otherwise.”

“Then pray tell. If you’re not involved with this woman, how did you feel so inclined to tell her about the open receptionist position?”

“Sarah was in a car accident this week. I was on my way to the gym and this guy T-boned her right in front of me. I was right there, so I went to offer assistance, to make sure she and the other driver were okay. Later that night, she was at Derby’s while we were there for the weekly office get together. I stopped by to make sure she was okay. She mentioned needing a job, so naturally, I thought of her when I heard Violet was leaving.”

Brian narrows his eyes as if he can see right through the holes in my story. I sculpt my face into the essence of professionalism.

A light smile.

Direct eye contact.

Straight jaw.

“I want to offer this young woman a job, but I need you to hear me. You have used up all of our patience when it comes to you and office drama surrounding your female coworkers. Do you understand what I’m saying here?” He leans forward, his gaze hard and direct. “Sarah Carmichael is officially off limits for you.”

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