Page 8 of The Wrong Boss

I slumped back on the couch while Beth the front desk attendant made hurried phone calls and waved at the other employees. A man with short cropped hair and an ill-fitting uniform rushed toward me with a first-aid kit clutched in his hands.

Sighing, I resigned myself to my fate. And when I heard my aunt Jackie’s voice calling my name, I couldn’t help the wobble of my bottom lip. She came rushing toward me, all navy sparkles and bright lipstick, and all the rage that had buoyed me to this point evaporated.

“What happened?” she said, waving off the employee struggling to open the first-aid kit. She took my face in her hands. “Honey! What?—”

“I ruined my dress and my hair and my makeup,” I blubbered, unable to stop the tears. “And a crazy drug addict stole my mom’s memory box.”

“Oh,” Aunt Jackie said, slumping onto the couch beside me. “Oh, honey.”

“I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. I’ll skip the wedding. I don’t need to be in any photos. I ruined everything, just like I always do?—”

“Hush, Carrie. None of that. You think Hailey would get married without you standing next to her? Don’t be ridiculous. We’ll fix your hair and your makeup, and I know someone has a Tide pen so we can get these stains out of the dress, or we’ll find a spare somewhere. You can wear a paper bag, and we’ll laughabout it in a decade or two. Stop crying now. Hey. Come on, now.”

I’d already ruined my makeup, so what was a little more snot and tears? But I took the tissue that my aunt handed me and did my best to blot my face. Then I took a deep breath and turned to untie the strap around my ankle, wincing as it hit the wound on the back of my heel.

Stupid blister. It was going to get infected and cause my foot to fall off. Probably.

Aunt Jackie barked orders and rushed off to find me a dress while I ripped open alcohol swabs and tried to clean my wound with trembling hands. I heard thewhomp-whompof someone coming through the revolving door and looked up to see the porter and my man in black come striding through. The porter pushed the luggage trolley piled high with my dented boxes and old duffel bags. Half my stuff was in garbage bags that had been piled on top of the whole dismal tower of worthless belongings. It looked completely out of place in the fancy hotel, and shame burned the back of my throat.

My erstwhile savior came to a stop in front of me, extending my car keys between his thumb and forefinger. I took them and said a begrudging “thank you” while he loomed over me like he’d never seen anything so pitiful in his life.

“I have a lunch meeting to go to,” he told me. “I’ll give a statement to the cops about what I saw. Hope you get your stuff back.”

My voice was gone. I didn’t have the energy to be mad at him anymore. Besides, why would I be angry? He’d only tried to help. And hehadhelped. He’d chased off a knife-wielding maniac. He’d carried me inside. He’d organized the staff and brought in all my stuff from my car.

But grief had a hold on me, and I couldn’t quite bring myself to be grateful. He was too handsome and arrogant andmale. Giving him an inch felt like a loss. It felt like crawling back to Derek’s arms and admitting I never should have left. It felt like admitting that I’d never make it on my own.

Holding my gaze for a long moment, the man dipped his chin, spun on his heels, and walked toward the hotel’s swanky lounge bar. He looked put-together and unruffled by all that had happened, which I resented. I wondered if he could feel my gaze on his back as he walked away. Wondered if he’d give me a second thought now that he was done dealing with me.

But he turned the corner and entered the bar, and he didn’t spare me another glance.

A moment later, Aunt Jackie came rushing over. “We have a spare dress. It’s a couple of sizes too big, but with the lacing up the back we should be able to make it work. How’s the ankle? Can you walk?”

I tested it by putting a bit of weight on it. “I think so,” I said, “but heels might not be a good idea.”

“Forget the heels,” Jackie said, sliding her arm around mine. “Let’s get you cleaned up. Then we’ll marry that daughter of mine and celebrate until the sun goes down. When the cops get here, you can duck out and talk to them, but for now we need to get moving so my soon-to-be son-in-law doesn’t get cold feet. I want Hailey married, and I want grandbabies by the time they get back from their honeymoon. Okay?”

As if Seth would ever leave Hailey. They were made foreach other. And wasn’t I just the worst person in the world for being jealous of her right now, on the wedding day I’d nearly ruined?

I gave her my best smile, suspecting it was a little wobbly around the edges. “Sounds good,” I managed through a tight throat, and I let my aunt tow me toward the elevators. When I passed the entrance to the lounge bar, I forced myself not to look inside.

THREE

COLE

I should’ve been celebrating.My lunch with two board members of a small but dynamic software company had been productive, and I was pretty sure there would be a job offer coming my way in the next few weeks. I didn’t know much about software, but the company specialized in financial systems, which was my area of expertise. That, and I’d always been good at sales.

It was a huge step up in my career. It was exactly what I’d been working toward, and it had the potential to change the course of my life. For the first time, I’d be in the director’s seat. I’d be in charge.

The victory tasted bitter on my tongue, and the taste of the smooth, smoky fifty-year-old Scotch I’d been nursing for the better part of an hour hadn’t helped much.

My phone rested on the polished wood bar top, its screen dark.

Rome, my current boss and good friend, would be furious. I stared at the light refracting through my cut crystal glass as I tilted the amber liquid inside to and fro and huffed at my own thoughts. He wouldn’t be furious; he would be hurt. And that was so much worse.

Glancing over my shoulder, I spotted the two police officers I’d spoken to earlier. They were still leaning against the lobby’s reception desk, gathering details about the theft outside.

I wondered what the spitfire in the silky dress was doing now. If her ankle was okay. If she was as hard with everyone else as she’d been with me.

---