Page 10 of Obsession

“Scare him off what?”

“Offyou. Ever since he stepped foot in here, his eyes have been all over you. I can practically feel the testosterone whenever the two of you are in the room together.”

I stare at her, horrified. “Kora, why would—?” And then the realization hits me. “Are you telling me that you’ve got the hots for me?”

She says nothing, and her silence says it all.

“I’ve liked you for some time, Aiden. And when I saw the way Cody was looking at you, I just got jealous and snapped.”

“You know I don’t date people I work with, Kora.”

“I know that. But I thought—”

“Thought what? That you’d start a bullshit rumor about me, hope that I would find out about it and fire Cody? Is that what you wanted?”

“I … I’m sorry. I just—”

“You’re sorry? Sorry isn’t going to cut it, Kora. You’re fired. Get your stuff and get out of my store.”

“You can’t fire me on the spot, just like that,” she says.

“Says who? Check your employment contract. There’s a section on there that specifies an instant dismissal for serious misconduct. And I’d say this is beyond serious. So, I haveeveryright to fire you immediately.”

“Aiden, I—”

“Now, Kora. Or I’ll have security escort you out.”

She looks at the two of us, and when she’s about to say something, I give her a warning look. She then removes her lanyard from around her neck and slams it on the counter. I watch her go through the door to the back room, and after some time she returns back to the store with her purse and keys. She removes her jacket and throws it down on the counter on top of her lanyard.

“This job stinks anyway,” she says.

She moves toward the door, then with a final look back at me and Cody, she walks through it and leaves.

“Aiden, I—I’m really sorry. This wasn’t exactly how I wanted you to find out. In fact, I’d kind of hoped that you didn’t find out. But now that you have, I’m sorry.”

“I’m the one that should be sorry. I should have seen this coming. Kora has been acting weird for a while now. Even before you started working here, I guess it all makes sense now. I’m just sorry she had this over you this entire time.”

“It’s okay. I’m also sorry that I made you feel uncomfortable.Yes, I was …amattracted to you. But I’ve received your message loud and clear, and I will never cross that line.”

“I appreciate your honesty and respecting my boundaries. But that still doesn’t excuse the way Kora and I treated you. Okay, she may have threatened you, but I didn’t exactly handle the situation professionally. I could have handled it a lot better.”

I place both my palms down on the counter, completely ashamed of myself and unable to look at the man anymore. There was no harm done, and Cody didn’t make a single pass at me, and like I said, it isn’t the first time I’ve had womenandmen checking me out. It’s the society we live in, and as long as he kept his hands to himself and didn’t tell a single soul, what harm was he doing? None. Why the fuck was I such a prick to this guy? Was it really so terrible that he found me attractive? No! I was just an idiot who let my ego and pride get the better of me because I was worried about my reputation and I didn’t want to admit that a guy had feelings for me.

Fuck!

“I think we just need to finish up here and get home as quickly as possible,” Cody says.

“Agreed,” I reply.

Jesus, this is the last thing I need right now. I know I’ve come clean to Cody about the way I handled the situation. But honestly, I really don’t like the idea of the two of us being alone together now that he’s admitted to finding me attractive. I know he said he’d never do anything inappropriate, but that doesn’t really ease my concerns. I just need to focus on getting this inventory done, and then the two of us can head home.

By the time we’re done entering the figures into the system, it’s well past 8 p.m. A lot later than I’d anticipated. But nevertheless, our work for today is done, and we can head home. I place my phone and keys on the counter, then head to the back room to grab my backpack and place the money in the safe. As I unlock the safe, I hear Cody enter the room behind me.

“Are we all done?” he asks.

“Yes. I’m just locking the money in the safe. If you want to hit the lights, we can get out of here.”

“Gotcha,” he replies.

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