Page 22 of Texting the CEO's Obsession
“I’ll handle my business how I see fit,” I say firmly.
She flinches away from the chill in my voice, and I curse myself internally. I keep forgetting that she isn’t like the other women around here who beg for my attention. She’s softer, sweeter. If I wasn’t so obsessed with her, I’d probably have my assistant give her pointers on surviving the corporate world.
I don’t want to make so much progress with her only to take ten steps back by losing my temper. Gentling my voice, I take a deep breath before I continue.
“I’ll keep your name out of it when I talk to Sloane,” I promise. “You have nothing to worry about, Miss Morgan.”
Her eyes snap up to mine in surprise, and I realize my mistake instantly. Fuck, I should have picked a nickname that I wouldn’t accidentally call her at the office while I was texting her.
Why couldn’t I just stick with Princess?
I steel my spine and pretend nothing happened, refusing to show even a flicker of recognition on my face. Calling her by her last name is totally normal. If I don’t give her anything to read into, she won’t think about my slip up for long.
“That’ll be all. Get back to work for now. If Sloane keeps any of this up, I expect to know about it.”
She hesitates for a moment longer but shakes it off and nods before standing.
“Yes, sir.”
I let myself ogle the trim cut of her waist and the curve of her ass as she turns and heads back to the door. My imagination torments me with thoughts of telling her everything before bending her over my desk and fucking her until neither of us can talk as she slips out quietly, closing the door behind her.
I scoff and lean back in my chair, dragging a hand down my face in an attempt to get my errant mind back in order. She’s not ready for the truth yet. I need to play the game properly if I want her to stay mine, to keep her for myself. Allowing my impatience to get the better of me won’t do either of us any favors.
And I’m not willing to lose her.
CHAPTER 7
RILEY
Has hell frozen over?
I nearly do a double take when I walk past Sloane’s office this morning.
Not only is she not chattering away on the phone or touching up her makeup, but she’s actuallyworking. At least, if the clacking of her keyboard and the furious frown on her bright red lips are any indication.
The spring in my step stems from the hope that she’ll be too busy to crawl up my ass today, but it withers and dies as soon as I round the wall of my cubicle.
Mybarecubicle.
The pictures of Taylor and me are gone; the gently-tended Monstera I’ve struggled to keep alive is nowhere in sight. Hell, even my monitor and keyboard are gone. All that greets me is an empty particleboard desk and a bright green sticky note smack dab in the center. My footsteps falter as I walk closer, panicked thoughts swarming my brain.
What the fuck is going on? Where is all my stuff? I thought he said I would be okay… oh my god, did he change his mind and fire me?!
Maybe Nick talked to Sloane… God knows she would try to spin a story where I’m the bad guy here. Doubt fills me. If that were the case, she would be cackling and gloating as she watches me get the boot?
I reach out with a trembling hand, peeling the note off my desk.
Please report to Mr. D’Amico’s office immediately. —Julie
Julie, Nick’s direct assistant.
Fuck.
I’m absolutely getting fired.
Tears spring to my eyes at the thought of all my hard work going down the drain over ridiculous office drama. I should have kept my mouth shut, maybe even said that Sloane had been showing me how to work on quarterly reports. Anything that would mean a different outcome thanthis.
I clutch my messenger bag to my hip and keep my head down as I rush past Sloane’s office, not looking up to meet her eyes as I pass. I can’t believe after all the hard work I’ve put in since coming here, that he’s just going to fire me. I mean… why didn’t he just do it yesterday instead of letting me come in this morning to all of—whatever this is—only to be humiliated in theworstkind of way.
