Page 41 of The Cowboy and the Bombshell
“No,” I breathed, forgetting for the moment that I was completely distracted by my ridiculously good-looking boss, who was also an amazing kisser. “That’s not possible.”
“Penelope?” Stone questioned, and I could hear the concern in his voice. “What’s happened? Who messaged you?”
“Ava Carlisle,” I said, my eyes scanning her messages again.
“The Whale Hunter?” Her nickname suited her, but right now, I couldn’t appreciate it.
“Yes,” I said, clicking out of the messaging program and into my office email. “She said that some of her whales have been given different dates for the Soft Launch and the Grand Opening. She’s getting a flurry of calls saying that the dates are changing. Her people are pissed because they’ve made travel arrangements.”
“Have you changed the dates?”
“No, I haven’t.” I scanned the inbox, seeing several messages responding to an email that went out earlier in the day.
An email I hadn’t sent.
“What the hell?” I muttered under my breath. Opening one of the new messages, I saw that it was from the personal assistant of a well-known World Series of Poker champion. He was both a high roller and a celebrity, and therefor, a valued attendee of our Soft Launch. And he was pissed.
“Penelope,” Stone said, having come to stand behind my chair. He rested one hand on the back, one on the desk, and leaned over, scanning the screen. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “There are several messages regarding and email I apparently sent that changed the date of the Soft Launch. Moved it up two whole weeks, in fact.”
“Are we moving it up two weeks?” Stone asked, though he knew the answer. There was no way we could achieve being ready two weeks early. I would never have sent this message.
“Not a chance.” Opening the sent folder, I scanned for the original message. Buried in the multitude of messages I had sent out all day was one that I had definitely not sent. “Here it is. But, Stone,” I said, reading the email and then turning to look up at him, likely giving off waves of the panic that was currently coursing through me. I was terrified of that this would be the thing that would cost me my job, never mind the promotion. “I didn’t send this email. I have never seen it before.”
Stone stared at me, his eyes darting back and forth between mine, then his stern face softened slightly, his lips curling up on one side. “I believe you, Blondie.” The relief that washed through me was a physical thing. I huffed out a breath, turning to look at the screen again.
“This says it was sent at 12:47pm. I know for a fact I was in the staff room at that time. I took a fifteen-minute lunch break with Moira. She brought iced coffees. Whoever sent this email did it when I wasn’t in the room.”
Stone looked thoughtful for a moment. He pulled out his phone and fired off a text.
“I’ll have Silas look into it. He can check the cameras, show us exactly who went in your office at that time.” Still leaning over my desk, I could smell is musky cologne, spicy and woodsy, and totally Stone. I took what I hoped was a discreet sniff, enjoying having him so close. “Contact the people who received the bogus email. Offer each of them one thousand dollars in casino credit for the mix up and confirm the correct dates.”
He was so decisive in his decision making, so sure that the mix up wasn’t my fault. I was afraid I would get fired for this, and he never doubted me for a second. That information sent a warm feeling through me and I turned to look up into his face, my eyes widened in surprise.
Stone smiled down at me, his face so handsome my heart clenched. “It’s alright, Penelope.” He raised one hand and griped my chin gently with his thumb and forefinger. “I have faith that you’ll sort this out.” With that, he leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to my lips, lingering for a long moment, and scrambling my senses once again.
When he pulled away, his half-lidded gaze filled with something I could only call hunger, he left his fingers on my skin until the last possible moment. As our connection finally broke, he shook his head slightly, then straightened, reaching again for his phone.
“I’ll call the restaurant, have our order delivered here. You do what you have to do, I’ll make sure you’re fed.” He moved to the office door, turning back once more, his lustful look gone, replaced with one of contemplation. “It’s gonna be alright,” he uttered quietly, but I wondered if he was telling that to me, or himself.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Stone
I wanted her.
I couldn’t even pretend it was just a physical thing anymore. Everything about her intrigued me and turned me on. She was amazing at her job, she was kind, caring, selfless, and yes, fucking beautiful. I couldn’t wait to make her mine. It wasn’t even a question of if, but when at this point.
But right now, she was focused on her job. Whatever had happened, we couldn’t afford to lose the high roller clients that Ava was securing, either for the Soft Launch or the Grand Opening events. So I would let her work, and while she did, I would take care of her, make sure she was fed, and then I would take her home.
As my imagination began to draw up all sorts of possibilities for the rest of the evening, Silas knocked on my door. He had been distant since our conversation about Daphne. At the time he said he understood where I was coming from, that he would break off whatever it was they had going on between them, and that we were still cool. But I couldn’t help but feel that I’d broken something in our friendship when I asked him to stay away from my sister.
The worst part was, I didn’t know how to approach him to fix it. Avoidance seemed to be our best bet right now.
“You wanted to see me, Stone.” Cold. Almost rude, but not quite. I would let it lie for now, but I wasn’t sure for how long.
“Yes, if you have time. Someone sent an email from Penelope’s computer. She insists it wasn’t her, that someone must have been in her office when she was away from her desk. Can you pull up the video feeds from today and see who was in her office at 12:45 or so? That’s when the email went out.”
