Page 8 of One Little Mistake
“You do realize that I’m your boss, right?” Easton asks. If he’s expecting an answer, he’ll be waiting for a long time.
“Preston?” I snap. “Did you need something?”
When Preston leans against to doorframe and smirks, I search for an escape.
“Fine, you stay and talk to your brother. I’m going to the bathroom, and then I’ll find a place to eat my …” Turning in a circle, I find Easton inspecting my Tupperware.
“What is this?”
“It’s. A. Salad,” I say through clenched teeth.
He pops the lid as Preston watches. “This is lettuce. Where’s the rest of it?”
“I didn’t realize lunch inspection was part of this job.” The snark in my voice is masking my inner turmoil.
Easton walks my salad over to the garbage can and tosses the entire thing.
Preston chuckles. “I’ll come back later.”
“Go to the bathroom, or whatever it is you need to do, and then we’re going to lunch.”
I go to argue, but he cuts me off.
“Lexi, I’m starving, and I need you to talk me through the files. I’m sorry I threw your lettuce away. It was brown, slimy, and wilted. You couldn’t eat it, anyway.”
“You’re lucky I need this job so badly, or you would have found those files in the shredder.”
Easton rolls his eyes, but I don’t miss the corner of his lips twitching, either.
“Are you always this difficult?”
“Are you always this bossy?” he shoots back.
“As a matter of fact, I am.”
“Well, this should be interesting then because you haven’t seen difficult yet, Lexi.”
He places a hand on the small of my back to guide me out of the room, and I know from this one, innocent gesture he can never touch me again.
Chapter 5
Easton
By the time we finish lunch, Lexi has given me the highlights as she could gather them, and it’s after six before we leave the Italian place I love. I hate to admit I was disappointed to watch her push the food around her plate. Who doesn’t love Italian food?
One comment she made keeps coming back to me.
“It’s almost like the files were purposefully disorganized.”
I’d come to the same conclusion on the last project I went head-to-head with Macomb on, and it’s setting off all kinds of red flags. Working with Lexi will be a special kind of torture, but perhaps it’s exactly what I need. She may hate me for reasons unknown, but I have no doubt she’s loyal to family.
After dropping Lexi off at her apartment with Leo in tow, I head home. I’ll need to talk with her sooner rather than later, but for now, I have to think, so I head to my workshop—my happy place. The one space where everything always makes sense, and I get to work on sexy Lexi’s desk.
It smells of sawdust as I pull back the bay doors, and though I should, I don’t bother stripping out of my suit. I can picture her so clearly—clean lines with iron accents in the warmest shade of gray.Stoic with a touch of sadness. The thought makes me pause. Am I describing the desk or the woman?
It takes me no time to sketch her and choose the perfect grains of wood. By the time I step back, my suit is beyond repair, but I don’t give a shit. I’ll need to talk to Brian at the mill for the iron detailing I have in mind, but he should be able to get it done by the week’s end. I’ll pay him enough that it becomes his priority.
The sense of accomplishment I achieve here in my haven isn’t like anything else in my life. If things had been different, this might have been my world. I might have been happy.
