Page 47 of Boss On Notice
And just so I couldn’t absolutely insist on not taking the money, my parents had already transferred the funds into my account. So now, I’m independently rich, sort of. I’m not Lord or Grove rich, but I now have options. It’s Monday morning, the start of a new week. I’m sitting at my desk and if I weren’t such a woman of my word, I would pack my desk up and leave this job forever.
“Good morning,” Orion says as he whisks into the office almost like Kramer on Seinfeld. “Did you get my message?”
I got his message, although I hadn’t looked at it until last night.
I start typing up last week’s expense report. Before he entered, I was daydreaming.
“Yes. You’re sorry you had to leave. Your apology is accepted. And by the way, let’s just call it one and done.” My fingers type just as forcefully as my sigh. “We’ll just get back to sanity.” I stop typing and smile at him. My face hurts.
“I had fun on Friday night,” he says as he sits on the edge of his desk.
I try to decipher the energy and face that he’s giving me. My intuition is warning me not to fall for whatever he’s serving.
“Me too.”
“I was thinking…” The door opens and in walks the sound of sprightly high heels tapping against the floor.
“Good morning.” Heather sweeps past my desk and stops directly in front of Orion. “You left these at dinner last night.”
I force my jaw to stay put. I will not let myself frown either. I get back to work as whatever she gives Orion jingles. It sounds like keys.
“I told you I would pick them up later,” he grumbles.
“I was in the neighborhood and Rodolpho knows me so I didn’t have a problem getting past the guard. Hi, Delilah.”
I halt the feverish speed of my typing and look up at her. Her fake smile is very pretty. The two of them standing together present as the perfect rich and snobby couple.
“Hello, Heather, good morning,” I say.
Her smile slowly shrinks to nothing as she cuts her eyes away from me. That one act is saying you’re not worth more attention than I’ve already given you. I want to get up and run out of the office and leave the two of them alone. But that savors too much like wound-licking.
“So, tonight, I was thinking you should pick me up at seven,” she says.
The numbers on my computer are beginning to merge into each other. I’m fuming for so many fucking reasons.
“Seven…” Orion pauses. I know he’s checking that damn watch of his.
I spring to my feet. “Going to the ladies’ room, O.” Yes, I called him O. I would say more but not in front of Heather. I’ve already given her the satisfaction of knowing that she has gotten to me just by making me walk out of my place of work.
I feel dizzy as I pad down the hallway. I don’t have to go to the ladies’ room. Instead, I ride up to the fourth floor to buy coffee. The line is long as usual. But I don’t mind waiting. I have a lot of cooling off to do. I have to be my own shrink in this situation. Orion Lord is not the man for me. Sure, he gave me an apology, but he’s not bursting at the seams to make me feel special. No…he wants to treat me like his other dames. He wants me to be happy with a kernel of his attention while he comes and goes as he pleases. That’s not good enough for me.
“Hey, Lila!” Colby, one of the baristas, calls from behind the register.
I look around to make sure he’s talking to me. He’s looking right at me, so yes, I’m the Lila or Delilah in the room that he’s addressing.
I step out of the line and walk to the front. “Yeah?” I’m so unsure why he called me to the front. Has Orion tracked me down?
“How are you doing this morning?” he asks, handing me a sixteen-ounce cup of something.
“What’s this?”
“Your regular.”
“My regular?”
“Vanilla bean latte with a dusting of chocolate powder under the foam.”
I shake my head, confused as hell. “But why?”
