Page 8 of Boss On Notice
Wrong response, buddy.“And it’s not as though you don’t know better because I think you do. You had referred to me as Lilly this morning. You know…when you were trying to butter me up for some mysterious reason.” A reason that I think isn’t actually so mysterious. He read the letter. He said he hadn’t. But I can write the book on Orion Lord and all his behavior points to him knowing that I’m on the verge of quitting.
Remaining as cool as a cucumber, Orion strokes one side of his perfectly symmetrical face. “Then you prefer Lilly?”
I set my jaw. “Yes.”
“But why not Lila? Delilah—Lila, not Lilly.”
Just look at him…He looks proud of himself, entitled actually.Two weeks, Lilly, and then poof—he’ll be out of your life forever.
Resigned to the fact that soon we will be strangers, I say with a slight snarl, “Do whatever you like.”
Orion waves a finger. “No…don’t leave it at whatever, make the case.”
Make the case?My mouth will not close. He and I leer at each other until the captain announces that the airplane is taxiing to the runway. Meanwhile the flight attendants come out of their private room and ask if we would like mimosas before takeoff.
“We’re fine, Pippa,” Orion answers, not taking his eyes off me.
“I’ll take one,” I say. I still haven’t stopped picturing myself kicking that smug look off his face.
Pippa sets one of two flute glasses on her silver tray in front of me and then sashays to the room at the rear of the cabin.
Now that we’re all alone, he asks, “What do you want to say, Delilah?”
With eyebrows pinched together, he’s staring at my mouth. I take the tension out of my lips to keep them from twitching.
“Just say it,” he urges.
“I’m trying to figure out how to say it.”
“Say what?”
“Explain how you just gaslit me. How you’re always gaslighting me.”
Orion leans away from me, seeming genuinely confused. “I always gaslight you?”
“Yes, gaslight. For instance, my initial request was that you call me Lilly instead of Lila and…” I’m gesturing wildly with my hands.
He coolly raises a finger in objection. “To my defense, you never offered me the chance to call you Lilly. And I’m not forcing you to question your own judgment. I’m merely asking you a question.”
“Hmm…” Narrowing one eye, my mind races back to the start of our chat. He might be right. Shit, I hate it when on rare occasions he’s unequivocally right. “Delilah will do.”
“Ah…” Orion presses one hand over his heart as if my words have just stabbed him there. “That hurts.”
“Flight attendants, please prepare for takeoff,” the captain says.
I continue blinking at Orion as I drink my mimosa. It’s really delicious. The smooth takeoff and stress-free cross-country traveling makes me truly realize that I’m being abnormally hard on him. Maybe I should dial it back a few notches.
“Then call me Lilly,” I say in a rush.
He’s smirking victoriously. “So, Lilly, how well do you know Lynx?”
My eyebrows rise and hold. I hadn’t expected him to ask me that. “Not well.” I sound disappointed about it because I am.
After a moment of thick silence he says, “It didn’t appear that way.”
I shrug nonchalantly. He’s probably right. There’s a high level of sexual magnetism between Lynx and me. I would definitely like to know more about Lynx Grove and maybe Orion’s just the man to feed me the details.
“What’s his story anyway?” I ask.
