Page 8 of Only Forever

He starts for the door, but Cassandra laces her arm through his before he can make it there. “We’ll all go. Come on. Beckett’s treating us to lunch.”

When I remain standing, she motions for me to follow her. “You too, Lilac.”

I check my watch. “It’s not time for lunch yet.”

“The boss can’t tattle on you when you’re with him.” She winks.

“I’m not concerned about the boss. I’m concerned about finishing my work on time.”

Beckett halts. “Are you going to miss a deadline?”

I lock my jaw to keep myself from lashing out at him. I have never missed a deadline. He should know this. Instead, he continues to question my work time and time again. I am the most competent environmental engineer at the company, but he acts as if I graduated college yesterday and have never successfully completed a project.

“I don’t miss deadlines, because I don’t sneak off for lunch at 11 a.m.,” I respond in a calm voice despite my desire to throw my tablet at him.

“We’re not sneaking,” Cassandra claims.

“Because someone’s got too big of a mouth to sneak anywhere,” Elizabeth says.

Cassandra stops and props her fists on her hips. “I’ll have you know I snuck out of the house just fine when we were going up.”

Beckett groans. “Stop. I don’t want to know. All of you survived.” He briefly glances at Gabrielle before continuing. “And you are functioning adults now. Let’s not re-hash the past.”

“You don’t want to hear about the time I snuck out and went to a Pearl Jam concert?”

He pinches his nose. “No, I do not.”

I cough to cover up my laugh. Seeing Beckett frustrated is worth a few awkward moments in the restroom with his sisters.

“Have a nice lunch,” I say as I leave to return to my office.

“Lilac,” Beckett calls. I stop but don’t glance back. “I’ll drop in after lunch to discuss your deadlines.”

I nod because it’s impossible to speak with my teeth clenched together. I wait until I’m certain they’re gone before I stomp to my office.

I throw my tablet on my desk before closing my eyes and counting to ten. Once I reach ten, I continue until twenty. I give up when I’ve counted to one hundred. There’s no calming down after Beckett basically said he doesn’t believe I will meet my deadlines.

I have done nothing but work my ass off for this company. What have I ever done to make Beckett believe I’m incompetent?

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