Page 128 of Nuclear Option (Owens Protective Services)

“Fox, you have a whole arsenal downstairs. You can’t possibly think there aren’t any weapons for you.”

“I know, but…”

I rolled my eyes and grabbed Sally 2 out of his hands. “I’d better not see you going anywhere near her.”

I turned and headed for my office, desperate to get away from the chaos of moving in. After taking three weeks to recover from my gunshot, I decided it was time to get the company moving again. It was really for the best. The west coast was still trying to get up and running again, and this put us in the position to actually get some fucking work done.

I swung my office door open and stared at the beautiful desk waiting for me. Since this was supposed to be an actual office building, my main office was on the ground level, with all operations below ground. I walked over to the gun cabinet on the wall and gently placed Sally inside, locking the door after making sure she was positioned just right.

“Would you sit down?” Eva scolded me as she walked into the room. “You’re supposed to be taking it easy. It’s been three weeks.”

“Three weeks of boredom.”

“Three weeks of you acting like you didn’t just get shot in the neck,” she snipped, guiding me over to my chair. She practically shoved me down in it, then sat up on my desk. “You need to take care of yourself.”

“I have you for that,” I said, rolling myself closer to the desk. A look I knew all too well crossed over her face. She didn’t want to tell me she was going to leave. I knew it was coming, but I refused to accept it. Until she said the words, I was pretending like everything was fine. If she walked away, it would kill me.

“So,” she said, changing the subject. “What can I do to help out around here?”

I glanced around the office, looking at the boxes stuffed with shit that I didn’t want to deal with. She followed my gaze and gave me a knowing smile.

“Really? You want me to play secretary?”

“Hey, you did not hear the word secretary leave my lips.”

“Yeah, but you were thinking it.” She hopped off the desk and walked over to the first box, flipping the lid off. “So, have you thought about who you’re going to hire?”

“For what?”

“To be your secretary,” she said.

“I was actually thinking I would offer you the job,” I answered, hoping she would take the offer.

Her hand stilled just as she was reaching into the box, then she started pulling out office supplies to bring over to my desk. “You don’t want me as your secretary.”

“Who says?”

“Me. I would do a terrible job. Just think of me constantly being in your face.”

“Just think of all the times you could crawl under my desk,” I answered, giving her a smirk.

“Yeah, somehow I never thought of myself as being the secretary that provided favors to the boss. Besides, what would everyone else think?”

“They would think that you’re my woman and they should probably knock before entering. You’d be my first line of defense, in a sense.”

She snorted at that, then set a cup of pens on my desk, fiddling with it to get it just right. She was avoiding my gaze, so I knew there was something she was going to tell me. I waited it out. I wasn’t going to make any of this easier on her.

“So, I thought I would go spend the day tomorrow with my aunt.”

“Are they unpacked already?”

She shook her head. “No, I thought I would help her out.”

Gayle and Noah had moved back here much to Noah’s absolute disgust of the idea. The farmhouse she’d originally stayed at was still in her name, and it was only about an hour drive from where we were located.

“Sure, I can drive you over there.”

“Actually, I want to go alone.” Still avoiding my gaze, she walked back over to the box and pulled out an inbox tray for my desk and set it on the corner. “You know, it’s just been so long since I’ve spent any time with her. I think I need to go alone and…it’s just been so long.”

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