Page 91 of Think Outside the Boss

I close the door behind me. My studio is toasty compared to the cold New York air, courtesy of Tristan’s electrician and the newly installed heater. I kick off my boots and hang up my coat before I call him.

“You’re back home?” he asks.

“Yes,” I tell him. “And you’re overprotective.”

He sighs on the other line. “Walking home at night is still a risk.”

“A small one. I was just at the bar next to work. It takes me fifteen minutes to walk.”

“With your co-workers?”

“Yes.” I sit down on my bed and pull up my legs. “You know, after having worked with them for a few months, I really don’t think the mole is in my department.”

There’s a smile in his voice. “I’m not surprised you’d think that.”

“It’s not because I’m biased.”

“Of course it’s not.”

“I’ve really been paying attention, you know. To their schedules and what calls they take. How they talk about projects. More so, how they talk about you or Exciteur when we’re alone together. But all of them seem loyal to the bone.”

“That’s good to know,” he says.

I fluff up a pillow behind me. “I can be a great corporate spy. I don’t know why you doubt me.”

He laughs then, warm and rich, and the sound washes away the days since we’d last seen each other. Since our snowball fight on Saturday, we’d only managed one late-night meeting since, here in my apartment. It’s been nearly four days since then.

“I don’t doubt you, Freddie. I know better than that. But I think you bring out the best in people, including someone who might be leaking information.”

“Hmm.” I take a sip of my tea, contemplating his words. “Perhaps I’m the one who has to make the first move. If I start talking crap about the company and your takeover, they’ll feel more comfortable to let their traitor flag fly.”

He laughs again. “You’re that good of an actress?”

“I’m good at everything. Haven’t you heard?”

“I have,” he says. “The pitch you helped Eleanor deliver today has received raving reviews.”

“Really?”

“Really,” he echoes. “I heard the head of sales talk about it, not to mention the email we received from the clients afterwards.”

I breathe out a sigh of relief. “Oh, that’s amazing. We really worked so hard on this one, and the strategy we came up with was excellent.”

“You’ll have to give the pitch to me one day.”

“Yes, well, I spent several evenings working on it this week. It better be good after all that time,” I say. On the other end, I hear the sound of his feet, and then the closing of a door. “You’re in your bedroom?”

“My home office,” he says. “You remind me of me when I was your age.”

“When you were my age? You’re not that much older than me, mister.”

“I suppose not,” he admits. “But the ambition, I mean. Working evenings and being eager to rise in the ranks.”

My gaze snags on the pictures on my dresser, the shrine to success. My parents. My grandfather. “I know you work evenings too, Tristan. And what you’ve accomplished is really inspiring. Exciteur is doing better now than it ever did before you took over the leadership.”

He brushes past the compliment. “I used to have your hunger.”

“Don’t you still?”

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