Page 5 of Venom and Lace

I felt a “but” coming and sat up straight in my seat.

He leaned forward, folding his hands together on his desk. “Unfortunately, we have plans for that specific location and are not planning to lease it out.”

I gripped the edge of his desk, my knuckles turning white. This couldn’t be the end. We had shipments being delivered there within the next few weeks. More than triple the normal amount. Without this warehouse, we had nowhere to store our products, nowhere to package them or fulfill orders. The penalty for cancelling or redirecting them would cost us thousands. This could be an immense blow to our business. This one incident was enough to cost us months of hard work.

“Mr. Goodacre…” I was cut off by the shrill ring of his office phone.

He looked at the screen and drew his eyebrows together. “My apologies, I need to take this.” He held the phone to his ear, looking back and forth between the two of us. I could hear a muffled voice on the other end, but couldn’t make out what the person was saying. Juliet tapped her foot against the carpet and glanced at me. I looked pointedly at her, then down to where my hands were clasped in my lap, out of sight of Mr. Goodacre. I crossed my middle fingers and wiggled my hand back and forth. Juliet relaxed in her seat and grinned, mimicking my movement.

It was our secret code, something we had been doing for years. A sign that we had each other and we would figure it out no matter what.

Mr. Goodacre hung up his phone and cleared his throat. “If you’ll excuse me for just one moment.”

We nodded our heads as he walked around his desk, his movements tense. He pressed some buttons on a panel on the other side of his room, another barely visible door sliding open, and he went through.

As soon as the door slid shut, Juliet whipped her head towards me. “OK, what is with this place?” She looked over her shoulder. “Security guards up the ass, secret door panels—it’s weird, right?”

I turned in my seat and looked around the office. “It’s a little strange for a real estate company.” I stood and walked towards the floor-to-ceiling windows behind Mr. Goodacre’s desk and looked out. “I guess when you have an unlimited amount of money, you can afford to design your office like a wizard’s house.”

Juliet snickered and reached over the desk to grab his pen. She studied it between her fingers and twirled it. “This is nice.” She pressed the clicker repeatedly, looking pleased with her new toy.

“Jules, don’t do it, you klepto.” I walked back to where she was sitting and grabbed the pen from her hand, placing it back on the desk.

“Oh, he won’t even notice.” She snatched it back and stuffed it into her purse. The door swooshed open a moment later.

I cleared my throat, tugging my blouse to straighten it, and faced forward. Juliet did the same, a smirk on her face. Juliet James, everybody. Master businesswoman, thief of small office supplies. We were quite the pair.

Mr. Goodacre walked around us, a newspaper tucked under his arm. He sat down and laid the newspaper face down and reached into a desk drawer to pull out a thick binder. He leaned forward, elbows on the desk, and clasped his hands together. I squirmed in my seat as he studied my face.

“Although this commercial facility is not available for lease, we have one available north of here that will fit your needs.”

“Mr. Goodacre.” Juliet scooted to the edge of her seat and placed her hand palm down on his desk. “We appreciate the offer, but this location is the one we need. All of our suppliers are directing shipments there in a month. It would be impossible to change at this point without costing us thousands of dollars. We needthislocation.” She drummed her fingers against his desk and batted her eyelashes. “Please.”

He eyed Juliet, his lip twitching at the corner. “Miss James, my hands are tied. However”—he tapped on the binder—“I have been authorized by the owner to show you an alternate location available for lease, at the same price as the other warehouse.” He opened the binder and pushed it towards us.

I peered down and cringed. This was over two hours away in the middle of nowhere. The commute alone would be at least four hours per day. Four precious hours wasted. I shook my head and sighed. This wouldn’t work.

“I thought you were the owner. Your name is Goodacre, isn’t it?” Juliet reached over and straightened his nameplate on his desk.

“Ah, simple mistake. My brother is the owner. I am his, and the company’s, lead attorney.” He slid the newspaper across the desk in my direction. “I believe the two of you have already met.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and turned the paper over. Not a newspaper, a tabloid,The Weekly Wet. My face heated as I skimmed the headline. “Local Philanthropist and Billionaire Caught in Passionate Embrace with Unknown Woman.”

I prayed at that moment for the floor to open and swallow me up whole. The picture they had used showed me and the man in the elevator, Mr. Dimples—well Mr. Goodacre, I assumed—locked in a tight embrace, his arms wrapped around my body holding me close, my hands gripping his jacket, our lips inches apart. It looked like two lovers having a moment. It definitely looked scandalous.

Juliet gawked at the picture, looking back and forth between the paper and me. I pulled on the collar of my shirt, which was suddenly too tight. “I knew he was a beefcake,” Juliet mumbled under her breath.

“Well…” I blew my bangs out of my face and turned the tabloid over, hiding the picture. “It’s not what it looks like.” My laughter sounded forced even to me.

“Wow, Nova, I didn’t know you could turn that color.” Juliet’s eyes twinkled and she let out a slight wheeze when I stabbed her foot with the heel of my shoe.

A knock turned my attention to the door. Mr. Goodacre’s secretary walked in and looked pointedly at her watch. “Your ten-thirty appointment is waiting.”

“Thank you, Eve.” He nodded and waved her away. “My apologies, Miss La Roux, Miss James. I am needed elsewhere.” He flipped through pages of the binder and pulled out a sheet. “Review this at your leisure and please let me know of any questions.”

I stood, gathering my coat and purse. This was beyond awkward. First, he showed me a picture of me and his brother practically dry-humping on the front page of a trashy tabloid. Now he was kicking us out of his office without allowing me to explain. This was not how I’d pictured this meeting going. I grabbed the paper and the tabloid, shoving them into my bag as fast as I could. We made our way towards the open door and stopped at his voice.

“Miss James?”

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