Page 17 of Hard to Forgive

“Do you want to tackle this one together?” Isabel asked, nudging me to get my attention. I’d been too focused on the words on the screen. “We could come up with two different proposals, or we could just submit one with both of our names on it.”

I thought for a moment. “I actually have a few ideas. Would you be offended if I worked on my own today?”

She shook her head, that gentle smile on her pink lips. “It takes a lot more than a coworker wanting to solo a task to offend me,” she assured me. “Now, if you suddenly decide that Logan is your new work bestie, then we might have to talk…”

I snorted. Like that would even be possible. Logan and Declan had glommed onto one another moments after the first huddle, just like Isabel and I had. I had a feeling, just watching them, that they’d known one another for awhile. Maybe they’d worked on other projects together, or maybe they knew one another outside of work. King’s Bay wasn’t exactly a major city, after all.

I pulled my own computer out of my laptop bag and turned in my desk chair to the desk that I claimed every day but rarelyused. As I waited for it to load, I stole a few glances at Jonas. He’d closed his computer and had a notebook out in front of him. That was an interesting strategy for the assignment. I didn’t even know that people stillusedpen and paper at Brighton.

I watched a few minutes longer. He switched pens several times, each time only drawing a line, like he was testing the quality or color of the pens and choosing his favorites. For the first time, he wasn’t glowering at me, so I could indulge in watching him. He moved methodically, lining up each pen when he finished with them. After he’d tested several, he turned to a new page in his notebook, rummaged through his bag, and pulled out an actual ruler.

Had he raided an Office Depot? Who carried a ruler?

I was watching him make a careful line when Isabel nudged me from behind. “Can you stop watching your crush and actually work before Yvette comes over here and catches you slacking?” she scolded me.

“I wasn’t—I don’t have a crush on Jonas,” I stammered. I had afascinationwith the other man, because he was fun to mess with and because he was physically drawing his design ideas. It wasn’t a crush. Sure, we’d had a hot hookup before realizing who the other one was, but still, not a crush.

It had never been a crush when it came to Jonas Koetter. It had always just been fascination.

I sighed and focused on my own computer.

The morning flew by once I began focusing on my own work instead of Jonas. Before long, Yvette was calling all of us to attention and dismissing us for our lunch breaks. Isabel turnedto face me just as my phone vibrated in my pocket. I held up a finger to stop her before pulling it out.

Uncle J

Join me for lunch?

Silas

You have great timing, old man.

Uncle J

Be in my office in ten. If we run late, I’ll let Yvette know you were with me.

I really hoped he didn’t have to do that. I wasn’t even sure if she knew my relation to the CEO.

“Want to eat together?” Isabel asked the moment my phone was pocketed.

My heart sank. I did want to eat with Isabel, just as we had every day that week, but I couldn’t. It wasn’t like I could bring her upstairs to my uncle’s office. “I can’t today,” I answered.

“I’m assuming that was a better offer?”

“Maybe not a better offer, just a different one. We can eat together tomorrow?”

“I’m just teasing you,” she assured me. “Go eat lunch with your mysterious texter and tell me about it later.”

I rolled my eyes. She made it seem like whoever I was meeting was intriguing. Maybe to her, it was. But to me? I could think of several people I’d rather spend my lunch break eating with than my uncle. Isabel was on that list, simply by virtue of the fact that I genuinely liked the girl. She was on her way to becoming a good friend, and Lord only knew I needed a few of those.

I waited until Isabel left before heading to the elevator. I didn’t want her questioning why I was going up to the executive offices instead of down to the break room or the ground floor like the rest of my team. I rode the elevator to the top floor and noddedat the receptionist, a lady who had worked for my uncle for as long as I could remember.

She used to keep a stock of candy and storybooks in her desk drawer for the times my parents would send me to my uncle’s when they couldn’t find other childcare. I wondered if she still did that, and if she did, who used them. Did any of the executives ever choose to unwind with a coloring book and a KitKat bar? I might have, if I’d been one of them.

She motioned me through to my uncle’s office. The door was open, and my uncle was sitting behind his desk, typing rapidly at his computer. The keyboard clicked dramatically as his fingers raced over the letters. He didn’t even stop when he noticed me. “Let me just finish this email, and then we can eat,” he stated apologetically.

I nodded, but he didn’t notice. He was already back to typing whatever he was writing. I slipped into one of the over sized leather chairs opposite him. I wondered if I could convince him to let me take one of these chairs downstairs to my work area. It was so much more comfortable than the office chairs we had at our cubicles.

But then, how would I explain that to anyone on my team?

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