Page 15 of Obsessed Wolf Daddy

Forget the Monday blues—I practically skip up the steps to the reception. As I enter the reception area, I hear Jonah's booming voice before I even see him. He's standing next to the reception with a few colleagues, including Terrance, who are all laughing at something he said. He's gesturing wildly, and I hear him mention something about his weekend in Vegas with Cole. I consider rushing by to get to the elevator and ignoring their conversation, but my ears perk up when I hear the word "models."

My heart sinks as I realize Cole's spent the weekend at some wild party in Vegas while I've been overthinking every word in his texts. I instantly feel foolish for thinking he might have been interested in me.

I stand frozen in the doorway for a second, trying to decide whether to head for the elevator or say hello to Terrance. Before I can decide, he spots me and waves me over.

"Saffy! You've got to come hear about Jonah's weekend. I can't believe you got to go to Vegas," he says to Jonah, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "Hey, you look different," he adds to me, his eyes sweeping over my tight sweater in a way that makes me blush with embarrassment.

I force a smile and nod, trying to act interested. But inside, I feel like I want to run away. I feel stupid for getting so dressed up today—even though, in reality, I'm still not as made up as some of the women who work here. But it's a lot for me.

Most of all, I feel disappointed. And a little childish. How could I have thought Cole was really thinking of me when he texted so late? He's a billionaire—don't they all work crazy hours? He was probably just thinking about this project, not me.

Despite my disappointment, I force myself to stand there and listen to Jonah's story. He regales us with the tale of his wild weekend at the most exclusive Vegas nightclubs, beautiful women, and expensive champagne. I can see Terrance is lapping it all up. Jonah has quickly become his idol.

I just feel like I'm living in a completely different world, one where I don't belong at all.

"Obviously, Cole was a gentleman all night. You'll hear nothing else from me, or he'd have my balls. He's the boss." Jonah laughs. As I look up, I see he's looking straight at me with that mischievous glint in his eyes again.

Part of me wants to believe him, that Cole did nothing and Jonah was the wild one. I actually have no idea how wild Vegas nightclubs really are, only what I know from TV or social media. But I think back to the photos Tanya and I saw online of Cole with various models and actresses draped all over him and inwardly groan.

I'm grateful when the small crowd starts to disperse. For a moment, I think Jonah is about to say something to me or Terrance, but I don’t give him a chance. I tug Terrance’s sleeve and say, "Come on, you. We don't want to be late."

"Have you morphed into Charlotte today?” Terrance says to me. “Please don't." He laughs.

We say goodbye, and Terrance heads off to his department. I presume Charlotte is already there because she'dnever be late. I decide to stop at the coffee machine to steady my nerves for a moment. I know I'm going to see Cole when I get to the R&D department, but I'm not sure I'm ready for that just yet.

As the machine whirs and I wait for my cup to fill, I try to focus my mind away from Cole. Sarah, the friendly analyst I've been working with, said I could use their system to test my project. She was asking about our final college projects, and when I gave her a rough outline of what I've been working on, she seemed really impressed.

That's what I need to be focusing on. Not whether Cole likes my sweater or if he had sex with some model in Vegas this weekend.

With that last thought, the cup practically flies out of my hand, spilling hot water on my fingers.Damn.

"Saffy."

I turn at the sound of Terrance's voice, grabbing some napkins to wipe my wet hands and trying to ignore the burn.

"That was quick," I say, rescuing my coffee from the machine.

I notice he looks a bit stressed. "I really need your help, Saf."

"What have you done?" I sigh. Not to be mean, but Terrance tends to get himself into situations.

He looks affronted for a moment, but then his shoulders slump. "I've locked myself out of my workstation. Charlotte is off on an errand, and I can't ask anyone else...it's the third time I've done it. Please, Saf, just come and have a look. Charlotte got it to reboot last time."

"How do you not know how to do this yourself?" I ask as I follow him quickly down the hall. I'm already a few minutes late and don't have time for this.

"We all have our zones of genius, Saf. This log-in system just hates me." I have to admit, Terrance sounds genuinely worried.

The department is quiet when we walk in, and I casually sit at his workstation. He really is locked out. I try a few things to get the system to revert to the home page, but it's frozen. Terrance leans on the back of the chair, leaning over my shoulder. I don't think we've ever stood so close, and my wolf feels a little on edge to be so crowded in.

"How great does Vegas sound, Saf?" Terrance murmurs in my ear. "We should go sometime. Get out of here and live it up."

I laugh nervously. I don't know why he's making me feel so nervous all of a sudden. He's my friend. "I'm sure you'd have a better time with your friends rather than me. The Vegas Jonah was talking about sounds a bit crazy to me."

I try to concentrate on the screen, but Terrance's hand has drifted to rest on my shoulder, making my heart race. I'm sure he doesn't mean to make me uncomfortable, but I just want to get this screen working and get back to my own department as quickly as possible.

"Let's just switch the whole thing off and restart,” I advise. “If anyone says anything, just say it froze, which is kinda true. They don't need to know you locked yourself out first." I lean down to switch off his system, grateful to shrug his hand off my shoulder as I do.

He groans, and I understand why. No one wants to cause drama when they're an intern. Fingers crossed I haven't made things worse for him rather than better.

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