by ANDREA SMITH
“Darcy—cover my calls, please. My mobile’s going to be off during lunch.”
I looked quickly over at Lacee and saw the smug grin on her face right before she turned and followed Easton down the hall towards the lobby.
Fucking son-of-a-bitch, man-whore, shit-stain, ass-hat!
I felt my cheeks burning with anger at the obvious implications of their “lunch date.”
Lunch date? Hah! I hoped Lacee took her own advice and had a supply of disposable douches handy, so the rest of us wouldn’t be exposed to the smell of sex all fucking afternoon!
Being infuriated was actually a boost to my productivity, I discovered. I bulldozed through the stack of work on my desk, finishing most everything up by two o’clock, noticing that Easton had yet to return from his lunch date. I started filing things away and got a call around two-thirty from Easton.
“Darcy, I won’t be back in the office this afternoon,” he said. “Did I have anything scheduled? I forgot to look before I left.”
“One moment please while I check,” I replied, coolly. I glanced down at his schedule and saw he had a 4:15 with Nelson Pratt, the Manager of H.R. Probably to get input on the appropriate disciplinary action to take with me. Nelson was part of Easton’s beloved transition team.
I pushed the hold button, speaking into my desk phone. “You’re all clear,” I lied.
“Splendid,” he said. “Are you making good progress on catching up?”
“I’m nearly caught up,” I replied. “Just working on a week’s worth of filing.”
“Okay then. Good to know. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yep,” I said, ending the call.
Well, I guess he’d made it perfectly clear he was worn-out from his two-hour nooner fuck-fest with Lacee. I dug through my inbox and saw that he’d signed off on one of Lacee’s travel expense reports. Maybe I should go ahead and hand-deliver it to the skank to make sure she didn’t reek of sex. I’d love to throw a disposable douche in her face right about now.
I went upstairs to the offices the transition team from Baronton was using. I went down the aisles of all the cubicles until I came to hers. It was empty. Her computer was shut down, and it looked as if her desk was cleaned off.
Strange…
Just then, I saw Jason Lipscomb, one of the other transition team members coming down the aisle. His cubicle was next to Lacee’s.
“Hi, Darcy,” he greeted with a smile. “Looking for someone?”
“Yeah, actually,” I replied as I looked back at Lacee’s empty desk. “There were some questions on Lacee’s latest expense report; I needed some clarification.”
He got a weird expression on his face. “Oh, uh, well she’s not here at the moment. She called in a little while ago and said she wouldn’t be back today.”
“Huh,” I probably said a little too eagerly, as I tried to cover up the look of surprise on my face. “Well, I guess it can wait until tomorrow. I’ll get with her then.” I made sure I finished with a smile.
“Why don’t you just leave it on her desk with a note of what needs clarification? That way, you won’t have to make another trip up here,” he suggested. “Or, if you want to tell me, I can let her know. She may be calling in later today.”
“No, no—that’s okay,” I said. “I might be able to figure it out myself.”
Again, he gave me a funny look as I made a quick departure down the hallway to the stairs.
How fucking obvious were those two? I was going to let Daddy know he’d made a monumental mistake selling off controlling interest to that man-whore with his little harem.
I stomped back downstairs and filed the rest of afternoon, furiously cramming invoices and purchase order copies into overloaded files.
Around 4:00 my cell rang. Oh shit, it was Lindsey.
“Hey,” I said, trying to sound way more chipper than I felt.
“Hey yourself,” she said. “How’s it going? How was England?”
I couldn’t hide this from her and I kinda needed to do some venting of my own. And who’s a better sounding board than a girl’s double-x-chromosome-carrying best friend, right?
“Oh, you know…,” I drawled. “I wore the perfume I stole from you two Christmases ago for my presentation; the weather was okay. I think I may have almost OD’d on British hooch, and yeah, I slept with a guy who I promised myself I’d let go of, found out that he may just be a misogynistic asshole—who, by the way, happens to be the same guy that signs my paychecks. Oh, and I had some amazing sushi today for lunch. So, how’s it going with you?” I studied my nails, allowing her to catch up.
4…
3…
2…
1…
“What?!” she shrieked, as only Lindsey could. “It wasn’t my Dolce and Gabbana perfume, was it? Because I’ve been looking everywhere for it. I thought maybe I’d left it at—”
“Linds.” I brought her back.
I heard her sigh through the phone. “I know, it’s Easton. And I just have one question for you, Darcy Nicole. Why in the hell would you ask for seconds with a guy like that?”
I gave her a petulant scowl. I know she couldn’t see me, but I felt that it added effect all the same. “What do you mean a guy like that?”
“Umm? A guy who we literally caught at my rehearsal dinner, screwing his assistant? And then a couple of weeks later he merges his company with your dad’s, promoting you as his new assistant. You know—that guy? And I know he’s my half brother-in-law and everything, but what were you thinking?”
Leave it to good ol’ Lindsey to restate the obvious.
“It’s complicated,” I explained lamely.
“Well,” was her reply, “I talked to Jill yesterday, and she’ll be in town tomorrow night. Taz has baby detail, so maybe you’ll be able to explain your complicated love life to the both of us at dinner tomorrow? We’ll have drinks and you can unload the whole shebang to us. Deal?”
“Hell yeah,” I said, clicking and dragging another file to its parental folder. “Same rules apply: Jill covers valet and overall tips, you buy drinks, and I buy dinner?”
“Yep!” Lindsey confirmed. “Oh, and this can’t wait until tomorrow. Guess who’s been asking Taz about you?”
“Santa Claus,” I stage-whispered into my cell. “Yeah…London kind of put me on the naughty list.”
“Save it for tomorrow night, lovely,” Lindsey responded. “No. Darin asked about you.”
Whaaat?
“Why?” I asked.
“I guess he’s been desperately lost without you,” she told me with stage effects of her own. “He’s been trying to get Taz to talk to me so that I’d talk to you.”
I mulled that one over.
Lindsey continued, “You know, at least he’s admitting his mistake. Doesn’t everyone deserve a second chance? I mean, you did kind of give Easton one.”
Low blow.
I tried to close my gaping mouth. “Oh come on, Linds. Totally different scenarios. Easton and I…we were just physical. Darin and I, on the other hand, well, I was with him for how long?”
A couple of seconds went by. “You’re rolling your eyes, aren’t you?” I asked/accused.
“Damn, you’re good,” she acknowledged with a laugh. “Can I at least tell Taz that I did say something to you?”
“Whatevs,” I told her, already a little mentally exhausted at the thought. “I really don’t give a shit. But for the record, I don’t see Darin and I going anywhere.”
“You never can tell,” she countered in her sing-song voice. “Meet us at Busbee’s around six tomorrow night, okay?”
“I’ll be there.” I hit END-call.
Several minutes later, Nelson Pratt was in my office to keep his 4:15 appointment with Easton.
“He’s not here,” I said, as I walked over to the file cabinet.
“We had a 4:15 appointment,” Nelson replied, frowning.
Duh!
“He must’ve forgotten, Nelson. He left with a female employee for lunch and hasn’t returned.”
There. That ought to stir some shit…
“I see,” he said, obviously perplexed. “That’s odd. Nevertheless, I guess I’ll catch him tomorrow.”
I finished up in the office and then headed home where I filled Eli in on everything that’d happened after he’d stopped by at lunch.
“No!” he said, obviously aghast at the situation.
“Oh yeah,” I replied, shaking my head. “Do you believe he’s tapping that again?”
“Honey,” he said, taking my hand into his consolingly, “men can be real pigs at times. There’s no doubt about it. I’m glad you’re going out with the girls tomorrow night.”
“I guess,” I replied. “Right now I just need my girl buddies to help me with…whatever this is.”
“Hey, what am I?”
“You’re my brotha from anotha.” I tossed him a huge smile and an even bigger wink.
chapter 33
~ Easton ~
Today was royally fucked. There was no other way to describe it. I was starting to wonder why I simply didn’t thoroughly clean house with all of my holdings, and make it a ‘male-only’ corporation. Females, with their constant struggles with hormonal imbalance, mood swings and overall bitchiness, were tiring.
I’d been hit with Darcy’s hostility first thing this morning on an issue where she was clearly at fault. She was lucky we weren’t in the bedroom. My palm had been twitching to find itself against the soft skin of her arse at full velocity in response to the haughty attitude she presented. I would have to think long and hard about an appropriate disciplinary action for her behaviour and insubordination.
Then, the lunch with Lacee clearly wasn’t what she’d expected. I knew immediately with the way she was dressed and made up she figured I was re-inviting her into my life and into my bed. Not even close. I’d decided to invite her to lunch in order to deliver the news of the disciplinary action I was imposing, based on the information I received from Devon Roberts. I’d learned during my visit to Leeds that Lacee had assured Devon that she’d call in daily to Leeds while Devon was out. Lacee had promised her she would apprise me if there were issues in meeting deadlines or if anything was slipping. That hadn’t happened. What’s more, when one of the entry-level admins called Lacee to raise the red flag on the Turkish bid proposal not being finished, she’d deliberately kept it from me.
Lacee hadn’t taken it well when I gave her ten days off without pay and advised her that a letter of reprimand was going into her personnel file. She’d barely contained herself in the restaurant, grabbing her handbag and storming out, mumbling profanity the whole way.
I took another sip of my bourbon and branch, relaxing against the sofa in my hotel room, trying to chill out and gather my thoughts. It was damn difficult working around Darcy again and keeping my dick from rising to the occasion every time she sashayed in and out of my office. Fuck. I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her when she was leaning over to open a file drawer. I’d purposely moved all of the expense files to the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet in my office for that very reason. I enjoyed the view while she was filing.
Yeah—I know. I’m a pig, but what’s the harm in appreciating her fine ass as much as possible?
She was so damn prickly with me in London, taking off like that when she knew damn well I needed to clue her in on what it takes to be a manager and eventually a leader. The first lesson she needed to learn was to take orders. I could tell she wasn’t accustomed to that, but then again, her old man had given me fair warning. This morning she’d acted like she wanted me to fire her ass, almost daring me to do it. Fuck that! Darcy Nicole Sheridan wasn’t going anywhere yet.
My mobile rang and I saw it was Nelson Pratt.
Bloody Christ! What now?
“Nelson,” I answered, “what can I do for you?”
“Sorry to bother you after hours, Easton, but I’m not going to be in the office until after lunch tomorrow. I wanted to see if you were available in the afternoon to reschedule our meeting relative to the letter we’re putting in Lacee’s permanent file.”
Reschedule?
“I’m sorry, Nelson, I’m at a loss. Did I miss an appointment?”
“No worries,” he was quick to answer. “We were supposed to meet today at 4:15. Your assistant said you’d forgotten about it and hadn’t returned from…uh…a long lunch when I went down to your office.”
The little vixen. She’d said my schedule was clear for the day…
“Sorry, Nelson. Apparently, Darcy and I got our wires crossed. Yes, we can meet tomorrow. I gave Lacee the news that she’s getting a couple of weeks off at lunch today. I felt it best to deliver that in a public place, off site.”
“Very good point,” he replied. “So, then we’ll finish the letter tomorrow afternoon?”
“Certainly. Stop down anytime. I’m at your disposal.”
I smiled after we ended our call. Darcy was an addictive girl who was addicted to trouble, it seemed.
I got up and refilled my glass, dropping a few more cubes of ice into it.
Well, she’d definitely found some.
chapter 34
I took pains with my work attire the following morning. It wasn’t as easy as the magazines made it sound, going from office attire to after-five attire without changing outfits. Since I was meeting Lindsey and Jill downtown, there was no time to leave work to run home and change before six o’clock.
I selected a form-fitting red knit dress and accessorized it with a red and black print bolero jacket that would hide the fact that the dress had spaghetti straps and a snug bust line, making it totally a cocktail dress without it. I pulled my hair up into a ponytail, not wanting to fuck with it since I’d overslept a bit this morning. I shoved a pair of fuck-me shoes into my over-sized shoulder bag and slipped on a pair of sensible pumps for the office. I made sure my make-up case was in my bag so I could at least freshen-up before leaving the office. It wouldn’t do for Lindsey or Jill to think Darcy Sheridan was less than well-coiffed these days.
Eli had left for his morning ritual at Starbuck’s. It was his damn fault that I’d overslept! He’d invited Cain for a sleepover and their fuckfest had kept me awake for hours. I’d grab some strong coffee at work. Maybe I was just grumpy because everyone I loved had someone and I had no one. Maybe it wasn’t all that crazy to consider talking to Darin again. I mean, was there really any harm in hearing what he had to say?
Easton was already in his office when I arrived at work. I could hear him on a conference call with some of his GMs over in the U.K. I loved listening to the British banter usually, but this morning I was in major need of caffeine. I slipped down to the cafeteria to fill my mug and saw Eli talking to one of the transition team peeps. I smiled and shook my head as I filled my mug. Eli and his friggin’ gossip.
As I turned to walk back towards the hallway, I heard him call out.
“Darce, hold up,” he said, catching up to me, looking all perky and well-rested.
Pshhh—yeah, right!
“I’m surprised you can move that quickly this morning, Eli,” I said, taking a sip of my hot coffee.
He blew me an air kiss. “Good morning to you my gorgeous, jealous friend.” Glancing around him, he quickly added, “But never mind that, I just heard a very juicy tidbit from Rochelle over on the transition team.”
“Do tell,” I said, continuing down the hall.
“Well, you know when you were pissing and whining last night while Maddox and I were trying to watch The Real Housewives’ of Wherever about Easton doing the nasty with Lacee on his lunch break?”
He definitely had my attention now. I stopped dead in my tracks, coffee sloshing over the side of my mug.
“Yes?”
“Didn’t happen,” he replied, a smug look on his face.
“Okaaaay, and you k
now this how?”
“Well, Rochelle’s fucking Nelson Pratt, and—”
“Ewww!” I interjected, not really loving the visual I was getting on that.
“Shhh,” he said. “Let me finish, please?”
“Sorry, yeah that was just not a way to start a sentence.” I closed my eyes, wishing I could burn my corneas. “Continue.”
“Well, apparently last night’s pillow talk shed some light on the lunch date Lacee had with Easton. He took her to lunch so he could let her know she’s being given two weeks off with no pay and having a formal letter of reprimand put in her permanent personnel file. She evidently fucked something up at the Leeds facility. Nelson was supposed to get with Easton yesterday to finalize the letter, but I guess Easton missed the meeting, so they’re wrapping it up today.”
Oh…Shit.
Eli noticed my expression and frowned. “I thought you’d think that was good news,” he said, not hiding his disappointment.
“Oh sorry, Eli, yeah of course it’s good news, I guess. No, wait a minute. Why the fuck should I care?”
He rolled his eyes at me, shaking his head. “Which is it Darce? Good news? Or you don’t give a shit?”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure anymore. We’ll talk later,” I said, turning off to the hallway that led to the executive offices.
“Have a nice day,” he called out after me, still sounding all chipper for someone that hadn’t gotten much sleep, but for the right reasons.
Bitch!
Once I was settled at my desk and signed onto my computer, I saw I had an e-mail from Easton. It was short and didn’t sound very sweet.
‘Would you kindly step into my office, Ms. Sheridan’
Thaaaat’s not good.
I downed the rest of my coffee as liquid courage and grabbed my notebook and pen, heading into his office. He didn’t bother to look away from his laptop, but he knew I was there.
“Take a seat, Darcy,” he said. “I just need to finish this last sentence.”
I sat down, crossed my legs, and waited. Several moments later, he stopped pecking on his laptop and turned his attention to me. His gray eyes flickered over me, as if he was seeing me again for the first time. He folded his hands on his desk in front of him and looked me in the eye. I couldn’t read his mood.
