To: Eden Fox
From: Adam Hawthorn
Eden,
Your latest design proposal for Kozlik Holdings was rejected.
Please contact me a.s.a.p. I have tried to reach you on your phone.
This needs your immediate attention!
Adam Hawthorn
The email was dated four days ago, making Eden wince. She scanned through the remaining emails until she found more from Hawthorn, marked “attention.”
To: Eden Fox
From: Adam Hawthorn
Eden,
I realize that you are out of town on family business, but you agreed to work from there, and so far I have heard nothing from you. I’m worried.
The Kozlik Holdings contract is slipping through our fingers as I write this, and we risk losing a very lucrative contract.
This isn’t like you. Please contact me immediately.
Adam Hawthorn
Her stomach sank with a heavy, sick feeling. How could she have not checked her emails? This was bad, very bad. She quickly sent a reply to Hawthorn explaining that she hadn’t read her emails until today, promising to contact Kozlik Holdings right away and personally smooth things over with them. An email from Hawthorn came quickly on the heels of her sending her reply.
To: Eden Fox
From: Adam Hawthorn
Eden,
I’m afraid that Kozlik Holdings took their business elsewhere when we could not contact you to clarify the design proposal.
I demand an explanation. We will meet on your return, which I would advise to be as soon as possible.
Hawthorn
With the lack of his first name in the signature line, she was sure he was beyond angry. She sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes. She had never been so negligent. Her job meant everything to her. Her mind was a mess. How could she have let this happen? She had worked so hard to get to her position, and now it all dangled from a thread.
“Knock, knock!” Chase joked as he slowly entered the room. He could see by the look on her face that something was very wrong.
Cautiously stepping closer he asked, “What happened? Is the fax machine busted?”
She covered her face with her hands and leaned into the desk, moaning loudly before whipping back in her seat, looking up at him, miserable with regret.
“I blew it…I mean I really blew it!”
“What did you blow?” he asked, almost afraid of her answer.
“I lost a contract…a really big contract. All because I didn’t check my emails sooner. I could have fixed it all with a few simple changes, I just know it. Hawthorn’s livid and wants me in his office yesterday! He demanded that I return immediately.”
Squatting down beside her, he put his hand on her leg to give her support. Touching her was all he knew, all he could offer. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say.”
“I have to go to the office. I have no choice.” She closed her laptop and stood as she planned what to tell her boss.
“You can’t go to the office. Give him a call and explain,” he offered.
“I can’t call him, Chase. I have to face him and beg him to keep my job, grovel if I have to.” She was nearly sick with guilt. The fact that she let some raving lunatic ex-boyfriend change her life so drastically was driving her mad.
Everything around her seemed to be unraveling and spiraling out of control. Her control, the control she had mastered, was slipping away. The situation seemed bleak. Eden drew in a breath and looked at Chase. “I’m going to see Mr. H. and save my job.”
“Ok, I understand.” He held out his hands to calm her. “I’ll take you. You get ready, and I’ll meet you out front.” He took off ahead of her.
She changed into black dress pants and a plain white blouse before running out to meet Chase. They got into the back seat of his Bentley Arnage without a word. Mason winked at her in the rearview mirror. She gave him a half smile, her heart heavy with regret and fear. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest and a headache was starting as she chewed at her lower lip.
Chase reached over and pulled her lip free with a smile. “It’s going to be ok.”
“We both know otherwise.” She rubbed her forehead nervously. Chase took her hand in his and squeezed it gently. He knew he couldn’t argue with her.
When they arrived, they made a dash for the door. Like the trained sentry he was, Mason leaned against the car, crossing his arms over his chest, and scanned the street until he was satisfied.
At the elevator, Chase offered to go in with her, but her protest quickly put the kibosh on that idea. He took her face in his hands and kissed her, long and smoldering, but her tension was beyond repair. Her mind was elsewhere, totally focused on getting her ass through this dilemma. She was prepared to throw herself on the ground before her boss’s feet and beg forgiveness if necessary.
She knocked on the door of Hawthorn’s office. His secretary looked at her nervously, giving away the fact that he was not a happy camper today.
“Come!” he roared. She quietly opened the door, looking over to his huge desk, her mind momentarily comparing how much larger it was than Chase’s before noting Hawthorn’s angry glare.
“Eden.” The angry tone of his voice made her name sound like a dirty four-letter word in a dark seedy alley.
“Sir.”
“Sit.”
The single syllable conversation was unnerving; she sunk into the chair before him, clasping her hands together in her lap. They were clammy and shaking, so she increased her grip. Eden licked her dry lips. The lack of saliva made it hard for her to swallow. She wasn’t going to be able to talk her way out of this.
Feeling very much like a schoolchild being sent to the principal’s office, Eden knew the battle was lost before it had even begun. Defeated, her shoulders slumped forward, and she bit back the urge to burst into a sea of tears.
The phone rang, and Hawthorn picked it up, still glaring at her. “I don’t want to be disturbed. Hold my calls…very well, if it’s that important put him through…What is it? And make it fast; I have something important to deal with.”
He listened intently to the person on the other end of the line, his expression changing slightly but his eyes never leaving hers. “I see. Thank you for bringing that to my attention. You’ve been very helpful. Thank you for making my decision much easier…I think that would be a very good idea. Tell him I will see him in a few minutes.”
He hung up the phone, and sat back in his chair before addressing her. “I’m very disappointed, Eden, very disappointed. Losing this contract was a huge loss for this firm. It would have brought with it many subcontracts and years of work for many employees.”
“I’m sorry sir…I assure you it will never happen again.”
“No, Eden, it certainly will not.” He sat forward with his arms on his desk. “Tell me something. How did you get back from Florida so fast? I only got your email this morning, and here you are, sitting in my office at…” He looked at his wristwatch. “Not even one in the afternoon.” She looked at the clock on his wall and started to visibly shake.
“Did you need some water, Eden? You suddenly look unwell,” he asked sarcastically.
“No, thank you, sir. I think we both know that I wasn’t in Miami. I can explain everything—”
He raised a hand up to halt her. “And Chase Dean. How is he these days?” Mr. Hawthorn asked, and she looked at him in horror. Holy hell, he knew. But how, she couldn’t even imagine. Her head started to whirl knowing that any explanation she gave him now would be useless. Trying desperately to catch her breath, she put her fingertips to her temple and closed her eyes, wishing it all to be just a terrible, terrible dream. Hoping to god that when they opened again she would be home in her bed beneath her toasty duvet, her only worry being what to wear that day. But she opened them slowly and wanted just to disappear.
Hawthorn rummaged through a drawer in his desk, the sound of papers rustlingin the room. He extracted a
blue-lined contract and threw it to her side of the desk. She moved her attention to it and took in its content with a deeply held breath. She held back her tears, rubbing her hands together. It was so over for her. It had all gone so wrong, so fast. Why was this happening to her?
With a push of a single button on his office phone, the door opened and Paul entered the room, followed by Chase. When he saw the uneasy look on her face he moved to her side and placed his hand on her shoulder.
“How cozy is this?” Hawthorn asked, glowering. Chase’s jaw tightened and his fists clenched.
“Eden, you stupid girl, you had it all. You could have become partner one day. You’re very talented, creative, and smart. But just not smart enough to follow the rules of the game.” Hawthorn stared at the pair with disappointment in his eyes.
“You are fired!” he said, standing and turning his back to look out the window.
Eden covered her mouth with her hand and looked at Paul who was shaking his smug head in disgust. She could have stood and torn his eyes out. She knew he was behind this somehow, in some way. He was enjoying her discomfort far too much.
“I’ll give you twenty-four hours to vacate your office. I won’t have security escort you out, to save you any further embarrassment.” He turned back to see her tears start down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry, sir,” was all she could manage to say. Wiping her cheeks, she headed to the door.
“Wait a minute. You’re the stupid one, not Eden. Adam, what are you thinking?” Chase tried pleading her case. “You can’t let her go over one contract. This is ridiculous.”
“Chase, stay out of it. You’ve done enough, don’t you think? She breached a strict fraternization contract, causing her immediate dismissal. The Kozlik contract loss was just the icing on the cake.”
“How did you find out?” Chase asked quietly.
“You’re not very discrete.” He looked over at Paul. “My contact informed me of an intimate dinner date, a recital date, living arrangements, and kisses outside of elevators. Do you need details, Chase? I don’t think so.”
“Let me explain, Adam.” Chase started to move closer, his intention to make their conversation for Hawthorn’s ears only, but a hand touched his arm, startling him.
“Chase, please? Let’s just go?” Eden pulled his arm, desperate to leave. Chase stopped her. Relocating to stand next to Hawthorn, he had a grin on his face, puzzling Eden as to what he could possibly be finding so amusing.
“I’ll have Eden’s things removed from her office later today. Oh and Adam…” He lowered his voice. “I will be terminating all Dean contracts with McLean & Associates as of…now! You see, the employment of Miss Fox with this firm was the hold to the contracts. With her dismissal our contracts are basically void.”
“You can’t do that,” Hawthorn grunted with a laugh.
“Check the contracts, Adam. You’ll see that, yes, I can indeed do that. It’s a fine print thing. Have a great day!” Chase smiled brightly and took Eden by the hand, directing her out of his office and out of the building.
Once in the car, Chase handed Eden a tissue to dry her eyes. “Don’t cry, baby.”
“I just got fired!” she bit out at him.
“You’ll get another job, I promise. It’ll all work out, trust me,” he told her, handing her another tissue.
Wiping her nose, she hiccupped. “What were you saying to Hawthorn about the Dean contracts? I couldn’t hear you, but he looked like he was going to have kittens.”
“You’re going to like this, baby!” He turned to better look at her. “You see, he quite literally fucked himself…I had it written into all our contracts when we revised them, that in the event you were terminated or quit your position at McLean & Associates, all our contracts became null and void.”
“You didn’t! I don’t understand. Why would you do that? I like it, don’t get me wrong, but why?”
“Well, when you kept insisting on this, ‘I don’t mix business with pleasure because I’ll get fired’ bullshit, I consulted with my lawyers on that fraternization contract. I had my lawyers find a way of squeezing in a few of my own loopholes. Obviously, they got past Hawthorn’s watchdogs.”
She laughed with a joy she had not felt in a very long time, throwing her arms around his neck, squeezing hard, and kissing his cheek repeatedly. But even with the news, she was still without a job—the job she’d worked so hard for—and a home. And she was in hiding. Sinking back into her grief, she rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes.
“Thank you. I owe you so much. I’m never going to be able to repay you.”
“You owe me nothing. Do you hear me? Nothing.” He kissed the top of her head boldly and pulled her tighter into his side.
“Take us home, Mason!”
“Dinner’s almost ready,” Chase announced as he came into his office where Eden had been sitting alone since they got back from McLean & Associates. She stared blankly at the screen of her laptop, the email messages staring back at her as she openly sobbed, no holding back now.
She looked so sad and tiny sitting in his large leather armchair. Her arms were wrapped around her knees, drawn up tightly to her chin in a ball. Her eyes were pink and puffy from the hours spent crying. He had wanted to just hold her, but she had been so adamant about needing time to herself, that he had to respect her wishes. He’d busied himself in the kitchen with Chef preparing dinner.
“I’m not hungry, thanks,” she said, wiping her sore, red nose with an overused tissue. The small wastebasket was near overflowing as she tossed it onto the growing pile, withdrawing another from the tissue box tucked in at her side.
“You need to eat. Besides, Chef made homemade mac and cheese with five different cheeses. Turn him down, and he’ll be heartbroken. The man will literally cry, and it won’t be pretty,” he joked as he unclasped her hands, forcing her feet to the floor.
She didn’t want to smile, didn’t want to be happy. She just wanted to wallow in self-pity and be miserable. A dark cloud was hanging over her head pissing down all its raindrops, soaking her to the soul, just as she wanted it.
“I just want to be alone.”
“Ok, that’s enough. The pity-party is over!” he told her, not really angry but more frustrated at the idea that a woman would sit around and cry for hours on end, when, in his opinion, there were far better things to do.
He reached down to her knees as if he was going to tackle her, and before she knew what end was up, he threw her over his shoulder, slapping her on the rear end. She cried out in protest, and he did it again, forcing her to kick wildly. But he had no intention of releasing her, and she wasn’t about to tell him it was turning her on. She fought and struggled until she was laughing hysterically. Chase headed into the hallway.
As he made his way to the kitchen, he stopped in the hall just outside the doorway and placed her gently on the floor, running his hand over her cheek. She finally smiled and this pleased him.
“I will be right in. I need to freshen up.” She headed into the powder room across the hall, and Chase continued to the kitchen to join Mason and the very hung-over Rheanna.
“Eden’s not joining us?” Mason asked.
“She’ll be right in,” Chase answered, as he walked over to the counter and filled their glasses with ice cubes and water from a pitcher.
“Is she ok? She was really upset when we got home,” Mason said, tearing a dinner roll open and slathering it with butter.
“Yeah, she’s going to be ok.”
“When you going to tell her about the eviction?” Mason asked as he sniffed in the aroma from the plate Chase handed him.
Chase furrowed his brow and scowled at Mason. “Shhh! She might hear you. I’ll tell her tonight. The last thing she needs is more bad news right now. Let’s just get through dinner.”
“Is this the only topic for dinner conversation?” Rheanna grumbled.
“You will behave, Rheanna. Keep a civil tongue in your head or o
ur deal is off,” Chase cautioned.
“Yes sir! So where’s the wine, and what’s with this?” Holding her glass in the air, she inquired as if it was a grave injustice that he had filled it with water.
“No wine, no alcohol whatsoever.” His tone set the fact that she needn’t push the subject any farther. She sipped her water in a defiant gesture aimed at her brother. Chase managed to ignore her, dishing the macaroni and cheese onto the remaining plates.
“Hi, sweetheart. You feel better?” Mason asked as Eden sat down at the island between the two men. There was no way she was going anywhere near the dragon lady after the day she’d had.
“A bit better, thanks for asking.”
“Here, eat this. You’ll feel much better. It’s pure comfort food,” Chase said, placing a plate with macaroni and cheese and French-cut green beans with slivered almonds before her. It smelled like a childhood memory. Macaroni and cheese was her favorite meal as a kid, and her foster mother always managed to make it when she knew she’d had a bad day. Sometimes, she even cut up a hotdog and mixed it in. The idea was not too appealing now, but back then, it made her feel special.
“It looks and smells great.” She dug her fork into the creamy mixture and blew on it lightly before taking her first mouthful, moaning her delight. “Mmm, this is so good.” She moaned with an almost sensual pleasure, causing Mason to stir uncomfortably in his seat.
“Chef will be happy that you’re enjoying it,” Chase told her, smiling from the corner of his mouth.
Rheanna sat picking at her meal, sulking, and glancing over at the trio as they joked and laughed, making no effort to try and fit in. She stood and walked over to the refrigerator, opened the door and searched its contents for quite a few minutes.
Eden's Pleasure (Pulse Book 1) Page 21
