Fated: Karma Series, Book Three

by Donna Augustine

  “Um, sort of,” Luck responded.

  Fate leaned over towards them, pressing against me as he did, and said, “I like her to apply it personally though.”

  Murphy made a questioning face before I saw it finally click and he made a loud “ohhh” sound.

  I’m not sure where our conversation would’ve led because we all fell silent when Harold’s door started swinging open.

  A man, who definitely was not Harold, stepped out. Close to Fate’s height and build, but light where Fate was dark, his thick hair couldn’t seem to decide what color it wanted to be—blond or brown. He looked to be in his late twenties, although that meant absolutely nothing where any of us were concerned. He wore a black suit with a white shirt, which was unbuttoned at the neck, softening the appearance.

  He must have come through the door. It was the only logical explanation. He was handsome, but his mode of arrival alone would’ve been enough to garner my interest. I tried peeking around him and got enough of a glimpse into the office to see that the door was closed and it didn’t look like Harold was in there any longer.

  The new guy cleared his throat as he looked over the group of us. His eyes scanned every person in our group but when they landed on me, they paused.

  My spine straightened a little, and I wondered what he found so interesting about me. I wasn’t dealing with any more transfer bullshit.

  Fate rose beside me and straightened to his full height, suddenly taking some interest in the situation. He took a step slightly in front of me and I had to shove Luck farther down the table so I could see around his broad back. It was nice that he thought he could protect me from possible danger but all he was doing currently was blocking my view.

  “Harold has retired,” the man said, his voice sounding as refined as his appearance, and he turned his gaze on the whole of the group again.

  Bernie the leprechaun, all three and a half feet of him, walked over and stood in front of the newcomer. “Who the fuck are you?”

  Bernie was especially cranky today because some woman had found three four-leaf clovers in the period of one week.

  The man looked down, unfazed, and then looked back up as if Bernie were of no consequence. Hands resting loosely on his hips, he said to the group, “Harold retired. I’m Knox, his replacement.”

  No one spoke.

  Just like that, Harold was gone. And who had given him his pink slip? Was it Paddy or the others? And was Knox going to be useful or was he just for show, like Harold had been?

  Knox’s chin edged up slightly. “Do you have any questions?” he asked.

  Fate inched closer, drawing Knox’s gaze.

  “I do,” Fate said.

  Knox made a single nod, acknowledging Fate before he spoke. “I’ll be in my office.” He turned around and walked back into what used to be Harold’s office and left the door open. I watched as he settled in behind the cluttered desk and started to sort through papers.

  Fate stepped forward, heading toward the office, and I followed. There was no way I wasn’t going to be a part of this conversation. I was hoping Knox wasn’t going to be another paper pusher. We needed help. Hands on, feet grounded, walking beside us help.

  I bumped into Fate’s back as he stopped short of what was now Knox’s office.

  Knox raised his gaze and gestured Fate in. Fate didn’t move.

  “You know where to find me,” Fate said.

  “Yes,” Knox replied.

  “Twenty minutes.”

  Knox nodded.

  I stepped outside the opening of the door and made mad gesturing motions towards the inside.

  Fate shook his head.

  I moved forward.

  Fate blocked.

  What are you doing? I mouthed, having no idea what kind of hearing the new kid had.

  Our terms, not his, he replied silently.

  I threw my hands up. Seriously? We can’t just go talk to the guy?

  He didn’t have to shake his head or nod. The resounding no was written all over him, punctuated by his arms crossing and his feet braced apart.

  I shook my head and waved for him to lead the way to wherever this meeting was to take place, rethinking my choice of partners the entire time. Maybe I would’ve been better off with Luck. Oh wait, that’s right, Fate had chosen me.

  Chapter Three

  “Why couldn’t we just chit chat with him right then and there?” I asked as I followed Fate down the hall towards the stairs. Why was I following him? And where? I hoped it wasn’t because he smelled particularly good today and his jeans fit oh-so perfectly. Nothing else made sense, because I really couldn’t figure out why it would be a bad idea to talk to Knox in what was now his office.

  Fate stopped and held the stairwell door open for me. “Because we talk on our terms, not his.”

  Our terms? I didn’t remember him asking me for my terms, and yet it felt kind of nice to have standards, even if I’d only found out about them afterward. Maybe this was something I could get behind after all. “Where are we going to achieve these terms we require?”

  He followed me into the stairwell and then passed me on the stairs. “My office,” he said as if it were no big deal that he had an office and I was just finding out about this now.

  The balm of “our terms” went out the window with those two words. “Your office?” It wasn’t our office. First the car, then the pay, and now he had an office? Who could blame me if my voice had come out like a shrieking witch? “Excuse me, but when did you get an office and why am I only finding out about this now?”

  He looked back at me briefly. “I’ve always had one. All that time you spent laying out the building, one had to assume you knew.”

  “That’s bullshit. You knew I didn’t know.”

  He didn’t have to drag me with him this time. He’d have to block my path. There was no way I wasn’t seeing this office. I was hoping it would be a dump, like the rest of the place, but knowing Fate he’d have the one nice chunk of real estate in this crumbling 80s carpet and Formica dive.

  “This is why you don’t have a desk in the pit of hell.” In the entire time I’d been here, Fate had flitted in and out of the main office, and I’d never realized he did this because he had his own space. I’d assumed he went somewhere—anywhere—that wasn’t here. I’d thought I’d known every nook and cranny of this building. He himself had seen me pouring over it, and his comment now added to the insult of not knowing.

  We didn’t stop climbing until we made it to the top floor. No surprise there. If he was going to have an office here, I couldn’t imagine any other place. I wracked my brain, trying to think of any unchecked door up here, and I couldn’t.

  He took a left and I followed him to the very end of the hall. He stopped in front of what I’d thought was a maintenance closet. It wasn’t labeled and it was always locked. He turned the knob. There was no way whatever lay behind that door would be nice. There wasn’t enough space. I’d figured the interior of this building out. It was four-by-four at best. He’d converted a closet. It was probably just big enough to squeeze in another Formica desk. There was no reason to get irritated.

  The door swung open to a twenty-by-twenty room. It shouldn’t have fit, but it was here, gleaming hardwood floors and all. An expensive looking wool area rug sat under the wooden desk centered against the back wall, the antique detail contrasted by the largest flat screen TV I’d even seen. It was the latest model and took up almost the entire west wall.

  “In case you don’t know,” I made a grand gesture of pointing toward the screen, “that is an absurd size for a TV. And, it doesn’t go with the decor.” Uh huh, take that Mr. I’m So Cool I’ve Got a Corner Office. I flopped down on the impossibly soft couch that sat opposite the TV. You fell into it like a leather hug that whispered of sweet siestas as it nestled your head. All those mysterious disappearances made a lot more sense now.

  “Do you have cable?” I asked in a threatening tone, ready to kill him if he said yes
.

  “No. I’ve got cables. What do you want to watch?”

  “Show off.”

  Fate walked around and sat on the arm of the couch and his eyes roamed slowly up my legs, exposed by the shorts I’d worn today. When his eyes eventually met mine, an image of him completely naked, my hands gliding up the skin of his abdomen before they wrapped around his neck popped into mind. The vision excited my cells like I’d been popped in a microwave.

  Get a grip. It was just some flesh lying over some toned muscles. Big whoop. I could go to the gym down the street and find all the muscles I wanted. Yeah, they wouldn’t be Fate but so what? A girl could only handle so much sexy. He had too much. It was a big flaw.

  That wasn’t helping at all.

  Staring at him from a reclined position was also another very bad idea.

  “How do you want to handle the new guy?” Getting up, I tried to make my way to the chair behind the desk several feet away as casually as possible. “And what was the big deal about talking there?”

  He sank down onto the couch, taking my position with a look that begged me to join him. He folded his arms behind his head and got settled before he spoke. “I’m not sitting on the interviewee’s side of the desk in a folding chair. As far as what I want? Him to stay out of our way.” His lips turned up. “There’s room for two over here if that chair is uncomfortable.”

  I immediately forced myself to stop squirming about. “I don’t think we should be hasty. He might be able to help us.”

  I kicked my feet up onto the surface. The movement disturbed the air and caused a slip of paper to gently drift to the ground.

  I reached down and grabbed it to set it on the desk. I shouldn’t have looked but I couldn’t stop myself. What did Fate have receipts lying about for? What was he out buying himself that his shopper couldn’t get?

  Perfume? He’d been trying to get me into bed nonstop, maybe not saying the words but laying it all out there nonetheless, and he’d been buying perfume for someone else.

  Returning my feet back to their previous position on the desk, I tried to act normal even though I was furious. I couldn’t say a word. I didn’t have a leg to stand on. Trying to get me in bed wasn’t saying he was committed to me. It was just sleazy to be that big of a pig.

  “Did you see something that made you upset?” Fate said from the couch.

  It pissed me off how well he read me. It made me even angrier that he obviously knew what I’d read and didn’t even care.

  “Nope. Nothing important.”

  “Anyone ever tell you that you have a lousy poker face?”

  “Not until I landed in this dump.”

  He got off the couch and headed over toward the desk while I used my feet to kick off and wheel myself to a more comfortable distance. He looked down at the desk as if he found something incredibly amusing. “So, nothing is bothering you? Nothing you want to ask me about?”

  “Like I just said, there’s nothing that concerns me here.” I kicked my feet back up onto the desk from my new location on the other side of it and leaned back, turning my head away from him and toward the window I wanted to slam a fist into.

  I couldn’t believe the jerk thought it was funny that I found his receipt for a gift for another woman. The world was falling apart at our feet but that didn’t slow him down any. Good to know. I might have started to think I was something special.

  Fate perched himself on the desk near my feet. “Can we talk business or are you too upset?”

  I didn’t need to look at his face. I could hear the smirk and this time I didn’t have torn feelings about it. There was no love of the smirk, only hate. Why he thought it was so funny that I’d find a receipt that confirmed exactly what I feared was beyond me. “I’m not upset. Go ahead. Talk away.”

  He sighed, the amusement fading fairly quickly. “As much as I’m enjoying this, it wasn’t what you think.”

  I sniffed the air. “You don’t smell particularly feminine today. You wear perfume?”

  “No.”

  “You have a sister who does?”

  “You know I don’t but I do have a Mother who does.”

  Mother. Her name sounded like a curse when I heard it. “If you have a thing for Mother, that’s fine. It’s none of my business.”

  He stiffened. “It was a work thing. Why would you think there’s something between me and Mother?”

  Why? Was he kidding? She was utterly enamored with him and he certainly hadn’t been pushing her away when I’d seen them together. “Like I said, it’s none of my business.”

  “I’ve known her a long time, and when she’s upset, I’m the only one she’ll listen to. From time to time, I give her little gifts. It makes her happy and makes the situation easier.”

  “Easier for you?”

  “You don’t get it.”

  “I completely understand.” I just didn’t like it. Although, I did like it better than the alternative.

  He stood and took a couple of steps away from me, shaking his head, and then turned back. Good.

  “It’s—”

  There was a rapping at the door a second before Knox walked in, cutting off Fate’s sentence.

  He stepped a few feet into Fate’s office and stopped. The guy looked like he’d come ready for battle.

  “Have a seat,” Fate said as he himself stood and made no move to relax.

  “I’m fine,” Knox replied, not bothering to look for a seat, even with the invitation.

  They stood staring at each other for approximately three and a half seconds before Fate leaned against the desk, looking completely relaxed.

  I wasn’t sure if Knox understood what had just happened, but I did. Fate had sized him up and found him to be of little consequence.

  “Paddy sent you?” Fate asked casually.

  “Yes.”

  Fate nodded.

  Knox’s eyes darted to mine and the lines of his mouth softened. He gave me a nod of acknowledgement, which I returned. His attention went back to Fate. I wasn’t insulted. I wasn’t the one who’d called him out and made beef with him.

  “You wanted to talk?”

  “Shit is about to hit the fan. You plan on helping out or getting in our way?” Fate crossed his arms in front of him, ankles doing the same. Yeah, he really wasn’t worried about this Knox guy at all.

  “I think there’s a bit more to discuss. Don’t you?”

  I leaned my head back on the chair as I eyed Knox and answered the question for Fate. “It’s the only question that matters.”

  Fate’s gaze met mine and something flickered.

  I looked back at him. Yeah, I get it now, my look said. After months of Harold, I’d better. After the last few weeks, I knew. None of us had a cheat sheet or syllabus that laid out what was coming but you didn’t need a textbook to tell you that when the winds started picking up, a storm was on its way. This one was promising to be a real doozy.

  We needed to know what type of person Knox was before it hit full force. There were three categories of people—and I used that term loosely—two types were okay. One type had to go. He would either help and fight with us, not help but stay out of the way, or be a hindrance.

  Knox’s eyes went from Fate to me, and I could see the opinions forming there, wondering just how deep our relationship ran. He’d eventually hear the tales and I didn’t care. I guess that was one good thing this office and my coworkers had done for me. I’d lost almost all my ability to feel embarrassment. The only thing that mattered was which type of person would he turn out to be.

  He rocked back on his heels. “From what I know, I’m prepared to help at this time.”

  That hit about a seven on the lame answer scoreboard. Maybe it was a little cheesy but I’d hoped for something a little closer to “I know what’s going on and I’ve got your backs,” instilled with even the tiniest amount of passion, maybe?

  Fate was staring at me with the same expression he’d had downstairs after my Harold meeting
. I rolled my eyes. I was quickly realizing that silent I told you sos were just as annoying as the out loud varieties.

  Hell, at least Knox had ended the unwanted conversation I was having with Fate. And, I could ride this lame horse right out of here and avoid the tail end of discussing the finer points of perfume.

  “Knox, let me show you around,” I said, getting up heading toward the door before he could think of declining.

  “Thanks.” I could see him visibly rethinking his opinion about Fate and I.

  I wanted to pat him on the back and say, “Good luck figuring us out, because I certainly can’t.”

  Fate’s eyes narrowed with annoyance and a promise of tracking me down later. I silently replied with a, so sue me. It was an expression that he liked to pull out often and it hadn’t gotten any less irritating with use.

  His eyes narrowed even further.

  I smirked, pulling out another weapon from his arsenal.

  He shook his head and grunted.

  I tallied a win for my column.

  Knox scooted in front of me to open the door and then his hand reached out in my direction, like it wanted to land on my back. It dropped before I could make out its true destination. I nodded at him to go into the hall first, since I didn’t like being corralled. For all I knew he thought because I was a transfer I needed help walking or something crazy.

  I shot a final look back at Fate as Knox exited first to see Fate’s eyes on the guy’s back. Wow, he really didn’t like this guy.

  I closed the door on Fate and Knox and I walked down the hallway. Then I started counting down the seconds, thirty, twenty-nine, twenty…

  “You two a thing?” he asked ahead of schedule.

  It wasn’t a question I was prepared to answer, even for someone naturally good on her feet. The fact that I knew it was coming didn’t seem to help much. Awkward didn’t become less so because you got prior warning.

  “What kind of thing would that be?” I said, shooting for ignorance.

  “Enough said.”

  Maybe Knox wasn’t so bad. He’d agreed to help and now here he was, taking the hint. Have to love a person who knows when to shut up. It was almost like he was human.