“And you’re saying that wasn’t…planned?”
I narrow my eyes at him, wishing I had Godzilla powers right now. A little blue flame, just enough to singe his face beyond recognition. “If you are asking if I got pregnant to trap him once he becomes CEO of Hardin Records, the answer is no. We are very much pregnant, and it was very much not planned but it is what it is. And on that note…I don’t think any of these questions are appropriate and it would be very easy for me to report to HR–”
“Calm down,” Avery holds out a hand. “Believe it or not, Amanda, I didn’t come here to attack you. I only wanted to know what your intentions are.”
I stop. “My intentions?”
“Sure,” he starts to slowly pace. “You’re a smart girl, Amanda. And I’m not a stupid guy. I know you’re good at what you do. I know you love music, and this is your quote-unquote dream job. But I also know you’re often taken advantage of. I know about your spoiled sister and play-it-safe past. This is your big break. And it would be even bigger if you had his wallet in your purse. So, excuse me for being protective of the Hardin family name by wanting to know what it is you plan to do if and when our father hands the keys to the Ferrari down to Callum and not me. Because agreement or not, you’re carrying the Hardin heir.”
At this point, I am seeing red. The audacity of this man makes me question how he could possibly be related to Callum at all.
“My intention is to fix my mistakes. The first one being my carelessness. Yes, I am pregnant with your brother’s baby. And yes, I am married to him and therefore legally tied to this company and your precious family name. But I want to make something very, very clear. The only things I care about right now are my job and my baby. There are no ulterior motives. No sneaky plans. No bad intentions. Whoever it is you think I am, and whatever type of women you Hardin men are used to dealing with, I can assure you I am not. So, if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”
I have no idea how long he plans to stay here and accuse me of shit I didn’t do but I’m over it. So instead of waiting for him to leave my workspace, I grab my things, and I walk out, leaving Avery behind me, hopefully with his mouth hanging open.
Chapter 34
Callum
Pretending I’m not thinking about Amanda is hard.
I’ve never been a man to get distracted at work. Not by drama. Not by celebrities (and trust me, we have a lot of those going in and out of here).
And not by women.
Yet here I am, thinking about her and nothing else as I drone through work pretending to give a shit about what we are doing.
The only thing harder than pretending that I’m not thinking about her is pretending I don’t see her around every corner at work. Go figure that I normally hardly see her at all. If she’s not in the recording room she’s getting coffee from the downstairs bar. Today I feel like she’s in every hallway, near every door. She was even in the copy room earlier on the third floor. What could she possibly need copies of?
But the worst part isn’t even running into her.
It’s that she is blatantly avoiding and ignoring me.
That’s a low blow, even if I do deserve it.
But by the end of the day, I’m over it. I get that I was a dick. I get that I could have responded better to everything.
But I have tried to get a hold of her countless times. Not just because I care about her and about us but because she works forme. We can’t avoid each other forever. So, when I know she’s in the recording room, I make my way over to talk to her.
The door is cracked slightly, and I can hear her talking to someone. In fact, she’s going off on someone. It’s a tone I don’t think I’ve ever heard before and it has my whole body going rigid and my feet moving faster. Whoever it is has her upset and that has me upset.
Just as I reach the door, it opens the rest of the way, and she walks out. Her expression is tight, heated and visibly upset.
“Amanda,” I start to say. But then I see who she was talking to. Avery is standing in her office with a deer in the headlights look on his face.
What the fuck?
“Amanda,” I say again but she keeps walking. I want to go after her. To see if she is alright. I want to talk about everything that is going on. But when I glance back at Avery and his face relaxes to its normal smug, shit eating grin, my attention locks on him instead.
“What the fuck are you doing in here?” I bark out once Amanda is out of earshot.
“I’m a Hardin. That makes me her boss too. I don’t think it’s any of your business–”
“Cut the bullshit!” I shout knowing full well that there’s a chance the whole floor heard me, but I don’t really care. The only thing that bothers me more than Amanda giving me the silent treatment is the idea of Avery swooping in and doing what Avery always does with women. He’s a snake and always has been. “You haven’t spoken so much as two words to her since she was hired so I find it a little ironic that you would start now when–” I stop myself.
Avery approaches me, a slimy grin on his face. “When the two of you are on the rocks? When your world is up in flames? Not sure about ironic but definitely beneficial if you ask me.”
Avery heads down the hall but I follow.
