Chapter 9
“…The next item on the agenda is adding a new DEXA scanner order,” Cleo said, reading from a PowerPoint slide projected on the far wall. “So Dr. Fenton, did you…”
It was the Wednesday morning managers’ meeting, and Zoe was zoning out. Six thirty on a Wednesday morning normally wasn’t too early by her standards, but Gavin was wearing her out.
In the best way, physically. Mentally, he baffled her.
She still wasn’t sure how she felt about her new relationship. Because yeah, she and Gavin were more than just friends with benefits. They had sexcapades that thus far had ended with her having many—and at one point, multiple—orgasms. He remained charming, sexual, and unstoppable.
He continued to surprise her. By mutual agreement, they’d decided to take a break on Monday. And Tuesday, seeing each other at the gym and greeting with a nod. Low key but certainly not dismissive. He’d smiled wide. She’d grinned back. But they’d left each other mostly alone.
Until last night. Gavin had knocked, entered, and left her exhausted twenty minutes later. Another session of wham-bam, come screaming again.
So why did she feel sated and not used? They both got enjoyment out of the deal. But they’d talked and been deep with each other on Sunday. That meant something, and not just to her.
Gavin had invited her to lunch today. Hmm, something about lunch struck a chord…
Oh hell. Swanson had been responsible for the change in Cleo’s precious Monday morning meeting. He’d also mentioned he planned to rescheduled their lunch, for which Zoe had been more than grateful. She’d hoped to dodge that bullet, but he’d rescheduled it for today. Meaning the lunch she’d gotten out of on Monday with Mr. Crabby was happening in another four hours. Joy.
“Approved. Who’s on point for rolling this out?”
Cleo and the rest of the room stared at Zoe, waiting.
“Huh? Oh, right. I need to check over our calendar, but I’m shooting for Friday.”
No one had any issues, so they moved on to the next item on the agenda.
By the time the meeting ended, Zoe had managed to wake up, ignore the tempting box of doughnuts sitting way too close, and scoot out the door before Swanson could catch up with her. Somehow, she had to get out of lunch with him. She had a feeling if she spent too much time under that piercing gaze, she’d end up promising him her firstborn child and signing over the deed to her soul.
The morning passed swiftly. Her meeting with IT went about as well as expected. The poor bastards in that department worked hard, but they worked for an idiot. Jim liked to make meetings to have meetings. They’d talk for an hour and get nothing done. Not this time.
Zoe left after forcing Jim to accept her terms, committing to actual times of delivery instead of vague references to the future. She’d also suggested, rather strongly, that if he didn’t want to deal with hundreds of unhappy users, including Mr. Swanson himself, he’d better figure out why the wireless was so slow. Jim hadn’t looked too panicked until she mentioned Mr. Crabby.
Score another one for the dictatorial manager.
And speaking of which, she shot Swanson an email with a request to reschedule today’s lunch. Fingers crossed he’d buy it. Zoe was no coward, but she had enough on her plate without trying to manage Swanson’s many dictates. After all, he was a client, and her job made customer service a number one priority, which the guy took clear advantage of.
After working with Ginny and a few of the trainers on the implementation schedule, ahugeproject, Zoe filtered her emails from most important to not so much, set up a few more meetings, and informed Bill she’d be sitting in on his training session this afternoon at the cardiology clinic. For being the new guy, Bill had gotten up to speed quickly. Zoe loved her people. They worked hard with few hiccups and did a spectacular job of communicating to the customer—the doctors, medical assistants, and office staff who used the software.
Eleven o’clock rolled around all too soon, and she moved with leaden feet to the lunch shop next door. It was a favorite hangout for the admin staff and the general surgery and cardiology clinics close by.
She entered and ordered a chicken Caesar salad and iced tea, her food of choice to get through the rest of the day. The protein would do her good, because she was dragging. She didn’t wait for Gavin to show before she dug into her plate.
“Hey there, girlfriend.” Cleo joined her with a burger and fries in the seat across from her by the window.
“Uh, hi. I didn’t realize we were having lunch today.”
That’s what she got for grabbing a table with four chairs.
“We aren’t. I decided to be spontaneous.”
Time to bite the bullet. “Actually, I’m expecting someone else—”
“Ms. York. There you are.” Swanson plunked down next to Cleo after giving her a small frown. “Cleo.”
“Mark.”
“So that’s what the M stands for,” Zoe teased, wondering how to extricate herself from the opponents across from her. “I thought it was—”
