“About an hour ago,” he said, moving his head back and forth. “I’ll be fine though. I’m going to drink a shit ton of black coffee and do my work. Hey, Marina, you’re looking pretty.”
“Thanks, Xander. You look… glittery.”
“I know. I’m a queen,” he chuckles, then suddenly yawns again.
“You should get that coffee now,” I say. “If HR comes in, what are we going to say?”
“That I’ve been thinking deeply about becoming a night club King,” he replies and I just roll my eyes and take the cupcake from Marina.
“Enjoy it,” she says sweetly.
“Thanks. Where’s Cora?” I ask, surprised she’s not in the office already.
“She took today off. Doctor’s appointment or something.”
“I see.” I sit at my desk and open the top file. It contains photographs of a resort in Maui that Jack is considering buying. I then grab the Coconut Beach file so I can look at the latestreports I’d found. I need to dig into the data as something just isn’t adding up.
My phone beeps. It’s Jack. I hesitate, then answer.
“Hello, this is Katherine speaking.”
“Hi there, sexy. How are you today?”
“I’m sorry, who is this?” I say, though I don’t know why I’m pretending I don’t know. Maybe trying to create distance between us again. I’d let the chemistry between us blur the lines too much.
He laughs. “You know very well who this is.”
“I’m working right now.”
“Then come to my office. I want to talk.”
“Is this for work or personal chat?”
“We don’t have a personal relationship according to you,” he says snidely. “So obviously it’s work.”
“I’ll be there in ten minutes.” I mumble back, annoyed by his comment.
“Five.”
“I’ll see you in twenty.” I hang up and rub my temples. My heart is racing. And I know the last thing I need to be doing right now is going to his office.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell Marina and Xander as I stand up slowly. I should sit back down. I should forget that Jack sets my heart on fire.
“Coffee?” Xander asks hopefully.
“No, but you should get some. Food as well. You need breakfast too.”
“I wasn’t drinking alcohol or anything,” he says, then burps. “Okay. I was.”
“Thank you for confirming,” Marina says, as she pretends to gag.
He sighs. “Fine. Coffee run. Anyone want anything?”
“Macchiato and a bagel,” Marina says eagerly. “With cream cheese.”
“I’m not Uber Eats,” he snaps. “Unless you want to go for me?”
“For forty dollars,” Marina jumps up.
