"What? Sorry."
"I said, should I reschedule the Harper-Collins integration at three since the board wants to meet?" Her eyes searched me as we came to a stop outside my office.
I'd not seen Veda anywhere, but surely, she wouldn't just walk out. It was morning of day two. She wouldn’t do that to her own resume.
"Yes, reschedule. And find Porter. Tell her to get to my office now." The more time that passed, the less those hormones in my bloodstream affected me.
"Sir?" Penny said, pausing before walking away.
I looked up the hall again and my gut twisted into a knot. Veda could be angry. She rushed right off looking flustered.
What if I had upset her, and being her boss, I was too intimidating to say no to, or to confess she felt uncomfortable?
What if she was angry or scared and she was hiding somewhere now thinking her boss forced her to do that?
"Are you okay, Mr. Locke?" Penny stepped closer, but I moved toward my door, hand on the knob.
"You know what? Just tell everyone I'm taking a personal day. Cancel everything."
“But sir, the board?—"
"Everything, Penny."
"Yes, sir," she mumbled, and she grew quiet as she moved toward her desk. But I stormed into my office feeling foolish now.
My face burned hot with embarrassment and anger. Of course Veda would go hide somewhere. There was every chance she was seated across from my own brother complaining about me too.
This was wrong on every level. Not only was she my employee, but she was almost young enough to be my own child.
My God, what had I done?
I ran a hand through my hair as I locked my office door and stomped to my chair where I shuttered the windows and put my head down.
I crossed a huge line. I should never have kissed her, and I definitely should never have initiated sex.
But dammit if she wasn't the hottest thing I'd come across in years, and how could I say no?
My body physically could not restrain itself. Veda had pushed my buttons until I snapped like the fool I was.
I lost control. I made a horrible choice that would most certainly come back to bite me, and I felt humiliated.
She could file a lawsuit and hand my entire career to Clayton on a silver platter. I can't believe how stupid I was.
I let a woman's feminine wiles get under my skin in a momentary lapse of judgment.
My hand reached for the bottom drawer of my desk without thinking. Fishing in my drawer, I came up with the neck of a glass bottle that had less than one finger of whiskey left in it, but that small amount would never be enough.
It didn't stop me from opening it and downing the contents, though, and that first drop on my tongue sent a shock through my chest. I needed more.
And I needed it now.
I'd been through this so many times now that it was muscle memory. I stood and grabbed my coat, took my wallet and phone from my desk drawer, and breezed out of my office past Penny's desk.
When her head popped up, I grunted, "I'll be back tomorrow," but I didn't even pause to listen to her protests. She was a big girl and she could handle things herself.
By the time I got to the elevators, my hands were shaking.
The shakes never got this bad in the morning.
