I shook my head. “It’s nothing you need to be concerned with, but understand that what you believe you’re seeing is really much deeper, much greater, and much more complicated than it seems.”
She leaned forward a bit. “What happened between him and your sister? I remember you mentioning something about going to high school with him? Or whatever?”
I crossed my leg over my knee. “It’s not something I’m at liberty to discuss because it’s private, but trust me, I’ve logged your complaint and what you believe I should do.”
She grimaced. “So, sleeping with the owner of the company has nothing to do with H.R., but has something to do with your sister?”
I stood to my feet. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got work that needs to get done today.”
“Rebecca, if he’s threatening you in any way--.”
I stared her down. “Again, I appreciate the sympathy, but I’m a grown woman who has it completely under control.”
Her eyes raked down my body. “Is that a new dress?”
I looked down at it. “This old thing? No. Just got mashed into the back of my closet. I haven’t been able to wear it in a few years.”
“Uh huh.”
I sat back down. “Thank you for your concern. See you at lunch?”
She clicked her tongue. “Right, right. Yeah.”
She stared at me a little while longer, which only made me focus harder on my computer screen. JoJo had inundated my inbox with bullshit busy work I had to accomplish, but I wasn’t going to take it lying down. Why he kept sending me work that wasn’t even in my department, I didn’t know. So, I sent out a few emails and outsourced the work so I could focus on what he expected of me. Which was a succinct document to take to the board in a few weeks.
Then, my phone started ringing.
“TechGiants, Incorporated, this is Rebecca speaking.”
JoJo’s voice practically growled through the phone. “Why the fuck did someone from P.R. come up to my office asking about a job I gave you?”
I shrugged as I continued typing away on my keyboard. “Because I don’t work in P.R.”
“You want to tell me about anything else you’ve outsourced so you can be lazy today?”
I didn’t let his words get to me. I was done with that game. “Well, anything that doesn’t pertain to my job description.”
His voice lowered. “If I didn’t think it was so pertinent that we are not seen in each other’s company right now, I’d storm down there and--.”
“And berate me for not doing someone else’s job?”
He paused. “It’s now your job to stay behind them and make sure it’s done right.”
“I know.”
“It’ll also be your job to--.”
I clicked my tongue. “Mr. Ryker, unless you have anymore useless work you wish to pile in my lap, I have to go. I’ve got documents to format and graphs to tailor, and I can’t have you chirping in my ear while I do it. Okay?”
“Sounds like someone’s grown a pair.”
I swear I heard pride in his voice. “If there’s nothing else?”
He snickered. “No, there’s nothing else. Have a nice day, Miss Loren.”
“You too, Mr. Ryker.”
I dropped the phone back into the receiver and buried myself in work. It was the only thing I knew how to do, and before I knew it, I had worked squarely through my lunch hour. I leaned back and closed my eyes, giving myself a moment’s rest before my stomach started growling so loudly that I figured all of my office mates could hear it.
