“Promise you’ll text me or I will return tomorrow with more tea.”
“Fine,” he mumbled, his eyes already closed.
I nodded. “Good. I’ll find my way out. I don’t suppose you have one of those golf carts that you can ride to get to the front door?”
“Flowers,” he growled.
“Okay. I’ll walk. Going,” I whispered, backing away from his bed. By the time I got to the door, he was already asleep. Mouth ajar to help him breath because his nose was stuffed up. That weird urge to ruffle his hair came over me and I clamped it down.
This was my boss. I’d done him a solid by hooking him up with some meds.
That’s all. Nothing any other assistant might not have done.
TEN
ANNA
She didn’t want his pity. Even more than she didn’t want to be saved.
“I appreciate your time Mr. Allen.”
“You’re welcome,” E.G. said.
The man sitting across from E.G.’s desk stood and offered his hand across the desk, but E.G. remained seated.
I stood, also offering my hand, more to remind the young man there was another person actually in the room. I don’t think he noticed.
Rory started the interview flustered about meeting hisheroE.G. He was ending it with a lot of stuttering and bowing as he made his way out of the office.
“I’ll show you out,” I said, following him through our small lobby to the door that opened out into the building. “Nice pitch.”
“You think?” he asked, wringing his hands together. “I couldn’t get a read one way or the other.”
No one ever could with E.G. It was his special talent. He held all his cards close until he was ready to make a decision.
“He’ll be in touch. Or, he won’t,” I said enigmatically. “But trust me. I’ve been listening to these for months now. It was solid.”
He beamed. “You made my day.”
“Have a good one,” I said, then left him to head back to E.G.’s office.
“Well?” he asked me.
“He’s lying about the prototype. It’s not fully developed yet.”
“Really? I didn’t get that sense.”
“He was a little too desperate when he was talking about it. Like he was overcompensating about how fully cooked it was. Still, it was a solid pitch. I told him so.”
E.G. frowned. “You didn’t give him any encouragement, did you?”
“Nope. But I like to call balls and strikes and I’m calling this one a strike. Am I right?”
Another frown. “You’re getting smug.”
“I’m getting good,” I returned, with a fully cocky smile. “It’s not that hard. Business is just people. And I’ve always been able to read people.”
“How can you always tell when they’re lying?” he said, as if he were annoyed. “You’re like a human lie detector.”
