With his hand on the small of my back, Hendrix leads me toward what I assume is going to be my doom.He’s so confident his friend and business partner won’t give a shit that we’re sleeping together.I’m not so certain.In fact, I’m queasy.I don’t care how long the two of them have known each other, the man can’t possibly think it’s a good idea for Hendrix to fuck his assistant or move her into his house.
Hendrix knocks on the door frame as we step inside.
I grip the strap of my purse with one hand so tightly that my fingers hurt.
Mr.Hollenbeck lifts his gaze.“Hey.Come on in.You said you wanted to see me this morning.”He points toward the seating area by the window, rounds his desk, and joins us there.
Hendrix shuts the door, angles me directly to the loveseat, and sits next to me.
I’m not sure I was this nervous when I interviewed for my first position here two months ago.This seems like madness to me.
Hendrix leans back casually and rests one arm behind me on the back of the sofa.I’m ramrod straight, so he’s not touching me.How the hell is he so relaxed about this?
“Kelsey and I are in a relationship,” Hendrix says without a single moment of preamble.
I gasp and jerk my head in his direction.“Could you be any more blunt?”My face heats.
He lowers his hand from the back of the loveseat to between my shoulder blades.“Kels…”
Mr.Hollenbeck chuckles.
When I look back at him, I find him also relaxed in his armchair.He’s got one leg crossed over the other, one elbow on the arm of the chair, and he’s rubbing his chin.“Is this supposed to be news?”
Hendrix shrugs.“I doubt it, but it’s very stressful for Kelsey.”
I groan and cover my face, lowering my head.Maybe I could somehow transport myself to a different dimension.“Does everybody know?”
“Probably,” Mr.Hollenbeck replies.“Kelsey, there’s no reason to panic.I doubt anyone cares.And if they do, fuck ’em.”
“How did you know?”I ask.I’m racing through every possible compromising position we’ve been in for the last week and a half in my head.Did someone see or hear us?I thought we were pretty discreet.Apparently not.Now I’m mortified, and I’m not sure I want to know what Mr.Hollenbeck or anyone else might have witnessed.Maybe it was Josephine, and she told Mr.Hollenbeck.
He lowers his leg and leans forward, hands on his knees.“Kelsey, there are some things you don’t know about Hendrix.”
I flinch.
He smiles.“He’s not the same man since you met, and he can’t hide that fact from anyone, especially not me.As soon as he returned last week, I knew he was different.Immediately.He wasn’t fully present before you.In retrospect, I would say he was just existing.He didn’t smile much.He spent long hours at the office—much longer than he has since you arrived.He never had a full-time assistant.He didn’t like people in his space.When he requested someone, he usually worked with them for a few days and then insisted they were more trouble than it was worth.He’d rather just stay until ten and do everything himself than have someone else trying to be helpful.He wasn’t rude, but I suspect he has a reputation on the thirteenth floor for being distant and unapproachable.
“Anyone who has been with us for more than two years and knew him before he went to Germany dreaded the idea of being summoned to help him.They had a tendency to feel like a failure since they couldn’t quite please him.In truth,no onecould please him.He’s too particular.And then you showed up, and he called HR and requested you personally.I knew in an instant.Here you were.He was smiling and laughing and taking life less seriously.
“The HR manager has been with us for many years.She’s well-aware that it’s impossible to place someone with Hendrix.I spoke to her myself.She was worried because she knows you’re a valuable employee, and she didn’t want you to become disgruntled and feel like you aren’t as competent as we all know you are.She was afraid you would quit.So, yeah, I know.Enough people from the thirteenth floor were smart enough to figure it out, and the rest have heard through the rumor mill.”
I sit very still, trying to absorb all this information.I’m shocked.When I turn to Hendrix, his brow is furrowed.He’s staring at his friend, almost smirking.I think he’s surprised, too.
“Huh… I didn’t know I was such an open book,” he says.
Mr.Hollenbeck shrugs.“You’ve been rather busy.I figured at some point you would come to me, when you were ready, and here you are.”
“Did I really not smile before?”Hendrix asks.
Mr.Hollenbeck chuckles again.“Not often.It’s not as though you were surly.Just…lonely.”
Hendrix slides his hand up to my neck under my hair and squeezes.“I’m not lonely now.”
“I see that, and I’m so happy for you.”
“This isn’t a passing thing,” Hendrix informs him.“Kelsey is living with me.”
“Figured as much.I’ve never known you to do anything half-assed, nor have you ever made decisions that weren’t calculated.”
