I’m about to defend myself, but I choke on my words because I know she’s right. “It’s safer that way.”
“Miss, here you are,”the man says as he passes me the bagged suit over the counter.
“Thanks. It’s on his account, right?”
He nods. “Of course, no need to ask for Mr. Haven. By the way, though, when I checked his pockets before the cleaning, I found something.” He hands me a small plastic bag that I usually receive when something is left in a pocket.
Disgruntled, I open the bag, already enraged that a woman gave him a number this time. I pull out the paper, unfold it, and instantly freeze.
Bad assistant. You lied.
It takes a few ticks for me to digest what I’m reading, only for my face to tighten due to my blood boiling. “I’m going to throttle him,” I grind out.
Elodie has the nerve to chuckle cheekily. “Throttle. So many ways for interpretation.”
I glance sidelong with an unimpressed look.
Sittingon the edge of Julian’s desk with my legs crossed and one heeled shoe half off, I twitch my foot in the air and pop a fruit snack into my mouth. One thing about knowing his schedule is that I’m aware that at any moment, he will walk into his office.
His action with the piece of paper is so blatantly ridiculous, and I don’t appreciate being called a liar when I have no clue what he is referencing.
I hear Julian walking toward his office, and he seems to be on his cell phone. The moment he opens his door and receives his welcoming view, his face stalls.
“I’ll have to call you back, Hayes,”he says and ends the call. His eyes narrow as he attempts to figure out my mood,but he doesn’t need long, and that goddamn arrogant smirk makes an appearance as he closes the door lazily behind him.
I lift the empty gummy package and crumple it before ceremonially dropping it onto his desk.
“Ooh, someone has her claws out today.”
“What the hell?” I’m so tempted to throw the paperweight next to me at him. “I should have torn that suit of yours into shreds, but I’m a professional at my job, and collecting your suit was my task of the day.However,I will not tolerate any extra remarks.”
Julian strides closer, and his smirk inches bigger. “Ah, you found the note, did you? I thought it was a nice touch.” He’s proud.
“Care to explain how I’m a fucking liar?”
He loosens his tie as he slows his steps. “The other night. You didn’t see a brother of a friend, now did you?”
I’m puzzled. “What? I don’t understand.”
“You see, a wonderful thing about arranging a car for you is that these days, safety comes first, so imagine that… an app told me that you went straight home.”He tosses his tie to the side with not a care in the world where it lands.
“You followed me?”I’m flabbergasted. “First off…” I hold a finger up. “I could have gone home, changed, and then left.” I add another finger in the air. “Secondly, this is borderline stalking, which is a little fucked up.”
He arrives right in front of me. “It’s called being concerned over your safety on a night in Chicago. Logical. So yes, you told a little white lie.”
I shake my head. “Don’t ever call me a liar again.”
He shrugs, and his hand reaches out. My eyes fixate on his loose collar, and the way having him close causes a bolt of electricity in my body, I’m losing my mission.
“Fine. But calling you abad assistantis up for debate?”
Pretending to be disgusted, I struggle as his finger delicately swipes a loose hair off my forehead. “We are not having this conversation.”
He quirks his lips out and gingerly bobbles his head side to side. “You might want to get off my desk. Arriving at my office with a woman on my desk isn’t exactly fair.”
That’s it. I hop off and break away from the bubble of tension. “I’m not sure what you did with your other assistants, but I have a little more class than that.”Today, because being splayed out on his desk doesn’t exactly cross my mind.
“Sure. Easy to do. No other assistants have had the privilege, so consider yourself an anomaly,”he mentions casually before his demeanor turns formal. “Now, should we focus on work?” Julian doesn’t let me answer and instead circles his desk to sit down in his throne.
