The elevator dings, and the doors slide open when we reach floor eight.
“I’ll just stay here,” I say, waving him off.
He grins at me. “Do you trust me?”
“No. Not at all.”
“Good answer.” He grabs my hand and pulls me off the elevator. “But if you could just pretend for a moment, I’ll take care of something for you.”
It’s the second time he’s held my hand today, and Irealize it’s been a long time since I’ve held someone’s hand. It’s been a long time since I’ve dated anyone, and here I am, already engaged. Quick turnaround.
He walks straight toward the door to the restaurant supply business and opens it, pulling me inside after him. I really don’t want to follow him. I have no idea what he’s planning or what he’s doing, but this is going to end badly.
We stop at the front desk.
Kenzie, who’s the receptionist, smiles at me. “Hi, Magnolia.”
Then she looks down at where Nash is still holding my hand. I try to pry it loose, but he hangs on.
“I’d like to talk to your boss,” he says.
Kenzie’s eyes go wide, and she jumps up to scurry toward Isabel’s office.
“Nash,” I whisper, leaning toward him, “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but seriously, she can’t be reasoned with. This is going to go badly for both of us.”
He whispers in my ear, “Remember, you’re pretending to trust me.”
“I never agreed to that,” I shoot back.
But then I see Isabel hurrying out of her office, following Kenzie back to the main desk.
Oh, this is going to be bad.
I wait for Isabel to start in on me, but she doesn’t even look my way. Her eyes are zeroed in on Nash.
“Hello, Mr. Whitlock. What can I do for you?” she asks.
My eyes go wide, and I stare at him.Mr. Whitlock?
She called him mister, not Nash. Not custodian.Mr. Whitlock.
“I heard there was a little mix-up with your paperwork.”
His face is blank, no emotion. Not the real Nash I’m starting to know. Nope. This isMr. Business Whitlock.
Isabel has a flash of panic before she schools her expression again. “A paperwork mix-up?” She still refuses to look at me. “I don’t know what you mean by that.”
“Well, I understand you fired my fiancée for a mix-up involving paperwork, which was rectified the next day—a mix-up that involved you leaving a hazardous building and asking her to stay. You asked an employee of yours to stay behind and get your papers. You then fired her the next day for a mix-up that had happened when we were running down the stairs and bumped into each other.”
There’s a flash of anger on her face. I watch as Fred walks out of his office. He’s the CFO of Burlinson, and the man who offered to give me a work reference. He smiles when he sees me, but the smile falls from his face when he notices the intense staring contest going on between Nash and Isabel.
“I sure hope that someone leasing an office in my building wouldn’t treat their employees that way.”
Isabel grits her teeth and finally turns to look at me. “You didn’t tell me that Nash Whitlock was your fiancé.”
My eyes go wide when I finally realize what Nash introduced me as. “It didn’t seem relevant,” I squeak out, tugging at the hem of my shirt.
Before I can say anything else, Nash cuts in, “I’m assuming you can clear up this misunderstanding. And that she can be Fred’s assistant from here on out?”
