I’m a mass of nerves when I arrive at work. Despite having decided that I’m going to use my feminine wiles to trick Rebel, I’ve taken every precaution necessary to hide in plain sight. I blended with the foot traffic in the lobby, boarded a crowded elevator, and as soon as I got into the office, I all but glued myself to my chair.
I don’t know what part of the building Rebel works in nor do I care. I’m just hoping that he won’t find a need to come visit my department.
I’m trying out different fill colors for the design I started yesterday when Darren appears standing over my desk. From the smile he wears, I get the feeling he’s been standing there a while. “Hey, you. What’s up?”
His brown brows lift with humor. “What’s up? It’s time for lunch, you workhorse.”
“Already?” I glance down at the tiny clock display on my computer and, sure enough, it’s well after twelve. When I look around the rest of the room, I find that all of my coworkers have already left. I can’t believe I didn’t notice them leave. “Wow, I must really be out of it today.”
“Or really into whatever you’re working on.”
I nod because that’s only partly true. Saving my work, I put the computer on standby mode and retrieve my purse from the peg on the wall behind me. “Where are we off to today?”
“Well,” Darren says as he follows me out. “We can go for Mediterranean again, or I can introduce you to this little Mexican cantina that opened last weekend. I haven’t eaten there yet, but I’ve been hearing nothing but good things.”
“Then the cantina it is.”
Nerves shoot through me as we stand waiting for the elevator to arrive, and I know by the way Darren keeps slanting me looks that he knows it, too. I hate that he can read me so well. It’s going to make it impossible to slip anything by him. And, wow, doesn’t that make me nostalgic. I just realized that Darren is the male version of Annie.
“So,” Darren says, rocking back on his heels. “Mr. Scott, huh?”
Shaking my head emphatically, I tell him, “That topic is off limits. I plead the fifth.”
Cracking an amused smile, Darren stares up at the descending numbers on the lighted panel on the wall. “You know that’s as good as pleading guilty. So, are you two sleeping together or what?”
“Does the fifth meaning nothing to you?” I pretend as though I am shocked and appalled but really, I am desperately trying to preserve some sliver of privacy here. If word got out that I had anything other than a professional working relationship with Rebel, it could rupture any plan I might make before I get the chance to implement it.
“I never had much respect for the law,” Darren states. “It’s a good thing juvenile records are sealed when you turn eighteen or I’d never have gotten this job. So,” he says again, turning his head to look at me. “Are you or aren’t you having sex?”
I glance around making sure no one else is nearby. “That’s really none of your business,” I tell him, somewhat apologetically. “I’ll just say that we know each other and leave it at that.”
“It looked like a lot more than that yesterday. Girl, I thought he was going to tear your arm out of the socket, he was pulling you so hard.”
“Then why didn’t you call security and help me?”
“Oh come on. Do you know who we’re talking about here?” Darren complains. “I had to assess the situation from an objective standpoint and decide whether or not you were in imminent danger and if it was worth losing my job. If I ended up in the unemployment line because I got the boss in trouble over what turned out to be a lover’s quarrel, I’d be looking for a new boyfriend and place to live.”
I figured it was something along those lines. Darren and I have only known each other for twenty-four hours, so I can’t expect him to put his job on the line for me. Besides, I think I handled myself about as well as could be expected, once I got my wits about me.
“Just promise me that if anything like that happens again, you come up with a really good excuse to rescue me, okay?”
“Fine, okay,” Darren says, raising his hands up in front of him. “If I ever see you and Mr. Scott together again, I’ll tell him that your dog died.”
“I don’t have a dog.”
“Fine, then I’ll tell him you have period cramps, and I’m taking you home.”
“What? No! That’s not what I—”
The doors finally slide open and my words die on my lips. There, standing like a Brooks Brothers model, is Rebel wearing a smile made of pure sin. I know immediately that he hasn’t taken seriously what I said to him yesterday. He’s just as focused on me as he ever was.
“Oh,” I hear Darren say under his breath as Rebel is revealed to him. He’s just as stunned by his chiseled good looks as I am, so I almost can’t blame him for embarrassing the hell out of me. “She has cramps,” he blurts out.
Eyes widening, Darren looks down at me and mouths “Sorry” as we walk inside. I glare at him and then fasten my gaze to the floor to avoid Rebel’s. I can feel him staring at me, but I refuse to acknowledge him. It’s not part of the plan, but it’s definitely working in my favor. Ignoring Rebel is making him agitated. From the corner of my eye, I can see his body is turned toward mine, and he keeps shifting his stance like he’s growing impatient.
I almost smile, realizing how much it’s getting to him. If Darren wasn’t here right now, he’d be demanding I look at him or pinning me against a wall to try and get through to me. I’m feeling pretty damn good about how it’s all working out when Rebel cuts through the silence.
I should have known he’d find an opening.
“Are you feeling sick today?”
Forcing myself to look up at him, I swallow tightly. It’s plain in his eyes that Rebel knows it’s a lie. I’m not sick, but in order to not get Darren into trouble, I have to maintain it. “It’s just cramps,” I reiterate.
“I’m taking her home,” Darren volunteers with a nervous smile. I bet he’s wishing he’d never opened his big mouth. Still, I love him for trying.
Rebel’s eyes fix on Darren. It’s the same assessing look he used on him last time, only now I can see the wheels turning in a different way. Immediately, I don’t like it.
“According to her records,” Rebel says, his eyes darting to me and confirming my suspicions that he has, indeed, accessed my personal records, “Miss Hart lives a considerable distance from here. You’ll easily miss your lunch,” he informs Darren. “That’s your choice, of course, but I was just heading out for a meeting, and I happen to be heading that way. I can take you home if you’d like, Miss Hart.”
My mouth falls slack as I stare back at him and that hint of a smile teasing at his lips. He knows he’s just backed the two of us into a corner. Not only can Darren not refuse his offer because doing so would reveal the lie but now I have to miss the rest of the day because I’m fake-sick. And Rebel comes out on top, again. Honestly, I’m impressed. If I weren’t so irritated and nail-bitingly worried about how this will all play out, I would give him a round of applause.
“I, well, I—” Darren fumbles, and then looks to me, desperate for an out.
I sigh knowing the right thing to do is to give in to him. “That’s very generous of you,” I say cordially. “Thank you, Mr. Scott.”
Rebel’s eyes dance with dark intent at the formality, and I know I’ve just stepped even deeper into the pile. Calling him Mr. Scott gets him off in a big way.
“Excellent. My car is this way.”
With one final glace back at Darren, I mouth to him, “You owe me so bad.”
Darren nods vigorously in agreement. Even from a few feet away, I can tell that he’s already shedding the weight of tension he wore in front of Rebel. Unfortunately, I seem to have picked it up along with a few pounds of my own.
The tension only gets worse when Rebel places his hand on the small of my back, bringing our bodies closer as he continues to guide me forward. But that isn’t what raises my hackles. It’s the flaming redhead walking straight for us like the devil is on her heels.
“Mr. Scott,” she calls out, her voice smooth and seductive. It reminds me of a phone sex operator. Even though I instinctively hate every cell in her body, I can see why men are attracted to her. I just wish Rebel wasn’t among them.
Rebel comes to a slow stop. I would keep going, right on out the leaded glass doors, but his fingers curling into my side tell me different. I’ll be staying right here. Wonderful.
Florence is dressed similarly to me with a long, fitted skirt and blouse tucked in. Only her version of the outfit is much smaller, making it racy while mine is much more conservative and appropriate for the workplace. Damn.
Her eyes are focused solely on Rebel as she approaches, and when she begins speaking to him, it’s as if I’m not even there.
“I’m glad I caught you before you left,” she says, a sly smile curving her cherry red lips. “I have some papers I’d like you to look over for me.”
“I’m heading out.”
“This evening then. After work.”
“I have plans this evening,” Rebel replies, his voice firm. “What kind of papers are we talking about?”
“The kind that can’t wait.”
“Nothing that requires a signature is ever that pressing. Come on.” Dropping his hand from my back, I’m surprised to feel Rebel’s hand slip into mine. I feel a small smile tug into place as Florence’s gaze drops to our joined hands, now forced to acknowledge me.
Rebel’s pulling me toward the door in the next moment, and I am more than happy to oblige this time. Anything to get me away from this shrew of a woman. And anything to see that look of hurt deepen.
“Did you know that Donnelly is selling his stock?” Florence calls out again.
Rebel stops dead in his tracks, his shoulders stiffening. I’m left trying to keep up. I knew from our trip to Maine that Jack planned to sell out, and from the way he talked, he was giving it all to Rebel. I also got the impression that Florence wasn’t supposed to know about any of it, so the fact that she clearly does can only be a bad thing. Unless she doesn’t know the whole story.
I find myself feeling slightly worried as Rebel turns back around, again steering me along with him. I just want to leave, but I also want to stay and see how all of this ends.
“You spoke to Jack?” Rebel asks, his voice tight.
Sauntering toward us, the sunlight coming through the windows hits Florence just right, making her look absolutely stunning. I wish I could blame it on the angle and claim that she was one of those women who only looked good in certain lighting, like candlelight, but she’s pretty enough to be a threat. If only her outside matched her insides...
“No, Jack has been unreachable all day. A little birdy whispered it in my ear.”
“Ah, well,” Rebel chuckles. “You know what they say about believing everything you hear.”
“In this case, my bird happens to be very reliable. Jack is selling his half of the company, which means it’s about to be wide open.”
“What are you trying to tell me, Florence?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Glancing at me, she gives me a once-over that makes me feel reduced to a foot tall.
Have I mentioned how much I hate this woman? I’d rather shove a pick in my eye than continue standing here subjecting myself to this kind of treatment.
In a voice pitched low for dramatic effect, I watch as Florence turns the dial up on her seduction, and I feel like puking. If she gets any closer to Rebel, her boobs are going to be pressed up against both of us.
“I’m telling you that this is our chance. I plan on buying up the final two percent making me majority shareholder. If you buy up the other forty-nine, we could be partners. Imagine what we could do for this company. Imagine the changes we could make together.”
Looking up, I try to read Rebel’s expression, but he’s as blank as a sheet of paper. But if I know Rebel, his silence means he’s considering it. Why wouldn’t he? They’re a couple after all, right? Who wouldn’t want to work side by side with their lover?
The power couple is forming right before my eyes, and the longer I stand here watching it happen, the more my stomach twists. I might want to break these two apart, but how? How do I do that when they are so closely connected and without being obvious? If I’m going to do this, I want to come out the other end clean as a whistle while they crash and burn in the filth of their lies.
“It’s certainly something to think about,” Rebel says, his whole demeanor a blank canvas, leaving no room for interpretation. “We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
“When tomorrow? Why not tonight?” Florence presses.
I resist rolling my eyes. This woman does not wear desperation well. And yet, it seems to be working for her.
“As I said, I have plans tonight. Speak with my assistant, and she’ll slot you in.”
Slot her in. I know by the look on her face that Florence is just as surprised by his brush-off as I am. I also know by the way she sends her scathing glare my way that she blames me for his rude behavior.
I smirk in return as Rebel resumes leading me out the doors. There’s only one thought in my head as his driver, Gerardo, opens the door and I climb into the backseat: That’s right, bitch. I win this round.