Page 48

“…She was just being a bitch.”

“That’s enough,” I snapped at one of the engineers from Zaid’s team who whispered the words. Someone who had worked here much longer than I had. The man froze, staring wide-eyed at me, “Jacqueline is doing her job to ensure everyone feels safe in the office. She has to feel comfortable confronting problematic behavior like that soyoudon’t have to. You don’t get to call her crude names because of that.”

The man kept his eyes down as he left the room, before a flash of blue hair caught my eye. I glanced over to see one of the newer systems engineers we hired. She slowly approached me while most everyone else started to file out of the room, and she glanced over her shoulder one last time before looking up at me.

“Thank you for defending her,” the woman said, with a lift of her shoulder, “If the guys feel comfortable talking about Jacqueline like that…well, they’ll feel comfortable talking about all of us like that.”

I blinked at the employee, before giving her a stiff nod in acknowledgment, “Of course.”

“Maybe check in on her though,” the woman’s brows pinched together, “Whatever that was, it wasn’t about the music you played.”

Don’t I fucking know it, I wanted to say.

ChapterTen

JACQUELINE

I feltlike I was floating.

Or maybe I was freefalling.

Before him, I had no idea that intimacy could be like this. ThatIcould feel like this. That I could understand and conceptualize what all the hype has been about. How asking for exactly what I wanted truly did have its benefits.

All it took was for me to pretend I wasn’t nervous and proposition the handsome stranger at the bar.

As I lay there, gasping for breath, my heart racing and my limbs loose, I opened my eyes to see him grinning down at me. Simple, male satisfaction coated his features as he leaned forward and kissed my lips once, twice.

I eagerly, lazily kissed him back. A shocked giggle escaped my lips as I thought how much of a shame it was that he and I would never see each other again after tonight.

* * *

“We need to figure this out,”I snapped my head up from my desk, my heart jumping from Leo’s voice suddenly filling my office. Hours had passed since our argument in front of the conference room, and I felt my face heat with embarrassment as I watched him step in and shut the door behind him.

“Figure what out?” I asked.

“This,” he pointed between us, “We can’t keep doing this. I can’t keep doing this.” He strode across the space until he was standing just behind the two chairs that sat in front of my desk. He gripped the back of one, drumming his fingers on it.

“There’s nothing to figure out,” I looked down at my workspace, saving all my work on the iPad while I exhaled a defeated sigh, “You’re right. I’m the issue. I’ll be less annoying.”

“That’s not—” he lifted a hand and dragged it across his jaw as he stared at the potted plant against the wall, “Clearly, we’re both at fault here.”

“Leo, I don’t want to talk.” I shook my head and checked the time on my phone. Holy crap, it was six thirty. Most everyone was probably gone already.

“Too bad, we’re going to talk,” Leo stood tall and crossed his arms, and I felt my hands tremble at the thought of confrontation with him, “We should start with who that bald prick was yesterday—”

“—I don’t want to talk about him. Ever.” I snapped.

Leo frowned.

“Fine. Then tell me what your problem is with me.”

“No.”

“Jacqueline.”

“Leo. I don’t want to talk.”

“That’s toofuckingbad.” Leo raised his eyebrows, “I just swore in the office, can we talk now?” I ground my teeth together, “I played more pornographic music in my office today, will you talk to me now? Or are we only allowed to talk when you’re ripping into me in front of my employees?”