Page 84 of Bite Me

I shot up from the chair and backed toward the door. “Thank you, Anthony.”

He grumbled something in reply, his gaze already on his screen.

When I closed the door to Anthony’s office, Russel stood there, leaning against the wall.

His hair was messy. He must have run his fingers through it a lot. Upon seeing me, he gave me a shy smile. My stomach swooped, and my heart rate picked up.

“I’ve just spoken to HR,” he said.

“You’re crazy.”

His grin widened. “About you.”

He pushed off the wall, and I took a step toward him. He hugged me and kissed my temple, and I closed my eyes, breathing him in. Did anyone see us? It didn’t matter anymore.

“You’re completely crazy,” I murmured.

“This was the best decision of my life, Eddie. I’m sure of it.”

I couldn’t speak, but I nodded.

I barely knew how I kept focus for the rest of the day, but somehow, I made it through two meetings and multiple phone calls with my head on. Cat had been gone during the afternoon, working on something with Frank. When she came into our terrarium just before six, her eyes were big like saucers.

“Greenwood is leaving!” she whispered, miming an explosion.

“I know.”

She cocked her head to the side. “You do? How? What’s going on?”

“Russel gave his notice this morning. It’s all on friendly terms, and he’ll finish our current projects as a consultant. Anthony is bringing in a new person on Monday. Her name is Hannah, and she’ll work as a senior strategist. We’ll be without a team lead for a while.”

“I knowthat. But why is he leaving? What happened?”

“Personal reasons.”

“You do know why, don’t you?”

“Why would I know more than you?”

She pursed her lips and squinted at me.

As if on cue, Russel poked his head into our glass cubicle. “Eddie? Are you done for the day?”

Cat whirled around and stared at Russel, me, and Russel again. Stupidly, I blushed.

“You two…” She pointed at each of us, her mouth opening and closing.

“Have a great weekend, Cat. See you on Monday!” I rushed past Russel toward the elevators, not looking back. He was only a step behind me, and when the door closed, he put an arm around my shoulders.

I sighed. “By Monday,everyonewill know.”

Russel pressed a kiss to my temple. I loved it when he did that. “Does it matter?” he asked.

I glanced up to meet his warm gaze. “Not really. But I feel like I should be mad at you.”

“Are you?”

“No. But I should be.”