Page 18 of His White Moonlight (Dominant CEO Shifter Romance #1)

With a final glare at him, I left the office, making sure to slam his door as hard as possible.

He left me alone for the rest of the morning but kept his blinds open so he could watch me. Did he think I’d run? I had to admit I was tempted. How much would it cost to take a ride-share home? I checked. Thirty dollars. I had that.

But I didn’t do it. I sat there and worked, thinking about how a little patience now would bring me freedom later. Because Mom was right. I’d only been home for five days after years of being away. They needed to know I could successfully survive as an adult on my own.

An hour before lunchtime, I left my desk to use the bathroom. As I’d anticipated, several of the office girls entered behind me.

“You want Bennett?” I asked before any of them spoke. “Have him. I’m leaving for an hour. Good luck. Tell him I called him an asshole before I left and that I plan on spitting in his lunch.”

They all stared after me, open-mouthed in shock.

No one else bothered me on my way out. On the street, I walked several blocks down and then over without any destination in mind. I just wanted the air and the time away.

My phone buzzed with a voice message.

“If you want to spit in my lunch, that’s fine,” Bennett said, “but you’re going too far to do it. A bento box from the place next to our building is fine.”

I sent him the finger emoji in return. He immediately replied with another voice message.

“You have ten minutes to get back here, or I will bring you back, and you won’t like how.”

The people walking toward me gave me a wide berth as I called Bennett every bad name I could think of. Then I turned around and started back.

I bought two bento boxes, and when I got outside, I shook his like it was a dice cup. It was more satisfying than spitting in it.

He was waiting for me by the elevator doors on the twelfth floor. He didn’t look as mad as I thought he would. Just relieved. He stole the lunch bags from me and motioned for me to lead the way.

Mom was out of her office, talking to some of the workers.

When she saw me with Bennett, she smiled.

I flashed her a smile I didn’t feel. Her smile faltered, and the women noticed.

Of course they did. From their point of view, it looked like Mom was being loving and supportive and I was just being a bitch. Whatever.

When we reached the office suite, I noticed my laptop was missing from my desk as we passed it. Its location had changed to the coffee table in Bennett’s office, where he set the lunch bag. He brought out both boxes and looked at me.

“Which one is mine?”

“The top one.”

He nodded, sat on the couch, and watched me expectantly.

Rolling my eyes, I sat next to him and grabbed my lunch along with the chopsticks. He opened his at the same time I opened mine and paused. Staying focused on my lunch, I didn’t let myself feel any glee or satisfaction—just annoyance.

“You didn’t spit in it,” he said.

I chewed my mouthful of rice and cucumber. When I swallowed that, I took another bite, making it clear I wasn’t going to answer him.

He looked down at his mixed-up box and started eating.

I finished first, dumped my garbage, then moved to take my laptop. He put his hand on top of it, stopping me.

“Lunch is an hour. Minimum.”

“Whatever,” I said, moving to sit in his office chair.

His jaw ticced. I wished I could make mine do the same.

“If you don’t like me sitting here, switch spots with me. I’ll take the couch.”

He stood, and I kept my word. Only, instead of sitting, I lay down and turned my back to him.

* * *

My neck was stiff, and I didn’t immediately remember where I was as I sat up and saw the shaded office windows. With a frown, I turned my head and found Bennett leaning back in his chair, watching me.

He seemed pretty relaxed for a change.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“Two.”

“Good.” I grabbed my laptop and left his office, making sure to remove the “knock and die” Post-it note from the door after I closed it.

I’d barely settled into my chair when one of the office girls peeked around the corner.

“What do you do in there for two hours?” she asked.

“Me? As little as possible. If you have any tips on how else to get fired, let me know.”

She gave me a surprised look. “Why would you want to get fired?”

“Do you honestly think I asked for this job? I wasn’t given a choice.

I’m never given a choice. I’m told where to go and what to do.

Do you know I picked out my own clothes for the first time this weekend?

So, by all means, figure out a way for me to get fired, and I’ll leave this desk so all of you can be someone else’s pain in the ass because I don’t need it! ”

The blinds suddenly opened.

I spun around, flipped Bennett off, and left my desk.

Every word I’d spoken was the truth, but I didn’t really care as much as I’d portrayed. I’d purposefully gotten myself worked up so everyone would smell my anger and realize I wasn’t the actual stepping stone in their path to Bennett. He was.

Bullies tended to give up once they no longer had a reason to bully. Unfortunately, sometimes the reason was a personal grudge. Those never went away.

After using the bathroom, I returned to my desk and found a piece of chocolate on it.

I picked it up, looking at it closely. It didn’t appear that it’d been unwrapped already, but that didn’t mean anything.

I’d been fed laxatives once under the guise of friendship and learned the hard way not to trust gifts from frenemies.

I glanced at the door to the office suite, but no one was there. When I glanced at the office window, Bennett was standing in front of the couch, watching me. I gestured to the chocolate then to him. He nodded.

That he’d left a piece of chocolate for me after I’d flipped him off confused me. Was it a peace offering?

At least, if it was from Bennett, I knew it wouldn’t be a laxative. Well, it shouldn’t be, but if it were, I would be able to leave early. So I unwrapped it and stuck it into my mouth. It started melting almost immediately and was so damn good.

He smiled slightly and turned away to go back to his desk.

A little less annoyed, I sat at mine and got to work. The rest of the afternoon passed quickly. No one tried to bother Bennett, which meant that no one bothered me.

By the time his office door opened a few minutes after five, I’d finished analyzing another subsidiary’s expenses, which I sent to Bennett’s email.

“Ready to go?” he asked.

“Yep.”

I followed him out of the office and noticed more women were lingering at their desks than usual. He didn’t even look their way. But they weren’t watching him. They were watching me.

Shrugging it off, I continued to follow in his wake.

“Did you like the chocolate?” he asked once we were in the elevator alone.

“Yeah. It was pretty good. What kind was it?”

“It’s handmade from a shop downtown,” he said. “I’ll get some more.”

“Kay.”

“Do you have any plans tonight?”

I glanced at him, wondering if being a dick just came naturally.

“What do you think, Bennett?”

His jaw clenched briefly.

“Do you want to go out for dinner?” he asked after several seconds.

“Sure. Did you have somewhere in mind?”

“Depends. What types of foods do you like to eat?”

“What…didn’t the school instructors give Mom and Dad a rundown of everything on my plate for the last seven years?”

“I’m learning not to trust the information they provided.”

“They seriously tracked what I ate? Unbelievable.” I shook my head.

“Did you have a favorite food?”

Since he wasn’t angry and asking nicely, I thought about it for a second. “Honestly, I was too busy eating fast to pay attention to what was on my plate. The instructors probably noticed more than I did.”

“Didn’t they give you enough time to eat?”

“Lunch was free time, and I had other things to do.”

“Like what?”

I shrugged lazily. “Where’s my bed?”

“How does some brick oven pizza sound?” he asked, not even missing a beat.

“I’m willing,” I said indifferently.

The pepperoni pizza Mom had brought home a few days ago was the exception to the pizza I’d eaten over the years, not the norm. Whenever the school tried doing pizza, they always went for overly complicated chef creations. Rich people's food. What was wrong with pepperoni, mushrooms, and onions?

It didn’t take us long to reach the restaurant. However, they already had an hour waitlist, so Bennett put his name in and suggested we walk around a nearby park. I quickly agreed. Moving around and seeing something new sounded great.

We walked side by side on the sidewalk. There weren’t many people out, but he still grabbed my hand and pulled me closer…and he didn’t let go.

Did he honestly think I was going to wander off?

His hold shifted, and his fingers twined through mine. The way my heart tripped sent a ripple of shock through me, and I quickly pulled my hand from his.

To cover the awkwardness, I pointed at the park sign again with the hand I’d reclaimed.

“Is that the one?”

The weight of his regard made my panic want to grow, but I breathed through it as I dropped my hand to my side and quickened my pace.

That wasn’t what it seemed like. Just shake it off. No boys. Especially not Bennett. No more cages called “private school.”

I blamed all the togetherness over the last few days. And the way he kept doing things that could be easily misunderstood. Not that I misunderstood. I knew Bennett didn’t see me as anything. He’d made that very clear. I was just a safe female he could be affectionate with in place of his mate.

The park entrance was prettily landscaped with flower beds that were between their spring and summer blooms. The paths were new, wide enough that we could walk with space between us, and winding—a perfect distraction.

“What toppings did you usually have on your pizza at school?” Bennett asked when a few minutes of silence had passed.

“I’m not sure. I didn’t really pay attention. It wasn’t the traditional stuff like a pepperoni, mushroom, and onion, though, that’s for sure.”

“Pepperoni, mushroom, and onion sounds good.” He waited a beat. “My favorite is probably pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, and bell peppers on a New York-style crust.”

I nodded.

His fingers caught the tips of mine, stopping me.

“Do you still hate me?”

“Does it matter?”

“It does.”

I sighed. “If I say I don’t, will I get my bed back tonight?”

His eyebrows twitched like he couldn’t decide whether to frown or be surprised.

“It’ll take more than that to get your bed back,” he said. “It’ll take even more than knowing how you left school now. I want to know why you rushed your meals. It wasn’t just lunch. It was every meal. Where did you go? What did you do? You completely disappeared from all the security cameras.”

It took a few seconds for what he was saying to sink in. He’d known when he’d asked about my favorite foods.

I ripped my hand free of his.

“You had them check?” I asked in disbelief.