Page 3 of Lahaina Noon (Modern Legends of Dragons & Shadows #1)
Chapter 3
B ridget nervously wiped her palms on her skirt. She’d somehow managed to finish up her presentation in time and needed to go to the conference room to set up. But he was in there, so of course, she was dawdling and finding reasons not to leave the safety of her office. She didn’t have a clue how she was going to get through this presentation with him in the room, knowing he would be looking at her, listening to her. “Reason 8,335 why I can’t have nice things,” she mumbled, “I don’t know how to adult.”
“Talking to ourselves again, are we?” she heard an oily hiss.
It was what she imagined Cinderella’s evil stepsisters would sound like. No mistaking that voice. It was her arch nemesis, the bane of her existence, and the person who was about to make or break her year. Her Director, Melissa Payne.
No joke, that was really her name. She really lived up to it, too, making sure to take every opportunity to make people’s lives miserable. Everyone who worked with her wondered how she’d ever made it into management in the first place, considering how disagreeable she was .
Realizing she was waiting for an answer, Bridget smiled at her boss. “Just running through my list of everything for the presentation, making sure I’m prepared. You know me, super organized!”
She received a stony stare for an answer before Payne in the Butt walked off without another word, heading towards the conference room.
Bridget sighed. Great . One more reason to not want to go in there, although it would surely be held against her for not already being set up. No-win situation here! At least Jack will be —
“EEEKK!” she screamed as she was picked up from behind and swung around. “Put me down, you crazy fiend!” she shrieked as Jack burst out laughing. She heard giggling from her team and hoped Payne didn’t hear it; she would come to destroy the cheerful mood.
“Saw Major Payne come in here and thought you’d need a confidence boost before facing the beast,” her brother-in-law said.
She chuckled. “Don’t let her hear you call her that; neither of us will ever hear the end of it.”
Jack was one of her favorite people on the planet. He was responsible for her being part of the project. More importantly, since the death of his brother, her husband, eight years earlier, he had been the one to pull her from the abyss and get her on her feet again.
“My beautiful Bridget, love of my life and reason for my existence, why won’t you just give in and run away with me?” His baby blue eyes widened dramatically, and he raked a neatly manicured hand through his immaculate golden hair without disturbing a single strand. Jerk, no one should be allowed to be that put together. Not a wrinkle on his shirt or his face .
She sighed lovingly and patted his cheek, “I would, Jack, but Darren, you remember your fiancé, right? He might not agree with that.”
Jack laughed again, a genuine honest-to-goodness twinkle in his eyes. “I hear tell you had a run-in with Hotness earlier,” he said in a singsong voice.
“I’m gonna kill Jorrie!” Bridget replied with mock fierceness. She never kept anything from Jack.
He smirked and spread his hands out in an innocent pose. “So, are you going out with him? You better, the way you two have been circling each other these last few months, it’s about time! I have to say, that is one delicious piece of man!” He sighed, a lusty sound.
“That’s your boss!” she reminded him.
He laughed. “If I wasn’t solidly in love with Darren or if I didn’t believe he only had eyes for one particular redhead, I would go after him myself. Alas, I’ll just have to live vicariously through you. But first!” He held a hand over her mouth as she tried to protest, and his face took on a serious expression. “ You have to get in there and deliver a stellar presentation. You know Major Payne is going to pick you apart and be a pain in your ass like always, but I heard she’s really got a bug up her butt about this particular project. I don’t know why, my sources weren’t able to ferret out the actual reason, but she really seems to be gunning for you on this. I wasn’t going to tell you at first, but I want you to be prepared.”
She stared at him for a moment and whispered, “Thank you Jack, I love you. I’m going to go in there and kill it! ”
Jack smiled again, although it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “That’s my girl. Go show them why you came with a warning label.” He pulled her ponytail in an affectionate tug like he had since the day they met.
The gesture warmed her heart and her face as she remembered Vaughn doing a similar thing, although she was starting to wonder, hope, that it was for a different type of affection.
Bridget strode into the conference room with a confidence she didn’t feel. Her insides were wobbly like Jell-O. She proceeded to set up her laptop and turned on the projector. When she reached for the switch to lower the blinds, she noticed a strange shadow wavering just above it. Her stomach clenched and her skin prickled. Her mouth went dry as the long, thin shadow crept closer. She saw nothing that could cause it.
She was about to ask Jack if he saw it too, when she was shocked again; this time before she touched the switch, a bright arc leapt from the metal plate to her fingers. The accompanying loud crack made everyone jump in their seats.
“Oh, my goodness, are you okay, Bridget?” asked a worried-looking Jack.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” she was shaking out her hand. “That’s the third time today, though. I’m starting to wonder if there’s a storm coming, or maybe I should have read my horoscope today; you know, Libra, stay away from all things metal and electrical.” She trailed off as she realized the room was full of people staring at her.
In addition to Jack, she was also receiving concerned looks from those gathered for the presentation. Major Payne just gave her usual eye roll. Her eyes were drawn to one specific person in the room, Vaughn. What was that look? Like he knew something she didn’t?
He caught her eye again, grinned, then winked.
WINKED.
What is going on here? She thought. She stared at her fingers, still smarting from the shock.
Mentally, Bridget shook herself. Right. Back to it, then . She smiled and waved lightly at everyone. “No harm done, let’s get started, shall we?” She walked to the table to grab the remote for the projector, eyeing it warily. If this thing grew teeth and bit her, she would go home and back to bed. She picked it up tentatively and, when nothing happened, gripped it firmly, letting her corporate smile slide over her face.
She knew it was going well when Jack gave her a small thumbs up. She was sure she had everyone hooked by the way they leaned into the presentation and were nodding along. She could see Vaughn leaning back and smiling at her from the corner of her eye. This was exciting; after six months of work, they were going to make this deal, which would benefit both companies tremendously.
“So, as you can see, by partnering with Chesapeake Industries, we can not only improve our efficiency, but we’ll also reduce our overhead and in the end, make a better profit for both companies. This is a win-win!” she finished triumphantly, noting the grin on Jack’s face letting her know she killed it.
Now to see what Payne was thinking, surely even she couldn’t find a way to ruin this.