Page 34 of Love.V2 (Occupational Hazards #2)

Dylan

“—if we go back to slide six…”

“Danny,” I groaned. My patience had worn thin an hour ago. “Change slide six on your own. You can do this without me. I know I was at Worther longer than you, but it’s time to spread your wings and fly, man.”

We’d been stuck in this office for most of the afternoon, and I could practically feel the emails flooding my inbox. Now that I was spending my evenings with Tess instead of alone in my hotel room, juggling my roles—and workloads—at two different companies had become considerably harder.

But it was worth it. Tess’s face this morning, her giggling shriek as I swept her into my lap…it made the escalating tension easier to bear.

Old habits died hard, and part of me knew I’d never fully leave my workaholic ways in the past. I’d been conditioned this way, nearly from birth, by my father, then by Henry. Strive. Succeed. Push.

But losing Tess had made me realize I could do all those things and still have a life outside of work. I had to, or I’d go insane. I had to, or I’d lose her all over again.

Speaking of …

“I’m serious. Ask your questions now, because as soon as the clock hits five, I’m out of here.” In fact, I’d be speed-walking to the elevators. I hadn’t seen Tess much all day, and I didn’t like the way she’d run out earlier.

Danny scoffed, shaking his head even as he grinned. “You really have changed, man. Thriving. Meanwhile, Henry’s still stomping around the office, mad as a bear that his next-in-line flew the coop.”

A pang of guilt sliced through my chest. “I know. But Tess loves it here and”—I looked around the room at the bright orange and signature purples—“it’s a special place.”

Danny glanced around too, with a more critical eye at the riot of color. “Whatever you say, man. But…you should know, Henry is still talking about shutting it down.” He lowered his voice as he delivered the mother lode of bad news.

Surely not…

“He said if we got the Botto account, he’d give me another year to triple revenue.” Jinx was small but mighty—emphasis on small. Eric had been happy to pick and choose his clients and grow the agency at a moderate pace, but Henry didn’t do moderate anything.

On paper, the mandate from Worther’s CEO had been simple: Triple profits and you can have Jinx. Show me you can still make money all the way up in Chicago, and I’ll hand over the C-suite title you’ve been working for your whole life. Oh, and your girl, too.

In reality, it was more complicated than that.

Bagging the Botto account would help, but it wouldn’t get us all the way there.

Sure, there was room to stretch the Jinx team’s workload, but I’d vowed to myself I wouldn’t push as hard.

I’d learned my lesson—I couldn’t burn myself out at work, and I couldn’t expect others to do the same, either.

I needed a creative solution to meet Henry’s expectations, and I still hadn’t quite figured out the plan. But it shouldn’t have mattered. I had time. Or at least, I was supposed to.

“He wants the prodigal son back. You haven’t lost any accounts from your Worther roster, but they haven’t grown, either. Our close rate is down across the board. He’s used to seeing numbers go up, not stay flat. He’s freaking.”

“Worther can weather a few months of flatline as the new team gets in place.” The team I’d hand-picked to replace me and who I delegated practically everything to these days. It had taken hiring four people to manage my workload.

No wonder Tess had left me. I’d been drowning and hadn’t even known it.

“True, but he’s not happy with how this acquisition has gone, either.” Danny gestured around, and my heart nearly stopped.

“Jinx is profitable, too. Where is this coming from?”

“Sure, it’s profitable, but it’s all getting put back into Jinx.

Henry wants to see returns sooner, rather than later.

Especially if he feels like the Worther bottom line needs a boost. He’s started running the numbers on closing up shop.

Might get a better return if he can absorb Jinx’s clients into other Worther offices and funnel the revenue directly back to us. ”

My gut clenched. He wouldn’t. He couldn’t . Of course, my mentor hadn’t been happy at my change, but he’d promised me .

“What happens to the people here? The staff that makes this place profitable to begin with?” What happens to Tess?

Danny grimaced and, to his credit, looked uncomfortable when he replied. “Maybe they take jobs in some of our other boutique brands, or at Worther? Maybe they just…”

The words he didn’t say ballooned, stretching and contorting into a tangible thing.

Tess might be out of a job. Or, maybe, she’d get shoehorned back into a position at the mega-corp she’d left in the first place. I wasn’t sure which was the best and which was the worst-case scenario. Tess had done good work at Worther, but it had taken her soul away, one day at a time.

“I won’t let that happen,” I vowed.

“That’ll come down to you and Henry. You know you coming up here ruined all of his plans.

Listen, you didn’t hear all this from me, alright?

” He sighed and closed his laptop. “Just know, you might want to get a little more aggressive about closing some deals around here. I figured you deserved a heads-up.”

“Thanks, man,” I mumbled through numb lips. We’d had a deal. He wouldn’t just close this place down. We’d shook on it .

“Least I could do. I know why you’re really out here, and it has nothing to do with a profit margin.”

I grunted in agreement, and Danny smiled.

“Maybe this time you put a ring on that finger? Lock it down?”

“Yeah…” I sighed, trying to come to terms with the new roadblocks that had just been lobbed into my path. “Maybe.”

** *

I didn’t knock on Tess’s open office door when I slipped inside. Her nose was scrunched, eyes locked in on the newest iteration of the Botto concepts. I got the feeling a marching band could parade through the cubicles and she’d barely glance up.

It reminded me of when I’d peek into her studio back in Nashville to find her hunched over an easel, so absorbed in her work it took me physically touching her for her to realize I was standing there.

It was the look she got when she disappeared into something she loved.

I couldn’t let Henry close this place down. She belonged here.

At her elbow, Tess’s afternoon coffee sat, full and untouched. I’d asked Meery to deliver it, since I’d been stuck with Danny for the last few hours.

“Oh, so you only drink the latte when it’s hand-delivered by me . Noted.”

She blinked, brow furrowing as she came back to reality, glancing at her cup and then at me. “Oh. Right.”

“It’s probably cold by now. Might I suggest swapping it for a glass of wine?

We could grab a bottle on the way home.” That was the ticket.

Danny was great, but diving back into Worther-world with him had made me itchy, old habits and the nearly inescapable compulsion to check my email tackling me from behind.

Some wine on the couch with Tess, though, was compelling enough to keep the feeling at bay.

“I need to catch up on some work here. Just leave without me. ”

A trickle of unease slid down my vertebrae, and I closed the door behind me.

“I’d prefer not to. What’s wrong, Angel?”

Her shoulder jerked as she spun back to her computer screens. “Nothing. Just need to focus.”

The trickle turned into a flood. She was shutting me out. Again. I crossed the room in an instant, spinning her to face me. “Hey, don’t do that. Tell me what’s wrong.”

She let the silence stew before she gave in with a sigh. “When were you going to tell me you’re still working with Worther? Or that you’re going to California this week?”

Her accusations were fast, sharp. My brain scrambled to catch up, mostly because she was only half right. “Where did you hear about that?”

“It doesn’t matter where. I thought we were past this, Dylan. We were doing so well, and now I hear you’re leaving for days and didn’t care to fill me in? It’s like Nashville all over again.” Disappointment dripped from her words. Something went spiky and blood-red in my brain.

“I’m not going to California, Tess.” I sounded calm, wholeheartedly trying to suppress my rising blood pressure.

“Danny said—” Ah. Of course.

“ Danny is going to California. I’m attending the presentation virtually, from the Jinx office.

” I shook my head, but I wasn’t sure if it was to assure her, or out of disbelief.

“Danny’s taking over more of the meetings because I’m actively reducing my workload at Worther.

Yes, I still have my job there, but I’m offloading as much as I can to focus here. ”

Hopefully. I really needed to get Henry on the phone. But not until I sorted this out. In her orange swivel chair, Tess looked suspicious, which just took my irritation up a notch.

“You’re offloading your Worther work?”

“I’ll transition fully in a few months, but I have to tie up loose ends before I can solely focus on Jinx.”

Tess’s eyes narrowed into slits. “You’re not going to California?”

“I never planned to go to California. In fact, I insisted on setting the time of the meeting so it would be done by five, Chicago time. So I could leave with you, like I have been every day for the last month. You’d have known that if you’d just asked.

” The last part sounded more accusatory than I’d meant, but the more I thought about her reaction, the more frustrated I became.

I paced a few steps, restless, before stopping to look at her again. “Were you planning on pouting about it by yourself until you realized I hadn’t gotten on a plane?”

Tess’s arms crossed, her face twisting in a scowl.

Now we were both getting worked up. Lovely.

“Don’t say that like it’s out of line for me to need some space.

Do you not remember how many times this has happened?

That I’d just get a text from you out of the blue that you’d be gone for three days on some work thing?

Or, better yet, figuring it out for myself after you forgot to tell me you’d jumped on a plane?

Because that happened too. Forgive me for being triggered by the long-standing pattern of shitty behavior. ”

My stomach sank. She was right, of course she was right.

But still…My fingers ran through my hair, and I ordered myself to calm down.

“I’m sorry you were triggered. I understand, I do.

But I told you I’m not that guy anymore.

I’ve been here, with you, every day for weeks, and you still jumped to conclusions. ”

Was anything I did ever going to be enough? The question reverberated uncomfortably in my head. My chest.

“I’m sorry. I guess…I guess I’m still more hurt than I realized about…everything that happened before.”

“I thought we were moving past some of this together. Fresh start.” My shoulders sagged. I really had thought we were in a better place. How long would it take to win her trust back? Could I ever? She was still hurt, and as a twisting heat curled around my intestines, I realized I was, too.

Had any of this mattered? The cold, shocked feeling of the night she left floated uncomfortably close in my memory. Had we made any progress here at all? Maybe we had new hobbies and a new appreciation for each other, but was she still going to pull away from me at the first sign of difficulty?

“We were.” She picked at her cuticles. I hadn’t seen her do that in weeks. “We are . It just caught me off guard.”

I swallowed the tightness in my throat, trying to see it from her perspective, feel what she would be feeling. I had a long history of neglecting her for my career. I could understand that.

Maybe I was asking the wrong question. Maybe it wasn’t “ will she pull away again? ” and more “ am I going to let her pull away again? ”

I was on my knees in front of her before I could fully process that thought, already committed. I rubbed soothing circles around her ankles.

“I need you to talk to me, Angel. When something bothers you, or you’re worried.

” I squeezed her knees. “I’m sorry you felt like it was old times again.

I should have told you I’m still working on some stuff with Worther.

I honestly didn’t think it mattered. But I can be more transparent about that if you need, as long as you talk to me, too . ”

Her body relaxed as I spoke, face transforming from doubt to relief to something like an apology. “I’m sorry. You’re right.” Her forehead pressed against mine, fingers stroking my cheeks. “I should have handled it differently.”

“It’s okay if you need time to think about something, or need to be alone. But you have to tell me what’s up. Then come back, eventually.” Please . Don’t leave me again .

I felt her nod, my eyes falling closed as she wrapped her arms around me. “I will. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too.”

Her lips were warm against mine. We were good. Now that I knew she had this trigger, I could avoid it in the future.

Lying in bed that night, Tess’s even breaths blowing across my chest, I stared at the ceiling. It was lit up every few minutes by silent texts from Danny, who was still churning through that presentation.

Even though I left my phone where it was on the side table, I had the uneasy realization that I had triggers, too.