Page 55 of Manhattan State of Mind

I shake my head and almost laugh. What good can they do?

“Okay.” He stands there, staring.

I wipe my nose on my sleeve in the classiest way. “Really, Dwayne. I’m good.”

Now take a hike.

He nods awkwardly and whips out his notebook. “I’ll log this as an ‘incident’ anyway. For health and safety.”

My jaw drops and all of my emotions come vomiting out.

“Are you for fucking real?” I roar. “I find out I can’t sell my home and have to live above a six-foot sex doll forever with a guy called Spider and you want to add me to your stupid health and safety register? God, I’m going to strangle you.”

The entire area falls eerily silent. Everyone stares at me wide-eyed, fingers frozen mid-type.

I take a deep breath, every muscle in my body tensing.

“Lucy,” says a deep rumbling voice. I tilt my head to find JP Wolfe’s piercing stare from the doorway of his office. “In my office, please.”

Oh God, this is it, isn’t it? I’ve messed up so badly this time. Is he going to fire me?

The silence shatters with Dwayne’s loud teeth-sucking.

“So I’ll log this as a… um… let’s see… as workplace stress, and note that HR may need to be consulted if incidents escalate. Yes. That should cover everything properly.”

I mentally give him the middle finger but I stumble, heart pounding, toward the unknown fate that awaits me with the Big Bad Wolf.

FIFTEEN

JP

She walks into my office with the eagerness of someone facing the firing squad. Even worse than the last time, and I didn’t think that was physically possible.

“Mr. Wolfe,” she rushes to say as I close the door behind us. “I apologize for the scene out there. It was completely out of line.”

I close the space between us in two swift strides. “I told you to call me JP.”

“JP. Got it.” She looks like she’s about to flee. Christ, this is hard for me to take.

A knock interrupts us, and Amanda peeks her head in. “The sales team is waiting in boardroom six, boss.”

“Cancel it,” I order, not taking my eyes off Lucy. Right now, I need to focus on the woman in front of me.

“Of course, sir,” Amanda responds before quietly slipping away.

Lucy’s rooted to the spot, cautiously eyeing me.

I slide my hands into my pockets to keep from pulling her into my personal space. “Now, what was that all about? Why’d you get so upset?”

She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, her gaze flicking to the team that’s ogling us through the window. “He caught me at a bad moment. I just got off a call that left me… rattled.”

“What was the call about?”

“Personal stuff. Not work related. I shouldn’t have let it affect me here.”

“I can help you.”

Her eyes snap back to mine, wide with alarm. “No… sir. JP. It’s fine. It’s my issue, and I shouldn’t have let it spill into work.”