Page 26 of Perfect Assumption

“Oh, that’s not a problem.”

I brighten. “You have it on a spreadsheet.”

“No, it’s all in my head.”

My pen clatters to the table. “Say it ain’t so.”

“Why? Is that a problem?” Ward’s confusion would be fairly cute if I wasn’t fighting the urge to strangle him.

I put my head down and start banging it on the pad. Repeatedly.

“Angie? What are you doing?”

“Shh. I’m trying to rid myself of the memory of you saying the data about the hundreds of client files you’ve worked on since you started working here are stored in your head.”

“Well, that’s not entirely true,” he amends.

I stop beating my head against the table and glance at him hopefully.

“Some of it is on a spreadsheet so I can find the file in my office cabinets.”

“You…office….those are supposed to go to off-site storage!” I wail. My head goes back down on the pad.

He pats me on the shoulder. “Shh. It’s okay, Angie. I’m sure you’d be able to figure it all out in three or four months if I decided to take off for Fiji.”

I flip my head back to mean mug him, not caring one iota if he technically outranks me in the firm hierarchy. Carys signs my paychecks, and she’s the one I consider my boss. “If you take off for Fiji before that information is in an orderly system, I’ll hunt you down,” I vow.

He drops his chin down so his face obscures everything else I see. “Now you’re giving me an incentive to do just that very thing.”

I slowly sit up before whispering, “What do you mean?”

He reaches out and twists a lock of loose hair around his finger. He gives it a tug. Our faces are so close, I can see the spikes of gold in his dark brown eyes. My breathing accelerates.

Then, Ward does something completely unexpected. He lifts my hand that’s somehow managed to clench around the pen again. He brings it up, brushing it across his lips. Once. Twice. Then he makes me a promise that both exhilarates and terrifies me. “I’m not running away until we figure out how to solve this problem.”

Somehow, I don’t think he’s talking about his database issue.

Eleven

Ward

Who knew Erzulie has a mole right there? Certainly we didn’t until the pictures of her naked showed up in our inbox this morning. All we have to say, Erzulie, is wow! You may never be remembered for your vocal cords after this.

— StellaNova

“Is the weekend almost here?” Angie groans as she flings open the outer door.

“What happened?” David asks before I get the chance.

“StellaNova printed an article claiming there’s nude pics of Erzulie,” Angie tells him.

“And it was such a nice week,” I lament.

“I’m debating running away to a land far away filled with nothing but chocolate. Maybe when I get back, I’ll be prepared to ruin Carys’s week.” Angie closes her eyes. Her pink tongue darts out and wets her lips.

Good Christ. My whole body tenses. I push away from the doorjamb of my office and say, “So, let’s do it.” I approach a stunned Angie and take the file from her hands. “Is the article in here?”

She nods mutely, staring at me as if I’ve grown two heads. And maybe I have, but my resistance to this woman is wearing thin.