Page 6 of Wrong Number, Right Fox (Dial M For Mates #6)

JOSS

I’d been putting in too much actual time at Redtail Global.

My job was to consult, and I was taking on an active role.

I’d always been good about keeping boundaries and also charging if I needed to go beyond the typical components of my position.

But with Garner, he had my head in a tailspin, and I just couldn’t keep away.

It was a problem. I knew that from the get-go, but things had finally gotten to the point where I needed to do something about it.

This morning when I woke up, my first thought was wondering if Garner would like my slacks. For some reason that simple thought was exactly what I needed to snap out of this.

It was time to step back from the consulting job. I shot Garner a text letting him know that I’d check on them in a couple of days and to reach out if he had any issues.

Hitting that “send” button took far more energy than any of the monumental tasks I’d done since this project began.

Sending it meant I wasn’t going to see him today.

That... that stung really deeply, only solidifying my resolve.

There was a thing called professional boundaries, and somehow, I’d lost track of each and every one of them.

Instead of staying home and having a pity party for one, which would’ve been really easy to do, I headed into my office.

I even stopped at the coffee shop to get Harold the coffee special for the day, as I had my boring café au lait.

Maybe if I pretended it was just a normal day, it would feel that way.

“Hey, you.” He rocked up as I walked in the doorway. “I wasn’t expecting you today. You’ve been all hands on deck at Redtail.”

“Yeah, they needed me… I mean us… They needed us… They needed Denmarke Solutions.” I was babbling.

Harold gave me a knowing look and pointed to the coffee. “What is that? That’s not my caramel.”

“No, it’s not. It’s the special of the day.”

“And what is the special?”

“Barista surprise.” It was a game I wouldn’t play with my coffee, but I didn’t love the sweet foo-foo stuff my friend did. If he hated it, it wasn’t far and I could grab him another, but the barista, Sam, had been so excited by her creation, it had been nearly impossible to say no.

“You know it’s going to be hazelnut.” His head hit the back of his chair. “I hate hazelnut coffee.”

“Nope, it’s not hazelnut. Promise. I asked.” I set the cup in front of him. “You think I’d chance giving you your least favorite flavor? Although I seem to remember a time in our lives when it was your go-to.”

“Yeah, that was before I decided to throw rum in my coffee. A lot of rum.” He’d been so sick the next day.

College was wild like that, because by any reasonable measure, most of us shouldn’t have survived that freshman year. We were just... yeah, making bad choices left and right. And yet, here we were, at the top of our game. Lucky as could be.

“Yeah, I came in today. I was thinking, maybe... maybe this should be your job.”

“Why is that?” He sounded gruffer than I’d heard him in a long time. I hadn’t meant?—

“I don’t know. It’s just—getting too involved.”

I wasn’t one to keep secrets from him, especially not when they had to do with work.

“Involved, meaning?” He got up and walked around his desk, and plopped in the chair beside me.

“You’re gonna make me say it, aren’t you?” He had a way of making me confess all things. Always had.

“Now that you say it like that,” he let out a chuckle, “yeah, I think I am gonna need to make you say it. Because what you’ve got to say is clearly a lot more interesting than what I had floating through my head.”

“Great.” I walked right into that one. “It’s gonna sound like—I don’t know—I need a year-long vacation or something. But ever since the day I first walked into that office and met Garner, it’s like I belong there. Like I need to stay there. Like leaving hurts.”

“I see.” He took a long sip of his drink and set it back down again. “Is that why you’ve been there so much?”

I nodded.

“Anything else I need to know?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Yeah, there’s more. I have dreams about the CEO.”

“Unless those are dreams of you harming him, I don’t see what the problem is.”

“No, not those kind of dreams. Like... the other kind.” Please don’t make me tell you they were sex dreams.

He squinched his nose. “I think you’re gonna have to give me more details. Spell it out.”

“You’re enjoying this too much.” I pretended to drink my coffee, which was actually still too hot.

“I am enjoying it. But tell me. What kind of dreams?”

“Naughty dreams, okay?” And they’d become progressively hotter, but I left that part out. It was already embarrassing enough.

“Anything else?”

Gods, why did I have to open my mouth?

“Yeah, so... he thought you were going to be his point person. And that seemed to really bother me far more than it should.”

Harold’s face got suddenly serious. “Wait, who are we talking about again—still Garner?”

I nodded, and his mouth formed a little “O,” but he quickly schooled it. I brushed it off, because honestly, there was way more going on in this conversation than that.

“Okay, so he wanted me. Not unusual. We’ve always had people who requested each of us specifically.”

Harold said that, but really, there were people who requested him specifically. I didn’t have his popularity. And I wasn’t really sure how he got it, other than, I don’t know, maybe charm, word of mouth. It didn’t really matter. There was plenty of work to go around.

“Yeah, and when he did… I got jealous. Jealous of work. I know , right? It doesn’t make sense. But I guess... I guess what I’m saying is, I think we need to switch. I’ll man here for a little while if you finish up this contract.”

Harold stared at me for a full 30 seconds before speaking again. “Here’s the thing. There’s a lot you don’t know—things he needs to tell you.”

“Are you trying to help with this? This is like a pep talk?” Because if it was, it sure wasn’t working.

“What I mean is... trust me, you want to stay with this job.”

“Did I mention his brother’s creepy?” I probably should’ve led with that, because the more I replayed our conversation, the less comfortable with it I became.

“No. But still… think about it… Don’t rush off too quickly. This job is exactly where you need to be. I just need you to trust me on this. Have I ever steered you wrong?”

He had me there.

“No. But to be fair, I’ve steered you wrong multiple times. So it kind of balances out.”

“Your logic isn’t logicking.” He pointed toward the door. “Now go. Skedaddle. Work.”

“Yes, sir.”

I walked out, just as confused as I was when I went in.

Only this time, about different things. Why was Harold so sure I needed to stay there?

At no point in the conversation did it feel like he was looking for a way to dodge responsibilities.

He had no problem doing the gig, from anything I could tell.

It felt like he was being very sincere in his belief that I needed to do it.

It didn’t make sense. But also, if Harold was going to give me more information, he’d have already done so. He had his reasons. Would I ever discover what those were? Probably not, but they existed, and if I couldn’t trust him now after all these years, I wasn’t ever going to be able to.

I went to my office, sat in my chair with my laptop open in front of me, more of a prop than anything else, and was trying to figure out what to do next, when my phone binged.

It was Garner letting me know it was slow going, but they were making progress. That was my hint that I could take the day to get over these big feelings and get back to work. They had it under control.

Only I did the exact opposite, heading right to their headquarters, only stopping long enough to get Garner a coffee and a muffin. I wasn’t even sure if he liked them, but I figured it was the thought that counted.

Goodies in hand, I walked in, ready to conquer the day, choosing to trust Harold and unwilling to stay away any longer.