Deliciously Damaged (Reckless Bastards MC 3)

Twelve of them were from Mr. Brighton, the time stamps all scattered starting from 5:00 a.m. this morning. I read through them all. None of them had any personal feel—they were all strictly business, which for some reason I couldn’t explain, felt like a relief. After my conversation with Bryce the day before, I had been worried that things had crossed a line into the personal zone with Mr. Brighton, which is a place I knew I did not want to be. He might be the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen, real life or movies, and yet, I already knew he’d be nothing but trouble if I were to ever let myself entertain anything other than a business relationship.

I jotted down some brief notes, closed the email file, and went off in search of a refill. On the way to the company break room I spotted a man with a giant bouquet of flowers on the opposite side of the room, making his way into the cubicle maze. For some reason it stung a little to think about the unsuspecting woman who was about to receive the beautiful arrangement. I had only really been in one serious relationship and in the year plus that we were together I had never received so much as a single rose. I used to tell myself that it didn’t really matter, the flowers were just going to die and then you had to clean it all up. I would rationalize that really, my ex, Marx had been saving me from the headache of it all.

“What an asshole,” I whispered to myself. I shook my head to rid myself of any further temptation to wander down memory lane.

With a fresh cup of coffee I went back to my desk.

I jumped back when I looked up from my cup to see the gigantic bouquet of flowers I had seen in the arms of the delivery man moments before, now sat straight in the middle of my desk. I swooped into my cubicle, sat my coffee mug down, and ripped the tag off the vase.

“Thank you.”

I flipped it over. “Really? That’s it?” I asked out loud to no one in particular, seeing it was blank on the other side.

My racing heart knew exactly who they were from, but I still wanted confirmation, in writing, that this was all really happening.

Wait? What was happening? Technically, nothing. But it sure felt like more than that.

A group of people walked by and I had the strangest sense that they had already gone by once before. They all started whispering to each other as soon as they passed me. I couldn’t hear what they were saying but I saw their heads all bent together. One shot a glance back in my direction and I hurried to duck back into my cubicle.

I sat down on the edge of my desk and let out a sigh.

“What the hell am I going to do with you?” I turned to see Bryce staring at the flowers and then back to me with a stupid grin on his face. “Three days in and you’re already the center of the entire buzz around here.”

“Yes, I’m quite proud. Such an achievement.” I rolled my eyes.

He laughed and sat on my chair. “It’ll blow over, trust me.”

“What are they all saying about me?”

He paused for a moment, as if considering how best to break the news. “Don’t worry about it. Just keep your chin up.”

I frowned at him, unsure why he wouldn’t elaborate. I wanted to pry for more information but I was suddenly reminded that while Bryce and I were acquaintances, he was still technically my superior and it probably wouldn’t be the best thing to sit around gossiping on the clock.

Bryce seemed to sense my unease and offered me a lifeline to change the topic. “I’m assuming by now, he’s blown up your email account with a laundry list of problems that you need to fix. Immediately, of course.”

I nodded and opened my inbox to show him. He leaned over me and silently scanned through all the pages.

“Need any help?” he asked when he finished reading the last one.

“Well we should probably order me a new liver. ‘Cause I can already tell you, this man is going to drive me to drink. More than usual, I should say,” I added with a quirked smile.

>

Bryce laughed. “Okay, I’ll see what I can do on the liver. But seriously, Allie, this would be a lot for even our most senior employees. The phrase thrown to the wolves doesn’t even begin to cover what’s happening here. I’m furious with Rita for letting this happen in the first place, but until I can deal with her, what can I do to help?”

I buried my face in my hands. “I don’t know. He wants me to meet with the design team this morning and tell them everything I said yesterday when we met. But I don’t know how to do that without being a total bitch. When I made the comments yesterday, it was to prove a point to him, that I knew more than he’d expected.”

“I’d say mission accomplished. The real problem with that strategy is that you made Rita look bad when you attacked her department and their previous work, and she’s pissed. She probably would have fired you on the spot except for the fact that her biggest client insists you, and only you, work with him now.”

“Fuck my life. Three days in and I’m already on the shit list. Spectacular.” It took a moment, but slowly the picture shifted and I could see what happened. Rita had been in charge of the team, and in charge of trying to bring Mr. Brighton around to their concepts and ideas, and in one fell swoop, I’d destroyed all her work and humiliated her team of designers.

No wonder she had handed me over to Mr. Brighton without a second thought.

Another realization popped into my head and I gasped. “I’m so sorry, Bryce. I hope this didn’t damage your reputation, since you got me the job and all.”

He hesitated and I could tell he was holding something back, but all he said was, “I know you didn’t mean to cause any harm. Right now, it’s my job to make sure you have the tools and resources that you need to fix things with Mr. Brighton. Once that’s done, we can all relax. So consider me your new Mr. Miagi.”

I laughed at the reference. “Thanks, I needed that.”