“Don’t you have to work today, too?”
“Perks of being the owner. I can come and go as I please.” He reaches over and hands my purse to me.
“Thanks.” I grab my keys and lock the door as Hank puts his hand on my back and leads me out to his truck.
He opens the door for me and then gives me a quick kiss before he goes around. I sigh as I watch him get in and then reach over to hold my hand.
Since we’ve been together I’ve told Hank everything there is to know. Between making love and eating we talked nonstop and he probably knows me better than anyone now. I almost died when he told me he made the wedding cake. Now I don’t have a need to ever crash a wedding again; I can just crash his kitchen.
“This place isn’t too far from me. In fact I think it’s closer to my place.” Hank says as he pulls into the dealership. I fight a smile because I have a feeling I know where this is going.
He parks out front and I unclip my seat belt as I lean over the center console. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”
He presses his mouth against mine as his hands dive into my hair. When he pulls back we are both breathless and I want to tell him to take me back to his place. I should’ve called out, but I’m already here. I also can’t help the fear I still have about this all happening too quickly. I don’t want to be my mother and I need this job to keep a roof over my head.
“They don’t deserve you. Hell, I don’t deserve you, but I’ll work damn hard so you never want to leave me.” His words melt my insides. “You should have gotten that promotion.”
This place doesn’t deserve the hard work I give it, but Hank does. It’s on the tip of my tongue to say I love you, but once again fear gets me. My mom threw that word around so easily. It’s a word that should carry weight. When I say it, I want Hank to believe it. I’m not sure he can right now because we haven’t been together long enough. We seem to talk about everything but the one thing I’m afraid to say.
“That’s sweet of you.”
“Sugar, I’m only sweet for you.” He gives me another kiss. “Now you might want to hop out before I change my mind and take off with you still in my truck.”
I give him one last peck before I get out, but he doesn’t take off right away. He watches me as I walk into the building, and when I’m finally inside he pulls away, taking a part of me with him.
I sit down at my desk and fire up my computer. As I get to work my mind drifts back to when Hank mentioned needing someone to help him at his office. He works from home and even showed me his office that was piled high with paperwork. My fingers itched to dig in, not only because I knew I could do it but because I wanted to help Hank. I know he’d appreciate it and it’s not like here where my opinions or ideas don’t matter. Or someone else steals them.
I get lost in my work, smiling at each sweet text I get from Hank. He tells me how much he’s missing me and how slow the time is ticking until lunch. I know after lunch it will go by just as slowly as I wait for Hank to pick me up.
I grab my purse and go to the bathroom to make sure I look nice before he gets here. But just as I’m about to go in, someone grabs me by the arm and pulls me into their office. Jack.
He slams his door behind us, which is pointless because all the office walls are made of glass. It muffles the sound and it doesn’t help that no one is around to see it happen. My heart starts to pound when I see the look on Jack’s face. I tug at my arm for him to let go, but his grip tightens.
“Did you tell management I’m harassing you?”
All the blood drains from my face. That is supposed to be confidential. I filed a complaint with HR about him constantly calling me and I told them about some of the comments he’s made to me over the last week. They brushed it off right to my face and I guess they told him about it, too. I should have known.
I’m not sure what to say, but the look on his face has me scared that saying anything will only provoke him. I open my mouth but nothing comes out.