Counting the Kisses (Counting the Billions 3)

“Yes,” Daniel said, sounding wary.

“The meeting went really well, but afterward, instead of walking him out, I had to rush right into the next meeting. Duncan and I went a little bit overtime, I guess, and I was already a couple minutes late for that next meeting. And it’s not like he hasn’t been to the office before, so I figured he knew the way out.”

Daniel’s eyebrows knit together. “What are you trying to tell me—that he somehow managed to get lost in our office building?” he asked.

“Well, no,” I said slowly. “But when I came out of the next meeting, he was still there, hanging around and chatting with some of the other employees.”

Daniel looked confused, and I couldn’t blame him. I had been shocked when I realized what they were chatting about as well. Because at first, I had just stupidly assumed that somehow Duncan Flannigan and Judy Mannheim were friends. After all, Judy had worked for McGregor Enterprises for a while and Duncan had been a client for a long time as well.

But then Erin had come up to me, eyes wide. “He’s been snooping around the office trying to find out information about Daniel,” she had told me.

“What kind of information?” I had asked.

“Well, he asked me if I had ever slept with him,” she had admitted.

Daniel frowned. “Who was he chatting with?” he finally asked.

“Apparently, he went around to all the women in the office and asked personal questions about you, including if any of them had ever had...sexual relations with you.”

It was so quiet in that mansion that you could have heard a pin drop. I dared a look up at Daniel’s face, and I wasn’t sure that I had ever seen him that angry before, not even the night that he had punched Gerrard.

“I kicked him out as soon as I realized what he was doing,” I hurried to say. But I knew that that didn’t change what had happened. I still felt sick with guilt about it. Because it wasn’t just about the information that he might have collected, and I didn’t even know what all he might have learned. But it was more that he had the audacity to ask those questions at all.

Daniel had put me in charge of the office. He had trusted me to keep order in the office, and I hadn’t. And I knew just how much Daniel cared about all of his employees. I knew that he wouldn’t be happy about this situation. Even if nothing got out to the press, he had still made everyone in the office uncomfortable.

And it was all my fault. There were any number of things I could have done differently. I could have walked him out of the office like I normally would have. I couldn’t believe I had attempted to extend the contract we had with him. I should have been able to see through him, to see what kind of guy he really was. Not the kind of guy that we wanted to do business with, that was for sure.

But I hadn’t seen any of the signs, and now, looking up at Daniel, I couldn’t help feeling like I had failed him.

Chapter 11

Daniel

I STARED AT ABBY IN shock. What the hell had she just said? Duncan Flannigan, walking around the office asking all the female employees if any of them had ever slept with me? I had worked with Duncan for years now; he was one of our most loyal clients. I couldn’t believe it.

I shook my head. “Look, I don’t know what you think you overheard—” I began.

Abby’s head snapped up, and I saw a flash of anger in her eyes to match the frustration in my own. “What I thought I overheard?” she asked incredulously. “I’m not just telling you shit that I overheard.”

“So, what, Duncan asked you about your relationship with me?” I asked her disparagingly. It wasn’t really that I was mad at her. I was just pissed at the whole situation. First Gerrard, now Duncan. Two men I had worked with forever, two men I had trusted. It seemed like nothing was sacred anymore, though.

I might not have lost much in the trial today, but I had lost more than enough for me to feel like I needed to start rethinking my personal allegiances. But who could I trust?

Abby. I could trust Abby. But even as I took a step toward her, she was shaking her head and stepping back. “Oh no,” she said. “You don’t just get to say shit like that and then pretend like there’s nothing wrong,” she snapped.

I winced. “I know,” I agreed. “And I’m sorry. It’s just been a long day, and I’m a little confused. Did Duncan talk to you or not?”

“He didn’t talk to me,” Abby said icily. “But Erin says he asked her about her sexual relations with you, and she says that he talked to nearly every woman in the office about the same thing. So, sure, maybe it’s hearsay. But I trust Erin. Don’t you?”

“Of course I trust Erin,” I said, fighting the urge to groan. “Abby, look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say it like that. All I’m saying is that I just want to understand what happened a little better. You can give me that, can’t you?”

“You’re the boss, boss,” Abby said snidely. This time, it was no longer a joke shared between the two of us. No, this time, she said it like if I wasn’t her boss, she would be walking away right now.

What a misunderstanding. All I wanted to tell her was how glad I was to be home, to see her, to be done with this stupid trial. It might not have gone the way that I wanted things to go, but it wasn’t like I really needed the money. All I could think of on the way home was how lucky I was that at the end of the day, I still had Abby in my life. That was what I really cared about right now.

But then with this whole thing at work, whatever she was trying to tell me, it felt like I was just purposefully pushing her away almost. Abby looked like she might cry, even, and all I wanted was to step closer to her, to take her into my arms and apologize. But the way she stepped away from me made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with me right now.

“Abby, what happened?” I asked, hearing the desperation in my voice as I did so.