Flawless Ruin

“I’m not,” I say with a smile. “It wasn’t serious in the least. We were just wrong for each other. Totally wrong. Absolutely, completely wrong.”

David pushes off my desk and stands, eyeing me suspiciously, even as he says, “Well, that’s great, then. I’ll pick you up at seven, then? Mara’s place, right?”

“Absolutely! I can’t wait to go to dinner with you!” I gush, jumping to my feet. “It’s going to be so great to be alone with you. You know, away from the office, where we can really let our hair down?”

He’s confused by my sudden excitement, but nice guy that he is, doesn’t ask me why the hell I’m acting so oddly. Instead, he says, “Yeah. See you then.”

As he walks away, the photocopier begins to whir. I sink down in my chair, exhausted from putting up that mask of insincerity, feeling worse than ever.

I’m leading a nice guy on. I do not want to be alone with David. The thought of doing that makes my heart ache.

But I don’t want Caleb to know that he’s ruined me for other men.

A second later, Caleb steps out of the cubicle and heads to his office, without giving me a single glance.

So much for making him jealous.

The second I turn back to my computer to try to get actual work done, the elevator doors ding and suddenly, a sea of black suits come down the hall toward me. I recognize most of them from Sterling Cross’s legal team.

Shoot. Vicki never told me there was an important meeting this afternoon. Usually, she had coffee service sent up, some sandwiches… And of course Caleb will be wanting someone to take notes.

Which, unfortunately, with Vicki out… It’s me.

I grab my pad and pen as he opens the office door wide to let them pass through. I get to the door and say, “Sorry. I didn’t know… What is this meeting for?”

He takes a second to look me up and down. Then he says, “It’s to strategize what we’re going to do to curtail Sebastian Wolfe’s takeover efforts. He’s like a shark, and he can sense blood in the water.”

“Oh.” That’s really important. He’ll definitely want someone taking notes.

I take a step forward when he adds,

“Thanks to you.”

Then he steps back and slams the door in my face, so hard that it shakes.