Heartless (Enemies to Lovers 1)

“Please, Carter.” Della doesn’t let go of my hand but instead starts to pull me inside.

I’ll find out who he is and deal with him tomorrow. I slide in after Della and only then do I feel how cold her hand is. I place her hand on my thigh and cover it with mine so it will get warm.

“Who is he?” I growl, still seething from seeing his hand on her back.

“He’s just a co-worker. Please, Carter, I can handle him. I have to work with the man. Don’t make things worse than they are.”

I stare at her until she meets my eyes. “Who the fuck is he?” I grind out.

“Stew Roberts,” she whispers and just saying his name makes a look of disgust wash over her face. “He showed me around and introduced me to everyone.”

The name means nothing to me.

“Where was Jaxson?”

“Who?” she asks and it’s clear she has no idea what I’m talking about.

“You work under Jaxson, Della. He’s head of the graphic department. Where the fuck was Jaxson?”

“I didn’t meet anyone named Jaxson. Stew did mention that the secretary is on vacation and that Mr. West had to be in a meeting.”

I dig my phone out and call Jaxson.

“Where were you today?” I bark the second he answers.

“In the Bradbury meeting,” he says.

“Fuck,” I snap, closing my eyes for a moment. I need to calm down. I forgot about the meeting. It’s a huge deal for us. We might be taking over Bradbury designs. I need that company so our graphic and printing departments will be able to handle the workflow when we expand internationally.”

“I forgot. How did it go?”

“Things are on track. I’ll meet you at the office tomorrow morning to go over everything with you.”

“Great. Before you go, who is Steve-”

“Stew,” she says next to me.

“Stew Rogers, who the fuck is he?”

“He’s a designer. What’s this about?”

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” I growl, cutting the call.

I take a few minutes to calm down.

When Peter parks the car outside a clothing store, Della tries to pull her hand out from under mine.

“What are we doing here? I thought we were going home.”

Hearing her say the word home and knowing she’s referring to my place makes a warm feeling expand in my chest.

“What happened today?” I ask.

“Nothing. I made some copies for Stew, but that was all.” She looks upset and tired.

I frown at her. “What copies?”

“Some papers for Stew. I didn’t have anything to do so he gave me some of his.”