“Fine by me.” She closed her notebook and stood up. “But really, if you need damage control, I’m your girl.” She gave me a big smile, then spun on her heel, and walked out.

I sat there and stared at the door, feeling stunned.

I just told her one of the craziest stories imaginable—and she took it without blinking. I couldn’t tell if she was a real pro, or if she was as insane as I felt.

I got up and walked to the next office over. Bret looked up from his desk, and his face lit up. It always did that when I came around, like he loved seeing me more than anything in the world. It was a weird feeling, seeing that look in his eyes—I spent so long wanting it, and now that it was here, I couldn’t bring myself to fall back into that again.

“Can I help you?” he asked. “You look lost.”

I stepped into his office and shut the door. “I just told Lisa about Zeke.”

His face slowly fell. “Are you joking?”

“I wish,” I said, and I started pacing. “She asked about security and I sort of just—I told her everything.”

He leaned back in his chair and stared at me. His office was mostly barren, with a few generic pictures hanging on the wall. There wasn’t much around, since he spent a lot of time going back and forth between the office and the factory, making sure everything was going right with Nicky, and checking in on me.

“How’d she take it?” he asked.

“That’s the weird thing.” I forced myself to sit down, but my knees kept jostling, and sweat pooled under my arms. “She didn’t blink, like it was no big deal that her employers were being blackmailed.”

“Interesting,” he said, and narrowed his eyes. “I wish you’d told me about this beforehand, you know.”

“I know,” I said, glancing away. “We should’ve talked about it first.”

“Lisa’s probably trustworthy, but god damn, Jude. You know what Fluke would do if this got out.”

I grimaced and tried to imagine Lady Fluke freaking out. It almost hurt to picture it. “I know,” I said.

“What’s she going to do?” he asked, stroking his chin. “I mean, she’s not freaking out, right?”

“No, not at all,” I said. “In fact, she’s going to spin a story about security for the rest of the staff, so people stop gossiping.”

“That’s probably good,” he said, and groaned. “Fuck, Jude, I wish you’d asked me about this first.”

“I know, I messed up, but—”

“I’m going to go talk to her,” he said, and pushed back from the desk.

“No, wait,” I said. “Not yet, okay? Let it sink in for a while. We just finished talking. I don’t want this to become a whole thing.”

“It’s already a whole thing,” he said softly, but sank back down. I felt a little stab of relief. “But all right, I’ll wait until tomorrow.”

“Thank you.” I stood up again and walked to the door. “Next time, I’ll talk to you before I tell people about our little mobster problem.”

He gave me a look and waved his hand. “Make sure you do.”

I left then and hurried back to my desk, feeling like an idiot. I didn’t know what I was thinking, but the pressure was getting to me. I felt terrible for not checking with Bret first, and he was right to be annoyed. I messed up, and I needed to remember that this was a partnership. I wouldn’t be able to do this without him, and I couldn’t push him away, not now that I was living with him.

Everything was so complicated, and of course, I doubted things would get simpler anytime soon.

18

Jude

I worked late the day after spilling my guts to Lisa. Bret had a chat with her, and things seemed okay—but I still felt on edge, like the whole situation might crumble beneath my fingers like sand at any moment.

Bret stopped by my door before leaving. “You sure you want to stick around?” he asked, frowning a little at his watch. “I have a meeting with Neal in a little while, so I won’t be able to drive you back to the apartment.”

“Go ahead,” I said, waving him on. “Hal will be here. We’ll pay him overtime.”

“Lady Fluke’s dime,” Bret said with a shrug, but he hesitated. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

“Hal’s here. Just go.”

“I’ll check in with you when I’m done and if you’re still here, I’ll swing past and pick you up.”

“You’re a prince,” I said, and he grinned at me before leaving.

I watched the office slowly empty out as I went through resumes. I thought hiring would be fun at first until we got hundreds of applicants for each positions, and I was forced to whittle them down little by little. It took forever, and half the people weren’t even qualified. I clicked through, eyes red rimmed and feeling tired, but strangely energized at the same time.

Tags: B.B. Hamel Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net