Chapter 24
STEPHANIE
Listen to your gut. If I ever have children, that was going to be one of the first lessons I would teach them. I punched my pillow and buried my head in its feathery comfort, tossing my phone on the bed next to me.
When I took my new job as secretary to Jeremiah Williams, New York City’s favorite infamous bad boy and son of billionaire Jance Williams, my gut screamed at me. It tried to warn me that I was making a mistake, but I didn’t listen.
Of course, the reason why I thought it was warning me was wrong. I thought it was because working for an arrogant, sexy-as-hell man to whom I was undeniably attracted was going to come back to bite me in the ass. And it had, but not because of him.
Not directly because of him, I corrected my depressing thoughts. It was because of the crazy woman who showed up and threatened me in Jer’s office yesterday. The drama left a bad taste in my mouth and had me seriously second-guessing my decision to leave my job at the bookstore, where quiet and boring was the run of the mill for each day.
Quiet and boring was, well… boring, but at least it was safe. Having a clearly deranged woman show up in your boss’s office and throw things at you while spewing hatred wasn’t safe. Not by a long shot. Especially when the hatred she was spewing came paired with a threat. You better watch your back, bitch. He’ll chew you up and spit you out when he’s done with you. And if he doesn’t, I will.
My stomach twisted at the memory of her words. Normal bitchiness I could handle as well as anyone else could. Hell, learning how to deal with the crazies was par for the course in any teenage girl’s life. By the time we hit our twenties, we’re pros at laughing them off and coming up with snappy comebacks. A couple of years into my twenties, I’d yet to actually feel a single hint of fear associated with empty threats and crazy girls.
Until now.
This girl, this threat, was different. I believed her when she screamed those words at me, her face contorted in rage and her eyes wild.
Sunlight pouring in through my open bedroom windows warmed my back and legs, but it did nothing to thaw the cold feeling in the pit of my stomach. That woman, whoever she was, meant business. And I was in her crosshairs, unfortunately.
Great. Just great. I groaned and flopped onto my back, throwing my arm over my eyes to shield them from the bright rays of early morning sunshine.
To top it all off, I just got off the phone to call in sick. My second week on the job. It didn’t bode well for me.
Oh, and then there was another fact. Just before the embodiment of crazy walked into Jer’s office and practically assaulted me, I’d not only had my first fight with my boss but also my first kiss with him. How stupid am I?
A heavy sigh fell from my lips. Fucking stupid, top-level stupid. Idiotic. That was how stupid I was. Despite all the promises to myself to keep things professional with him and tamp down on this insane attraction I felt, I succumbed to the heat of the moment. In my defense, it was a seriously heated moment. But it still shouldn’t have happened.
I rolled over in bed and stared out the window. There wasn’t much of a view since all I could see was the building next door, but I stared at its brown bricks as wistfully as if I was looking out over the ocean.
If onlyI had listened to my damn gut. If only I went into my own office adjacent to Jer’s to compose myself after the most incredible kiss of my life. If only I never fucking kissed him… Damn it.
So many if onlys, so little chance of taking anything that happened back. Tomorrow, I was going to have to woman up and face my boss. Though I had no idea what I would even say to him. Today, however, today I was hiding out.
I didn’t really think the woman would come after me, but who knew? I also wouldn’t have thought that just anyone could walk through all that security down at Williams Tower and straight into the heir of the company’s office.
Apparently, it was possible for someone to do it though. Someone who happened to be as gorgeous as she was crazy. Legs as long as my entire body, glowing red hair and smooth, creamy skin, the girl was a knockout. Who wants to knock me out.
What made it even more difficult for me to go back there and face the man was that I didn’t know who the psycho was to him. From her ramblings, I managed to deduce she was his ex-secretary, but there had to be more to it than that.
Surely.
As far as I knew, people didn’t make a habit of marching into their former employer’s office, threatening the people who replaced them or laying claim to said former employer. Her words echoed clear as a bell in my head. The office next door is mine and so is the man who occupies this one.
Was she his ex-girlfriend as well as his ex-secretary? His current girlfriend? I had no clue. Given her threats and her reaction to finding me in his office, it seemed reasonable that she could’ve been either one.
He hadn’t mentioned a girlfriend to me, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have one. I rolled my eyes and shook my head, reaching up to push my hair out of my face. A horn blared in the street below, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I sat up, looping my arms around my knees. Enough moping around.
Moping wouldn’t get me anywhere. I made a huge mess of things yesterday by kissing Jeremiah. It would’ve been bad enough without having had the run-in I did with the crazy, hot girl. What I needed was a game plan. A way forward.
And I knew just who to go to for help figuring things out. Luckily, she lived in the same apartment I did. I only had to lure her out of her room.
Feeling more positive now that I had a plan for the immediate future, I hopped out of bed and padded to the kitchen. There were only two steps to my plan. Step one involved bacon and coffee. Step two was brainstorming with Tiana, who I was hoping would be coaxed from sleep by the smell of two of her favorite things.
Sure enough, I was pouring freshly brewed coffee into a mug and about halfway done with the bacon when my best friend walked into the kitchen. She yawned, stretched and peeked at me through one open eye. “Shouldn’t you be at work already?”