I shook my head, handing Tiana her coffee. “I called in sick.”
“Riiight. I can see how sick you are.” Her lips twitched into a lazy smile. “Just let me know when I need to drive you to the hospital.”
Scratching my forehead with a very particular finger, I smirked and plucked a piece of bacon from the pan. “Wiseass. That comment just cost you this.”
I held up the bacon, cooked extra crispy just the way she liked it and bit into it. “So good.”
“You’re mean this morning.” She pouted, waiting until I was distracted by grabbing a plate for the bacon before snagging a piece for herself. Munching on it, she gave me a long look. “What’s wrong? And seriously, why aren’t you at work?”
I picked up the plate in one hand and my coffee in the other, nodding at the couches in our living room. “We’re going to need sustenance for this.”
She led the way and sank into her usual spot in front of the window, curling her legs underneath her and wrapping her fingers around her coffee mug. “This doesn’t sound good. Did you get fired already? What did you do, jump Jeremiah’s bones when he walked into his office?”
“No,” I said immediately, plopping onto the couch kitty-corner to hers. “Well, sort of.”
Her olive green eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed. “Spill the beans, Donavan. I know you’re a go-getter, but I’m willing to bet this wasn’t just you going for what you wanted.”
“What I wanted was his d—” I slapped my hand over my mouth, cutting myself off before I said the words I couldn’t believe had almost tumbled out of my mouth.
Tiana laughed, twisting strands of her long black hair between her fingers. “At least you’re admitting it now.”
“But I shouldn’t be. I shouldn’t even be thinking about it.”
She tilted her head, studying me. “True, but you’re going to have to start at the beginning and tell me what got you thinking about it again.”
Tiana was with me the night I met Jeremiah. She took me out for my birthday, and I ended up dancing with the most gorgeous guy. Warm, chocolate brown eyes with so much depth in them it was hard to pinpoint all the different hues of color, midnight black hair that he wore just a little bit longer than the average suit-wearing man. Golden tanned skin. Bone structure handcrafted by the gods.
If you looked up tall, dark and handsome, you wouldn’t have been surprised if Jeremiah Williams popped up as the poster child for the description. At the time, I didn’t know that his picture literally popped up if looking up “richest men in the city,” “New York’s most eligible bachelors” and probably under “cockiest man alive.”
I had had an interview lined up for the Monday after my birthday. I had been determined to make this the year I stopped living paycheck to paycheck and started using my fancy business degree—even if it meant starting at the bottom at Williams Inc. and working my way up.
Jeremiah and I practically dry humped on the dance floor, but I took off before anything else could happen with the mysterious stranger. Turned out to be a huge blessing that I did. The following Monday I found myself interviewing for the position as his secretary.
I’d been busy with college for four years, and he’d been doing his best to stay out of the press since his brother’s death, so I hadn’t recognized Jeremiah for who he was. Finding out the man I nearly went at it with on a crowded dance floor was the same one I hoped would be my ticket into the company that could change my life had been a serious shock. And a mindfuck of note since my hormones refused to acknowledge the “boss” part of his identity and were obsessed with the “man” part.
Tiana watched me stroll down memory lane, searching for the best place to start telling her what was on my mind. Since she already knew all about those first few days, I skipped ahead to only the events of the day before. I explained what happened, watching surprise and annoyance change her features and harden her eyes.
“You should take me to work with you. If that bitch shows her face, I’ll really give her something to be mad about.” She was joking, or half-joking. Maybe not joking at all. I could never be sure with her when it came to protecting the people she loved.
“Hold your horses, warrior princess,” I said, smiling at her boldness. A trait, her mother assured me, she was blessed with because of her Greek heritage. Apparently, Greek women were not to be messed with. “Taking you to work as my bodyguard wouldn’t help the situation at all.”
She sighed as though I’d spoiled her fun. “Fine, but then you’re going to have to be honest with your boss. He’s the only person who can fix a problem like that. She should never have been allowed on the premises to even get that close to you in the first place.”
I knew she was right, but the thought of having to go to him to ask for help… “I’m too embarrassed. Having to ask your boss to protect you from another woman feels like the kind of thing that happens in romantic comedies.”
I didn’t know how I was even going to look him in the eye after what happened between us, never mind batting my eyelashes and letting him play the hero. One thing I was sure of, whatever was going to happen, my life was no romantic comedy. No sirree.