Page 37 of Heartless

“Good morning, Mr. Wilson.”

“Good morning, Katie. Is everything okay?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing, sir.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re late, sir. I thought you might be sick.”

I was late? Was I sick? I glanced at my phone. “No, Katie. I’m not sick. And I’m on time.”

“Yes, but…You’re always here early.”

That was true. Instead of her waiting for me in the mornings, I was the one waiting for her. I used work to distract myself and not let my mind go to a dark place.

One more reason to give it my all to the fake boyfriend charade.

“I’m fine, Katie.”

She nodded, and I slipped into my office.

I didn’t have a clear expectation of Madison and how she would approach our new deal, but by lunchtime I found myself disappointed nothing had happened yet.

The mature move on part would be to call her, but then I would look too eager for my liking. I preferred her perceiving our arrangementas something I was doing for her benefit and not something that might help me fix my issues around dating.

So I made Katie call her instead and summon her to my office.

When Madison came into my office in one of her form fitting dresses, looking like sin, I suddenly felt the need to position myself as her boss first and then her fake boyfriend, so I confronted her before her ass had touched the seat of the chair I pointed for her to sit in.

“We need to come up with a solution to the seating arrangements issue,” I said, my tone flat. If my choice of topic surprised her, she didn’t let it show.

“Oh? What makes you say that?” She asked in a sweet voice she only used when she wanted to annoy me.

“You suggested a Christmas wedding to Matthew and Sheila.”

“I did.”

“And how are you planning on making that happen?”

“Their guest list is shorter than Annie’s.” She paused. “But I agree we should come up with a solution.”

“Any ideas that won’t turn the hotel into a construction site?”

“That’s excessive.” Madison cleared her throat. “I contacted an architect.”

I closed my eyes and drew a deep breath, willing myself not to lose it. I had to come to terms with the impending changes. There was no way around that. But her making decisions without me was unacceptable. “You went behind my back.”

Madison ignored my accusation. “I sent him pictures of the gardens and told him we want minimal changes.”

“We?” I asked.

“Yes. We. It’s true I only care about the weddings and not the hotel itself, but I have no interest in changing the scenery. I just want to do my job properly.”

I rubbed my temple. “That will be a noisy endeavor.”

“Postponing it would only create more problems in the future. We will close the hotel for a few days. It’s not like we are going to build an entire building. I’m sure you can afford to pay a little extra to get it done as fast as possible.”

“Do you want to be in charge of the project?”

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