Page 25 of Love, Luck & Clusterf*ck

“I have every right.”

“Who the fuck….” I could sense Adam and Kate’s stare on me. I flicked my head back and forth between them. “What?” Kate made aslashing motion across her throat. She looked like she was in some serious pain trying to keep her laughter inside. I was damn confused.

“Adam, if you’re done playing around, I’d like a word.”

“No problem, Stephen.” Adam winked at me, and I squinted at him, even more confused now. How did they know each other?

The guy named Stephen gave me a hard look before pulling Adam aside. They soon disappeared into the other room. My mouth dropped slightly and I turned towards Kate. She finally let herself bust up.

“That was… I don’t know.” She shook her head, banging her palms on the table. “Fucking hilarious? But also kinda bold, Perry. I cannot wait to hear this story. It’s gotta be a good one.”

“What are you talking about, Kate?”

“I thought you said you didn’t know him.”

“Know who? You’re not making any sense. All I know is that whoever-the-fuck crashed our little party right now is the same guy who’s been popping up way too often. This is the third time in a week. It’s… distracting. And how does he know Adam?”

“Oh man.” She shook her head again. “Remember when I told you about a certain hot-as-fuck honcho you might meet tonight? Well, I guess you’ve saved me the introductions.”

“What?”What?It took a whole two seconds for everything to click into place. I’d never felt more sober. Stephen…. “That’sStephen Davidson?” I whispered. “S. Davidson from corporate?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Fuck.” I dropped my head in my hands and groaned.

She nudged my shoulder. “Come on, divulge. How doyouknow him, Perry? Another complication?”

She giggled, and I peeked at her through my fingers. “My God, it’s nothing like that. And stop laughing! It’s not funny.”

“I think it’s very funny. Knowing the man but not the name? That has hookup written all over it. Damn, if I weren’t married I’dbe jealous as hell. No, forget that. I’m frickin’ jealous anyway.” She leaned in closer and yanked my hands down. “And dying to hear the details.”

“I already told you, it’s nothing like that. We’ve never hooked up.” I felt another groan forming in my throat. The whole dynamic just shifted on its ass. “Shit. I love this job too.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Because I have no idea what I’m going to do now or what’s going to happen. It’s only my first week and I’m already getting in trouble.” People like me were expendable. The company wouldn’t think twice about letting me go for insubordination.

“Pfft. You didn’t know who he was. Just from now on, it’d probably be a good idea to refrain from talking to the higher-ups like that. Their egos are fragile.”

“I hope Adam’s not getting bitched at too hard.” Or worse. He wasn’t that high up on the food chain, but he was still a rung above us. His job description included overseeing the operators, not frolicking on the floor with them.

She waved her hand. “I’m sure it’s fine. Stephen’s not our boss. He doesn’t even work in the same building. He’s probably just reminding Adam to show a little restraint in front of the new employees. Wouldn’t want to set a bad precedent.”

“But he does have enough clout to cause problems for us if he wants to. He’s still a boss, just not for our department. He could easily talk to Mr. Krismer, whoisour boss, right?”

This was a game changer. I had to decide between keeping my job and speaking my mind. I had to start biting my tongue from now on whenever I dealt with him, which I prayed wasn’t too often.

“Well, yeah, but….” She smiled. “Just don’t worry about it, okay? Have another margarita.”

No, I was done for the night, and not just with drinking. I had to get out of there before my mouth did any more damage. Probablynot the smartest move to leave a mandatory work meeting before the actual work portion started, but who knew if I’d even have a job come Monday. There was a disgruntled Norse god in charge of my fate now.

Dammit. I really fucking loved this job too.

“I really like working there, Dre.”

He gave me a sideways glance before focusing back on the road. “Okay.”

“And I don’t want anything or anyone to fuck it up.” Especially not Stephen Davidson. Now that I had a bit of distance between him and me, I just felt irked. Why did that man keep showing up in my life? No, I was downright pissed off. The second he’d seen my badge that night at Wengo’s, he’d known that I worked for the same company, but he failed to mention it. All this could’ve been avoided. What a jerk.

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