Page 8 of The Master

I wasn’t sure how many seconds ticked by before he said, “Hello?”

“I’m here.” My grip on the handset tightened. “How can I help you?”

The worst part about me having decided to call himMr. Lexingtonwhen we were having sex was that I couldn’t bring myself to do it professionally anymore, and there was no way I’d use his first name. It was awkward, but the alternatives were far less appealing.

“If you don’t have any plans directly after work, I’d like for us to talk.”

I gritted my teeth. I hated when he made what should have been a request into an order.

“Would you talk to me?”

Well, damn. He’d actually changed it into a question. It didn’t change my answer, though.

“I’m not comfortable coming to your office or home,” I said stiffly, trying not to remember all the reasons why I wanted to avoid both of those places. If he expected me to invite him back to my apartment, he was going to be disappointed.

“We can go to a neutral place. Get coffee and talk.”

I was tempted to tell him that I wasn’t interested, that whatever awkward work situation he wanted to address wouldn’t be an issue for long because I was looking for work elsewhere. Once I got another job, he’d never have to worry about seeing me again.Worrywas probably the wrong word because he clearly hadn’t cared as much as I’d thought he had, but it’d do for now.

This wasn’t just about him and me, though. As long as I was still employed here, Finley would be caught between us. If Nate could say whatever it was he had on his mind and it made things easier for Finley, then it was worth whatever irritation it cost me.

“Do you have a specific place in mind?” I asked.

“There’s a little coffee shop around the corner. Beulah’s. Do you know it?”

“I do.”

“I’ll meet you there.” An awkward pause. “Thank you.”

He didn’t say goodbye, but it didn’t bother me. Histhank youwas enough for now. It gave me a hope I didn’t want. Hope that maybe I wasn’t crazy for thinking that this time would be different. That he finally understood how things needed to change.

I closed my eyes for a moment and told myself that this wasn’t as stupid of an idea as I feared it was. I supposed no matter what happened, I’d have some bit of closure by the time we were done.

I went through the last half-hour of work in a daze. Fortunately, nothing I was working on required immense amounts of concentration. Most of it was organizing my schedule for what I needed to do tomorrow, the same as I did the last part of every workday. I found that it worked better for me than if I tried to do it first thing in the morning.

Once I finished, I sent off my usual email to Mr. Hancock, giving him the run-down of what I’d accomplished and what I planned to do through the week. He didn’t require it of me, but it helped a lot when it came to getting things done when he needed them since he could see the timetable I’d laid out and make any adjustments based on what he needed.

When it was time for me to go, I gathered my things and walked to the elevator, forcing myself to not look back toward Nate’s office. He’d said we’d meet there, and I was grateful for it. The last thing we needed to worry about was people seeing us leave together. I could only imagine what sort of rumors would fly once I found another job. For all of my issues with Nate, he didn’t deserve to have this drama interfering with the company he’d built. He was good at what he did, and personal feelings about some of his…quirks didn’t mean he should have to suffer.

Beulah’s was a cute little place that served all sorts of beverages. Coffee, tea, juice, and not just the usual types either. She had exotic ones and odd ones that blended with the subtle and the mundane to create a unique atmosphere. Honestly, I was a little surprised that Nate knew of it. The vibe here was more laid-back than anything I associated with him. With the exception of when I saw him sleeping, I couldn’t think of a time when I saw him relaxed, letting things happen at their own pace.

I ordered a chai tea I liked and found a small booth where I could see the door. When he came in a few minutes later, he scanned the room, the expression on his face unchanging when his gaze landed on me. I wondered if it was because he didn’t care…or if he was trying to hide how much he did. I honestly wasn’t sure which would be better.

I managed a tight smile when he carried his drink over to me and slid into the booth, his knees brushing against mine. My entire body felt that jolt when we touched, and the flicker of heat in his eyes told me he had too. He still wanted me.

Too bad want wasn’t enough.

“Thank you for agreeing to talk to me,” he said. “I need to apologize for the things I said. I was completely out of line.”

Good start. I nodded. “Thank you. And you need to know that I wasn’t snooping. I was just looking for something to watch because I couldn’t sleep.”

I didn’t owe him an explanation, but I wouldn’t be able to make things better by being petty. Besides, he’d taken the initiative to reach out and apologize. The least I could do was tell him the truth of what I’d been doing.

He took a drink, letting his eyes flick up to my face and away again. “I’m not going to lie and say that I’ve never watched those recordings, but I was telling the truth about why I’d made them in the first place. You’ve met Roma Lynn. All of the women I’ve been with are like her. They’re with me for sex, for the things I can buy them, for the attention they get when they’re with me. Women like that, when they’re…dismissed, they can do some crazy things.”

I remembered the look in Roma’s eyes when she’d seen Nate and me together. She’d been furious. I had no trouble believing that she’d cause trouble for him just because he’d turned her away before she wanted to go. She was the sort of woman who would make false accusations against a man in an attempt to ruin his life, and in the post-MeToo movement world, a single comment could destroy Nate’s reputation, his business, his life.

I whole-heartedly supported the demands to investigate all claims, to take victims seriously and not downplay incidents with that damned ‘boys will be boys’ excuse. That didn’t mean I believed that every single woman was telling the truth, and it was because of situations like Nate described that I didn’t. People who took advantage of movements like this for their own gain pissed me off, and not just because of the lives those accusations could ruin. They made it so much harder for real claims to be believed and prosecuted.

---