Page 3 of Boss Me

My phone buzzed in my hand.

Marlee: 911. Need you NOW.

“Shit, sorry, 86 all that.” I shot Kris a quick smile. The corners of his mouth turned down just before I sprinted across the lobby to the elevator bank. I pounded the button and whirled to scan the elevator doors behind me. Open, open, open. I hopped on my toes like that would make the elevator come faster.

At last, a door pinged, and I rushed to stand in front of it. The elevator was full, and it took every ounce of self-control I had not to shove past my fellow employees and then push them out.

When the car finally emptied, I darted inside and pushed the button for the sixth floor, then I slammed my palm over the close-door button. It wasn’t the first time I’d had to rush back to my desk for my demanding boss. But I had a bad feeling today. Goddamn Jackson Jones.

I watched the floors light on the screen above the door and breathed deep. Maybe I was being unfair to Jackson. Marlee liked him. Everyone liked him. Including Cooper. In fact—

I rubbed my hand over the too-familiar burn in my belly. I needed to stop caring about Cooper. Like most people I’d fallen for, he was out of my league. Besides, his heart was otherwise engaged, and the sooner I got over my ridiculous crush, the better.

At last, the doors opened on the sixth floor, and I stepped out, my heart in my throat.

Raised voices assaulted the usual calm of the executive floor. They were coming from Cooper’s office. A crowd of people gathered near the door.

Marlee trotted toward me on her pink kitten heels. Wringing her hands, she whispered, “Great galloping Galileo, Ben. They’re fighting. Like, actually yelling at each other, and they wouldn’t answer when I knocked. You’ve got to go in there and make them stop. Everyone’s staring.”

“Is Weston in there?” The CEO was Jackson’s archnemesis, and neither man pulled any punches when they disagreed.

“No, just Jackson and Cooper. But I’m sure someone will tell Weston.”

The tension in my chest eased. Jackson and Cooper got loud sometimes, but it never lasted long. At least the CEO wasn’t witnessing it firsthand. Cooper could explain it away later. He had a magic touch with his boss.

I needed to capture some of that boss-magic for myself. “Back to work, everyone. Nothing to see here,” I announced as I made my way to Cooper’s office. Some people returned to their desks. Weston’s assistant, Julie, more brazen, lingered nearby.

I raised an eyebrow, and slowly, she turned and plodded back to her desk. She didn’t sit behind it but stood, staring, ready to witness whatever would erupt when I opened the door.

I knocked, but they were yelling too loudly to hear anything. I pushed the handle, but it didn’t budge. Why was it locked?

Reluctantly, I flicked my badge in front of the sensor. It was keyed to only Cooper’s ID, Jackson’s, and mine. The light turned green. I sucked in a deep breath, pushed the handle down, and opened the door.

Cooper, his face red and his eyes bulging, roared, “I’m not putting up with your bullshit anymore!” He slammed his hand onto his desk.

It all happened so fast. When I replayed the scene later in my mind, I thought I remembered hearing a ping as if that big, ugly ring Cooper always wore had hit the glass top that protected the wood.

Regardless of what caused it, there was a crackle like fireworks popping and then silence. After a second, a shard of glass tumbled off the edge and jabbed into the thick carpet. A few smaller pieces followed it. Cooper stared at the surface of his desk. Then he looked up and scanned his best friend from head to toe.

Jealousy ignited in my gut. Why, even when Jackson was dumping his responsibilities on Cooper, was Cooper’s first instinct to protect Jackson? What I wouldn’t give to have that concern, that care, directed at me.

Shit, this was no time for me to moon over my boss. I had to do something to fix this. But my feet stuck to the floor. I was intimately familiar with his temper, but as far as I knew, he’d never hit anything.

“Coop—you all right?” Jackson’s voice was funeral-quiet. It was the first time I’d seen him motionless.

“I—I’m sorry, Jay. It was an…”

I wanted to run to him, check that he wasn’t hurt, but the tension in the room was solid enough to keep me rooted at the door. I closed it behind me. “Everything okay in here?”

Clearly it wasn’t. The top of Cooper’s desk sparkled with shattered glass. His face was as white as the papers stacked neatly in his outbox. When a drop of blood plopped onto the desk, he raised his hand and gazed at it like he wasn’t sure it belonged to him.

“Sh—I mean, here. Let me help.” My feet unstuck from the carpet, and the next second, I stood beside my boss. His palm was crisscrossed with cuts, blood welling in each one.

I dug in my front pocket for my handkerchief and shook out the creases. I hesitated for a moment—that no-touching rule—but this was an emergency. He’d hate it if I had to disrupt his work to remove a bloodstained rug.

I folded the handkerchief in thirds and gently pressed it against his palm. His jaw tightened.

“Does it hurt?” The cuts didn’t look deep, but I hadn’t gotten a good look at them.

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