Page 23 of His Curvy Temptation

Then on Friday evening, when I tell her to take off a full hour earlier than usual, she’s so surprised that she looks almost concerned.

“Are you feeling okay?” she asks with a frown.

“Sure,” I reply, not looking up from my work at my desk. “Why? Do I look ill?”

“You look fine,” she says. “It’s just that I’ve worked for you for nearly five years and you’ve never told me to go home early on a Friday before. You’re not going to call me tomorrow and ask me to work over the weekend or anything, are you? Because I’d rather just get my work done now and enjoy my Saturday uninterrupted.”

I finally look up at her.

“You make me sound like such a hard ass,” I say. “Am I really that awful to work for?”

“No,” she says quickly. “Not at all.”

“Relax,” I reply. “You can tell me the truth. I know I’m not exactly a ray of sunshine around here, but I’m not going to fire you for saying that I’m tough on you.”

“Well, obviously you’re not going to fire me,” Rebecca says, folding her arms across her chest and rolling her eyes a little. “You wouldn’t last a day up here without my help, and you know it! It’s just, the way you fired Dan a couple of days ago has everyone on edge. Including me.”

“Dan had it coming,” I reply darkly.

“So you’ve mentioned,” she murmurs. “Care to elaborate on what Dan did to ‘have it coming’ though?”

“For the last time, that’s confidential,” I reply, aiming my gaze back at the work spread across my desk.

“Could your good mood have anything to do with that cute little massage therapist I saw leaving the office late on Wednesday?” Rebecca asks, eyeing me speculatively.

I sigh and lean back in my chair.

“You were here Wednesday night?”

“Just wrapping some things up,” she replies. “Andrew asked for help putting together some materials for a report…and apparently I’m the only person in this office who understands how to fix a printer. Your brother might have a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering…but he can’t figure out how to fix a simple paper jam to save his life.”

“That doesn’t surprise me in the least.”

“You should give me a raise, Mr. Stone,” she says. “I’m not sure anything would get accomplished up here without me.”

“I have no doubt that this place would go to shit immediately if you were to quit,” I say with a sarcastic bow of my head.

“Uh huh,” Rebecca says dryly. “Well, anyway, I saw her leaving the office that night. Your driver picked her up at the curb. I’ve never seen you loan your driver toanyone, not even me. You make me take an Uber!”

“An Uber charged tomycompany credit card,” I point out. “And since when is an Uber a punishment?”

“Still,” she continues. “I’m just saying. Obviouslysomethingabout her made you extend a special favor to her that you don’t give to anyone else.”

I don’t respond.

Rebecca is fishing for information. She’s nosy as hell…and she’s also smart as a whip and knows me well after being my trusted assistant for five years. So I know that if I crack and give her even the tiniest bit of detail about Wednesday night, she’ll quickly put everything together.

She’s done it before.

“You know,” Rebecca says slowly. “I think I saw Dan that night too. He left before the massage therapist did. Then the very next morning you fired him. Just a coincidence?”

“Yes,” I reply. “A coincidence.”

“Sure,” she says with a sly smile. “Well, to be honest, I don’t really care either way.”

“For someone who doesn’t care, you’re sure putting a lot of effort into this interrogation,” I say. “I thought you’d be excited to go home early today, but at this rate, you’ll be in the office until six as usual.”

“I’m leaving, I’m leaving,” Rebecca says breezily, holding her hands up. “I’m just highly suspicious of this strange change in attitude, that’s all. But you’ve been warned — call me on Saturday morning about work, and you’ll be met with my answering machine. I’ll be laying out by the pool, soaking in the sun.”

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