Page 18 of Strictly Yours

I don’t know how she can fit in my life. It’s like trying to shove a square peg into a round hole. We couldn’t be moredifferent. I’m structure and order, and she’s chaos and disarray. It shouldn’t work.

But it does.

I want it to work. I want her to fit. Hell, I’ll turn into a square hole. I’ll do anything I have to in order to be around that angel I’m already obsessed with.

I rub my jaw, tuning back into the meeting just in time to hear Denise say, “...severance packages would be generous. We’d retain the top three engineers and lay off the rest.”

“No,” I say, standing.

Everyone freezes.

“No,” I repeat. “We’re not closing VANTAGE. Not yet.”

Charles clears his throat. “Sir, with respect?—”

“I said no.” My voice is quiet, final. “We’ll figure something out. Dismissed.”

They hesitate, but I’m already walking out of the room.

I’m not doing that to thirty-three people. I’ll figure out a way to make it work.

As soon as I’m walking down the hall, my thoughts turn back to Amber. I guess this is my life now. My focus, gone. My attention, obliterated. Every thought and feeling revolves around her.

I should be terrified, but the feeling is electric. It’s incredible. Like something’s shifting inside me. Something that’s been dormant for way too long iswaking up.

I can’t stop thinking about where she is, what she’s doing, who she’s talking to.

New York is a big dangerous city and the thought of my Amber, all innocent and trusting, wandering through it alone is making my pulse race. It’s making me all twitchy inside. Some primal need to protect my girl is twisting in my chest and making my hands shake. I should be next to her, protecting her, watching out for her. I hate that I’m here.

I should have gotten her number. What was I thinking?

I think about calling Willow up to get it, but Amber would skin me alive if I called her sister on the first morning of her vacation.

Cassandra looks up as I pass her desk, letting out a heavy sigh.

She smiles, but the smile doesn’t reach her eyes. I walk by her, but then stop as she types on her computer. Amber’s words are floating in my head.

Do you get off on working your employees to the bone?

“Do you need something, Mr. Strickland?” Cassandra asks as I turn around and stand beside her desk.

I’m talking about basic human decency. She’s a human being, and unless this office runs on human sacrifice, you might consider letting her leave before midnight once in a while.

“I want to apologize for snapping at you yesterday,” I say. “Over the Jones’ report. That was uncalled for and mean. I’m sorry.”

Her mouth drops open as she blinks up at me, not sure what to do.

“Oh. Um. That’s okay.”

“I know you’ve been working a lot.”

She nods cautiously.

“Take Friday off.”

Her eyes widen in panic. “Am I fired?”

Jesus. What the hell have I done to this poor girl? Amber was right. She’s right about everything.

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