Page 38 of Tempt Thy Neighbor

“Hey, no judgment if you did. But I do have questions on where you got the inspiration.” I close the case and tuck the tablet by my side, far away from her. “Was it your ex?”

Please say no. Please say no.

I don’t know why I even care, but I’ve never been more eager to hear an answer before.

She snorts. “Hardly. We never even slept together.”

Relief floods me, though I have no right to it.

“That was why he slept with my roommate,” she goes on. “Which I know about because I caught him balls-deep in her. But that’s all my fault—I was ‘holding out on him.’” She lifts her shoulders. “Whatever. I guess it happened at a good time and it all worked out in the end.”

“Is that your roundabout way of saying you’re enjoying living with me?”

She tilts her head, face pinched tightly together. “I’m thinking a rusty butter knife will do the trick. Something slow and painful.”

“Sounds messy.” I slide the dish of artificial sweeteners my way and grab a few to keep my hands busy. “Are you sure I’m worth all the fuss?”

“Yes.”

“So you think I’m worth your time and effort?”

She huffs, annoyed by my ability to corner her so easily. “God, you are so obnoxious.”

“I’m with her,” Darlene says, slipping our drinks in front of us.

“You know, I think you’re trying to offend me, Darlene, but it’s not working out the way you planned. I always did like my ladies with a lot of sass.”

I toss her a wink and she lifts her eyes skyward, but I see the corners of her mouth inch up.

“I’ll be back with your food shortly.” She bustles away, shaking her head and mumbling something about my smart mouth.

I peel the wrapper from my straw and dunk it into my cup, taking a long swig of my tea.

“So,” Holland starts, “your email…did you mean it? Are you really throwing your hat into the ring for the project manager position?”

“Yep. You?”

She nods, taking a sip of her Diet Coke. “Yep.”

“Weren’t you an assistant for the last four years? Do you even qualify for the job?”

Her mouth snaps shut and I can see her jaw tightening from here. “I qualify just fine, thank you.”

“How?”

The look on her face tells me I’m in dangerous territory with my line of questioning, but I’m hoping to dig and find out just how much I need to worry about her.

“Before I was my father’s assistant, I worked in a marketing department. That tacked on with four years of practically running my father’s office, and I have plenty of managerial skills.”

“That’s not the same as being a manager.”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I’ve already spoken with Jessa about the promotion and she encouraged me to apply. She’s confident in the skills I’ve shown her so far, and she knows it’s no easy feat to run an office like my father’s. She believes I’d do just fine in the role of project manager.”

And there it is.

She already has the approval of the boss, which is a great thing for her, but not so much for me.

It means I’ll need to bust my ass even harder to gain the same confidence.

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