Page 42 of Black Ties and White Lies
I wave goodbye to them as he guides me back through the door we came through.
“I see you have coffee,” I say through a tight-lipped smile.
Although there’s humor in his eyes, it doesn’t reach his mouth. He’s all business in this boardroom, that cocky smirk of his I’ve seen more and more throughout the duration of our first weekend together not making an appearance.
He brings it to his perfect full lips, ones that I’ve felt strong and sure against my own. His throat bobs up and down as he takes a large gulp. “Ah,” he says, finishing the drink before tossing it in the trash next to him. “My assistant was late. I couldn’t go into the meeting without anything, so Ezra and I stopped earlier.”
I gasp, following him through the rows of people working at desks. “That traitor.” Now I understand the apologetic look on Ezra’s face as he dropped me off at the shop. I should’ve known they’d already been once just by the cup of coffee he’d been drinking from.
We weave through the people, Beck occasionally stopping and introducing me to various associates before moving on. Unlike my previous job, there’s not a cubicle here in sight. It’s far more open, allowing people to have conversations and not feel isolated.
I’m expecting for my workspace to be in the throng of people on the floor, but he takes us to the very back of the line of personal offices, where he’d shown me his own office yesterday.
He stops in front of his office, giving me a casual smirk.
I take a sip of my coffee, narrowing my eyes at him. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
He doesn’t say anything, he just opens the door and points me inside. “It’s no longer my office,” he declares as I walk past him. “It’s now yours.”
Margo watchesme with a confused stare. Her eyes pop from the office to me. “We were here yesterday and you said this wasyouroffice.”
I gently nudge her into the room, letting the door shut behind me. "Itwasmy office, but now it’s yours.”
“Why the sudden change?”
“Simple. This one has the best view. I don’t appreciate it the way you do.” I could’ve watched her stare at the city below her all day yesterday if she’d let me. It’s probably what I would’ve done if we hadn’t gotten into the fight. When I’d stomped off angry, setting up camp in the conference room as she stayed in here looking out the windows, I’d contacted the building staff and asked them to do some rearranging. The corner office does give the best view of the city. If you stand along the glass windows in the far corner, it feels like you’re floating in the sky.
“Beck,” she whispers, staring at me with too much emotion. It makes my chest feel heavy and tight. It constricts longingly as her eyes gloss over. “You didn’t have to.”
I take a cautious step toward her, testing the space between us. Both of us hold our coffees, the drink like a barrier in our hands from me getting any closer to her. “I know I didn’t have to. It doesn’t change the fact I wanted to.”
Her lips pop open as her eyes search my face. For once, I don’t know what she finds in my features. I’ve always been good at putting on a mask of indifference. In fact, it wasn’t really a mask. It’s my personality. I just typically don’t care about others—until her. I wouldn’t have been able to keep this office knowing that she could’ve appreciated it so much more.
“What about you?” The ice shakes in her cup as her hand drops to the side.
I shrug, turning my head to look at the connecting door between the offices. “I’m not far, just through that door. My new office is what was supposed to be yours.”
“I thought I was going to get a cubicle or maybe a desk next to yours,” she jokes, setting her drink down.
“We don’t have cubicles here. I believe in a more collaborative work space.”
“I noticed. Why do I get a private office then?”
“Because the only person you need to collaborate with isme.” I walk to the door that connects our two offices. My new one used to be Polly’s but I moved her to a different floor to oversee one of our new projects we just took on. She has the largest room for that floor, a slight upgrade from the one that was intended to be Margo’s before the plan changed yesterday.
I open it, pointing to my new office. It’s only slightly smaller than this one, but it doesn’t have the corner view that allowed the view of Manhattan she fell in love with.
“See, we can now easily collaborate.”
Margo rolls her eyes at me, turning to take in her new space. “I can’t believe this is mine. Does an assistant need this much? If I’m just your coffee girl then I hate to break it to you Beck, but I don’t think I need any kind of office, no matter how much I love what I’m seeing here.”
“You’re going to be in charge of much more than just grabbing me coffee,” I tell her. And then I take a seat across from her at her desk, and we go over her tasks while here at Sintech.
From:[email protected]
Stop looking at me like that. It’s been an agonizing week since the dressing room, and your lips are all I’ve thought about since. Bite them again when looking at me with those doe eyes and I’ll forget all about making you beg.
