“Ugh! What does he look like?” she grumbled.
“He's tall, dark, and handsome. A babe that makes me weak in the knees.” Yeah, it sounded just as pathetic to my own ears.
“Really? I thought he would be a ghoul. You tend to bed those types.” She rolled her eyes, unimpressed.
“Anything else you want to know?”
“How was it?” she asked, licking her lips for effect.
“Great.”
“Just great?” Eternally pushy, she wasn’t letting me off easy.
I sighed. “It's the best. He eats out and tips nicely.”
“NICE!” she exclaimed, leaning over to give me a quick high five.
The slap of our hands earned a sneer from Monica, already at peak bitch state despite the early hour. I thought it took time to warm up the bitch engine, but obviously, she could go from zero to a hundred.
“Well, don't get stuck in dicksand, El,” Lee warned.
I cocked my head her way, sure I misheard her. “What?”
“When the dick's so good, you get trapped with a bum.”
I shook my head with a smile, confident I wasn’t getting trapped with anyone. It was in the rear-view mirror, and hopefully, Croft would be too once an opportunity came along.
* * *
As the morning ticked on the group was called in one by one to speak with Jason, Monica first. It didn't surprise me he wanted to get her out of the way.
She was gone for twenty minutes or so, hurrying off with a smile and fresh face of makeup only to return with a scowl.
Lee was next, gone for just under an hour, irritating the hell out of the ice queen. “I don't know what's taking her so long!” she huffed, slamming drawers and tapping her nails on her desk as she waited, desperately wanting attention, but I wasn’t giving in.
I ignored her, focusing on the tasks at hand, zooming through my to-do list.
Lee reemerged, calm as can be, not gloomy at all.
“All good?” I asked as she flopped back in her seat.
“Yeah, we went over line counts...” She glanced over at Monica. “And how we're expected to all pull our weight.”
I smiled. “About time.”
Monica slammed a drawer and snarled, “I HEARD THAT!”
“He said he's ready whenever you are.”
“Alright,” I finished an update to a customer, signing off with an extra chipper cheers before standing. “Do I need a notebook?”
“No.”
“Okay, cool.”
I strolled out of the office, savoring the chance to stretch down the long corridor. I was still a little sore, but thankfully time took the edge off. Jason's door was shut when I arrived, earning a soft knock on my end, not wanting to disturb a potential client call. I sucked in a nervous breath as I did, jitters suddenly rousing.
“Come in.”
I turned the knob and stepped inside, shutting the door behind me before facing him.
He was seated at his desk, stacks of documents and catalogs surrounding him, looking powerful, sexy, and good enough to eat.
“Good morning,” he greeted, a slow smile spreading across his lips.
“Good morning.” I made my way over, taking a seat across from him, folding my hands across my lap.
“You look nice today, Ms. Julian.”
“Thank you,” I breathed. “You look... nice as well.”
He bit his lip, the soft flesh reddening as the pearly whites raked across it. “Hesitation?” he asked. “Do I look worse for wear?”
I smirked, keeping my eyes locked on his lip.“You look considerably better than nice, as usual.”
He leaned back in his seat, smiling wider. “As usual?”
I nodded. “So, what are we talking about here?” I asked, eager to get to the point.
“A few things.”
“Like?” I pushed.
“Getting testy with me?” he replied, cocking his head. His eyes flicked over me, the predatory glaze returning in a flash.
“A little. I'm busy.” It wasn't a lie. I was drowning in work. It was one of those Mondays where I would have to cut lunch short to leave on time.
“Aren't we all, doll?”
I nodded. He was busier than me; therefore, neither of us needed to be chatty. Especially when he was looking at me like a steak.
“I wanted to let you know I'm reevaluating the systems in place. I'll review the line entry reports daily. I need to examine assignments and streamline things. Turnaround time is a problem, as is overall workload, as you know.”
“I'm not completing tasks fast enough?” I asked.
“Not you. I'm working on an improvement plan for under-performing parties.”
“Not to overstep, but isn't that Marty's job?” I asked, irritated. Since when did he have to pick up Marty's slack too? “You're already running the branch.”
“It was. Again, I'm working on an improvement plan for those who cannot perform their duties.”
I cringed. Marty and Monica were likely on the receiving end of his wrath. That explained her scowl and Marty’s new disappearing act.
“I need you to review your workload and send me a list of things that can be moved over to another desk.”
“Will do.”
“If you have any problems, bring them to me directly, and I'll handle them.”
I nodded.
“And I wanted to talk about our situation.”
I sucked in a shocked breath. “At work?”
“Well, it's not the best venue, but this is a better guise than taking you to lunch.”
“I do dinner appointments,” I reminded, grinning.
“So I've heard...” he trailed, voice husky.
“I'm also known for dessert. I'm flexible.”
“That you are,” he agreed, memories of our night clearly flashing through his mind as his eyes narrowed.
“So what would you like to talk about, hotshot?”
“I run this region, and you’re part of it. A bit of a conflict, no?”
I shrugged. I wouldn’t let on that my insides were doing cartwheels.
“I'm still in a position of authority over you. I don’t want you to think-”
I put up a hand, cutting him off. “You'd never let personal feelings impact business decisions. You're the king of rules and regulations minus the whole fucking your employee thing.”
A wolfish grin streaked across his face before his lips twisted. “But if others found out, they may not feel the same way. Particularly Monica. She's
