Devyn slumped, feeling defeat in the pit of her stomach.
Maria made a good point. She fought hard to get to where she is today. The position she was in had taken months of continuous, gut-wrenching work to prove she was worthy. Was she really going to throw it all away because some guy didn’t know how to behave? She chewed on her bottom lip, toying with the idea of giving him an inch. If she did, would he take a mile?
She glanced back up at Maria, her attention already straying away from their conversation and back to the show on the screen.
What’s the worst that could happen? He could refuse her apology, but that wouldn’t be the end of the world. Unless he went to corporate and got her fired.
No. That was, not, a thought she needed to cross her mind if this was going to work. Devyn may have to sacrifice her pride in the process, but at least she would still have her job, right?
“I’ll try,” she admitted, making Maria spin around to her.
“You will?” She looked puzzled, trying to process how her words might have gotten through Devyn’s thick skull.
“Yeah,” Devyn sighed, rubbing her sweaty palms across the thin fabric of her leggings. “The worst thing that happens is he tells me to fuck off. I can’t let him win. I’ve worked too hard.”
Devyn straightened her back before crossing her arms over her chest again, shielding herself from the day she had ahead of her. Even with Maria’s reassurance, she doubted he would bite. Maria didn’t know Chad the way Devyn did. Hell, she wasn’t sure if anyone knew Chad quite the way she did. Devyn had seen him at his worst. His most cruel.
“I’m going to get some sleep,” Devyn called over her shoulder, before climbing the stairs.
"Oh Devyn," she called over her shoulder, "Don't forget we're putting the tree up tomorrow."
Devyn stalled, remembering the overly large Christmas tree in their storage shed.
"How could I forget," she groaned before opening the door to her room and going to bed.
4
Chad spent the entirety of his night reminding himself of why he hated Devyn Kennedy. He hadn’t slept much. Truthfully, he didn’t know how he had dragged himself into the office this morning. The copious amounts of caffeine he had ingested, wasn’t helping. He was no less tired, but he was just as frustrated as the day before.
Chad never made mistakes. He didn’t question his actions, so why the hell was he questioning yesterday? It seemed it was getting harder to remember when Devyn’s sassy mouth got ahead of her and she stood up to him. He had walked into her on purpose, trying to find a reason to speak to her. Or better yet to give her a reason to speak to him.
He didn’t hate that she got the position he wanted.
He hated that he wanted her even though she was his boss. He also hated that she’d never give him the time of day. The thought of her excited him and also gave him a headache. Chad loved the way he could get her to let loose and show him how she really felt.
Devyn never held back with him.
He wished he could have kiss the smirk off her face when she had retorted back at him yesterday. He ached to feel her soft lips on his and her sweet voice say his name.
Then her hand connected with his cheek.
A knock came on his office door, jolting him from the memory.
“Come in,” he called, holding the day’s newspaper over his face.
“Hello Mr. Weeks,” Devyn’s velvet voice echoed through the same corridor as if his thoughts came to life.
He felt her strong gaze from across the room, and despite his quick wit, he was lost for words. He held his breath, waiting for something clever to come out of his mouth, but failed. Chad was frozen, holding the newspaper in place.
He forced a cold expression onto his face before he looked up at her. He had a part to play here.
“What do you want?” He spat, hoping the words felt as venomous as he tried to make them.
She closed the door behind her, the slit in her dress exposing the tender underside of her knee. He’d never wanted to touch someone’s leg so badly in his life, but he made himself sit still.
“I wanted to apologize to you,” Devyn said, putting a hand on her elbow to hug her middle. Her eyes lowered to the floor, and she chewed on her bottom lip before finding the courage to continue.
“I know that I haven’t made this easy since I got the promotion. I know you really wanted it, and I haven’t been very accommodating to you. I hope we can find a way to get past it because I really don’t want any hard feelings between us.”
A washed up version of Devyn Kennedy stood in front of him. The timid version of the girl looked uncomfortable in her own skin as she stared at the ground instead of looking at him head on. He never knew how much he loved the fire inside her until it was gone. Devyn inched forward, sitting a brown cup on his desk. It was the same coffee he had forced her to spill on him yesterday.
“Maybe I can make it up to you, and we can go get a cup of coffee.” She twisted her fingers in her hands. Chad couldn’t tell if she was nervous or if she just didn’t feel like herself.
Well, one way to find out.
“What kind of coffee is that?” He raised an eyebrow, only lowering the paper enough
