Foreplay with the Boss: Billionaires of Boston

36. Jameson

“Just tell me what the fucking numbers are so we can get on with it,” I snapped Thursday morning, my patience worn not just thin, but long gone.

David shoved a document across my desk and rattled off the information I’d asked for. Saying this week had been the worst, shittiest week would still fall short of describing how awful it’d been.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Debra hovering near my door. “What is it?”

David took that as his opening and fled, which was probably for the best.

“You have a phone call…”

My lungs froze, not sure whether to inflate or deflate. I’d called Kat at least a dozen times and left several messages. I’d even swung by her house and pounded on her door, but she didn’t answer. It was starting to be pathetic, but with each phone call, each person who came into the office to see me, I hoped it’d be her.

“It’s Stu Taylor,” Debra said, and my lungs chose to deflate now that they knew it wasn’t Kat. “He wanted to confirm your dinner appointment, and it wasn’t in your calendar, so I thought I’d double check.”

Dinner with Stu Taylor was the last thing I wanted to do, but it needed to be done. By now it might be more damage control than a heads up, but it didn’t change the need to get it over with. “You can confirm,” I said, but when she didn’t turn to go and do so, I raised my eyebrows. “Is there something else?”

“He asked about Katrina.” Her eyebrows knit together. “He asked to be transferred to her extension. Evidentially he thinks she’s still working here, and I wasn’t sure how to proceed.”

Ifhethinksshe’sstillhere,shemustnot’vetoldhimaboutthebranchclosing… I didn’t know what that meant, or what to say to her father. “Just confirm our dinner plans for tonight at six.”

“And what do I tell him about Katrina?” “Tell him he’ll have to call her.”

Debra nodded and started away, but then she abruptly turned back to face me. She stepped back inside, pulling the door closed so that we were cut off from the rest of the office. “Please don’t yell, but… Well, you’ve been in quite the mood, and I know Katrina has something to do with it, and…have you, uh, tried to get her back?”

I stopped mid-click on my mouse and turned my full attention to her. “Get her back? As in ask her to work here full-time?” I’d thought about it more than once, even before she’d found out about the closure of the Hartford branch. But I wasn’t sure that it was a good idea for us to keep working in the same office, for her or for me. And even if we could set some guidelines and figure out a better balance, she sure as hell didn’t want to work for me now.

Debra stuck a fist on her hip and sighed. “I’m old enough to be your mother, and I’m not stupid. If it takes asking her to work here, sure, do that, but I’m talking about more than work. I’m talking about how much better you are when she’s around—she balances you out, and you’ve been in a right grumpy mood since she left. Everyone else is too scared to say anything, and don’t get me wrong, I’m scared, but I’d rather be scared for a few minutes than a few months.”

I sat back in my seat and ran my hand through my hair. “How many people know? Is it juicy office gossip?” I found I couldn’t care less, even though I knew I should, but Kat would care, and if anyone tried to smear her name, they’d see just how scary I could be.

“I’m sure a few people suspect it, but no one’s said anything. I just noticed the way your eyes always go to her when she’s in the room. And then there was one night I stayed late, and well, you guys aren’t very…” She looked down and picked at an imaginary piece of lint. “Quiet.”

Instead of feeling ashamed or embarrassed, the memory of having her underneath me sent desire through me, followed immediately with a tormented longing I’d never experienced before. I missed the sex, sure, but I mostly missed Kat. The way she put things, and how she was soft where I was hard, whether we were talking business or pleasure.

The only time I’d ever truly left work at the office was when I was with her, and I missed the break that being with her brought to my life.

I also missed her smile and her laugh and her voice, and God, I missed the way she smelled. At the office, her perfume driving me crazy and giving me dirty flashbacks, or when she was snuggled next to me in bed, another thing I missed so fucking bad I thought it might consume me.

I’d tried to get through the last few days by not thinking about it, but it all came rushing at me now.

Debra shifted her weight from one foot to the other, reminding me that I wasn’t alone, and I quickly schooled my features. “Better get to that phone call.”

“Yes, sir. Better get to making yours.” With that, she left.

And I gave in to the desire to hear Kat’s voice in my ear. I dialed up her number, telling her to pick up, pick up, pick up…

“This is Kat, and yes my voicemail greeting is pretty generic, but instead of a beep, you get to leave a message at the meow. You’re welcome.” The electronic-tinged meow I’d heard way too fucking many times over the past few days sounded, and I scrubbed a hand over my face.

“I’m reaching the pathetic stage, Kat. And now your father’s calling the office, wondering why you’re not here, and I…” Iwonderwhyyou’renothereeveryfuckingsecondofeveryfuckingday. “I’m starting to worry.” As I said it, I realized how true it was. I could see her dodging my calls and creating a voodoo doll of me to stick pins in, but her father couldn’t reach her, either. What if something happened? “Call me back. Or hell, at least send a text or email letting me know you’re alive.”

I hung up and then stared at my phone screen. Since she didn’t immediately text back, I made an impulse decision and called up a friend, asking for a favor that was slightly unethical.

Then I turned back to my computer and forced myself to get back to work.

I had a big presentation to give tomorrow, and I wouldn’t let my personal life—or emotions I wish I didn’t have—get in the way of doing my job.

* * *

I ARRIVED at the restaurant twenty minutes early. I couldn’t stop wondering if Kat would be with her father tonight. Maybe they’d finally talked, and they’d come here and ambush me.

If it meant seeing Kat, then bring it on. If I could just get my hands on her, I’d have a better chance of making her see that I didn’t have a choice. And while I told her that I cared about her— a big move for me—I knew it fell way short of describing how I felt about her. I’d made that promise to my mom, too, about telling Kat exactly how I felt and giving her all the facts.

Then again, what was the point of pouring my heart out? She lived in another city, and it wouldn’t change the fact that I was the asshole shutting down a company her family had run for decades.

Those were big things to get over, and I didn’t even know how to have a relationship.

So why couldn’t I stop thinking about one? Why did my life suddenly seem dull and pointless?

The hostess brought Stu over to the table, and the first thing I noticed was that Kat wasn’t with him, because I noticed where Kat wasn’t all fucking day long.

I stood and shook his hand as we exchanged pleasantries. I watched his face, trying to read how much he knew and how he felt about it. Either he had the best poker face ever, or he was clueless.

Howcouldthatbe?

Katmadeabigdealabouthowshehadn’tsignedtheNDA.Issheplanningsomethingbigger?

The waitress came over and took our order, and I debated if I should tell him now, or wait until the end of dinner. I hated to spoil dinner and figured that letting him enjoy the best steak in town would be the kinder thing to do.

SincewhendoIcareaboutkindness?

Not like I thought people should be assholes all the time, but now I was analyzing the right moment? What the fuck was happening to me? Clearly Kat got under my skin.

RememberDad.Thinkabouthoweveryonetookadvantageofhiskindness.Youchosetobeabusinessman,sonowyouhavetoownuptoitandfollowthrough.

“Thanks for meeting with me, Stu. I wanted to talk to you man-to-man before tomorrow’s meeting.”

Our food came, interrupting my plan to get on with it.

“And I wanted to personally thank you for helping me out by letting Katrina do that internship at your office,” he said. “Last time I talked to her, she told me she was learning a lot.”

This was it. When he’d drop the bomb that he was going to fight with everything he had, or sue me for trying to shut down his branch.

Nope, it was the moment he’d take a giant bite of his food and mumble about how good it was. In some ways, he reminded me of my dad. Friendly, open. Way too trusting—he’d sent his daughter to me, thinking I’d teach her to be a ruthless boss who could shape up his office. Instead I’d shown her just how ruthless I could be.

“When’s the last time you talked to Katrina?” I asked, watching his face.

“Today. Well, I got a text saying she wasn’t up to meeting for dinner. I haven’t talked to her since last Sunday.”

I was sick of dancing around things, and I’d gotten confirmation that she was healthy enough to text, so it was time to get on with it. “So, like I said, I wanted to talk about tomorrow’s meeting. I’ll be recommending shutting down your branch.” I narrowed my eyes. “But I’m sure you already know, or perhaps expected as much.”

His fork clattered against his plate, and he wiped his mouth with his cloth napkin. “How would I know that? And it’s definitely not expected.”

I didn’t want to drag Kat into it more than I already had.

Stu pressed his fingers against his temples, and I looked away so he’d have as much privacy as possible while he pulled himself together. “What about Katrina?” he asked, jerking my attention back to him. “What’ll happen to her? Is there an opening at your office, or any of the other ones? I know she’s green, but as I’m sure you saw, she’s amazing with numbers and a hard-worker. She’s been talking about working at my company since she was a little girl—I’m afraid this will crush her.”

His first thought was Kat. My first and last of the day were always her, too, but naturally this was different. This was a father who hadn’t asked what about his position and salary, but immediately shifted to ensuring his daughter would be taken care of. As for his fear, I was afraid the news had crushed her, as well as what was left of us.

Which was hard to figure out, since I didn’t even know for sure what exactly we had before.

I realized Stu was looking at me, waiting for me to answer his questions out loud instead of just in my head. “Kat-rina,” I quickly tacked on, “is amazing with numbers and is a hard worker, just like you said. I’ll be happy to be one of her references, whether she wants a position in Boston, or if she wants to work somewhere closer to home.” The thought of her being so far away hit me again, punching a hole in my chest, and I worked to push through. “I know that your marketing company has been in your family for generations, and we’ve enjoyed working with you, so it’s unfortunate that it’s no longer fiscally realistic to do so, and I’m doing my best to give you and your employees the best severance package I can.”

It was a tricky balance of how much we could afford without cutting too much off our bottom line while keeping PR issues down and people from suing. Suddenly I didn’t want to go quite as low as I had before.

You’regoingsoft,Stone.

Maybe it was for the best that things went the way they did with Kat, because whenever she was around, making me see the bright side of things and reminding me what it felt like to be happy and content, I lost my edge.

And maybe if I kept telling myself that enough, I’d be able to actually believe it.