Chapter 11
Noah
Bancroft’s fingers are steepled.
His eyes analyze me like I’m trying to sell him a used car.
I don’t like the look on his face. It’s one that captures hardened businessman and disdain equally.
He slaps his desktop and then grins. “You get one shot, Noah. Don’t blow it.”
“I appreciate the opportunity. I won’t let you down, sir.”
When I reach my office, Leanna jumps from her chair and follows me inside. Shutting the door behind her, she asks, “Well?”
“Fucking Chip Lowe. The jealous little rat bastard. He convinced Bancroft that I shouldn’t be trusted to run this meeting with the Torres’s.”
“Oh no.” She drops into a chair and watches as I wear a path into the carpet along the windows. “He’s awful.”
“He’s a fucking asshole is what he is.” Glaring out the window, I try to calm the anger raging inside me.
Chip’s smug smirk when he decided he’d act like a big guy and speak to Olivia like she was nothing to him.
Jealousy from even the thought of Olivia moving on after him must eat him alive.
I’ve tried to stay out of office drama. It’s only my first week here, but Chip had to go and talk to her like shit.
No way can I let that go. “He tried to be buddy-buddy with me the other day.”
When I look back at her, Leanna’s eyes are locked on the e-pad on her lap and she’s shaking her head. Looking up again, she asks, “I take it that didn’t go well?”
“I get along with almost everyone, including some assholes to everyone else I’ve known over the years. But this guy, the fucking weasel. I wasn’t playing along with his little game because of how he was speaking to Liv like she’s—”
“Liv?”
“Olivia.”
“Ah. Liv. I see.” She’s not laying a judgment on me, but the all-knowing grin on Leanna’s face has me realizing she caught that slip. Although we’ve become friends, my past with Liv is not something I can get into with her.
I continue, “So I guess he went to his dad to launch a complaint.”
“So frustrating. Do you know what he said about you?”
“Something about me being more worried about hitting on women in the office than saving the account that he lost the company. Make it make sense.”
“You can’t, Noah. You’re rational. He’s not. He planted the seed to get you out of the picture, which means you threaten him. You need to watch your back.”
Flexing my hands, I know myself well enough to be aware that my stubborn ass will always fight to get to the top. “The moment he opened his mouth, he started a war, Leanna. He’s a chest-beating Neanderthal, challenging me as if he can compete.”
“Don’t be drawn into his nonsense, Noah. It’s easy to get sucked into a bad situation, but he’s the boss’s son and will always use that leverage to take out his competitors.”
“Too late. He set the stage for this battle when he said Olivia Bancroft was acting like a bitch. Fucking disrespectful, and it’s bullshit to call her the problem.
Now I’m on an account he fucked up, and he wants to know the details.
I’m letting him back on again. So the war was waged when he came in treating everyone like they’re beneath him, but I’ll end it the next time he opens his fucking mouth. ”
Coming to stand near me, she keeps her eyes forward on the bustling city on the other side of the glass. She turns, keeping her chin down. “I’ve only known you a few days, but I knew instantly that you were a man of integrity. It’s also your first job. Getting fired might not be the best idea.”
I steady my breathing. “I guess I didn’t realize that integrity and this job were mutually exclusive.”
“Me either.” Her soft smile matches her eyes.
“But maybe we should have. It’s called Bancroft & Lowe.
Mr. Lowe will never do anything about Chip.
He gets away with everything, and the office is left to pick up the pieces.
” She returns to the chair, leaving me with that nugget of reality to think about.
“Your reaction is normal, but something tells me this isn’t a normal situation. ”
Resting against the windowsill, I start weighing the repercussions if his behavior continues.
And by repercussions, I mean punch his fucking face or if I’ll be able to walk away twice.
He’s crossed me this time. I won’t sit by and allow it again.
“No, it’s not. I can’t control him or the lies he spreads.
I can tell you now that I won’t sacrifice my integrity to play along. ”
“I have no doubt, Noah.” She shifts along with the conversation. “So back to Mr. Bancroft. He’s coming to the client’s dinner?”
I stop pacing. “No, because I talked him out of it. I don’t need another chef in the kitchen while I work.”
“You and Olivia, then?” Her singsong tone has me turning back to find her eyes giving her away.
I’d take the blame for that slip earlier, but I feel like me and Liv are both guilty.
Although we weren’t doing anything wrong, I had visions of pinning her against the wall and kissing her until her knees got weak, and we took it inside her office behind closed doors.
Fuck.
A fire ignites in my groin. I shift quickly and return to my desk to hide any evidence of my growing interest in Liv.
Acting busy—shuffling papers around, arranging my phone and a pen just so, tapping on the keyboard to bring it to life—I try to keep any feelings I have for Liv under wraps.
I make the mistake of glancing up at Leanna.
She’s taking in everything I do. I speak quickly. “Mr. and Mrs. Torres will be there.”
I doubt she will fall for the evasive, albeit correct, answer. They will be there, but I can’t say that I’m not looking forward to seeing Liv outside the office again.
Something about these walls sends hers soaring in defense. Like the sky outside, she becomes open to talking, sharing, even to me once we’ve left the premises.
“Nice try.” Leaning in, Leanna lowers her voice like someone else might be listening. “What exactly did I walk in on earlier?”
I was watching how Liv’s tongue dipped out to wet the corners of her lips, how her heart pulsed in the vein of her neck, and listening to how she swallows, not able to hide her reactions to me.
I’m not blind to how she physically responds to my proximity, but she appears to be completely unaware of my reactions to her.
I can’t admit any of that to Leanna, though, so I reply, “You didn’t walk in on anything. We were in the hall talking.”
She gets up to leave. “Sure looked like something. And if it did to me, it did to others.” Before she opens the door, she says, “Be careful, Noah. You already have Chip gunning for you. You don’t need more trouble.”
“Does this mean I’m your favorite boss ever?”
Bursting out laughing, she opens the door, and leaves. Quick to poke her head back in, she says, “Yes, but don’t tell any of the others.”
I kick back, grinning ear to ear. “Secret’s safe with me.”
With the rage tamed, I check emails to find that Liv sent the Torres file. I feel bad for making her do all this work when I see it’s sixty pages long, small font, single-spaced. “Shit.” It’s going to take me all night just to read through it.
Figuring it’s best to start now, I silence my calls and get to work.
Question . . .
I wait for Liv to reply to my text.
Answer . . .
She replies not a minute later, making me grin.
Thinking about texting her is fine, but I decide to call instead. It will be quicker that way. That I get to hear her voice is a bonus. The phone rings, and she answers right away. “Noah?”
“Hey. Hi. How are you?”
“Um. Fine. Why are you calling me?”
I shift. Not necessarily the greeting I hoped for, but she’s not entirely closed to the idea of chatting by her tone, which has remained even. “This file shows Leslie worked the Torres account solo for six months prior to Chip being brought on board.”
“Okay, so we’re talking business?”
She actually sounds disappointed. I approve of her wanting more. Is this the way to her heart? Just call? “Would you prefer if I kept it personal?”
“No,” she says, the response coming like a surprise attack. “This is fine. Um, yeah, Leslie worked the account from the dates I assigned in the file.”
While I try to piece my thoughts together more coherently, I rub the bridge of my nose.
It’s a complicated issue that doesn’t appear to have a simple answer.
I squeeze my eyes closed to soothe the burning after staring at a screen all day and night, and then say, “Being new at Bancroft & Lowe, maybe I don’t understand how expenses get approved because most of the money spent took place in the six months Chip was on the account.
” There’s extended silence, so I ask, “Are you still there?”
“I’m here. I’m just confused.”
“By?”
“When I was initially working on the file, I was only assigning names to the expenses already approved by my father based on the requests. I wasn’t analyzing them.
I can’t approve anything our employees spend above ten-thousand dollars, so I wasn’t investigating the client expenditures.
” She sighs. “But I’ve also been distracted lately. Did you find an error?”
I’m close to laying my theory out for her, but I hesitate.
She handles accounting expenses for associates and management.
I expected the implications to ruffle her feathers, though that was the last thing I wanted because I know she’s not in on a scam.
I do think she could end up taking the fall, though, if she’s not careful.
“I didn’t find any errors. I have questions that I need an expert to explain it to me. ”
“I don’t have my computer open. Can it wait until we can meet about it during office hours?”
She does sound tired. It’s not that late, but I’m sure staring at numbers all day is taxing.
“Yes, but be warned, if you find me passed out on the desk, pour coffee into my IV. I should be right as rain after that.” I start to close down my computer for the night, knowing it will be here waiting in the morning.
I don’t have to solve this mystery tonight.