Chapter 26
Damian
I end the Zoom call and sit back in my chair, my arms hooked around the back of my neck. Another deal closed successfully. And another poach from Walt Burke. I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face, knowing how pissed he’s going to be when he finds out.
“You look comfortable. What’s got you smiling like the supervillain in a kids’ television show?” Louisa comes into my office with a stack of papers and a bemused expression. “I’m not going to find Brielle under your desk, am I?” she laughs.
I kick my ass out of my seat so fast, it rattles the floor. Thunder roars through my blood, my expression morphing from one of pride to outrage.
“I’m so sorry. That was out of line,” she says quickly. I can see on her face that she means it, but that doesn’t help settle my rage.
“Do not ever say that again, Louisa.” I speak quietly in case someone else happens to walk by, but no less forceful. “It isn’t funny. It isn’t factual. And it isn’t anyone else’s business. There is no place here for rumors and lies. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, sir.” She nods once, holding my eye contact. Regret, embarrassment, possibly a little fear… good.
I level a hard stare at her a second longer before I retake my seat.
“Here is the contract that your lawyer left for you to sign, and I also have the agenda for the next board meeting…”
Louisa continues to talk about the endless mound of paperwork it takes to keep a corporation running, but my mind is elsewhere.
I never did figure out how Louisa knew anything was going on between Brielle and me.
We’ve been careful from the beginning, never being seen alone together, never overly friendly at the office.
But she caught on to us weeks ago, and I don’t know what’s being said around the office.
If others are talking, it hasn’t gotten back to either of us.
I know that if Brielle had heard even an inkling of this rumor, she would have told me. Either that, or disappeared entirely.
“Close the door,” I say suddenly.
Her eyes round, a flash of annoyance at having been cut off from whatever she was saying, but she’s too smart to make a scene about that right now.
Another time, she probably would. She doesn’t take my shit most days.
But she knows when to push and when to back off.
It’s part of what makes her a great assistant.
“Of course.” She reaches the door and stops. “Um, which side of the door do you want me on?”
“We’re not done here. Sit.”
She closes the office door and takes a seat in one of the chairs in front of my desk, mumbling under her breath about not being a dog.
“What do you think you know about me and Brielle?”
She folds her hands on her lap, sitting up straight and proper. “I don’t know anything.”
“You’ve mentioned her twice now. That isn’t a coincidence. I need to know what you think you know.”
She diverts her eyes over my shoulder, clearly not liking this inquisition.
I don’t typically get involved in any gossip that goes around the office, whether it has to do with me—more often than not, it does—or not.
Employees have speculated about my love life, dates that I have taken to events, what my bedroom must look like.
I’ve heard it all, and I’ve never given it a second thought.
This is different though. It affects somebody else, somebody I care about, and I don’t like that.
“I know that your eyes track her whenever she walks by,” Louisa says in her Southern accent.
“I know that you’ve found yourself in whichever room she’s in, be it the accounting office, marketing office, kitchen, or pod room.
I know she looks at you in a way she doesn’t look at anyone else, specifically when she thinks no one is watching.
I know you pulled her from accounting to head up one of the marketing teams despite having no qualifications. ”
“I did that because she was the best person for the job. And she’s proven that to be the case, as evidenced by the Mitner Group joining our portfolio earlier today.
Her work on the Vitales’ account is garnering attention in the industry and bringing new opportunities to our door.
That was a business move, and I don’t need to explain it to anyone. ”
“I wouldn’t dream of doubting you,” she says, pausing for a beat before continuing. “But it did strike me as odd that you knew one of our newest hires—in accounting, no less—was so skilled at marketing.” She raises her brow in mock question.
Shit. She has a point there. If it weren’t for our Valentine’s Day dinner, when she first started talking about advertising ideas, I would have no clue that she even had an interest in that side of the business, never mind a skill for it.
Louisa can’t be the only one who questioned that decision or where it came from.
“Who else has been talking about it?”
“No one,” she answers, her eyes catching mine. I maintain eye contact, trying to ascertain if there is a lie in there. It doesn’t seem like it, but I can’t be too sure.
“I expect it to stay that way, understand? If you catch wind of any rumors surrounding Brielle and me, I expect that you’ll shut them down.”
“Of course, sir.”
“You’re free to go,” I tell her.
She stands from her chair but doesn’t move. I look up at her, waiting.
“For what it’s worth, I like her. She has the kind of spunk that you need to keep you grounded.
And I’ve also never seen you smile like you have since she’s arrived.
” She shrugs. “I get it. You’re the boss, she works for you.
But happiness matters, too. Just some food for thought,” she says, turning and marching out of my office.
My thoughts spiral, the idea of happiness subtly shifting in my brain.
Maybe it’s more than just building the most successful media and advertising company in the Northeast. Maybe I want more than that for myself.
I barely have time to reflect on the conversation with Louisa when my phone rings.
Like he knew our shared vision of success was changing, my father’s name lights up on cell.
“Dad,” I greet him.
“Damian. I feel like we haven’t talked in ages. Got a few minutes for your old man?”
He’s not wrong. For a while, I was talking to my father almost daily. But with how busy things have been, between work and spending time with Brielle, we’ve fallen off our usual cadence. “Of course. What’s new?”
“Just checking in. I saw the first batch of ads for Cardinal West Outdoors. They look good. Real good.”
“Thanks, Dad. I have someone new leading the team, and it seems to be going well.”
“Sure is. I heard through the grapevine that Pinto’s car dealerships was thinking about coming on board. That’s another big account if you can land it. I might know someone with some leverage over there. You let me know if you want me to make a call.”
“I’m on it. We’ve had some talks. I’m letting the sales team take the lead for now. They’ll let me know if I need to step in to close the deal.”
“So, things have been going well at work, then?”
“Yeah. It’s still early in the year, not even June yet, but everything is pointing to this being our biggest year by revenue and growth percentage.”
“Then why don’t you sound more enthused?” he asks, calling out my lack of excitement.
I am thrilled for what this year is going to bring for CreativEdge.
I’m proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish in just six years since I started this company.
But my entire world isn’t wrapped up in work anymore.
There are other elements to my life that make me happy. And still, I want more. So much more.
“I am. I’m just… distracted.”
“Is this the same distraction that has been keeping you from staying in touch over the past several months?”
My shoulders fall. Here we go. “Yeah. She is,” I tell him.
“This is how it starts, Damian. I’ve warned you about this. Don’t let this woman get into your head. She’ll twist you up, make you think that you’re living some dream when in reality, all it is is a fantasy.”
“Dad…”
“Look. You’re already losing focus. You’re not staying on top of potential new clients, handing things off to your employees that you should be overseeing personally.
No one has your best interests at heart over there, Damian.
It’s a job to them. Listen to me, if this woman has your head in the clouds, you need to pull it back.
I’m not saying that you can’t have a good time together, but let her know that it isn’t serious.
You don’t want to give the girl false hope. ”
My gut twists. I hate knowing that I’m disappointing him.
He gave up his career to help me start mine.
That matters to me. And I know it matters to him.
This is my business at the end of the day, but in some ways, I owe a lot of it to his help getting me off the ground.
“It’s not like that. She’s not like that,” I say.
He sighs down the line. I can hear the disappointment in his voice, the echoes of pain that he still carries today. “That’s what they’ll all say. You know how this ends. You’ve seen it happen.”
Brielle and I aren’t even together. We’re friends.
I can’t tell him that we aren’t serious, because we aren’t anything.
Sweat breaks out on the back of my neck at that thought.
Backing away from Brielle is not going to happen.
Even if nothing transpires between us again, if all we do is remain friends.
We went weeks without talking when we first got back from Colorado. It didn’t make me more focused at work or more engaged in the business. My days were spent thinking about her, my nights spent missing her.
I still miss her hot little body pressed close to mine. Two nights sharing a bed made me addicted to something I can’t have, but I will still take our dinners and couch cuddles over the alternative—not seeing her every day.
I’ve never felt this way about anyone. The need that I have to be with her is overwhelming. I have no idea how I didn’t see it happening, but it’s suddenly clear to me as I listen to my father tell me that I need to stay away from her.
I’m falling for Brielle.
Headfirst. No parachute. No safety net. She consumes my every thought.
Her brains, her drive, her playful sass.
The way she makes me feel lighter when I’m with her, like my self-worth isn’t tied to CreativEdge’s general ledger.
Her wide smile when I make a rare joke. Those hypnotic blue eyes that draw me in.
She captivates me. She makes me want things I never thought I’d want in life.
A relationship… Romance… Love.
“That’s not what this is,” I tell my father. “I… We…” I stammer.
Like a vision, Brielle turns into my office.
Her chestnut-brown hair is pulled back into a ponytail, full waves cascading down her back.
The white shirt she’s wearing isn’t quite see-through, but it’s not not see-through either, the outline of her bra subtly visible through the fabric.
Her cherry lips look so damn kissable my heart stops beating in my chest.
“I have to go,” I say.
“Just remember what I told you. I’m looking out for you, Damian. Trust me, you don’t need some woman—”
“Yup. Got it.” I end the call and drop my phone on the desk. “Hey, come in.” I smile at Brielle.
She steps into my office and starts to close the door.
“No. Leave it open,” I tell her, not that I wouldn’t love to be in a private room, just her and I right now.
Over her shoulder, I flick my eyes to Louisa sitting at her desk.
She drops her gaze back to her computer, but as usual, I know she has seen everything.
As much as it pisses me off that I gave us away with my inability to keep my eyes off her, I trust Louisa to keep this between us.
I just hope that isn’t a mistake or that more of the employees don’t start picking up on this thing between us. Because if one of them drives her away from me with their hateful rumors and jealous gossip, they’ll learn what it is really like to work for Satan.