Chapter 62 Something Had to Be Done
Hallie looked up to find Miss Santer practically glowing in her orange business suit as she strolled in. “Mr. Lorenzen would like to see you in his office, right now.”
Hallie didn’t like it. If Miss Santer looked happy, it boded nothing good for her. Whatever it was, she was pretty sure the mistake could be fixed since their latest marketing campaign had not been launched yet.
Luke was glowering from behind his desk like a well-dressed thundercloud. This alone was cause for concern because she had never seen him in such a foul mood. Gone was the charming ladies’ man, replaced by some kind of wrathful Greek god.
“Miss Mathews,” he began, “I understand certain things have been going on behind my back.”
“What kind of things?” Hallie asked, bristling.
“Miss Santer tells me you’ve been seeing a certain gentleman, and that there may have been some hanky-panky involved.”
Hallie had never believed he would get judgmental about that. But maybe she had been all wrong about him. This was a jealous side to Luke she had never seen before!
Not only that, how could he say the word ‘hanky-panky’ with a straight face?
“First of all,” she began, “this has nothing to do with work, so why did you interrupt my work flow for this nonsense?”
“I just wanted to give you a chance to defend yourself,” Luke said fixing her with an intense look. “Miss Santer is under the impression that you are cheating on me. And if you were, that is something I would never tolerate.”
“Seriously?” Hallie exclaimed. “Did aliens kidnap you again and replace you with someone this patriarchal and possessive? We’re not even together, so how could there be any cheating?”
“I’m very disappointed,” Luke pronounced, “and sad to lose such a valuable employee.”
“I understand,” Miss Santer said consolingly while her mouth twitched as she struggled to hide her jubilation. “But I will find you the best replacement, you don’t have to worry.”
“The employee I’m losing is you, Miss Santer.”
Only then did Hallie realize this was all an elaborate show. It seemed Luke was resisting the temptation to peek at her and see if she was enjoying this.
“I do not condone such tattle-tales,” he said, “and I’m not going to stoop to such lows along with you.”
Hallie didn’t know whether to admire his acting skills or to be mad at him for putting her through that infuriating scene.
“But sir...” Miss Santer mumbled.
This seemed too cruel a trick to play on Miss Santer, even if she had been quite annoying. Hallie had never seen her so discombobulated.
“I kept you on, hoping that you would overcome your differences with Miss Mathews,” Luke went on as he stood up from his chair, towering over her, “because you’re a valuable worker, and you get results. But from now on, you’ll have to get results somewhere else.”
Miss Santer’s mouth dropped open. “This is wrongful termination! I’m going to file a complaint against you, or a law suit.”
“Actually, my company policy is very clear,” Luke said, “Bullying will not be tolerated.”
“But... but... I thought you would have wanted to know—”
“I have zero tolerance for bullying,” Luke cut her off, raising his voice only slightly as he threw a dart with such force it embedded itself deep in the center of the dartboard. “What you’ve done really disgusts me.”
Only now did Hallie realize he had been furious all this time, but not at her. It was only a concentrated effort that was keeping him from yelling at Miss Santer, or possibly using her for dart practice.
“Get out,” he said, his voice low, but all the more menacing.
It was obvious Miss Santer had never in her life imagined this could happen to her. With her excellent work record and extreme efficiency, no one would have dreamed of firing her!
She looked incredulous, the struggle in her face showing her disbelief at what was happening. But at last her face contorted into a disappointed scowl, and she stomped out of the office.
Hallie twisted her fingers together, not knowing what to say.
“I’m glad you stood up for me,” she finally spoke up, “though I can’t help but feel somehow guilty about her being fired...”
Luke shrugged, releasing some of the tension he seemed to be holding in his shoulders. “Something had to be done. I never want to see someone so maliciously trying to undermine you ever again.”
“Oh! Thanks...” She blushed, feeling a sudden thrill to know he was so protective of her.
“Miss Santer will find something else, I’m sure. Don’t worry about her. We have more important things to do, like getting ready for a weekend trip!”
“We’re going on a trip?” Hallie said, her head spinning with all the sudden announcements.
“Yes we are.”
“Where?”
He smiled like a fortune teller who knew too much about the future. “Back to the ranch.”