Chapter 10
TEN
The next morning, all I wanted to do was crawl back into bed. Maybe it was the three…no, wait, five drinks I’d downed before eventually calling it a night. But in reality, it was more like I was dreading coming face-to-face with Theo again.
I stretched out my arms as I got to my feet, heading into the shower before I could convince myself to call in sick. Even though I desperately wanted to, there was no way I could take today off. Theo had several important meetings scheduled, and with my day ending at a regular hour yesterday, there was a ton left to prepare.
Maybe his meetings would keep him out of the office and away from my desk. The thought brought a strange chill down my spine, uncertainty twisting my stomach into a knot. After last night, I had no idea if I wanted him close or as far away as possible.
What the fuck was he even doing at the bar? I would have been less surprised to see my mother standing there than him. Theo never went out. Ever . If he did, it was for business meetings disguised as a night on the town .
It must have been a cruel joke from the universe, sending the one man I couldn’t get out of my head to my side when I finally decided I wanted to give dating a real shot. Even if I had met someone, all hopes were dashed as soon as Theo walked in. His presence was like lightning in my veins, and I couldn’t ignore it if I wanted to. This connection between us was becoming a real, tangible thing, and no matter what I tried, I couldn’t seem to make it stop. The harder I tried, the more I wanted to give in, to learn what his touch would do to my body.
I twisted the shower handle, blasting myself in the face with ice-cold water. Maybe aversion therapy would do the trick. Even if Theo was interested, it wasn’t an option. He would never risk his job for a relationship. He wasn’t wired that way. He’d already made it clear that his career was his priority. I wanted the opposite, someone who preferred relationships, believed in love, and definitely someone I would not get fired for getting involved with.
All the things that Theo was not .
So, why couldn’t I get him out of my head? At first, I thought it was all the time we spent together. I must have had some kind of deranged Stockholm syndrome where I developed feelings for the man I worked for every day. But the more time I spent with Theo, the more I realized it was just… him .
As I climbed out of the shower and started brushing out my hair, my phone rang on the counter, and I smiled when I saw my best friend’s face shining back at me. “Hello, gorgeous.”
“Hey, stranger,” Alex said. “I was hoping to catch you before work. How’s everything going down there?”
I shrugged. “It’s going. I think I’m finally getting a handle on this whole working woman thing, although the hours officially suck.”
“Devyn kept you out too late?”
“Nah.” I placed the phone on the counter to run some product through my long hair. “She ended up bailing, but luckily, Theo was there to keep me company for a little bit.”
“Wait… Theo was there? At the bar?” Alex scrunched her face. “Did you invite him?”
“Nope.” I shook my head. “He just happened to show up. We hung out for a little bit and then went home.”
“Together?”
I glared at her through the phone. “Seriously?”
She laughed. “You never know!”
“ I know.” I shook my head. “He’s my boss, Alex. We would never cross that line. Plus, you know I’m not looking for a fling, and that’s all Theo’s capable of.”
She studied me, trying to assess the lies in my words. Even though I knew they were true, they still felt wrong. My head knew Theo and I would never work, but my libido had a different opinion.
“I guess,” Alex sighed. “Look, I know Theo is a good guy, but I just want you to be careful. If something does happen, it’s going to blow back on you, not him.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s on track to be one of the partners in the firm, and you’re his assistant. If anything happens south–”
“Which it won’t.”
“ If it does,” Alex said pointedly. “And if it doesn’t work out, you’d be the one without a job—the one without a backup plan.” She pushed her breath through her lips. “No matter what happens, I’m on your side, Calla. But if things start to change, promise me you’ll think this through.”
Her words struck true, battling all my inner defenses. They were the same ones I’d told myself a thousand times, but hearing them from someone else’s lips made them feel more real. Alex was right—I had just started finding my place in this big, overwhelming city. Was I willing to throw it all away for a guy who could never give me everything I wanted?
I shook my head, forcing those thoughts away. “Alex, you don’t have to worry. Nothing is going on between Theo and me. He can barely stand me most days. You should worry more about him firing me than fucking me.”
She smiled knowingly back at me. “Maybe.”
During my entire ride to work, I thought about my conversation with Alex, wondering if she saw something I didn’t. God knows I was able to see how she felt about Cole long before she owned up to it.
I closed my eyes, letting my head rest against the plush leather seat of the town car. My head was so confused, and all I wanted to do was erase last night from my memory, to pretend I’d never seen that side of Theo, never known what it was like to have his heavy stare weigh on me.
Would it be possible to pretend nothing happened, to go back to who we were weeks ago before the lines started to blur?
That was it.
I had to remember my first few days when the lines were much thicker and we hadn’t torn down so many boundaries between us, when I thought I’d just be another girl at the desk and Theo was my asshole boss.
My resolve steeled as the driver dropped me outside of our building. It became stronger as the elevator climbed the floors and the door eventually opened to the Wallace and Associates lobby. I waved a quick hello to Eloise and some of the other associates before heading to my desk.
I peeked into Theo’s office, letting out a relieved sigh that it was empty. He must have already taken off for his breakfast meeting. Now that I’d avoided that confrontation a little longer, I tucked into the kitchen, finding my favorite mug and brewing a coffee pod. Just as I did, the door swung open, and Jack strolled in, taking a minute to let his gaze drift down my body. I rolled my eyes. Jack seemed like a nice enough guy and a close friend of Theo’s, but something about him didn’t sit quite right with me. He walked up behind me, glancing at my coffee cup.
“Working for Theo requires a lot of caffeine?”
I barely contained my groan. “The morning requires caffeine for most of us, Jack.”
He laughed but stepped out of my space, and I instantly breathed easier when he was on the other side of the room. “So, Calla, have you considered my offer?”
“What offer?” I turned, propping my hip against the counter. “About coming to work for you? I didn’t think you were serious.”
“Oh, I would never joke about that,” he chuckled. “But I’ve seen your work, Calla. I think we could be a good team.”
“Pass.” I turned to the fridge to load my coffee with creamer. It was a common joke with my friends that my coffee cup had more cream than anything else. Sue me if I didn’t love the flavor of coffee, just the happy little side effects. “Theo and I have a pretty great thing going.”
“So I’ve heard.” I looked up at him, noticing that the joking look had left his eyes. “Be careful, Calla. I know you’re just getting to know him, but I’ve worked with Theo for years. He’s one of my closest friends. I know he’s a good guy, but when Theo wants something, he can be a little short-sighted. People who get close to him tend to get hurt.” He stepped closer to me. “You seem like a good person, Calla. I’d hate to see that happen to you.”
His words should have soothed me, serving as another reminder of the long list of reasons why Theo and I would never be anything more than what we were, but something didn’t sit right with me, like he was alluding to a situation I had no right to know about.
“Thanks.” I tightly smiled at him. “But I’m more than capable of handling myself.”
“I know you are.”
I tried to push past him to head to my desk, but he stopped me with a hand on my arm. He leaned in, whispering close to my ear. “Listen, I don’t want to be the one to tell you this, but there have been some rumors about the two of you. Some of the other agents are wondering why Theo hired you , a girl with no experience, to help him run this place when he had his pick of assistants.”
“And?”
“Just something to think about.” Jack tried to inject some earnestness into his words. “In this business, sometimes a rumor is worse than the truth.”
He walked through the opposite door, leaving me to ponder his warning on my own.