Wild for You (Crave Book 2) Page 17

  Cam blinked rapidly as she took another step back. "Please remember murder is illegal. I'll bail you out, but I can't go to jail. J.J. would never let me hear the end of it."

  I scowled. "I'm not going to murder anyone, but I am considering hacking into Barnes' computer and changing all his passwords. And maybe signing him up for some porn sites through his desktop at work."

  She tilted her head to the side. "But would you really do that?"

  "I won't," I said with a sigh.

  "Glad you're going to use your powers for good." She hesitated. "What can I do to help you?" she asked.

  Any other time, I would have told her that there was nothing she could do. But that wasn't true. She was my best friend. She understood me better than anyone else.

  "Will you feed me and give me wine?" I asked.

  She smiled. "Of course. But not too much, you have to go back to Dallas tomorrow morning."

  "Oh, yeah. Surely they won't care if I'm too hungover to drive home," I said.

  Cam laughed and rolled her eyes. "Of course they won't!"

  "Fine, just go make me dinner," I demanded. "And I'll settle for two glasses of wine."

  Cam laughed again but did as I asked.

  When I was alone in the hall, I rubbed a hand over the ache in my heart. Sure, some of the pain was for Ben, but another part, one just as big, was over the fact that I would be leaving Farley, and Cam. I hated that.

  Almost as much as I hated leaving before I could figure out how to fix things with Ben. Or if I would even be able to fix it.

  And that's what worried me most of all.

  17

  In the end, Cam tried to teach me to cook and it failed spectacularly. Especially when I dropped the pan of spaghetti on the floor. Just enough to feed us stayed in the pan but the rest was, well, everywhere. It was even on the ceiling. And the noodles were sticky like glue.

  By the time we cleaned up and ate, it was nearly eleven and too late to call Ben.

  But I didn't want to leave him hanging because that wasn't something a decent human would do.

  I settled on texting him. I doubted it would wake him if he was already asleep.

  I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have said some of the things I did. I have to go back to Dallas for work tomorrow and I don't know how long I'll be gone, but I'm coming back to town as soon as I can get away. Can we talk then? In person?

  I wanted to go over the words and edit them until they were exactly right, but I knew they never would be perfect so I forced myself to hit the send button.

  Then, I blew out a long breath. I wasn't sure what would be worse—no response or him messaging me back and telling me not to bother.

  I woke Cam up, made sure she shuffled off to bed, and spent a few minutes tidying up the living room. Even though I'd slept late today, all the emotional upheaval had taken its toll.

  I was tired. And numb.

  Just as I was about to turn off the light, I heard a light tap on the back door and ice crept up my spine. I didn't want to look, but I had to. It was a compulsion.

  Slowly, I twisted around and stared out the French doors.

  Gary stood at the glass with the little metal bowl in his hands. Shit, we'd forgotten to put food out for him. I wanted to ignore the little bastard but he actually looked pitiful rather than menacing.

  "If I come out there to feed you, you'd better not do anything mean."

  I swear that the raccoon nodded.

  This was probably a bad idea, but I couldn't leave him out there hungry. It wasn't right. Plus, he might break into the house and murder me in my sleep.

  I got a cup full of food and carried it to the back door. The bowl sat in the middle of the patio and Gary sat on his haunches on the grass a few feet from the stones.

  Okay. No sudden movements. Eyes on the raccoon.

  I unlocked the door and pushed it open just enough to slip out. Gary didn't move. I dumped the food in the bowl and backed up without taking my gaze off the little devil. He was as still as a statue, his eyes almost sad as he watched me.

  With one hand, I felt around behind me until my fingers hit the doorknob and I opened the door. It wasn't until I was in the house with the glass between us that Gary crept onto the patio and stuck his face into the bowl.

  Huh. Maybe he and I had just reached an understanding.

  I watched as he ate, no longer hating him quite as much, and my phone chimed.

  My blood surged in my veins. It was completely involuntary but I still cringed anyway. My thoughts had immediately turned to Ben and the hope that he wasn't too angry with me.

  I took the phone from my pocket and looked at the screen.

  It was a message from Ben. And I realized that there was something worse than no response or him telling me to get lost. It was one word.

  Okay

  The tiny spark of hope that flared within me at the sound of his message arriving died. I wanted to call him. To ask him if I shouldn't bother to come back, but I didn't want to make a bad situation even worse with my own neurotic behavior.

  I needed to focus on work until it was done, then I could give brainpower to everything that happened with Ben.

  I trudged to the bedroom, shutting off the lights as I went. I wanted to go straight to sleep, but I needed to shower. I could still smell him on my skin and I knew I would never sleep if I didn't wash it away.

  I emerged from the shower ten minutes later, wearing the scent of apple soap and mint shampoo. I towel-dried my hair, braided it, and pulled on my comfiest pajamas.

  When I picked up my phone to set my alarm, I found another message from Ben on the screen. One that brought that flare of hope back to life.

  I'll wait.

  Tears welled in my eyes as relief bloomed inside my chest. Maybe I hadn't fucked everything up after all.

  I walked into my office at ten Monday morning. I hadn't slept much the night before, but I'd woken up feeling more like a human being rather than a wet rag full of regret and self-loathing.

  I was ready to take on whatever problem Barnes threw at me and get the hell back home. To Farley.

  I realized this morning that I was going back. I wouldn't put off finding my own place any longer. That despite my issues with Ben, I loved being around people I cared about on a daily basis. For years, I'd been isolating myself and I never recognized it.

  I had sabotaged my own happiness. But now that I was aware of it, I wanted to change it.

  I wanted to be happy, dammit. I didn't want to be alone all the time. I missed Cam and her parents. They were more of a family to me than my own mother and father.

  I'd never acknowledged it before now and it was past time I did. Colette and Malcolm treated me the way they treated their other two children. My own fear and issues had blinded me to the truth.

  Somehow in the last couple of months, Farley had become home and I was eager to return.

  As soon as my ass hit my chair, my assistant, Trudy, stuck her head in the door.

  "Hey, boss. You want a coffee?"

  "Do kids like candy?"

  She grinned and disappeared from sight. I never expected her to get my coffee, but I definitely appreciated it. Trudy was an awesome assistant and she really should have been promoted by now. I'd put her up for several since we started working together, but for one reason or another, she was never moved up.

  When I discovered I was getting promoted, I insisted that Trudy remain with me and that she get a raise. If they wouldn't promote her with my encouragement, then I would at least make them give her more money.

  I had a feeling that Trudy was passed over because she was a lot like me—hardworking, outspoken, and unwilling to kiss ass to get ahead.

  I liked all of those traits but she didn't play the game and, unfortunately, it hurt her. Just like it hurt me.

  When Trudy brought my coffee in, she shut the door behind her, a sure sign that she had information for me.

  I thanked her for the cup and sipped th
e coffee. Trudy sat on the opposite side of my desk, her expression pinched, but she didn't speak.

  "What's going on?" I asked.

  Trudy inhaled and blew the breath out hard. "I need to resign."

  I nearly choked on my coffee. That was not what I was expecting.

  "What?" I put the cup down and leaned forward. "Why?"

  She looked torn.

  "You can tell me, Trudy. Whatever it is. I want to help you."

  Trudy leaned forward and lowered her voice. "Because Barnes expects me to assist his assistant on top of my duties for you. Apparently, when you're not in the office, I'm supposed to work ten- or twelve-hour days."

  I frowned. Trudy's position was salaried but it wasn't enough to warrant that kind of overtime, even after her promotion and raise. Sure, sometimes I needed her to work late, but most of the time we handled everything during business hours.

  "That's not right. And I thought you were working remotely when I did."

  She shook her head. "Not anymore. Mr. Barnes said the policy is different in my current position and I have to be in the office five days a week."

  Well, I would definitely have to check that out because I'd cleared that through HR when I took the promotion. I wanted to make sure that Trudy could continue to work from home as she usually did.

  "But that's not the worst of it," Trudy said.

  I waited as she seemed to mull over what to say.

  Finally, she continued, "He's taking credit for your ideas and your work. All that stuff you emailed him over the past couple of months? He's not mentioned you once in the meetings. It's all his plan."

  What in the hell? Seriously? Not only had he interrupted my vacation more than once, he had the gall to say it was his work. No, that wasn't okay at all. I busted my ass to get where I was and I fully intended to continue doing it.

  "Do you have proof?" I asked, my voice soft. It took all my willpower to keep my words even rather than screaming.

  Trudy bit her lip. She looked scared. "Not really. I have a couple of emails from him, but the only reason I knew they were your ideas is because I logged into your account to find an old email I needed and I saw your messages to Barnes."

  Wow, my face was hot and my head throbbed. I wondered how high my blood pressure was. Twenty-seven was too young for a stroke, right?

  "And in the meetings, he's been presenting them as his material without mentioning you," she finished.

  I took a deep breath and released it. Then another. And another. Nope, not helping. I was still pissed as hell. I knew things like this happened a lot in the corporate world, but they'd never happened to me. My boss before Barnes had been a great guy who was more than happy to give me kudos when I solved a problem or found a way to save time and money.

  I glanced at the clock on my computer screen. Ten-fifteen. I had forty-five minutes before the meeting started at eleven. Which meant I had some digging to do and quickly.

  "Will you let me do some nosing around before you officially turn in your notice?" I asked her. "An hour or two?"

  She nodded and got to her feet.

  I waited until she was at the door before I called her name. When she turned toward me, I said, "Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I know it wasn't easy."

  "It was a dick move," she replied. "I couldn't let you go into that meeting blind."

  She disappeared out the door and I stared at my computer screen for a long moment. I didn't want to deal with this. I didn't want to fight. I used to love my job and everything that came along with it. The long hours, the problem-solving, the ability to work pretty much wherever I wanted.

  But this morning, I'd dreaded coming into the office. I would rather be at Crave. I liked working with Cam at the shop. I liked living in Farley and seeing Colette and Malcolm every Sunday.

  And I loved Ben.

  It was like a bolt of lightning exploded in my brain. I couldn't imagine my life without him and I didn't want to. I didn't want a long-distance relationship because of a job I no longer felt passionate about. I wanted to go to bed with him every night and wake up with him every morning at an ungodly hour so I could watch him sweat his way through a workout. Okay, maybe not every morning, but a couple a week sounded good.

  I wanted him to make me dinner and teach me to cook.

  Fuck want. I needed him. He made my life better. He made me better.

  I wasn't falling in love with him because I was already there.

  As I came to the realization, a plan formed in my mind. I hesitated at first because I was about to burn every bridge I'd made in the company but I ignored the niggle of doubt and focused on logic.

  Okay, so what I was thinking of doing wasn't just going to burn the bridges, it was going to be like setting off a nuclear warhead. I just had to find a way to shield Trudy so she could stay on if she wanted.

  One more glance at the clock. Ten-twenty. I had forty minutes to get this done. It would be tight, but I could manage it.

  I flexed my fingers and got to work.

  18

  I walked into the conference room one minute before eleven. My co-workers were already around the table, but Barnes wasn't there yet.

  I was surprised to see Peter Connolly at the table. He was Mr. Barnes' boss. Apparently, the issue I'd been working on for Barnes was bigger than I'd realized.

  He smiled at me when I came in and set a stack of handouts on the table. "Good morning, Ms. Watkins. You look refreshed after your vacation."

  I forced myself to smile back at him. "Thank you. Does this mean I can no longer work remotely?" I joked.

  "Definitely not. I thought Trudy said Thomas approved your remote schedule. Is that wrong?" he asked.

  I shrugged. "Mr. Barnes thought it was important that I attend the meeting today."

  Something passed over his face and it took me a moment to recognize it. He didn't like my boss any more than I did. What an interesting development.

  "Well, it is lovely to see you."

  It was so very tempting to tell him everything then and there. I didn't know Peter Connolly well, but I had been around him enough to know that he seemed like a genuinely nice man. I was withholding judgment for now though, because he may not be so nice if I did what I was planning to do.

  When I stared down at the stack of paperwork in front of me, I thought of how sincere and kind Mr. Connolly had been all these years and I made a decision. I wasn't going through with my plan. It was vindictive and mean. I would follow Trudy's example and speak to Mr. Connolly privately after the meeting. That would have to be enough.

  "Mr. Connolly, would you have a few minutes for me after the meeting?" I asked.

  "Of course," he said. "Is everything okay?"

  I opened my mouth to answer him, but Mr. Barnes entered the conference room before I could speak.

  Thomas Barnes wasn't an ugly man, but neither was he handsome.

  The best way to describe his appearance was average. Medium build, medium height, brown hair and eyes. He would blend into a crowd with very little effort. Until he looked at you and spoke. Though his eyes were brown, they were as cold as frozen mud. And his voice was abrupt and harsh.

  He glanced at me as he moved to the head of the table. "Watkins, I see you made it."

  I gritted my teeth, biting down on the nasty words that wanted to spill out of me. When I knew I wouldn't say what I was really thinking, I answered, "I took your advice seriously."

  Peter Connolly looked between us, a faint frown pulling at his mouth.

  "Good." Barnes smirked at me before focusing on the stack of paperwork in front of him.

  Everyone took their seat and the meeting began. My boss passed out packets and I saw all the ideas I sent him the last couple of months outlined in the handouts. It was my original email copy and pasted without my information on it. The asshole hadn't even bothered to change the wording or anything.

  It pissed me off all over again.

  In all honesty, I was too angry
to focus so I didn't hear a word spoken until Barnes barked my name.

  "Watkins, what do you think of the plan?"

  I turned my head and looked at him. I knew he could tell I was angry because he smirked at me again. He was under the impression that I would fall in line because I didn't want to lose my job. Which pissed me off even more because if I had truly needed the money, I would have been stuck. Unable to fight back and unable to leave.

  My decision to remain mature and professional flew out the window.

  I picked up the papers I had brought and passed them to my right. "Please pass these around." Then, I fixed my stare on my boss. "I think your plan looks a lot like the suggestions I emailed you last month when you demanded that I work during my first vacation in two years."

  Barnes' face turned red before it darkened into plum. "Now, look here—"

  "And I would consider it a personal favor if you would allow my assistant to complete her duties for me rather than doing work for you."

  His mouth moved, gaping and closing like a fish out of water. Finally, he sputtered, "She works for this company, which means she will do what is needed—"

  "And HR gave her permission to work remotely on the days I did, but you seemed to have given her the impression that she is required to come into the office five days a week."

  "This isn't the time or place for this conversation," Barnes bellowed. "It's completely unprofessional."

  "Sort of like your behavior since I came to work for you?" I asked sweetly.

  I wouldn't have thought that his face could turn a darker purple, but it did. He opened his mouth, probably to fire me on the spot, but I didn't let him finish.

  "Consider this my two weeks' notice. Though I intend to use what little that's left of my personal time to ensure I don't do your job for you any further than today," I said to him. "Good luck finding someone to make you look good."

  Barnes pointed a finger at me. "You will never work in this field again, Watkins. You'll be blackballed. I'll make sure of—"