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It’s Rylee Winters.
So they were right about her. Something is off about this.
She turns, sensing my gaze.
As soon as she sees me, she abruptly closes out the screen she’s working on and logs out.
Shit.
She grabs her bag and closes the door of the room behind her. “Hi, Dusty.”
“Hi, Rylee.”
“What are you doing here so early?” Her tone is light but she gives me a steely—and very attentive—once-over. I have no doubt she can tell I’ve had a sexual free-for-all of a weekend.
I did my best in the cab to make myself presentable but I’m not sure I’ve pulled it off. My hair was untamable and my cheeks are still flushed. “I was, uh, staying with a friend this weekend and realized I forgot the key to my apartment. How about you? You’re here early.”
“I wanted to finish up a project I’m working on. Couldn’t sleep so I thought I might as well get some work done.”
“Oh.” I laugh a little, trying to lighten the tension. “Those motivational quotes must be doing their job.”
She slings her bag over her shoulder and her silky hair swings. “And by the way, I have a guy that watches Cash’s ‘back door’ on the weekends. Because I’m the jealous ex type, what can I say? It’s a weakness.”
I feel my face pale. Fuck fuck fuck. She saw me.
“I used to go in that way too, did you know that?” Her question is scathing, and hurtful.
“I, uh…no.” My life—all that work, the studies, the internships, the trying so hard for so long—literally flashes before my eyes. So does Ace. He must have told her to come to his less-conspicuous entrance too. Did he also tell her all those beautiful things he told me? Did he tell her, in the heat of a moment, that he was falling in love with her?
Rylee walks past me toward the door. “I highly recommend you not mention you saw me here this morning. To anyone. Not Cash. Not Noah. Not Penelope. Definitely not Lacey. No one. If you can manage that, I’ll keep your little secret from the team. I’m sure they’d all be very interested to find out that you’re sleeping with the boss. How long has it been going on? Since before you got hired, by any chance? I’m impressed, honestly. You really wanted this job.”
“It wasn’t like that.” Wow, she’s cold-hearted. And I react to it. I can’t stop myself. “They know it was you.”
She blinks, shaken. But then she regains that ice-queen composure. “They might suspect it was me. But they can’t prove it. And neither can you. So do yourself a favor and keep our secret to yourself.”
Rylee doesn’t know me very well. She doesn’t know that I’m not a pushover. Or that I’m tough because I’ve had to be. But I’m also kind, because I’ve always found that grit and kindness are the best ways to get what you want. For me, it’s the only combination that’s ever worked. “Just saying, this is the worst, most obvious heist in the world. Everyone in this office suspects you. And you were never going to win him back this way.”
At the mention of Cash, a vulnerability softens her expression. I can see there that she’s not purely evil, she’s just really hurt. She loved him. She still loves him. So much, maybe, she’s blind to how crazy her actions are.
I can relate. I happen to know how easy he is to fall for.
“It’s not late to fix this, Rylee.”
She wavers. She takes a few seconds to consider that.
“I’ll help you,” I say. But she notices again the look of me. The obviousness of what happened after I was ushered through the back door of the CEO’s building.
I watch her jealousy slide back into place. Her disdain. “Fix what? As I said, I came in early to work. If you insist on discussing that with anyone, I’ll take you down with me.”
With that, she walks out.
26
I roll over, reaching for her. Finding her half of the bed empty.
My eyes open and I can feel the emptiness she’s left behind. The energy of the place is cold, without that warm beauty she infuses into everything. “Tex?”
No answer. Her bag is gone, and her clothes.
