“You keep saying that.” Still holding on to my card, he leaned over the counter. His expression was that of someone about to divulge a secret. “One day you’ll wake up and there’ll be someone who’ll crawl so deep under your skin, they’ll embed themselves in your DNA.”
The look he gave me sent chills down my fucking spine. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve sworn he was casting some sort of spell on me. Momentarily freaked the hell out, I pulled a bit harder until the piece of plastic slid from his fingers.
Without another word, I got the fuck out of there.
The instant I was outside, all was right in my world again. The sun was bright and the people loud, but I didn’t care. I loved this city.
Itwas busy and blaring… It was alive.
Dragging a deep breath into my lungs, I strolled toward my black Mercedes and headed to the office. Since I’d cleared my afternoon, I had enough time to change my shirt and freshen up before the partner announcement.
A rare sense of excitement flooded my veins. This partnership was mine. Only mine. I wouldn’t get it because of my last name or who my father was. This wasmyhard work.
Myblood.Mysweat.
The fact this was also my big fuck you to my sperm donor was a huge bonus.
When I stepped out of the elevator on the twenty-fifth floor almost an hour later, my excitement had only intensified. As strange as it was, it also made me realize how desperately I wanted this.
Sinking my hands into my pockets, I hurried toward my office. It was quiet and empty. Most of the people were probably out enjoying their lunch.Kate too, apparently.She wasn’t behind her desk.
I paused. A frown pulled my brows together. Kate was always there. She didn’t do lunches out of the office, no matter how many times I’d told her to. She’d also seemed off this morning.
I’d wanted to ask if it had something to do with the incident at my apartment. I sure as shit hoped it didn’t because I had no explanation for why I’d grabbed and held on to her like that.
Nor could I explain why I’d run after her. Or why the hell when I’d gone back inside I’d sent Shelby home.
Unfortunately—or fortunately—it’d been one heck of a busy day, and we never got around to talking about anything other than business.
Which is exactly the way I’ll keep it.
I entered my office and didn’t bother going into the bathroom to change.
Simply shrugged out of my jacket and tossed it on the desk then got to work on my damp shirt. I moved fast over the buttons, popping them one by one. I had the cotton halfway down my arms when a shriek filled the room.
My gaze shot to the door. Kate’s eyes collided with mine. They were big, almost too big.
“What the hell are you doing here?” she squeaked.
I arched a brow. “It’s my office. Where else would I be?”
She shook her head, the action causing her long, straight ponytail to slide back and forth. “I... Well...” Not bothering to finish her sentence, she sank to her haunches and gathered the papers I hadn’t noticed until that second.
She must’ve dropped them when she came inside and discovered my office wasn’t empty.
“You had a lunch date with Shelby,” she muttered. “Those tend to take longer than an hour.”
“Not this one,” I said dryly.
Finally freeing myself from the wine-stained fabric, I tossed it next to my jacket. Crossing to the coat hanger behind the door, I grabbed a fresh shirt and pulled it on.
The cotton smoothed over my shoulders at the same time as Kate rose to her feet.
She gave me a look. “Oh, I see.”
There were more than three words there. What she didn’t say—never said—out loud was how much she disapproved of the way things ended with the women I took out.
More than once, she’d looked at them with pity.
