I opened it and stepped inside, but she wasn’t at her desk. I scanned the room and found her on the cream-colored couch to the left. She had papers spread out in front of her. She gathered them together and tried to hide them under another stack of paperwork.
“Sorry for intruding.”
She blinked and sat back on the couch. With arms crossed over her chest, she glared in my direction. She had avoided my gaze all day.
“What are you working on?”
“Just analyst stuff. I fell down a rabbit hole and am trying to come back to the surface.” She shrugged. “It’s the job.”
“Is it something you want to talk about?” I stepped in and shut the door. Her head tilted.
“Do you prefer the door to stay open?”
“No, it’s fine.” She waved her hand, gathered the big stack of paperwork, and moved towards her desk. It fell out of her hands. Pages scattered on the floor. “Shoot.”
“Let me help you.”
“No!” she yelled. “I’m sorry. I got it. What did you need?”
“Kylie.” She bent down, snatching the scattered pieces. I bent down beside her. “Kylie, look at me.”
She grabbed the last piece of paper and stood up. Her glare hardened.
“We need to talk about what Collin said.” I sat across from her desk.
“No, we really don’t.” She made her way around the desk and flopped into the office chair. The stack of papers blocked her out. I pushed them to the side. Her eyes blinked rapidly.
“I think we do.”
“And you always get what you want?” She had no problem holding my gaze now. “Well, not this time, Patrick. You can’t have me.”
The declaration didn’t quite have the impact she probably intended. She sounded less like a woman asserting herself and more like a petulant child denying what she herself wanted. I covered my mouth to keep from smiling. My next words would hurt her, but it was my job to protect her whether she was mine or not. She didn’t need to deal with my crush because it wouldn’t come to anything.
“Whether I do or don’t have a crush on you is irrelevant. It would be inappropriate for me to pursue a relationship with an employee, especially if it could compromise or distract either of us from doing our jobs properly. There’s nothing more important than the job, Kylie. Understand?”
Kylie had geared up for the fight and had stepped into her confidence to defend her position. She had probably rehearsed in her head what she wanted to say, how she was going to let me down. My words caused her to deflate right in front of me.
“Now that that is done.” I stood up. “Please add Tyler Grant and his boyfriend Maddox to the list of attendees tomorrow atThe Sphere. Coordinate with Martin about arranging the seating to accommodate them. Make sure Chandler knows so he can add another table for them at the club.”
And that was it. Issue resolved. No harm, no foul.
I had gotten away, saving us both from an uncomfortable conversation about an awkward situation that meant nothing. I made it to the door. Every instinct, every bit of training, told me to just walk away. Don’t stop, don’t look back. But some deeper, dumber part of me refused the order. It was a raw, aching need to know if she was okay. And it was too loud to ignore. I stopped at the door, hand on the knob, but I couldn’t turn it. I couldn’t muster the strength to push it open and walk out.
I opened my mouth. “You okay?”
Fuck. Not what I wanted to say. I should have said nothing. I was free. I could have put this whole mess behind me and lived my delusional life where I would never admit out loud my feelings for Kylie Stands.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Her voice was tight, each word clipped and sharp. I looked back, but she had already stood up and was making her way toward the window in her office, cellphone in her ear.
“Hi Martin.” He got the kind, professional version of Kylie. “Just wanted to make sure you heard Tyler and Maddox were joining us tomorrow.”
I couldn’t hear his response.
“So I’ve heard.” She laughed. Not giggled but laughed like grown-ups do. “Yeah, is there anything I need to know about them?”
The silence weighed on me. Was Martin flirting with her? Her conversation flowed easily. I opened the door.
“Jealous.”
