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“You don’t think he’s figured that out about you by now?” Angie pushed.
“I don’t know, Grace. I think he’s into you,” Laurel said. “Look how he tracked you down. We all know he could write you a new check, but instead he asked you out. That’s not someone who’s not interested.”
“Girls, stop.” Faith had been quietly listening. Now she rose and stood next to me. “Grace knows what is right for her. If she’s not comfortable with the way things are, then who are we to doubt her?”
She pulled me in for a hug and rubbed my back. “I’m proud of you for standing up for what you believe and not settling,” she whispered in my ear. Why does she sound sad?
Her gesture prompted Angie to turn it into a group hug.
“I just want to find someone who really wants me, you know?”
“You will,” Angie declared. “Maybe it’ll be Jax, who knows. Maybe not. But Faith is right, as usual.”
“I third that! Don’t forget about me!” Laurel’s voice sounded behind us.
All of us piled on the computer with kissy faces. “We love you, too, Laurel. Come home to us soon.”
She waved us off as if we were really kissing her.
Minutes later, we decided to call it a night.
“I’ll take you home, Ang. Don’t call for Uber,” Faith said. Laurel signed off and the rest of us cleaned up.
A couple of minutes later my sisters were out the door. I turned back and looked at the space that had just been filled with people I loved. It felt empty. Normally that didn’t bother me, but tonight it just made me feel alone. I was tired of being alone. Why was it so hard to find a guy I was attracted to who treated me right? I sat on my couch, ready to google the local animal rescue and pick out a cat, just in case.
8
Jax
Of all the mornings for my flight to be canceled. It should have seen it as a sign that I should go home. Instead, I went to my office like the workaholic I was. I planned to start by tying up loose ends concerning Grace. Maybe then I'd be able to forget about her.
"Please be sure that gets to Grace Hart," I directed my secretary, tossing an envelope onto her desk as I breezed past.
She gave the envelope a cursory glance. "I'm afraid I don't have her address, Mr. Carter." She went back to typing something, ignoring me as I stuttered to a stop.
I wheeled around to face her. Most men cowered when I gave them “the glare.” Not Eleanor Jablonski. She sat behind her computer screen, a tower of strength.
"Then call her." I pointed a finger at her. "And before you tell me you don't have her phone number, I know you do, seeing
as how you highlighted it on the form you put on my desk yesterday." The financial requisition paper I'd found on my desk at the end of the day had Grace's name and phone information highlighted in pink, not her standard yellow "Sign here" sticker at the bottom. Sometimes, Ellie was about as subtle as a billboard in Times Square.
"Yes, I have it. I'll write it down again and bring it to you so that you can look up her address yourself. I'm very busy today." She turned back to her computer and resumed typing, oblivious to the fact I probably resembled one of those cartoon bulls I remembered from my childhood. You know, the ones who blow steam just before they charge.
"May I remind you about who signs your paychecks? You take orders from me."
She paused to glance at me over her reading glasses. "And may I remind you that I can retire with two weeks' notice at any time. I'm not here to clean up your messes unless it's business related. And since that's not a company check in a company envelope, I suggest you take care of it yourself."
Damn it. The first rule of business is not to risk anything you can't afford to lose, and Eleanor Jablonski just called my bluff. "You're not irreplaceable you know," I muttered.
When I was younger and first started putting all of my interests under one corporation, I thought an attractive secretary would be a nice enhancement to my office. What I hadn't counted on was how distracted they got while they tried to flirt with me. I even hired a man once, until he, too, flirted with me.
Ellie had been a desperate attempt on my part to find someone who could focus on my business needs rather than my sexual ones. It had almost been a joke in my mind to hire someone who couldn't have been more different from all the rest. She was a widow whose Social Security didn't keep up with her basic needs, and it turned out, the best damn secretary anyone could ask for. She was extremely savvy and organized. I made sure her salary more than compensated for her meager paychecks from the government. I'd even grown to ask for her opinion on occasion.
This, however, was not one of those times.
She sniffed at my petulant-sounding response. "I saw the way Ms. Hart came rushing out of your office yesterday," she clucked while shaking her head.
"Did you see her crying?" I asked.
