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The memory of the kiss that had haunted my thoughts all night long replayed for the millionth time and a shiver of electricity tingled down my body. “No,” I admitted. “He didn’t. I don’t know what happened, things just got out of control. It was only a minute…I think.”
Bryce buried his face in his hands. “I don’t know how to fix this for you. There are strict policies in place and violation of those can and will result in your termination.”
Rita’s threats of firing Bryce rang through my mind as I helplessly watched his distress.
“Does Rita know?”
“Not yet, but she will soon.”
“Okay, hold tight. I’m going to fix this.” I stood and bolted from the room before Bryce could finish his sentence that I’m sure was an order to sit back down.
I circled back to my desk long enough to grab my bag and then made my way downstairs to my car. I could have sworn I heard whispering and hushed voices as I snaked through the department on my way to the elevator bank, but I kept my head down and hurried. Once in my car, I dialed Cooper on my cell phone. His secretary told me he wasn’t available but offered to put me through to his voicemail. I declined and hung up. I scanned through my email and in one of the old messages found his cell phone. I dialed and waited, but it went to voicemail as well. Unsure of what to say, I hung up instead. No one was in the parking lot but I was uneasy with paranoia as my eyes darted from one corner of the lot to the other. My fingers tapped out a nervous beat on the steering wheel while my brain plotted.
After a few minutes of stewing, I finally thought of an idea. I leaned across the passenger seat and ripped my laptop out of my bag. I booted it up, continuing my sentinel watch as it went through the loading screens.
“Finally,” I said to the empty car when the chime sounded that it was awake. I opened a few windows and let my hacker brain take over. I entered his cell phone into my program and let the computer do the rest. Within minutes, I had a real time track on his phone’s GPS signal. I plugged it into a direction app and found his location:
Sweet Treats Pastries
What the…?
So Mr. Hard Body has a sweet tooth. Interesting.
I flipped the car into reverse and sped out of the lot.
Twenty minutes later, I arrived outside a shopping center and parked in front of the bakery. I spotted the car I had fixed as I stalked to the front door. The monologue I had mentally prepared during the drive was ricocheting around my mind with each step.
I opened the door of the shop and was greeting by a young girl at the front counter but before I could answer, I was cut off by a surprised-sounding Cooper who was seated at a small table by the front window.
“What are you doing here?”
I flopped into the seat across from him. “I need to talk to you and you weren’t answering my calls.”
“How did you know I was here? Did my assistant tell you?”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter how. I need you to listen to me now.”
He bristled and sat back in his chair. Under any other circumstances, his put-out expression at me interrupting his coffee and pastry would probably have been hilarious, but in that moment it only fueled my frustration.
“You need to call Rita and tell her that the gossip is just that—gossip. We did not do anything inappropriate at the event, you like working with me, and Bryce too, and that everything is fine.”
I grabbed his cell phone that was lying on the table near his coffee cup, flipped to his contacts, pulled up Rita’s direct extension, and handed him the phone back again.
“Here.”
He snatched the phone out of my hands. “What do you think you’re doing?” he growled, his voice low and dangerous.
I’ll admit, I had gone off the script a little, and quite possibly a “please” might have helped my case, but at the end of the day, what I was asking—okay, demanding—he do, wasn’t much, considering how completely screwed up and complicated he had been making my life since entering it a week ago.
He stood from the table and shoved the phone back into his pocket. He flipped open his wallet, threw a wad of cash on the table. “Get up,” he said to me.
Before I could object, he turned away from me and I watched as his entire expression changed into a polite smile and he waved his thanks to the woman at the counter. She looked completely confused by everything she was witnessing but she returned his smile and said goodbye.
“Let’s go,” he said to me again, his face back to stone.
I stood and followed as he left the shop, stepping through the door as he held it open. Once we were outside, he grasped my elbow with one hand. He held firm but not tight, and steered me towards his car.
“Get in,” he said after opening the passenger door.
