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“This meeting is about to start.” Callum McKay released his hold. “Fight on your own time.”
“I’m not sure Rachel can confine being a bitch to her off hours.” Megan plopped back into her seat.
“I said enough.” Callum’s soft Scottish burr rounded out the accents in the room.
“Aye, aye, captain.” Rachel smirked at him. “We wouldn’t want to undermine your tenuous hold on authority. After all, we know how much a man’s ego is tied to his position.” Her gaze scanned down his body, lingering on his fly. “It would be such a shame to damage your fragile, teeny-tiny ego.”
Callum stared Rachel down until the two of them were locked in a contest of wills.
“Should we place bets on who cracks first?” Ryan whispered. “My money’s on Callum.”
The lights suddenly dimmed and a photo appeared on the wall. Everyone’s eyes shot to the picture.
“Sorry,” the large potted palm said. “I thought it was time for the slide show.”
The lights came back up and the image disappeared.
“Julia?” Megan said, as everyone eyed the plant at the other end of the table from Callum. Sure enough, the office manager was sitting behind it, a laptop balanced on her knees. “Have you been there the whole time?”
There was some shuffling. “Um, yes,” Julia said softly.
“I thought we were going to have breakfast together this morning,” Megan said. “I waited for you.”
Dimitri knew the two women were sharing one of the tiny flats on the top floor of the building. With Megan’s extrovert personality and Julia’s social phobia, he could only imagine how well that was going.
“Sorry,” the plant said. “I had a lot of work to do, so I came in early.”
“This is ridiculous,” Callum barked. “I refuse to talk to foliage. Get out from behind the plant.”
“I can’t. I’m plugged in here. The equipment doesn’t work out there.” Julia’s voice was barely a whisper, making them strain to hear her.
“You can make it work out here,” Callum snapped. “You’re so bloody efficient you’re making my head spin. Get to the table.”
The plant shook. “I haven’t had time to wire up the table area. I will for the next meeting. Right now, if you want a PowerPoint, I have to stay here.”
The tremor in Julia’s voice was pronounced. Callum was on fragile ground. Julia had been adopted by half the team. She was practically the office pet.
“Leave her alone,” Joe said. “Let her do her job.”
“She’s hiding behind a plant.” Callum pointed at the plant. “How can she do her job from there?”
“Have you had any problems with her work since we arrived in London?” Megan asked, although they all knew the answer. Julia could run the country if she tried. Okay, so she’d do it from inside a closet, but she’d still do a great job. “The answer is no. She’s way ahead of schedule with the office renovations. We all have everything we need to work. She’s doing her job great. So what if she’s a little shy? Leave her alone.”
“A little shy?” Rachel barked a laugh. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard. “We’ve been working together for over a week and I’ve yet to see her face. That isn’t normal. If I was in charge,” she directed that comment to Callum, “I’d fire her.”
“Aye,” Callum told the witch. “But you’re not in charge, are you?”
“Yet.” Rachel gave him a look designed to make his balls shrivel. “You’re not exactly making a great impression as a boss. You can’t even get your secretary out from behind a plant.”
“Office manager,” Joe, Megan and the plant said at the same time.
Ryan laughed until he had to wipe his eyes.
Callum turned his attention back to the potted plant. “Slide show, Julia. And next meeting that damned plant will be gone from the room. Are we clear?”
“Yes, sir,” Julia whispered.
“In fact, I want all of the plants removed from the building. It’s like a bloody jungle in here.”
