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Vanessa sighs loudly. I’m getting the feeling that subtlety isn’t in her wheelhouse. “He got Luke—or Mr. D, as we call him—involved a couple years back to handle the operations and marketing.”
My jaw drops further. “Wait. Luke is the other brother?”
Abercrombie model and Grumpypants are related? How?!
“Luke and Liam Donovan,” Vanessa speaks extra slowly as she points at the two men. She’s clearly misinterpreted my shock for a lack of understanding. “AKA our bosses. AKA total hotties. Luke’s engaged, but Liam’s single. He…”
I tune out Vanessa’s chatter, my mind in a spiral.
Of course he's my boss. Why wouldn't he be my boss?
Something like this could only happen to me. Other people do things like win ten dollars on scratch-offs, and snag the last parking spot at Hooters, or however that country song goes…Is Hooters still a thing?
That's beside the point. Which is this—I am not that type of person.
Instead, I do things like spend the night in an airport hotel with a man who thinks I'm a legitimate Bundy-esque sociopath, and it turns out that he holds the keys to my entire career.
I guess I can safely assume that, like Taylor Swift, I'm about to be locked out of my own kingdom. The silver lining (because there's always a silver lining, no matter how thin and flimsy) is that I'm not the Kanye West of this particular scenario.
Aaaaand this explains why Liam pretended not to recognize me. I’ve read the very detailed HR manual that was sent over with my contract, and even though bed-sharing was not specifically mentioned, workplace romances were. And they appear to be frowned upon at best around here.
I wish there was a way to tell him that I didn’t mean to leap on him in my sleep. That it was a total accident and that I wasn’t hitting on him. Pinky promise. He should know that, of all the employees that he could’ve possibly spent the night with, he doesn’t have to worry about me trying to pursue anything romantic with him. Another workplace romance? No, siree. Not for this girl. Only insane people repeat things over and over expecting a different result.
Maybe I can just stay as far away from him as possible to get the message across. I mean, the guy can’t think I’m, like, madly in love with him or stalking him or something if he literallyneversees me. I’ll be as professional as can be. No HR intervention necessary.
I’m still clinging to that wispy gossamer tidbit of positivity when Vanessa—rather forcefully—pokes me in the arm with a pointy fingernail.
“Annie,” she hisses, and I look up to see nine faces staring at me expectantly.
Make that eight. Liam looks like he’d rather watch a live decapitation than look at me.
“I’m so sorry.” I go a hundred burning shades of hellfire red. “Was lost in my thoughts for a moment and I missed what you said. Sorry,” I add a second time.
Because, yanno, part-Canadian.
Liam’s face is set like a cold marble statue. Luke, on the other hand, looks thoroughly amused. Once again, how are those two related?
“Do you tend to miss things a lot?” Liam asks—the first time he’s spoken in this meeting. “Planes, trains, automobiles?”
My eyes jump to him. His expression’s still stony, totally impenetrable, and his voice is neutral and flat. But his eyes glint in a way that tells me heknows.
“Ignore Liam.” Luke elbows Liam in the ribs, then gives me a kind smile. “He’s extra cranky this morning for some unknown reason.”
I glance at Liam and know that his “extra crankiness” is for a reason very much known to me. Might be something to do with the fact I’m here, in his office.
Luke continues, oblivious. “I was just saying that we’re stationing you in Liam’s office, Annie. You know, because you’ll be working so closely together to gather data before our V2 launch.”
Oh no.
I’ll be stationed. In Liam’s office.
How on earth am I supposed to stay far away from him while sitting across from the man?!
I open my mouth but can’t think of a single coherent reply. So, I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. “Um, be right back. Gotta pee.”
Gotta pee?!
Nooooo, Annie. Not a meeting-appropriate turn of phrase.
