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That managed to make me laugh. “Definitely.”
The afternoon saw me chained to my desk returning emails and squeezing in meetings. I had noticed an increase over the last few months, and up until now I had been able to brush it off as a natural consequence of Daphne’s success. But the requests for consultations and new project proposals had been flooding our office to the point that it was clear something had changed.
It was common knowledge that Daphne would become the next CEO once Mr. Calloway stepped down, but as far as I knew that was still a long way away. But maybe I was wrong.
It certainly felt like more and more responsibilities were being thrown at Daphne, and that more and more people were coming to her for advice and approval. Still, she hadn’t said anything to me, and - personal issues aside - that was information I needed to have.
I leaned back in my chair after replying to another email requesting a lunch meeting with Daphne. There were still a good fifteen emails and at least three voicemails I hadn’t gotten to yet, but it was already well after 5 and I had a list of notes to go over with her before we left for the day.
Oliver had left early and Richard was on his way out. I said goodbye to him and took my notepad to Daphne’s office.
“You might be the most popular person in this company,” I said as I took a seat across from her.
She let out a weak laugh. “I don’t know about that.”
The circles under her eyes were deeper and darker than usual. I bit at my lip. “Are you doing okay, Daph? There’s a lot of work coming your way.”
She mustered up a smile. “I’m fine. He hasn’t said anything to me, but my dad’s been putting more responsibility on us - me and Oliver, I mean. I can handle it.”
I wanted to ask if that responsibility extended to her personal life, but I held back. There had been a comfortable feeling between the two of us since last weekend and I didn’t want to upset that. She had been normal, as had I, since we slept together. We had a professional relationship to maintain. It was necessary, I knew that, but that didn’t change the way my body burned when she was near, or stop my mind from drifting towards her.
Normal. I had to act normal. I brought out my notes and started going through them. It only took about twenty minutes. When we were done I dropped my notepad onto her desk and propped my head in my hand. “This week has crawled by,” I complained.
Daphne chuckled. “You’re right. But after tomorrow we can take a break.”
I nodded and let silence fall around us. She could be such a force when it called for it, but I liked these moments the best. I saw the real Daphne in the quiet; the girl who had worked so hard for so long, but had loved every second of it. How could I help but love her when I had seen how she could shine?
Her grey-green eyes met mine and held our gaze for a heartbeat. I wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch her, but I was a coward. I was afraid to scare her away. Relieving her stress, rewarding her; they were all excuses that did nothing but push away any sign of emotion. I had never regretted our relationship, as strange as it was, but there were times when it became harder to accept it.
Her eyes slid away and went back to her computer screen. I glanced down at my phone. It was getting close to 6. I was about to ask if she had dinner plans when a knock at the door cut me off.
“Come in,” she called after a few seconds. There was a tightness in her voice that hadn’t been there before.
It was Donovan.
He grinned as he came in, and irritation nipped at my heart.
“Nice to see you as always, Ms. Ramos.”
I gave him a forced smile. “You too, Mr. Sellers.”
I’m sure my face showed my annoyance, but he only looked pleased. His gaze shifted to Daphne. “Ready to go?”
I looked back at her, but she wouldn’t meet my eye. “Where are you going?” I asked, trying to keep my voice light.
She busied her hands with gathering her things and turning off her computer as she spoke. “Donovan and I are going to get dinner. We have some things to discuss.”
Daphne was a good businesswoman. She might be nervous, but she would always keep a cool head when it counted. But she had a tell. It was small, and it only came out when she was hiding something. She would crack the knuckles on her right hand and keep going through the motions even after they’d popped. And she was doing it now.
“I’m sure you have a lot to talk about,” I said, turning back to Donovan. Any doubts I had were silenced by the look on his face.
It was a date.
They were going on a date.
He let his head tilt to the side and poured all his charm into his smile. “I’m looking forward to getting to know Daphne better. She’s really something, but I’m sure you already knew that.”
My lips took on a hard line. I had faced worse than him. I had overcome the looks of sleazy executives, the touch of handsy CEOs, and advances from nepotism hires that thought they could do no wrong. I could handle Donovan Sellers. At least, that’s what I told myself.
