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“Doubt the ice queen cares, she’s got Jerry and that fucking delicious hunk at hertable.”
At that I stood, flushed, although there was no need, and unlocked the door. I walked straight to a washbasin and smiled at the women’s reflection in themirror.
“Have a wonderful evening, ladies,” I said, as I pulled a paper towel from the pile, dried my hands, and left theroom.
I didn’t know what to do or where to go. We were being called in for dinner, and it was the last place I wanted to be. I swallowed back the tears. At least I had confirmation of the nickname I’d been given; I’d always suspected it would be something to do with thecold.
I walked back into the dining room with my stomach churning and a fake smile on myface.
* * *
Imade it through dinner,thanks to Fred. He only stopped chatting to take the occasional mouthful of food or sip of wine. Jerry had tried to include me in his conversation with Mackenzie. I answered when required to, smiled and laughed when appropriate, but otherwise tried my hardest not to make eyecontact.
When the plates were cleared and coffee was poured, Jerry leaned towardsme.
“This is really hard for you, isn’tit?”
“Huh?”
“Being here with Scott and thebitch.”
“A little,yes.”
“You know, it’s okay to drop the act. You don't have to be tough all thetime.”
“And let them see me affected? Noway.”
He smiled and nodded. “Do you want anything from thebar?”
“I’ll go, what did you want?” I only offered for one reason, I’d be left alone at thetable.
“No, you’re officially off dutynow.”
I laughed at that. “I’m never off duty,” Isaid.
“Maybe you should be. It’s okay to be professional. It’s okay to be fucking amazing at your job, but it doesn’t need to consume you and sometimes you letit.”
Jerry’s comments surprised me. Okay, so he swore constantly, he never wore a suit to work, he was ‘one of the lads’ sometimes, but he always worked hard. He didn’t stop working. All I’d ever done was follow his lead. He paid me well, and I wanted to be worthy ofthat.
“I own the company, Lauren. Even if for totally selfish reasons, I work harder than anyone, because one day, I’ll reap the bulk of the benefits. That doesn’t mean you have to match me, minute for minute,” he said, as if he’d read mythoughts.
He stood and left the table. I felt Mackenzie’s stare, and when Fred decided he’d had enough of my company, I had no choice but to acknowledgehim.
“Did you enjoy your meal?” Iasked.
“Yes, although, no matter how long I’ve been here, I still can’t get used to the way you guys eat.” He moved seats to be next tome.
“Eat?”
“With your forks, you hold them upsidedown.”
“I have no idea what you mean,” Isaid.
“You eat this way…” He reached for a stray dessert fork that hadn’t been cleared away and held it in his hands. “We eat thisway.”
I watched his fingers slowly turn the fork over. I wasn’t watching the ‘fork,’ I was imagining those fingers on mybody.
“Has Jerry introduced you to anyone?” I asked, needing something to distract me from mythoughts.
