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“Do you really mean it, Jake? You’re not just saying that?”
“Mandy, these last few weeks have been so hard. I would never throw away a relationship over a misunderstanding. If you don’t forgive me, I don’t know what I’ll do.”
“Will you break up with Lonnie?”
I cringe but don’t correct her this time.
“There is absolutely nothing between me and Lana. I swear to you. She is nothing more than my executive assistant. I don’t know what you think you saw that night, but I did not sleep with her. Nor will I ever sleep with her. Mandy, I swear, I did not cheat on you.”
I swing around at the sound of papers dropping on the floor behind me. Shit. Lana is standing there, her face as white as a ghost.
“Look, I need to go. I’ll call you later.” I hang up without waiting for Amanda to respond.
Lana’s face is pale as she clutches the remaining papers in her hand.
“How much of that did you hear? No, don’t answer that.” I am at a loss for words. I can’t tell her the truth and risk her learning about the article. “Lana, I know that sounded bad. I swear to you; I am not with her. And we were not dating the night we were together, either.”
She finally snaps out of her trance with a snort as she looks at me with contempt. “You must think I’m pretty stupid to believe that. Whatever, it’s not my business. I don’t care.”
But she does care. I see it in her too-wide eyes and shocked face.
“Look, there’s a situation with Amanda that I’m trying to fix. I can’t explain right now, but I will tell you everything soon.”
“Save it. Here are the contracts you asked for. I had them proofread and corrected. They are ready for the lawyers to review.” She leans down to pick up the papers. In doing so, her blouse opens up at the top just enough to see the tops of her breasts. She hates me, and I’m sitting here looking down her shirt like a pervert.
“That’s more than you’ve said to me in two weeks,” I respond with the first thought to enter my head.
“I’m just keeping my words related to company business. You should do the same.”
“Lana, we can’t keep dancing around each other like this. Prior to the incident in the hotel, we were getting along really well. I wish we hadn’t messed that up.”
“The incident? Is that what we are calling it now?” She forces a laugh. She glares at me, hands on her hips, waiting for my response.
Frustration roars through me.
“What else do you want to call it? The night we almost fucked?” I launch up from my chair and walk to stand directly in front of her. “Is that what it was?”
She holds her ground and looks up at me, challenging me. I want to grab her, pull her up on my desk, and make her forget why she hates me. The angry glitter in her eyes only feeds my hunger for her.
“There is no need to be so crude.”
“You know what I think? I think that you need to stay mad at me because that lets you keep your distance. You’re afraid of what will happen if you let go of your anger.”
“I’m not afraid of anything. I know exactly what will happen if I let go of my anger. You will sweet-talk me into thinking you’re a nice guy, and I will again forget that you have a fiancée and are a lying, deceitful, cheating jerk. So, I think you should callMandyand tell her that she doesn’t need to worry about me coming between her and her man again.”
The way she sneers when she saysMandytells me that she probably heard quite a bit of my conversation with Amanda. I am at a loss as to what to do. Lana and I can’t continue to work like this. And I can’t tell Lana the truth yet. She won’t believe me if I tell her that Amanda and I are not together, especially after that phone call.
And if I tell her about the article, she will be devastated. Neither of these options is good. Until I get this mess sorted out, I will just have to play along with Amanda and hope Lana doesn’t get hurt further.
In the meantime, what do I do about Lana?
“I have a proposition for you. What if I transfer you to a different department?”
Lana looks shocked as the blood drains from her face. “You’re firing me?” she whispers, looking down at her feet.
“No! I’d never do that. I was offering to find you a job in another department, not fire you.”
Secretly, I’m thrilled that she is insisting on staying. The only department that currently has an opening is with Dax. And I’ll be damned if I’ll let her anywhere near my brother.
