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Ben’s fists tightened, and Mia knew right then he was holding in his anger as hard as she was. Because that was the biggest crock of you-know-what she’d ever heard.
Darren played, alright. He worked his career like a game of Monopoly. Except in this version, instead of paying money to gain property on the board, one had to lie. And don’t forget the bonus points for seizing any and every opportunity to screw over a fellow employee. Like the time he “gifted” an employee an extra day off to recover from surgery and then moved the board meeting so he could pitch his revolutionary ideas … which were really the ideas of the person he “gifted” a day off to.
If fair was the only way Darren played, Mia had missed the memo that today was Opposite Day.
“If you have a problem with one of my employees, I’d appreciate it if you discussed it with me.” Ben spoke with authority. His rounded eyes when he looked at her gave her the feeling she wouldn’t get a stern talking-to from him. A regular David and Goliath situation unfolded in front of her—if David was the big guy, and Goliath was small and perpetually smelled like salami.
Mia ran her hands up and down her arms, the icy glares the men gave each other defying all scientific reasoning and lowering the temperature in the room a few degrees. But one look at Ben, and warmth overtook her body—a useful thing to remember should she ever get stranded outside in the winter.
“I’ll be sure to let you know, Mr. Wilson.” Darren replaced his whininess from earlier with a voice someone might use to sound macho. Was this the new Darren—the persona he was going to carry through the office to assert his dominance? She imagined him stomping from cubicle to cubicle, calling everyone “brother” like Hulk Hogan. Or maybe he’d tell everyone to eat a Slim Jim. It was a cousin to his beloved salami, after all. “Have the two of you finished the presentation for the board yet?”
Finished it? They’d barely started. Not for Mia’s lack of trying. They were supposed to work on the presentation together—which she took to mean they needed to be in the same room to do. But Ben continually sent messages, texts, and e-mails with feedback and ideas, seemingly doing everything he could to keep this arrangement in separate offices.
“We’ll be staying late tonight to work on it.”
Mia’s eyes shot up from her tablet. “We will?”
“That’s what you’d said, right? That you were staying tonight.”
She nodded. That had been her plan, but she didn’t realize he’d paid attention. Or that he was planning on joining her. Although, maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he was staying … on the other side of her office wall.
“If that’s all then, I’d like to get this meeting started.” Darren walked with wide strides—well, wide for his small stature—and sat in his chair, his chest puffed like someone stuck an air hose in his mouth. He obviously thought he’d won some sort of battle here. And that was fine—after working for him as long as she had, Mia had no more fight left in her.
And judging from his long sigh, she had a feeling Ben felt the same.
Chapter Three
Mia rolled her head from side to side, the cracking of her neck with each movement creaked like wooden floorboards in a haunted house. She’d sat at her desk the rest of the day doing work, of course. But she couldn’t stop thinking about the way Ben had stuck up for her earlier.
And also, how it was ten after five, and he hadn’t shown up to work on the presentation.
Sitting back in her desk chair, she let her head hit the padded rest as her stomach relayed a garbled message she was pretty sure meant it was angry. Or maybe she was hallucinating because the office suddenly smelled a lot like …
“Pizza delivery,” a deep voice sounded from the doorway. “Sorry I’m late. Your favorite shop seemed to be a little understaffed this evening.”
She stared at Ben, contemplating which was the biggest surprise: that he’d brought her pizza or that he knew Milano’s was her favorite. “How did you know?”
“We practically grew up together. I’ve seen your raging hangriness more times than I care to count.” He chuckled.
“No, I mean … how did you know that’s my favorite place?”
He looked down at the floor, a light dusting of pink glowing on his cheeks as his foot traced the lines of the carpet. “A good boss should pay attention to his employees.”
“Right,” she said, hiding her disappointment. He hadn’t noticed because he had any feelings for her. They weren’t even friends anymore. “Well, thanks. Pull up a chair, and we can get started—on the pizza first. Then, we can work.”
“You always did have your priorities in line—pizza first, everything else later.” He smiled as he pulled the top off the box. Mia closed her eyes and breathed in all the pizza goodness as the realization that he not only remembered something from their past but also brought it up made her smile. Usually at work, he acted like they hardly knew each other.
“Can they really call it the best slice in the city when it’s bigger than my head?” She held a gigantic piece of pizza beside her face as she looked across her desk at Ben.
“I don’t care what they call it… it’s better than anything I have at home.”
“Need to do some grocery shopping?”
He rubbed his chin as he grimaced. “Not really. I’m trying to teach myself how to do a little home cooking, and it’s, uh, not going … great. So please don’t judge if I eat about five more of the best slices in the city,” he said with a laugh. A laugh! Something so uncharacteristic of the brooding man Ingram Investments knew.
“Hmmm. I guess calling it the best slice in the city has an alliterative quality to it.” She took a bite of the pizza topped with ham, pepperoni, and sausage. “They could say it’s the best pie in Pittsburgh.”
“Uh-uh,” he grunted mid-bite. Sauce clung to his lip, and Mia stifled a moan as he licked it off. “That would just confuse people.” He had that part right—she really was confused tonight. But it had nothing to do with the pizza place or its slogan.
