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“Let me know what you find out,” he said.
“You gave me until end of day tomorrow.”
“I want an update today.”
“And that’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. I’ll have that update and the mock-up of the proposal in your email by end of day.” Rowan walked off the elevator with her suitcase without looking back, refusing to give Mr. Cold another moment of her time. What she really wanted to do was stomp her feet and scream until the building shook. What the hell game was Gerard up to? That man could draw out the worst in her without even trying.
The floor was eerily silent, making her roller sound like plane engines as she wheeled it into her office and stowed it beside her credenza, weirdly, calming her down. She loved being here. It smelled good, like money and big business. Her passion. She went to the door and looked out on the rows of cubicles, mostly empty on Sunday. Mostly? She glanced down the row and saw lights on in one of the cubicles. She walked down to check it out and found Michael sitting at the desk.
“Michael—”
He whirled around, tapping the button that sent his screen to sleep as he did so. “Rowan. You startled me. I thought you’d be gone until Monday morning. Aren’t you working on some secret project with our boss?”
The resentment in his voice surprised her. Michael had always shown good intentions toward anything that furthered this company and, thereby, his career. For some reason, he clearly resented not knowing what she was working on at the moment.
“We came back early to deal with some things. Why are you here, and why are you sitting at Linda’s desk?”
“Oh, I just came in to finalize the report for the board on the theft and subsequent arrest, and Linda’s got a nice fan at her desk, so I chose to sit here.”
Funny. She could have sworn she’d seen a fund modification screen on the monitor before it went dark. Shaking her head, Rowan realized that Gerard’s change of attitude and the fund issues were making her suspicious of everything. Michael had always been more than helpful.
Now, as he stood, she tried to bury her doubt. “All right. Send the report to me. I have to meet with Mr. Barrett at the end of today. I’ll go over it with him then.”
“You don’t want me to email it?”
“No. It should come from me. Leave your name on it. You know I’ll give you complete credit for the report.”
“You always have.” He tossed a big smile at her and turned toward his office.
“Send me the report right away so I can go over it and ask you any questions before you leave today.”
“Sure thing, boss.” He waved over his shoulder but didn’t turn around.
Was everyone off their feed today? Where had the jovial Michael Wentworth disappeared to? Shaking her head yet again, Rowan went back to her office, sat down, and booted up her system, hoping work could distract her from what she really wanted to stop thinking about.
By seven p.m., she’d had enough. She’d spent the entire day searching for any thread that would explain the issues with the Drekler Fund, to no avail. Time to face the boss’s ire. She texted him that she was ready to meet. He responded right away.
Come on up.
She grabbed the mockup and email she’d printed about the theft and headed for the elevators, actually dreading having to be in the man’s presence. He’d truly done the “love ’em and leave ’em” thing with her. That’s what she’d signed up for, but foolishly, she’d thought what happened last night meant something to him.
She got off the elevator and walked to Gerard’s office, watching him through the clear walls where he studied his monitor intently. He didn’t look up until she tapped on his closed door.
“Come in.”
She opened the door as he moved to the window, staring out at the downtown summer evening, hands deep in his pockets.
Gerard didn’t want to turn around. Didn’t want to see the hurt in her eyes and know he’d put it there. In the stark light of day, his thoughts had come back to haunt him.
Good things never stuck to him. When it came to relationships, that was certainly true. He’d chosen long ago to leave a night as a night and not turn any interlude into a weekend, a week, a month, or beyond.
Rowan wasn’t like the women he usually dated. They were generally sleek and, for the most part, driven, though for different reasons. He met his dates in social situations, and they were more interested in fun than work. That wasn’t Rowan’s focus. She wanted to do the best job. It was as simple as that. On top of her work ethic, she was smart, pretty, and sleek was no longer his preference in women. He wanted curves. Rowan’s curves. Gerard didn’t know why she’d agreed to last night, and he would be forever grateful that she had, but she’d want it all. His time, his focus, his commitment. That was something he couldn’t give her, and for the first time in his life, he retreated rather than dealing with the situation. He realized now he’d done that for himself, not for her, because he’d hurt her without saying a word.
Fuck. The worst part was that he wanted to pull her into his arms and take her pain away. He wanted that relationship, and a life without her in it seemed desolate to him. There was just too much at stake to give in to that. Even as an owner, his position in the company was fragile. One leaked office romance, and Silverman would oust him. That was publicity Barrett Investment Group didn’t need, especially with the biggest bid in the company’s history about to be submitted.
“Mr. Barrett?”
He looked at her then. She looked tired. And worried. And yes, hurt. “Sorry,” he said, recognizing that there was a lot more to his apology than just his current attitude.
