Page 77 of Miss Treated

“Yes, of course.”

I left his office completely unprepared to see Nic outside the door.

“Hello, Ms. Maxwell,” he greeted with a grin.

“Hi.” Guilt was like a haze surrounding me.

He cocked his head to the side. “Everything okay?”

“Yes, fine. I was just wrapping up the project.”

“You’re all done with the audit?”

He thought it was cause for celebration. Little did he know. “Yes. Only one final report to send next week, but today is my last day in the office.”

He leaned in so only I could hear him. “I’ll be by later tonight, okay?”

I forced a smile. “Sounds good.”

Chapter Forty-One

Dominic

As I walked into my father’s office, I could tell something was wrong by the expression on his face. For the last three days he’d seemed more stressed than I’d ever seen him. “What’s going on, Dad?”

He glanced up, forcing a smile. “Nothing. It was a long week.”

“Everything okay with the audit?” Considering Kelsey had just left his office, I had to ask.

“Yes. It’s all wrapped up. Kelsey did an impressive job. Is Leo coming into town today?”

“He came in last night.”

“Good. Make sure he comes with you to your mother’s party tomorrow.”

I chuckled as I took a seat across from him. “Isn’t it your party?”

He cracked a smile. “Once you’re married and have a wife who plans your parties, you’ll understand it’s more about her than you.”

So he thought I could commit to something, after all. Interesting. Heartened by this and the fact Kelsey was now officially done working for the company, I decided to open up a little. “Speaking of women, I met someone. Someone I plan on asking out.”

He raised a brow. “Your mother mentioned you had a friend you were hoping to date.”

“Yeah, if she agrees, tonight will be our official first date. Since we’re already friends, I thought maybe I’d bring her to the party tomorrow. But I didn’t want you to be caught off guard.”

“What do you mean?”

“The woman I’m asking out is Kelsey. And before you give me a lecture about dating someone I work with, she wouldn’t go out on a date with me until this assignment was finished.” I was stretching the truth given we’d slept together, but he didn’t need to know the details, and I didn’t want our romantic activities to reflect on her level of professionalism.

He let out a long breath. “I see.”

“‘I see’? That’s it?”

“It just complicates things.”

“How so? You said today was her last day, and she did a great job.”

He forced a smile. “You’re right. Of course. I’m happy for you.”