Page 59 of Lucas

“The school I went to wasn’t good enough to make the cut. It was the only way to even get the interview.”

“You’re like the goodiest good girl I’ve ever known. I’m kind of blown away right now,” Kass said, shaking her head. “I mean, it’s kind of cool in a way. You’re like a subversive badass and I never even suspected.”

“I’m an idiot, is what I am.”

“So that’s it? Mr. Carter fired you?”

“I pretty much begged him not to. He said he’d think about it and let me know tomorrow.” She didn’t elaborate on the why he’d decided to reconsider. That part wasn’t important in the grand scheme of getting her drunk tonight.

“Shit, Bria. I hate to say it but it doesn’t look good. Carter has a reputation for demanding complete honesty from his employees. You probably could have killed the copier guy and hid his body in the break-room fridge and it would be less of an issue to the boss. But lying to his face?”

Kassidy whistled and then took a long drink.

Bria groaned and dropped her head onto her arms. That wasn’t what she needed to hear. Although nothing Kass could say tonight would make any of that better. She’d been caught and that part wasn’t something she could change.

“Someone ratted me out, Kass. Why the hell would anyone take the time to even look into my background like that? I’m just an executive assistant, not some CEO wannabe.”

“Because those bitches hate that you get to get all up close and personal with the finest specimen of a man to grace Boston and they are fifty shades of jealous.” Kass leaned forward and pointed her finger to Bria. “I’ll just bet it was Jeanne who did it. She interviewed for the position you have. You should have seen the outfit she wore thinking she was going to interview directly with Mr. Carter. I swear her tits were almost ready to pop out of her two sizes too small suit jacket. Miles in accounting actually tripped and fell when she walked by. I think she had her sights on becoming Mrs. Ashton Carter.”

“You think?” Bria asked, pondering this possibility.

“Maybe,” Kass said, but her tone lacked conviction.

“It doesn’t matter—the damage has been done.” She sipped at her drink for a moment.

“I need to go to the little girl’s room, dahling,” Kass drawled, standing now and winking before heading off, slightly wobbly as she went. It seemed like the drinks must have been hitting her hard.

And that’s when Bria realized she was a little tipsy herself.

As soon as Kass disappeared in the crowd, Bria’s phone buzzed. She glanced at it, expecting a text from her father or maybe an alert about her phone bill or something.

But it wasn’t any of those.

In fact, the text was so shocking she pretty much stopped breathing as she read it.

What are you doing right now?

Bria’s mouth fell open as she stared at the words on her smart phone’s screen.

And don’t lie to me, Ms. Long.

Holy fuck. Ashton Carter was texting her. How the hell had he gotten her number? Her heart slammed against her chest.

And then she realized—he was the boss, of course he could get it. Oh crap. Would he fire her via text? God that would be a thousand times worse than getting dumped that way.

Having drinks with Kassidy, she wrote back quickly.

A few moments passed and her gaze didn’t move from her phone.

Come directly to my office at 7 tomorrow morning. Do not be late.

Her tongue stuck to the roof of her dry mouth. The suspense was killing her. She quickly texted back.

Am I fired?

An hour and a cab ride home later and Ashton still had not replied to her last question.

More than a little tipsy, she fell into bed and her dreams were filled with Ashton, but not like the usual sexy ones she had about him.