Page 34 of All for Love

KODY

By the time Wednesday rolled around, things had gotten better at the office.

Kaden wasn’t walking around like a one-man thunderstorm anymore. Mercedes’s face was no longer a waterpark, and I hadn’t had the random urge to hug her since yesterday.

While things were looking up, they definitely weren’t completely back to normal yet. Kaden was tolerating Mercedes. When he was with her, he was nice enough, but she was still avoiding him whenever she could.

Despite everything I’d said to her, she was still embarrassed, but at least we were heading in the right direction. My brother had tried to put a stop to her working in my department this week, but I’d told him to stay out of it and to let her do her job.

How the tables have turned.

Either way, as much as I hadn’t wanted her here, I was glad it was me she was with this week. There were a bunch of other things she could’ve been doing, other departments she could’ve tackled, and other people she could’ve been working with, but it felt right to be able to keep an eye on her after Monday’s incident.

And keep an eye, I did. A close one.

On her ass. Her curves. Her rack.

But also her smile. Her interaction with my people. Her work.

Surprisingly, she’d managed to find a few things to optimize after all, things that had slipped through the cracks. As she paid attention to them, it immediately increased my team’s effectiveness.

She and I had gone a few rounds after she’d reviewed our procedures, for instance, but once she’d shown me her obscenely color-coded copy, I’d realized there were definitely things that could be improved upon.

It wasn’t just because of the waterworks either. I hadn’t taken pity on her or made things easy just because she’d cried in front of me.

After I’d left that bathroom on Monday, I’d told her to take a few minutes to put herself back together and to meet me in my office once she was ready. Exactly four minutes after I’d walked in, she was there, ready to get to work.

Pretending like I hadn’t been holding her less than ten minutes ago, she’d produced the color-coded folder and was all about the work. As I sat behind my desk now, I smiled at the memory of how professional she’d tried to be.

Disbelief flashed in those deep green eyes as they went wide. “Are you telling me you think this is efficient? The reporting process has seven rungs before the incident is brought to your attention, Kody. Seven.”

“Yeah, and?” I looked right into those eyes, amused at how offended she seemed to be, like the process had personally insulted her. “It’s a big company, Mercedes. I can’t have everyone running straight to me about every little thing. One of the biggest privately owned companies around, remember?”

“Sure, but do you know how hospitals use a triage system?” she asked. “Patients get tagged with a different color depending on how serious their injuries are.”

“I’ve watched a few medical dramas in my day,” I teased, but I was serious. “Love me some sexy surgeons getting it on in on-call rooms.”

“I’m not talking about porn, Kody. This is serious.”

“So am I,” I said. “Get your mind out of the gutter, woman. I wasn’t talking about porn. Although now that you mentioned it, I have—”

“No. I don’t want to hear it.” She grimaced, her nose wrinkling, but try as she might, she couldn’t keep the flare of curiosity out of her eyes. “Just think that your reporting processes are requiring triage. A lot of the everyday things shouldn’t have to move up seven rungs to get to you. You shouldn’t have to be made aware of them at all.”

“What if there’s backlash? I’d like to know we’re about to get sued over an everyday thing as much as a big thing. A lawsuit is a lawsuit.”

“Sure, but then we incorporate an appeals or escalation procedure, but generally speaking, there are a lot of things that come across your desk that you don’t need to see. It’s a burden on you to have to make your way through it all and it’s a burden on everyone responsible for kicking it up the ladder.”

My head slanted as I considered it. “All jokes aside, you’re curious about what porn I like to watch, aren’t you?”

“Kody!”

“Fine.” I shrugged. “I’ll tell you, but you’re going to have to beg. In the meantime, I see what you’re saying about the processes. Triage them. You’ve got my blessing.”

“I didn’t need it, but thanks.”

As I blinked myself out of the memory, I grinned. She still hadn’t caved and asked about the porn, but maybe today was the day.

The thought cheered me up.