Page 42 of One Midnight Kiss

16

NATALIA

Ihad only been back at work for a couple of hours, and I was already buried under emails. My head still felt foggy from being sick, but I pushed through, determined not to give anyone a reason to think I couldn’t handle my job. Not after all the whispers that had started when I took a couple of sick days. It was a rare occurrence. Apparently, that was enough to start rumors.

Penelope had said people were gossiping but I honestly didn’t care. I had way too much work to do to worry what people thought about me.

I took a sip of my third cup of coffee for the morning and stared at my screen, scrolling through my inbox. Among the usual barrage of client requests and internal updates, a new email pinged in from an address I recognized immediately.

Fox.

I clicked on it, half expecting another snarky comment about his campaign. The man had a lot of opinions. No matter how many times I told him to talk to Aaron, he always reached out to me. He clearly wanted me focused on him. He was a little needy. But I knew that. Dave had warned me my job was babysitting the eccentric billionaire.

But instead of another comment or complaint, it was an itinerary. A plane ticket, first class, and a hotel reservation. I squinted at the details, convinced I wasn’t seeing what I was seeing.

He’d booked me a room at The Fairmont, one of the most luxurious hotels in Silicon Valley. The flight was scheduled for the red eye Thursday night. I chewed my bottom lip, weighing the implications of what this meant. We were supposed to meet with potential investors at the tech symposium this weekend, but this level of luxury was unexpected.

This was not what I was used to for business trips. Business class was an actual thing. Luxury was generally reserved for vacations or honeymoons. I hoped Fox knew this was strictly business. Yes, he nursed me back from the brink of death, but that did not make us a couple. It didn’t even make us friends. As soon as his product was launched, I would be pulling back. If they wanted to keep Aaron on, that was fine, but I wasn’t going to be involved.

My fingers hovered over the keyboard as I started a reply.

Subject: Re: Travel Itinerary

Fox,

This works for me. I’ll meet you at the airport Thursday night.

Natalia

I hit send and quickly jotted down the flight information on my yellow pad. I needed to make sure Penelope cleared my schedule for Friday.

I was about to move onto the next email when a new message appeared. It was from Fox. A reply to the message I sent him. I laughed and shook my head. I wasn’t really expecting a reply, especially not so quickly.

I clicked the message.

You’re welcome.

I rolled my eyes. My fingers flew over the keyboard again, determined not to give him the last word.

You’re welcome for me agreeing to go with you, I typed, then clicked send with a bit more force than necessary.

I leaned back in my chair, grabbing my cup of coffee and staring at the screen. I waited to see if he would have the last word. Something told me he would.

His response was practically immediate.

You’re welcome for me inviting your ungrateful ass in the first place.

I scoffed. “Jerk,” I muttered as I leaned forward, practically slamming my fingers onto the keys as I typed out my reply. Now I was the one determined to get the last word.

You seemed grateful for this ass at the coffee shop not too long ago.

My finger hovered over the send button when the door to my office swung open.

“Hey, Natalia,” Dave greeted, stepping in with a bright smile. I felt like I just got caught passing notes in school. I realized I hit send. I had not planned to actually send the message!

Oh God. Oh God, no.

“Hi, Dave,” I said, plastering on a smile and swiveling my chair to face him, trying not to look as guilty as I felt. I could feel the sweat beading on the back of my neck. I tried to remind myself I was an adult. And I didn’t actually write anything all that scandalous.