Page 85 of One Midnight Kiss

33

FOX

The room was buzzing with Christmas cheer when I stepped into Williamson & Rodgers’ annual holiday party, but I felt like an imposter. I didn’t belong here in Natalia’s plastic world of advertising.

This wasn’t me.

I belonged elbow deep in circuit boards, the smell of whiteboard markers filling the air. All of these people were so fake. Maybe it was wrong to use a wide brush to paint everyone here, but it just felt very uptight. Very corporate. Everyone seemed to be playing a role, including me.

I scanned the crowd for Natalia, my reason for being here. I drank my glass of scotch, savoring the burn, and scanned the room. Natalia was across the bar, laughing with a group of her colleagues. She looked like a vision in the green dress she’d borrowed from Christa, shimmering under the dim lighting. The sight of her like that made my chest ache with a feeling I didn’t want to acknowledge.

How did someone like her work at a place like this? Corporate America, all smiles and back pats until the knife came out. I bet it killed her a little inside every day. She pretended to be one of these corporate types, but I’d seen the real Natalia. I’d been in her house that was nothing like the cold, clinical office she worked in.

Aaron was here, too. I smirked, watching him flit around the room, a nervous tick in his jaw as he kissed every ass he could press his lips to. He had no idea I was the reason his phone had crashed last week. I wiped it clean and left a little virus behind for good measure, a warning after what he had tried to pull on Natalia. I wished I could let him know it was me that fucked up his phone. That would have been satisfying, but that would cause problems for Natalia. I would just have to enjoy the quiet satisfaction knowing I fucked up his world.

I moved through the party, weaving between people on my way to Natalia. As I got closer, I overheard snippets of conversation. I heard Natalia’s name. I stopped and paid a little more attention to the two guys talking about her. Their words made my fists clench. They weren’t discussing her work or her intelligence. It was something far cruder.

“Man, that dress is doing her favors,” one of them muttered, his eyes glued to her from across the room.

Aaron chimed in, smirking. “Yeah, too bad she’s got a stick up her ass most of the time. Real ice queen, that one.”

The other guy laughed. “I bet she’s a freak in bed.”

“Dominatrix,” Aaron joked. “I would not be surprised to find out she had a whip and chains in her bed. I don’t think you could handle a woman like that.”

“I would put that bitch on her knees…”

I stepped forward, ready to grab him by the collar and beat the shit out of both of them. But her boss, Dave, intercepted me with a wide smile. “Fox Samuelson! I’m so glad you’re here!”

I forced a smile, trying not to look over his shoulder at the group of lecherous idiots. “This is quite the party,” I said, not even trying to hide my anger.

“Something wrong?” he asked.

“Those guys are assholes, and I would like to tell them so,” I said. “Do you know how they talk about their female coworkers? Namely Natalia. They are vile. Disgusting. They need to be put in check.”

Dave nodded. “They are.”

“You know?” I asked with surprise. “Why aren’t you doing something about it?”

“This isn’t the tech industry. Natalia holds her own. She always has. The corporate world is cutthroat, and she handles it just fine. She is the strongest person I know. I’ll talk to them, but honestly? She doesn’t need me to defend her. She’s held her own here since day one. I’m guessing she’s been through some shit that made her like that.”

I nodded, biting back a retort. I knew she could hold her own. Hell, she probably had a better idea of how to handle them than I did. Still, it didn’t sit right with me, letting it slide. “Doesn’t make it okay,” I said. “They need to be put in check.”

He clapped me on the shoulder. “You’re a lucky man. Congratulations on your engagement. Natalia is an incredible woman. She’s going places, Fox. Might be gunning for my job sooner than I’d like.”

I gave a half-hearted smile, but the truth was, I didn’t care about her career trajectory here. All I could think about was how wrong this place was for her. It felt like a cage, even if it was made of gold.

“Thanks,” I said. “But please do talk to them. She can handle it, but she shouldn’t have to.”

“Understood,” he said. “I’ll mention it.”

I rolled my eyes and walked away. Mentioning it didn’t do shit. The guys should be fired. I was a CEO. I knew the risk Dave was taking by letting that kind of harassment continue, purely from a liability standpoint.

I moved away from Dave and headed straight for Natalia. She turned to me, her face lighting up when she saw me.

“You look ready to leave,” she said, tilting her head, reading me like a book.

“I am. But I know you’ve got a few more people to charm. Don’t mind me. I always get a little squirmy in these uptight situations.”