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Jered grunts, but that is the only response he gives. Sloane and I watch as he runs down the rest of the stairs and slams open the first-floor door.
I walk over to stand by Sloane. She is still shaking a bit with anger. “Thanks,” I tell her quietly.
“What an ass!” She nods in the direction Jered went. “I can’t believe you used to date him.”
I shrug. “Yeah, well, I don’t make very good choices with men.”
“Neither do I.” Sloane sighs but doesn’t elaborate. She’s not very open about her dating life.
“Why are you here?” I ask. “No one usually takes the stairs.”
She shifts to look at me and holds out her cell phone. “Your grandmother called me — I wasn’t aware that she had my personal number. Anyway, she said you were in trouble.”
We both look down at the phone, which is obviously still on. I can hear Bubby’s breathing.
“How in the world did she know?”
Sloane shrugs. “She said your grandfather told her.”
“He did? But it’s not Tuesday night.”
“What?”
“Nothing.” I take the phone from her, tell Bubby to hold on for a few more minutes and make a snap decision. “Sloane. I need to take a vacation. A long vacation.”
She folds her arms in front of her chest and turns to me. Her face is serious; she is back in boss mode. “Because of Mr. Coleman’s actions? I can assure you, Mandy. He will be gone by the end of the day.”
I’m not quite sure what to say. I need the vacation to start figuring out what to do about the baby. As much as I hate the idea, I need to change jobs. Once my belly starts to swell, Christian is going to know. Or maybe, if I take a few weeks off, he will forget about me and not even realize that I am pregnant. I just don’t know what to do. So, I lie.
“It’s not Jered. I just need a few weeks. I’m going to surprise my grandmother with an Alaskan cruise. She’s always wanted to go and well, she’s not getting any younger.” It’s the first thing that comes to mind, and a few weeks should give me enough time to figure out a plan. I don’t really intend on going on a cruise.
Sloane nods and puts her hand on my shoulder. “Take all the time you need, Mandy.”
For the first time in weeks, I feel like I can breathe again.
Chapter Nineteen
Christian
Rodney and the guys show up with a moving van bright and early at eight AM. I’m not usually in the office at this time, but I couldn’t sleep, so I figured I would come in and get a few things done. I have a circuit board lying on my desk that I’m fiddling with when they make their entrance.
“We’re here!” Rodney steps in the door with one hand raised in a dramatic fashion. He’s a morning person — the only one on my team.
He keeps his pose while the others grumble, mumble, and walk around him. Most of the boys have their eyes shaded by baseball caps. They all look like slobs compared to my second-in-command. I doubt Rodney even owns a baseball cap.
He gives me another smile, pushing his tortoise-shell glasses up on his nose a bit. “Did you miss us?”
I raise my eyebrows at him. “Hardly. Get your butts in here, set up, and stop bugging me. I need this tablet up and running in a few weeks, and I’m super far behind.”
Ignoring all of my orders, Rodney crosses to my desk. He eyes what I am doing while folding his arms over his chest. “Do you mean to say that all that time you wanted the office to yourself was wasted?” His stare has some accusations in it. I know that he is teasing, but I can’t deal with how his words ring true.
Taking Mandy as a pet was a waste of time. I would even go so far as to say that it has been detrimental. I can’t get her out of my head even though I haven’t seen her in weeks. She stopped coming into the office, but still, she haunts me. As I’m working, I find myself staring off into space caught in some memory of how she moaned or laughed or the constant way that she rolled her big brown eyes. When I think of her, my chest hurts so bad I can hardly breathe.
“Yes,” I snap, too harshly at Rodney. He blinks at me a bit, stepping back. “Yes, it was a waste of time! I should have had you all move in when we originally planned, right after the merger.”
Rodney hisses and steps back. He glares at me, as do the rest of my team. I’m never this harsh with anyone. Feeling like I am out of control, I drop the circuit board and run my hands through my hair.
