Heart's Masquerade by Tressie Lockwood

Author:Tressie Lockwood [Lockwood, Tressie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Torrian sat on the end of the bench and straightened his arm while gripping the dumbbell. He’d done two sets already and prepared to do a third. His biceps burned, and sweat beaded his skin, but he refused to stop until he had completed his routine. Normally, he didn’t use the company’s fitness facilities but left it to his employees. However, today, he had to find a way to relieve stress before he bit off another person’s head. Over the last two weeks, those who could avoid him did so. Those who couldn’t braced for the impact of his anger.

Sure, he had spent very little time with Jaz, but what he had spent with her he had enjoyed. She filled a hole in his otherwise mundane and lonely existence. She had made him laugh, and her huge heart shocked and inspired him. He wanted to see her and touch her, but he couldn’t. Therefore, everyone else grated on his nerves.

“Yo!” One of his managers, Marcos, the one he least favored, entered the room. A big, burly type who seemed to live in the gym and thought every person man or woman focused on him, Marcos got the job done, but right now, Torrian couldn’t stomach the nonstop conversation.

“I need to concentrate on this, Marcos.”

Marcos chuckled as if he’d made a joke. “I’ll join you. How did you like the attitude of that ad exec this morning? Into himself, wasn’t he?”

Look who’s talking.

“I didn’t know if I would need to set him straight before the end of the meeting or not.” Marcos went on even as Torrian counted out his reps to himself. “I guess I’ll give him a call and drop a few pointers in his ear on how to approach you.”

“Eleven, twelve…” Torrian raised his voice a little. Marcos prattled on, relentless.

The face of Torrian’s cell phone lit up, and he recognized the ding of a text, but he didn’t stop to check. Marcos switched from criticizing the ad executive to discussing the next quarter’s projections. Torrian had already spent the better part of three days in meetings with his team going over those numbers. He had no wish to revisit it all now.

“So I think—”

“Shut the hell up, Marcos!”

The other man’s teeth snapped together. His eyes widened, and he blinked at Torrian in silence. At first Torrian thought he’d gone too far, but then a slow smile appeared on Marcos’s face. Torrian’s hope for peace died a quick death. He thumped the dumbbell on the floor and stretched. Maybe he should just leave and go home. He’d tell them all he wasn’t to be disturbed except for an emergency. Of course, he knew from experience most of the people who worked for him considered everything an emergency. Sometimes he felt the secretaries, the mail staff, all those who held the lower-level positions, were the only ones with sense.

“Whoa, ho, what’s this?” Marcos quipped. Apparently, his spirit hadn’t been squashed. Torrian glanced across at him and found Marcos holding his own cell phone.

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