Man in Charge by Laurelin Paige

Author:Laurelin Paige [Paige, Laurelin]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9781942835899
Publisher: Paige Press LLC
Published: 2020-10-26T18:30:00+00:00

Eleven

The lunch meetings at SIC had all followed the same pattern. Most of the team arrived before noon, in time to select their drinks from the buffet at the other end of the conference room. Once they were seated, Eden came around with a cart and placed a plate of food in front of each employee, each individualized to their dietary needs—vegetarian, gluten-free, low carb. Scott never arrived until the exact time the meeting was to start, so she’d set a plate at his empty spot, even though he rarely touched any of it.

I’d declined the offer for a meal of my own from day one. It was too hard to present when worrying about food, plus it was easy enough for me to grab something afterward since I didn’t have an office to head back to. I’d secretly hoped it would make it easier for me to move the conversations forward with everyone having to interject their comments and questions around mouths full of grilled chicken. That had turned out to be wishful thinking. By Friday, I’d become used to the routine and had resigned myself to accept that it was what it was.

Which was why it was surprising when, at a minute after twelve, Scott still hadn’t arrived.

I looked over at Brett as he checked the time on his phone, and I assumed he was noting his boss’s tardiness as well. “I guess we should get started,” he said. He flipped through the booklet I’d prepared. “Looks like organization number five listed here is for Heart Health. Want to tell us more about it, Tess?”

“Uh.” I glanced at the door, expecting to see it open any second now. “You don’t want to wait for Scott?”

“Oh, that’s right,” he said. “You don’t work here, so you literally didn’t get the memo.”

Paris laughed politely. Matt’s laugh said he found it genuinely funny.

It was then I realized Eden hadn’t put a plate at the head of the table.

“He’s not joining us today,” Brett went on.

I instantly had feelings about that, though I couldn’t quite decide what they were. Confusion? Surprise? Disappointment? A combo of all three with a heavy dose of hurt as well?

I was so busy trying to dissect my emotions, I almost missed the rest of what Brett said. “...that he was confident we were all on the same page, and he no longer needed to be in attendance.”

Instantly, I knew it was about me. About the kiss. About my choice to not pursue more of the kissing. Could he not handle the rejection? Had he only shown up to the meetings in the first place because he wanted to get into my pantsuit?

Now I definitely knew what I was feeling, and it was pissed. “I’m so glad that he considers all of this a waste of his time,” I said with gritted teeth.

Again, Matt laughed, and I decided that his sense of humor was questionable.

“That wasn’t the impression I meant to give,” Brett said. “I apologize. Let me rephrase.

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