The Design(34)

I turned toward her desk with an inquisitive brow. Why was someone calling me on the work line? Brooklyn was the only person who tried to contact me during work hours and she always used my cell phone.

Beatrice connected the call and I spoke hesitantly, “Hello?”

“Cammie! This is Emma. Emma Cole.”

It took me a second to get up to speed. Why in the world was Grayson’s mother calling me?

“Oh, of course. Hi Mrs. Cole. How are you?”

The question was more of an automatic response than anything. My brain wasn’t awake enough to create an actual conversation with Grayson’s mom.

“Oh, I’m good, honey. I’m good. Listen, I’m glad I caught you before the day really gets going. Are you too busy to chat for a moment?”

Even if I had ten deadlines to meet, I could spare a few minutes for the mother of my dream man.

“Sure, I can talk,” I answered.

“Oh good. Y’know I was calling to see if you’ve been able to keep an eye out for Grayson like I asked?”

I nearly choked on my own tongue.

“Um, yeah, well, a little bit. He sort of keeps to himself,” I said, skipping over the rather obvious encounter from the kitchen the night before.

“Of course, of course. I guessed as much. Anywho, are you enjoying your work? Last time I spoke to you, you were a bit overwhelmed with everything.”

I glanced up to check my surroundings. Mark had arrived a few minutes earlier, quiet as a mouse, but Peter and Alan’s desks were both empty still. I could speak freely if I wanted to.

Was I enjoying my work?

“Y’know, I’m not really sure yet.”

“Uh oh.” she answered. “Tell me about it. Is my son being too hard on you?”

“No. No. It’s nothing like that. It’s just a lot more work than I thought it would be,” I admitted.

“Well, I’m sure Grayson knows what he’s doing. I think these first few weeks will be hard until you get adjusted to the work flow, don’t you think?”

I was about to reply when the elevator doors dinged and swung open. I glanced back to check if it was Alan arriving for the day and did a double take when I caught sight of Nicole strolling into the office with her pale blonde hair flowing out around her. What the hell was she doing here? And before 9:00 am no less? Had Grayson bumped their booty call up to brunch now?

“Cammie? Are you there?” Emma asked.

I peeled my gaze away from Nicole and turned back to my desk. “Oh, yes. Sorry about that Mrs. Cole. I actually have to be going. I, uh, have to finish up a few things before my manager arrives.”

“Oh, that’s alright, dear. Thanks for taking the time to chat with me. Tell your sister hello for me when you get the chance, it’s been too long since I last saw her!”

I glanced over my shoulder as the scent of Nicole’s floral perfume hit me. It stretched across the office, announcing her presence even more than the clap of her high heels on the concrete. Over the last few weeks, every single thing about her had come to annoy me, but most of all it was that floral scent that did me in. I wanted to drown her in it.

“Oh, I will. Bye, Mrs. Cole.”

The second the call ended, I watched Nicole step into Grayson’s office, securely closing the door behind her. She was probably unbuttoning her blouse at that very moment. Blech. Just the idea of them together made me want to vomit.

I had a brief moment where an adult version of Cammie warned me to keep my distance and get back to work. Fortunately, reckless Cammie won out. I couldn’t sit idle while he was in there with Nicole. He’d kissed me the night before, really kissed me. He’d gripped my neck with both hands like he’d wanted to devour me whole and now he was in there with her?

No. Not happening. I pushed my chair back from my desk and bee lined for his office. After one sharp knock on his door, I opened it before either one of them could decline my entry. Grayson was perched behind his desk, his black suit jacket and tie still perfectly in place. He was leaning forward on his hands, with furrowed brows and a sharp frown. When he saw the door slide open, he swept his gaze from Nicole up to me and squeezed his eyes shut, clearly unhappy to see me barging into his office.

Nicole sat in a chair on the other side of his desk with her hands crossed on top of her lap. The proper pose combined with her white shift dress and strand of pearls screamed, “Junior-League-trust-fund-baby”, but when she turned to me, there were mascara stains dotting her cheeks and the whole pristine image was suddenly shattered.

She’d been in there all of thirty seconds and he already made her cry? The *.

Wait. Why do I care about Nicole?

I glanced back to Grayson with narrowed eyes, prepared to call him out, but he was practically snarling at me by that point.

“Why the hell do you insist on barging into my office, Cammie?” he asked.

My mouth fell open and then I rushed to close it, only to let it fall open again a moment later. I looked like a confused guppy.

“Your mom called me this morning,” I finally spoke, hoping the mention of his mom would cool his jets. “She was checking up on you.”

Nicole pointed her finger out at me. “What? Why is your mom calling one of your employees?” She spat the word out as if she had just accidentally bitten into a non-organic, GMO Honeycrisp.