The Rule Book (Rule Breakers #1)(33)

Not only was it against company policy, but if I went for him (which I totally wouldn’t, because I liked to think my hormones didn’t make me stupid), what happened if it ended badly? I couldn’t afford to lose this job.



A cashmere scarf and riding boots were perfect accessories to pump up a dreary fall day. Red and yellow trees lined the sidewalks, and mist hung in the air, coating my clothing in a light sheen of raindrops. Like most of those living in the Pacific Northwest, I tugged my hood over my head tighter, opting out of an umbrella. Nobody but transplants used umbrellas, and I wasn’t going to start now.

As soon as I got in the building, I removed my coat and shook off the water beading on the fabric. I smiled to myself as I pushed the button to the fortieth floor, thinking back to the other night. The Brogan cold front had passed and was now turning into a major heat wave.

Jackson was at his desk, typing away, when I breezed through the elevator doors, this time keeping my coat tightly fixed to my sides. A coffee cup was sitting in the middle of my desk, and I cut my gaze to Jackson.

“Who left this here?” In a moment of weakness, I hoped it was Brogan, like a secret “I had so much fun the other night, here’s a cup of coffee because I think you’re awesome” kind of treat.

“Zelda.”

Relief and disappointment flooded over me. Of course it would be from my only friend in the company and not the man who I walked in on naked. Okay, almost naked. Wishful thinking. What dream world did I live in where CEOs of multi-billion dollar corporations doted on assistants? I really needed to lay off the office romances for a little bit because, much like Disney princesses, they were planting unrealistic ideas in my head, like the possibility that my boss could be smitten over me. Because in real life, if I screwed things up, it wasn’t just my life that would be ruined. “Oh? Do you know why?”

He pointed to his pinched face and said, “Does this look like a face that cares enough to ask?”

“No,” I said under my breath. “No, it doesn’t.”

I gave a tentative smile as I tore open the note left under my coffee.

Happy two-month anniversary at Starr Media. Here’s to many, many more!

-Z

Six weeks longer than my last two predecessors.

I took a sip and groaned. My absolute favorite drink.

“Double caramel mocha. Light on the whip,” said Zelda as she rounded the corner to the front of the office.

“How did you know?”

She put her hands on her hips, and her dangly earrings jingled as she talked. “Girl, it’s my job to know everything.”

“Right.” I took another sip. “And thank you. This is really nice.”

“My pleasure. Nice to have some new blood in here who actually appreciates people.” She tossed a glare at Jackson, and he grimaced back. Most of the other coworkers seemed to tolerate Jackson, but Zelda openly showed her complete and utter disdain.

“Anyway, I have to get back to work. Congrats on the big milestone.”

“Thanks.” She pulled me into a quick hug and her corkscrew curls tickled my nose.

As soon as Zelda disappeared down the hallway, I turned to Jackson and said, “I ran into Brogan on Friday.”

“Where?” he whispered, like this was some top-secret meeting.

“At his apartment.”

His beady little eyes popped open, and he slammed his hands down on his desk with enough force to rattle his coffee mug. “What did you tell him? I swear if you threw me under the bus—”

“Relax.” Maybe it was the milestone coffee giving me that extra sense of security, but I propped my hands on my hips and leveled him with the same condescending look he so often used on me. “I saved your precious hide.”

As if to contradict me, Brogan’s voice boomed through the speaker. “Lainey?”

I pressed the button on the receiver. “Yes?”

“In my office. Now.”

Jackson’s pasty complexion paled to a nice shade of Vampire White, and his eyes pleaded with me as I moved toward Brogan’s office.

Good. Let him sweat. He’d made my life hell for the past two months and deserved a little taste of his own medicine.

The glass door closed behind me with a soft hiss. I held my hands behind my back, not sure what to do in this situation. We’d spent a fun night together, but we were in our work environment now, and I didn’t know what, if anything, carried over. Or there was always the possibility he’d decided to pull out the rule book, tell me exactly how many rules I’d violated, and send me packing.

A smile played at his lips as he watched me fidgeting obviously. His demeanor, even from last week in the office, had taken a complete one-eighty. “How is your sweater doing today?”

Relief ebbed through me as I realized I hadn’t been called in here to be fired—or if I had, he was a seriously sick individual for joking with me first. I thumbed the material, pretending to inspect it. “Untouched and unslobbered.”

“Good to hear. Sit down.” He motioned toward the chair across from him.

As I sat down, I crossed my legs and smoothed out my pencil skirt.

He steepled his hands together on the desk, tapping the pads of each neatly-manicured finger together. “I was thinking. Bruce really likes having you around, and so I thought I’d pass off walking duties to you instead of Jackson.”