Fallen Woman(25)

“Nope, not a clue, but I thought it’d be fun to get to know them, hang out, and give Miss Pearl a break. The last couple times I’ve been over, she hasn’t looked all that well.”

I slapped my hand on the door. “I said the same thing. I’ve asked her about her cough, but she blows me off. I think there’s something going on, but she won’t admit it.” It worried me he’d noticed the change in her, too. It had been going on for a couple of weeks now, but she wasn’t letting it stop her.

“Do you think she’d let Derrick come with us?”

“I don’t see why not, but I’ll have to ask. What are you going to do with them? You know Emmy still naps, right?” I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face. He had no clue what he was getting into—four kids under the age of five, by himself—it was suicide…figuratively speaking of course.

“I have an idea, but you’ll just have to wait and see. I’ll figure something out so Emmy can nap if she needs to.” The smirk told me whatever he had up his sleeve would win them over for life. Part of me worried about allowing him to get too close, but I convinced myself I’d never hesitate to bring a female friend around them so Jase being a male shouldn’t change that. The difference, no matter how hard I tried to deny it, was I had feelings for him, and he could easily start dating someone and just walk away. They didn’t need another man disappearing.

“I’ll ask Pearl tonight when I pick the kids up after work and let you know what she says.”

We walked into the building, and he escorted me back to my department before heading up to his own floor. As he was leaving, I called out to him, “Are you ever going to show me your neck of the woods?” I’d delivered mail all over the building, but the executive floor was pretty well sequestered. We dropped the mail with their receptionist—yes, the floor had its own—and she delivered it to the big wigs.

“I’ll take you to my house tonight if you want to see it?” He looked confused, and my mail mate, Nancy, snickered next to me.

“Not your house, although that would be cool, too. I meant your floor, goofball. I’ve never seen your office.”

He blushed as though he might be embarrassed he’d thought I was talking about his home. “Go tell Dale you’re going upstairs, and I’ll send you back in a bit.”

My boss didn’t care where I was going or what I was doing. He did as little as possible and interacted as infrequently as he could get away with it. So as long as we emptied the mailroom daily, he didn’t really give a hoot what we were doing, but I told him anyhow. He just gave me a head jerk, essentially dismissing me.

I sidled up next to Jase and rode up the elevator in silence. When we stepped off, he took my hand, and I followed him past the girl who normally stops me at her desk. She gave me the stink eye just as Jase turned his head. It took everything I had not to stick my tongue out at her, but I refrained and just smiled instead. Kill ’em with kindness.

I was in awe. Everything about this floor was different than all the others. There were very few people, the offices were huge, and they all lined the perimeter of the floor. The seven offices seemed to be of equal size—enormous—in a C shape behind the reception desk. She sat in front of a solid wall of frosted glass, and in the middle of the C appeared to be a group of administrative assistants, one for every manager on the floor.

I almost choked on my own tongue when Jase’s assistant, Allison, introduced herself to me. She was a bombshell and could easily score a job as a Victoria’s Secret model. I wanted to hate her, but she was genuinely nice and obviously very good at her job. From what little I was able to decipher from their two-minute conversation, she could’ve very well been the one running the company, and Jase just be her cover. I consciously kept my mouth from falling open in wonder and made a mental note to befriend Allison.

His office was just as inspiring as his assistant. Located in the corner of the uppermost floor, two walls were solid glass and the view was breathtaking. I stepped to the window, ignoring everything else around me, and stared out at the bustling city beneath me. Unless I got right up to the edge, all that was visible was gorgeous blue sky. I’d never get anything done in this office.

“So what do you think?”

I turned to face him, but the pictures on the desk caught my attention. I picked up the one next to his monitor, and after staring at it dumbfounded, I stole a glance in his direction. His smile shone bright, his eyes warm, and that cute little scar that begged to be touched seared into my memory. The picture in my hand was of the two of us at the Literacy Gala. I’d never seen it before, but he had his hand on my lower back, we were both holding glasses of wine, and I’d looked up at him. I didn’t know when the moment had happened or what we were talking about, but the admiration for him was painfully obvious on my face, and if I didn’t know better, I would have thought we were a couple in love.

“It was my favorite of the evening.” He didn’t know what to say, and I didn’t push. I was beyond flattered he had a picture of me on his desk. Behind it sat the only other personal picture in his office, and it was of him and his friends on some luxurious yacht. It was probably a couple of years old if I had to guess, but they all looked the same, just more mature.

I set the frame back down and answered his original question. “I love it.”