Lost and Found (Growing Pains #1)(32)

Here she was, in the snake pit. It was scary. She couldn’t bring herself to actually cross the threshold into worse things. It was against nature.

She noticed that Sean didn’t look surprised to see her. As his eyes lit on her face, she saw a flicker of recognition before he turned back to his conversation and waved her in. It didn’t bode well.

“Krista. Come in. Please,” Sean said smoothly.

She inched into the office, suddenly deciding she didn’t want to confront him. She wanted to hide. But she realized at the same time that it was too late for those types of decisions.

She made her way in and saw that he was talking to a man she didn’t recognize. The man was in his early forties, slightly overweight, and had a mellow and gentle face. He was not especially attractive, his ring said married, and he was dressed in a suit that probably came from yesteryear. In essence, he was Sean’s exact opposite.

“Sit, please, Krista,” Sean said again as he opened his body to include her and the stranger both. “I had hoped to talk with you.”

Krista knew in a theoretical sort of way that she needed to assert herself. She’d read that somewhere—the person in control was the one who set the tone. This was her grievance, so she needed to set the bar.

“Great, Sean. I actually wanted to have a word with you, also,” she said brusquely, swallowing back her up-chuck reflex.

Butterflies and wine did not mix. World’s worst combo.

Sean quirked an eyebrow. “Well, by all means, please.”

Was that a smirk he was trying to hide? That wasn’t what she was going for.

“Let the records show that it is 8:01 a.m,” Sean said to the stranger. The stranger nodded.

Krista was befuddled. “Whhhaaaaiiiieeeee?”

Sean was definitely trying not to smile. “Was that a what, or a why?”

Krista shook her head. This was off to a bad start. Unfortunately, she couldn’t sprint out now. “Never mind.”

Sean nodded and got up to move around his desk. It was probably another power play, but Krista had no idea what to do to counter it. She couldn’t very well tell him not to sit in his own chair in his own office.

She decided to ignore it. Instead, she noticed his agile body was perfectly outlined in Dockers and a button-down shirt. She was hypnotized by his butt for exactly the five seconds it was in view.

Coming out of her visual coma, she planted her feet in her own power position with death grip on her lucky mug. She was ready to battle. He would be a worthy adversary, but mama didn’t raise no chump. Hot or not, dressed like royalty or not, she would not let him bowl her over.

Inner pep-talk completed, she looked at the stranger sitting in one of the two visitor chairs. The power struggle didn’t seem to faze him; he was looking at her good-naturedly. It was slightly unsettling.

“Oh, don’t mind Ray. He’s my partner in crime. We’re working as a team now, so everything we do will mirror each other,” Sean said this as his masculine fingers steepled in front of his face. He lounged back lazily in his cushy leather chair, elbows resting on the armrests. His eyes were a murky green from the harsh light overhead. They pinned her to her spot.

Suddenly the power struggle seemed a little one-sided…

“Uh…well, I had hoped to discuss the meeting on Friday. The presentation, I mean,” She said hesitantly, hoping the stranger, which must be a new hire, would get the clue and take off.

“Sure. Fire away,” Sean replied, not taking the hint. She had a feeling he knew exactly what she was getting at, and wasn’t planning on taking the bait.

So be it. Witnesses were good.

“Right. I was wondering why I was ushered out of the conference room before the meeting was done?”

“You were no longer needed.” It came out as a friendly, matter-of-fact statement.

This blasé attitude had her backpedaling. She wasn’t sure if she should be mad, or understanding.

She chose mad. Otherwise, what was she doing there? She’d look pretty stupid if she gave up already.

“They might have wanted to ask me more questions,” she persisted with a hint of sauce in her voice. Only a hint, though, just in case she was in the wrong.

“I didn’t want them dwelling on the fact that we didn’t have any field research in the demographic. You leaving made it easier to talk around that fact.”

Good point. Crap. Her brain worked furiously to come up with more reasons. She was looking a teensy bit foolish at the moment. “But…I was the only one who was asked to leave. Surely that looked odd.” She barely kept the question out of her voice.

“I made an excuse for you.”

She was suddenly feeling like a pawn in a game of chess. This guy might be out of her league just a little—hell, who was she fooling, a ton!

She gritted her teeth and steeled her determination. She hardened her voice in a last-ditch effort and laid it all out there. “You see, I was under the impression that we were united as a team. We were presenting in a unified front. But I had to introduce myself. Yet I wasn’t told that would be the protocol, which made me look stupid. Then at the end I had to answer a question with a made-up answer because you didn’t step up. We were a team going in, but then you fed me to the wolves.”

“More like a pack of hyenas.”

…………..? Krista blinked a half dozen times.