I want to say good morning. I open my mouth, but the words won’t come out.
Nolan stops at the door to his office and turns back to face me. “Good morning, Abby.”
“Good morning,” I barely say.
We lock eyes. I’ve always felt that we had instant chemistry, but it could be more my outlook than his.
I clear my throat. “I want to go over your calendar for the week.”
“Did you send out annual report requests to the leasing agents?”
“Yes.” I feel like a soldier under inspection.
“What about the Hotels West project? Did you prepare the bids for them?”
“I have.”
Nolan nods as if he has something heavy on his mind. He goes into the office and closes the door. The week before last, he kept the door open. That says a lot about what he thinks about the possibility of him and me continuing whatever the heck we had going on between us. At least now that he’s out of sight, I can release the tension in my body.
My phone buzzes. I jump and look to see who’s calling my line. It’s Nolan.
I pick up the receiver. “Yes, Nolan.”
“Just come into my office when you’re ready go over the action items.”
I’m shocked. I thought he would avoid being alone with me as much as he could. “Sure. Okay,” I say.
“Oh, and Abby?”
“Yes.” My throat is tight.
“How have you been?” he asks.
“Fine.”
We fall silent.
“Um, can I get you any coffee?”
He sniffs a chuckle. “I’ll get my own coffee.”
“Right.”
Nolan always gets his own coffee.
The silence returns.
“Okay, I’ll be in shortly,” I say and hang up.
That was intense. I look at the time on my computer. There’s no need to wait. I’m ready to go into his office and update him now, but I need a moment to think.
Nolan’s door opens, and he stands on the threshold. His skin is flushed. “Coffee.”
I watch him disappear down the hallway to the break room. Misty turns the corner, and she’s only a few feet behind him. Oh, brother. She’s trying to catch up to him. I roll my eyes and work on another task.
I’m surprised to see Nolan walking back my way so soon. I was sure Misty would hold him in the break room for at least ten minutes. He’s carrying a cup of coffee, and whatever he’s thinking is making him scowl. As soon as he looks at me, his frown turns into a smile.
“I’m ready,” I say.
He holds his door open. “Then come on in.”
I collect my notepad, a paper copy of his calendar, and the folder filled with documents that I need him to review and sign. A strange sensation fizzles through me as I pass him. Nolan’s office smells like him. I want to bathe in the scent.
He rushes over to pull back the chair for me. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.” I settle my buns in the seat. I’m happy that he’s still being chivalrous.
Nolan sits.
I’m trapped by his stare, but I look down and shuffle through my folder to break eye contact. “You’ll need to review and sign these documents.”
I fumble the folder as I hand it to Nolan. He grabs it before the pages spill on his desk.
“Hey, do you know if those files have been returned to the basement?” he asks.
“I’m not sure. I haven’t checked.”
“Do you still have the key?”
I slap my forehead. “Shoot, I forgot to give you Liza’s old set of keys.”
His frown deepens. “You have them?”
I hop to my feet. “Sure. I’ll be back.”
I do believe I feel Nolan watching me as I rush out of his office. Once I get to my desk, I open the side drawer and take out the box of items Liza left. It contains her two-and-a-half-year-old Blackberry phone, a key to her office door, which Nolan doesn’t need because he never locks his door, and a bunch of unpaid invoices, which I’ve already gotten copies of and sent to finance. I’m pretty sure Liza would’ve known to leave her key to the basement.
Since I know her number, I place a quick call. Her voicemail picks up.
“Hi, Liza!” My tone is nice and cheery. “I hope you’re well. I’m looking for your key to the basement, and I can’t find it. Do you remember where you left it? If you have a moment, could you call me back on Nolan’s line and let me know? Thanks again, and I really hope you’re doing well.” I hang up.
Before delivering the news to Nolan, I check every drawer in my desk. The only set of keys I find is the one to the filing cabinets against the wall between Nolan’s office and my desk. Ever since I started storing documents on flash drives, I’ve stopped using those filing cabinets.
I walk into Nolan’s office and throw up my hands. “I can’t find the keys.”
His eyebrows furrow. “Humph.”
I sit in the seat I abandoned. “I called Liza. Hopefully she’ll return my call soon.”
“She just delivered two days ago.”
Wow, that’s news to me! “Oh!”
“She may not be near her phone.”
I’m shocked by his lackluster attitude about his niece or nephew. Everyone knows you’re supposed to perk up when a newborn is mentioned.
I scoot to the edge of my seat and thumb over my shoulder. “Well, I still have my keys. I can go check the basement for the files.”
Nolan’s eyes drop to my bosom then rise back up to my face. “Let’s go together.”
My nerves make me shiver slightly. My knees wobble when I stand. “I’ll just get my keys.”
Nolan nods. “Lead the way.”
I stop at my desk, and Nolan stands so close behind me that I can feel the energy and heat from his body. The space between my thighs thumps to the beat of my heart as I retrieve the keys. If only he would draw me into his strong chest.
I show him the keys. “Got them.”
He gives me a tight-lipped smile. I head to the basement as if the entire world is a blur. For some reason, I feel that our little excursion isn’t about finding files. The basement door is right ahead of us.
“Nolan?”
Nolan and I turn. It’s Misty.
“Are you going down to the basement?” she asks.
“Yes,” Nolan says.
“For what?” Misty asks.
Nolan watches her walking toward us. He and I are probably thinking the same thing.
“I mean, they’re redoing the floor down there. That’s why all the files were moved,” she says.
“Moved where?” Nolan asks.
“I don’t know. A storage company came and picked them up a few weeks ago. They’ll be returned sometime this week, maybe Wednesday.”
Nolan turns to me. “Abby, you didn’t know anything about this?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“I want you to find out which storage company has the files.”
“But they’ll be back in two days,” Misty says.
Humph. I’ve known Misty to impose her will. She thinks everybody should do things her way. But there’s something strange about the way she’s making sure we don’t go into the basement. I sort of think she thinks Nolan and I are going down there to make out or something.
“Thank you, Misty.” Nolan’s tone is cold, and so is his expression. He watches her intensely.
Misty does exactly what I would’ve done if I were in her shoes—she walks away. She gives us one final look before she turns the corner. I widen my eyes at Nolan, asking him what next.
“Abby, may I have the keys?” he says.
I give Nolan the keys, and he unlocks the door. Interesting, he’s testing Misty’s claim. I follow him, although the lust I felt earlier has been replaced by curiosity. Something is definitely not right. I remember John calling Misty’s line last week. I didn’t know they even knew each other well enough to bypass me and have a conversation. Then Liza never gave me
her keys to the basement. I could draw a few conclusions, but none of them are credible.
Nolan opens the door and cuts on the lights. He holds the door open, waiting for me to enter. He never fails to be chivalrous. The sounds of our footsteps click in the air. My body is responding to his nearness again. We reach the bottom of the stairs, and Nolan walks off ahead of me. He opens the first door we come upon. The room is still empty. He squats and wipes the floor with two fingers.
He stands up straight. “So how was your weekend?”
I’m a little caught off guard by his question. “Fine.”
“Did you do you any shopping?”
My eyes expand with horror. I’m panicking. “Yes, why?”
“That’s a pretty dress you have on, but…”
Oh shit, he’s taken two steps toward me, and now we’re face to face. I forget to breathe as he reaches around to the back of my neck.
“You left this attached,” he says.
I don’t have to see to know he’s holding the sales tag.
My mouth is caught open. His lips are so close to mine. “Oh. Right.”
“Do you want me to take it off?”
I swallow, attempting to moisten my dry throat. “It’s okay.”
Nolan takes me by the waist. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“About what?” My skin is running hot.
“You feel good in my hands.”
“Oh.” I should kiss him. Should I kiss him?
“I like you a lot, Abby.”
“I like you too. You’re a good boss.”
He sniffs a chuckle. “You’re a good employee, and I like you in that way, but I like you in another way too.”
But what about Saturday when I saw him with his ex-wife? I didn’t observe them for long, but from the brief look I got, it appeared as if they were definitely no longer exes. “But Nolan… I didn’t know you felt that way about me.”
“Neither did I.”
Nolan and I whip our faces toward the person who said that. There stands his ex-wife in shiny black riding boots and an expensive Burberry trench coat.
10
Nolan
Abby excused herself and went upstairs. I’m alone with Kelsey, and she’s been riding my ass ever since she showed up. In room number two, I squat and touch the floor. There’s no way in hell they’ve been redone. Misty lied, and I don’t know why she would do that.
“Yes or no?”
I stand. “No, I haven’t fucked my assistant, Kelsey.”
“So now you’re calling me Kelsey and not Kay?”
I’ve already checked seven rooms. The files are missing out of three of them, but last few rooms are filled with busted office equipment, party favors, and bunch of office supplies. Now I open the final door.
“Does it matter what I call you?” I say.
“I guess it doesn’t when you have your tongue crammed down your assistant’s throat.”
I sigh my frustration. This is typical Kelsey, twisting my words. “We weren’t kissing.”
At least, we hadn’t kissed today.
“You were damn close to it.”
I flick on the light. “And if we had kissed, what is it to you?”
Kelsey clenches her lips and shakes her head. I’ve got her in checkmate. She’s dating a professional athlete from one of the local sports teams.
The final room is empty too. I’m about to close the door when I see a yellow slip of paper on the floor at the back corner of the room. I go retrieve it. “Humph…”
“You know, Nolan, I changed my mind,” Kelsey says.
I was so absorbed by the piece of torn paper that I momentarily forgot she was here. I stick it in my pocket. “Changed your mind about what?”
“This.” She waves an envelope.
“What’s that?”
“Changing.”
I feel my whole face collapse into a frown. I no longer have the time or patience to play Kelsey’s goddamn head games. She storms out, taking the envelope with her, and her heels beat the floor. Only a small part of me wants to run after her and get her to tell me what the hell she meant by changing.
“To hell with it,” I mutter.
I let her go. I hate when she shows up unannounced. Now that we’re living in the same town, I’m positive she’ll be doing it more often. I can’t wait until I buy her out of her shares. Maybe then she’ll go marry some other sucker and live in forever misery.
My cell phone rings in my pocket.
I take it out and glance at the screen. I sigh in relief when I see Liza’s name.
I answer it. “Hey, Liza.”
“Nolan, you have to go to the hospital,” she says.
My chest tightens. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It’s Dad.”
“What about Bill?”
“He’s had a heart attack.” Her voice cracks.
I can hardly believe what I’m hearing. “What do you mean, he had a heart attack? He’s as strong as an ox.”
“Just get to the hospital. Dad needs you.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m at home with the baby. John is already there.”
I grab my balled fist to keep from punching the wall. “John?”
“John’s the one who found him.”
“Found him where?”
“At the house.”
“What was John doing there?”
Liza sighs as though she’s already weary of our conversation. “Just go, Nolan.”
“All right.” I end the call.
11
“What is she doing here?” Kelsey, Nolan’s ex-wife, asks.
At the office, Nolan asked if I would accompany him to the hospital so that we could work on the payout checklist for the year. It’s a tedious task, but we have to pay people who invested in our REITs.
On the ride over, I read aloud each name and gave him the amount. Nolan then told me which numbers to recheck. He looked to be in anguish from the time we left the office until we arrived at the hospital, where he did something totally unexpected. Nolan held my hand from the parking lot until we reached the information station. It was so surreal. I have no idea what he meant by it, and at the moment, he’s too distraught to ask.
Now we’re in the hospital hallway, and Nolan’s ex-wife and I are glaring at each other. I really don’t want to dislike her, but she’s making it extremely hard for me to feel any other way about her. Nolan doesn’t appear to have much patience for her jealous inquiry.
We’re right outside Nolan’s father’s room in the intensive care unit. Nolan is distracted by John, who is standing at the nurses’ station, speaking to one of the nurses.
Nolan puts a hand on the small of my back, and I feel his warm breath on my ear. “Stay here.”
He storms over to the nurses’ station, his eyes still fixed on John. I’ve often seen Nolan agitated but never this infuriated. The situation must call for some mediating because Kelsey tears her eyes away from mine and trots off behind him.
“How did this happen?” Nolan asks the nurse.
“I’m sorry, but who are you?” the nurse asks.
“I’m his son.”
“So am I,” John says.
Out of nowhere, Nolan grabs the collar of John’s jacket. Kelsey gets in the middle of them and drives Nolan back away from John.
“Did you have something to do with this?” Nolan says as he lets go of John.
“You’re crazy,” John yells, straightening his jacket.
“You both need to get yourselves together,” Kelsey says.
Nolan’s breathing like an angry bull. “What are you doing here anyway?” he asks Kelsey.
“I’m here for Bill,” she says.
Nolan shakes his head. “He was perfectly fine when I spoke to him this morning.”
“You know how suddenly these things can happen,” John says.
Nolan mutters something indecipherable. A nurse goes into Bill’s room, and Nolan rushes in
behind her. John follows them, and Kelsey scowls at me before she enters. I heard that look she gave me loud and clear. It said, “Back off, bitch.”
I stand in the hallway for at least five minutes. Finally a nurse asks me if I want to sit in a nearby waiting room. Before I answer, I listen to the voices coming out of Nolan’s father’s hospital room. Nolan’s expressing how he doesn’t understand how a perfectly healthy man could have a heart attack then fall into a coma in the hospital. The nurse tells him that that doctor will stop by soon and he’ll be the appropriate person to answer any questions Nolan may have. I feel as if I’m intruding on their private family affairs.
I smile at the nurse. “Yes, I’ll go to the waiting room.”
She smiles sympathetically. “I’ll show you.”
I follow the tiny woman out of the intensive care ward.
“Your husband is really angry,” she says.
It takes me a moment to realize that she’s referring to Nolan. I feel obligated to tell her the truth. “Oh no, he’s my boss.”
“He’s handsome.” She opens the door to the waiting room.
I measure with two fingers as I walk past her. “A little.”
We share a chuckle.
“I’ll let your sexy boss know where to find you.”
“Thanks.”
She closes the door. I sit down and take a health magazine off the table to read. I’m halfway through an article on diabetes when the door opens. I look away from the page at Nolan’s miserable face.
I slowly stand. “How are you?”
He lifts his eyebrows as if that should answer my question. “Look, I’m not going to leave this place until my father is released. I called you a cab.”
“Right, I understand.”
Nolan walks over to stand in front of me. His nearness makes me chew nervously on my bottom lip.
He twirls a lock of my hair, releases it, and puts his arm along his side. “I’ll be in the office when I can. Can I rely on you to hold down the fort?”
“Sure. Absolutely.”
Someone pulls the door open. “Nolan, the doctor is back.”
He turns his head to look at Kelsey. “All right.” Nolan faces me again. We stare into each other’s eyes.
The Sexy Series: The COMPLETE SERIES Box Set Page 20