Oh. That.
Dean cleared his throat and walked around to his side of his desk. After straightening a few files that had been moved by Fate’s perfect ass moments ago, he sat. Gesturing to his father to do the same, he waited until his dad was comfortable to begin the speech he’d already prepared with Keaton’s help.
“First, I realize should have discussed this with you before submitting it to HR for consideration. Honestly, I thought it would take them longer to get to it and I figured I’d iron out any issues they had before submitting it to you—save you the headache and the excessive emails.” He took a moment to roll up his sleeves while he had his father’s full attention. “Additionally, I’ve researched the benefit plans of several of our competitors and, frankly, we’re lagging behind when it comes to providing mental health benefits for our employees.”
“Which companies, specifically?” his father challenged, attempting to call his bluff.
Thankfully, per Keaton’s advice, he wasn’t bluffing. Well, not entirely.
“Harris Pharmaceutical, King & Kensington Medical, and Eastern Health & Wellness to be exact. All three have similar programs available to their employees in which any type of drug, alcohol, or mental health treatment can be covered by their health insurance. For employees and their dependents. And all three use the same coverage carrier that we do.”
Daniel Maxwell cocked his head as if realizing he’d met a worthy adversary instead of the moron he’d thought he’d raised. Dean held his breath and waited. He didn’t have to wait long.
His father leaned back in his chair and raised his eyebrows. “So tell me, what brought on this sudden interest in employee mental health benefits? One of the skirts you’re screwing have a coke habit?”
He took a deep breath in an attempt not to lose his temper. That was the old Dean. The one who let his father get a rise out of him every chance he got. That guy was dead and gone. Forcing a polite smile, he did his best to answer without gritting his teeth.
“No, that’s you who plows through the support staff, not me. Actually, it was brought to my attention that a few of our employees had retained second jobs to pay for medical expenses our insurance didn’t cover. As much as I’d love for that to hit the press—that we’re so cheap our employees can’t survive on what we pay—I figured it’d be best to increase our benefits package so that we remain competitive.”
The two men held one another’s stare for a long time before either spoke again. Both assessing the other for a chink in their armor. Daring each other to say something about what was really going on. What had been a barrier in their relationship for over a decade. But neither was giving in today.
Daniel huffed out a breath and stood. “I want to see an estimated cost-benefit analysis on this program by the end of the day. And tell HR not to email me about it until you’ve finalized the proposal.”
“Nice to see you too, Dad.” Dean followed his father out of the office.
“Don’t be a smartass. It’s unprofessional,” his dad said with a smirk.
Once the man had vacated his office, Dean shut the door and leaned against it. Rubbing his eyes and trying to mentally arrange his schedule to fit in the added work perfecting and implementing this program was going to require, he was hit with a startling realization.
Fate Buchanan was going to cost him his job. And his sanity.
“You have that just-fucked look about you. Probably not the image you’re trying to project to Collin Pierson, huh?” Gwen smiled at her from behind a stack of binders in the copy room.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Fate dipped her head and pretended to busy herself with pulling a huge, black binder from the stack.
“Um, your hair is a mess, which it never is. Your mouth is swollen, and I swear on everything holy, when you came out of Dean Maxwell’s office, your eyes were glazed over. So either you two were in their getting high or—”
“Shh. Okay.”
Another marketing assistant walked in and grabbed a box from the supply shelf. Fate nodded and smiled and prayed liked hell the woman hadn’t heard anything her bigmouthed roommate had been saying. Once the woman was gone, she turned back to Gwen.
“We might’ve…fooled around a little.” Or a lot.
Gwen snorted out loud. “Fooled around my ass. I fooled around in high school. Either you just got spectacularly laid or—”
“Or it’s actually none of your business,” she snapped, closing the binder she had been pretending to scrutinize.
“Relax. I was just teasing you. You make it so easy. But seriously, if Collin is already checking your name off his list of conquests it’s probably not a great idea to go to lunch looking all worked up like you are.”
Fate rolled her eyes. “It’s a working lunch and nothing else.”
Gwen raised her dark brows. “Mmhmm. And you and Dean were just running numbers in that office.”
Just the sound of his name made her warm all over. Actually, what Dean had been running was his thick, wet tongue over her—
“Okay, see, do not look at Collin like that. I’m turned on and you’re not even my type.”
Fate couldn’t help but laugh. She leaned forward and lowered her voice to a whisper. “I don’t know what it is about him. In my head, we’re colleagues and I know we need to keep everything on a professional level. But my body isn’t getting the memo.”
Gwen grinned back at her. “Clearly.”
Groaning, she rubbed her hands over her eyes. “What am I going to do?”
“Um, Dean Maxwell, I think.”
“Gwen!”
“I don’t think it’s that big of a deal. Unless you want it to be. So you sleep with him. Just be sure he knows it has nothing to do with your job and you don’t want anything else from him.”
Right. Like for him to pay for my mom’s rehab.
Gwen misinterpreted the pained expression on her face. “Oh hell. Unless you do want something else from him?”
Shaking her head, Fate glanced around the small supply area to make sure they were alone. “No. I mean, I don’t know exactly. After what happened with Trevor, I really don’t want a relationship period. And sure as hell not with my boss. But honestly, I don’t even know if I’m capable of saying no at this point. To whatever he wants.”
“What is it you think he wants?”
Now there was a question worth asking. What exactly did Dean Maxwell want with her? A chance to finish what they’d started back in June? Was that all? She had no idea.
“I don’t know,” she answered quietly.
“Maybe you should find out.” Gwen shrugged and glanced over Fate’s shoulder. “Speak of the devil.”
Fate’s heart began to pound in her chest, thudding so loudly that she was scarcely aware of much else. She took a deep breath before turning to see if Dean was behind her. When she did, her heart immediately slowed to its regular pace. It wasn’t Dean. It was Collin.
“Hello, ladies. Workin’ hard or hardly workin’?” he greeted them with a grin as his eyes gave them each a quick up-and-down.
“Wow, that’s a new one,” Gwen grumbled under her breath.
“Hi, Mr. Pierson,” Fate gave a forced smile so wide he probably thought she was vying for an Emmy nod. “We were just going to grab some of the old advertising campaign binders so we could decide which channels to utilize for the insourcing promos.”
A shadow of skepticism darkened his eyes momentarily. But then he smiled back and nodded to the binders. “Check 2011 through 2012. Should be some stuff in there about social media and positive imaging.”
“Sure thing. Thank you, Mr. Pierson.” Fate turned to grab the binder he’d suggested and tried not to notice Gwen rolling her eyes.
“Oh, Fate?” her supervisor called out before he stepped out of the room.
“Yes, sir?”
“You can call me Collin.” His grin and surreptitious wink made her nervous.
Suddenly, she was plagued with a
sense of concern that Collin Pierson had less-than-professional intentions.
“Um, okay. Hey, Collin? Would it be okay if Gwen joined us for lunch?”
Collin’s light teasing demeanor dissipated instantly. “Actually, I wanted to meet with you individually so that we can get to know each other since you’re the newest member of my team.” He turned to Gwen with a placating grin. “You understand, right, Ms. Scott?”
“Oh, I understand perfectly, Mr. Pierson,” Gwen said evenly.
Once he was gone, Fate widened her eyes at her roommate. “What in the world was that all about?” She reached up to rub her neck. It still ached from her night of sleeping in the chair, though Dean had done an excellent job of taking her mind off of it.
This time, it was Gwen who was careful to whisper. “So the reason I had a room available? Yeah. Collin Pierson.”
Fate tried to make sense of the information she had. “Nope, not getting it. Collin was your roommate?”
Her friend shook her head. “Hell no. Pierson screwed my roommate. Lauren. Like here, in the office. More than once. She thought it was…something. When he told her it wasn’t she lost her shit on him in front of half the staff.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. And she was like you. From some state down south. Mississippi or Georgia or something. Kind of innocent-seeming. Pretty sure she wasn’t the kind of girl to go around giving it up to whomever. Mr. Call-Me-Collin Pierson can be quite the charmer, or so I’ve heard. He’s never been anything more than professional with me, but I’ve heard rumors.” Gwen raised her voice a bit. “She’d only been here a few weeks when they hooked up. I’d barely even spoken to her. She hadn’t even unpacked. One minute, I was catching them sneaking out of an empty conference room, the next minute, she was out the door. I never found out if she left of her own free will or was let go due to the no dating co-workers policy.”
“Jesus.”
“Yeah, so, um, maybe be careful with Dean Maxwell. This is a man’s world, my friend, and the boss’s son won’t be the one to pay if you get caught.”
Gwen’s words were still heavy on her mind when she took her seat in the small café across from Collin. He had that boyishly handsome look about him. His blond hair was short and stylishly messy. His skin was a golden that could only be achieved by the sun, and his clothes said that he’d made a significant investment in his wardrobe. Brown eyes twinkled at her from across the table as he greeted her with a toothpaste-commercial smile. He wasn’t her type, but she could see how other women might be attracted to him.
“I ordered for you. Hope that’s okay.”
Or not.
She canted her head in his direction. “Sorry. I must’ve misheard you. Did you just say you ordered for me?”
The man across from her smirked. “Yeah. This place has the best chicken Philly in town. You can’t come here and not get it. Plus, I figured it would save time.”
Her mama always said that she could say anything she wanted to people as long as she blessed their heart afterward. “How very chauvinistic of you, Collin. Guess you didn’t get the memo about women being about to order food, work, vote, and speak without being spoken to. Bless your heart.”
His head fell back in laughter. “Sorry. You’re right. It was kind of a dick move. If you don’t want it, order whatever you like and I’ll take it to go and give it to my assistant.”
For a moment, she stared at him. “Actually, I would’ve ordered the chicken Philly anyways, damn you. But in the future, most grown women appreciate being treated like big girls who can speak for themselves.”
Collin rubbed his chin and that gleam came back into his eyes. “Hmm…I don’t know about that. I know some grown women who don’t mind being told what to do now and then. Some women like it when you give them a break from making decisions all the time and just let them…enjoy themselves.”
Fate had the distinct feeling they weren’t talking about ordering food anymore. Her neck went warm in an uncomfortable way and she realized that she hadn’t taken a breath in a while. Fortunately, before he could say anything else, a waitress appeared next to their booth with a tray full of food.
Fate was keenly aware that the man across from her was watching her carefully as she bit into her sandwich. “It’s good. You’re forgiven.”
When she rolled her eyes, he smiled. But there was still something she couldn’t understand going on behind his placid expression.
“I’m glad you like it,” he said. His voice was low but firm.
“Look, here’s the thing,” she began, shoving her sandwich aside. “Gwen and I have run the numbers a dozen different ways. While the initial transition cost is high, the long-term benefits of—”
“Fate,” he interrupted. “I got it. I agree with you about the insourcing. And I’m sure you and Ms. Scott are perfectly capable of prepping the ad campaign.”
“Okay.” Now she was uneasy and confused. She took a drink of her tea to wet her mouth since it had gone dry. “So why the lunch meeting?”
“Honestly?” Confident as he seemed, Collin Pierson spun a saltshaker between his hands. He was fidgeting. She fought the urge to do the same.
“Sure, let’s give that a shot.”
He cleared his throat and leaned across the table. His cologne assaulted her nostrils. It was sharper, harsher than Dean’s. Breathing it in too deeply would burn. “I need to know what Ms. Scott has told you about Lauren Black. And I need to know the truth. My job’s at stake here.”
Either she was imagining things or Collin was breaking out in a sweat. “Um, all she said was some Lauren girl was her roommate for a few weeks. Then she hooked up with you and left town. I didn’t even know her last name until you just said it.”
Collin leaned back, relaxing visibly. “Swear that’s all she said?”
Fate bit her lip and tried to think. Then she remembered that she wasn’t in high school anymore and didn’t have to participate in whatever slanderous libel was going around about Collin and this mysterious Lauren woman. “Um, no. I don’t swear. Because we aren’t fifth-grade girls at a slumber party. But yes, that’s all I know about Gwen’s roommate before me.”
Grinning like his usual carefree self, Collin nodded toward her sandwich. “Okay. Sorry about the weirdness. It was a complicated situation and I just wanted to be sure rumors weren’t being spread about me. As much as Mr. Maxwell breaks the ‘no intraoffice dating’ policy, he also makes a habit of making an example out of anyone else caught doing so.”
The statement made her chest tighten. She swallowed hard and tried to focus on her food. It was impossible. The lump in her throat wasn’t going to let her swallow anything anyways. So he did this with lots of girls then. And apparently, it was common knowledge. Once again, she’d been stupid enough to think she was special.
Collin chewed his own bite for a moment before he spoke again. “The old man probably keeps a drawer full of Viagra in his office. I mean, dude’s gotta be sixty or so. How he has the stamina for nailing all those twenty-something secretaries is beyond me.”
The relief that washed over her must have been plain on her face. Collin’s eyebrow’s slanted and he leaned closer once more.
“Oh shit. You thought I meant Dean Maxwell. And that bothered the piss out of you. Interesting.”
“No, it didn’t. I didn’t know or care what you meant to be honest.” She hoped she sounded more convinced than she felt.
Collin raised his brows and gave her a slight head nod. “Uh huh. Looks like I’m not the only one with secrets. But, Fate? Just because the corporate-level executives can do as they choose, you and I have to be a lot more careful. So if you’re interested in either of the Maxwell men, I’d suggest looking for employment elsewhere.”
“She’s been at lunch for over an hour.” Dean paced back and forth while his friend watched from the chair by his desk. “I swear, if Pierson tries to run some shit on her, I will fucking end him.”
“Relax. You’re
acting like a jealous girlfriend, you know that?” Keaton leaned back as far as the chair would allow. He popped a few Peanut M&Ms into his mouth and watched in amusement.
Dean ignored his friend. He raked his hands through his hair and left them atop his head as he stared out the window. But he didn’t see the skyscrapers surrounding his building. Or the flashing billboards. Or the traffic below. He saw her. The tiny dimples on each corner of her mouth when she smiled, which didn’t happen often enough. The way her dark hair fell around her shoulders. The way her face smoothed out after she came. Damn his dad to hell for not allowing him to enjoy her post-orgasm bliss earlier. And damn Collin Pierson for taking her lunch when it should have been him taking her to lunch.
“I get it. Fucking her on the beach was hot and all, and that’s some crazy-ass karma that she happens to work here. But what’s the deal? You trying to put a ring on that shit or what?”
At that, Dean turned. “What in the hell are you talking about?” A ring? Who the hell said anything about a ring?
“Well, let’s see. I’ve known you nearly ten years, and in all that time, I don’t think I’ve seen you go more than a weekend without getting laid. You nail this chick on the beach, she disappears, and you go cold turkey on vagina for the entire summer. She resurfaces and suddenly you’re punching out dudes, she’s sleeping over at your place, and is it me or does this office smell like it was recently fucked in?”
No denying how it sounded. “My office was not recently fucked in.”
Keaton made a big show of inhaling. “Oh, I think it was. There’s something sweet in the air, something feminine, and I swear your desk has the imprint of an ass on it.”
Shit. Dean tried to make his way casually over to his desk. Glancing over discreetly, he couldn’t see any signs of any wrongdoing on his desk.
Apparently, he wasn’t all that discreet. Keaton exploded with laughter and threw an M&M at him. “Holy shit. I was fucking with you. Damn, so you did do her in here?”
Falling for Fate (Second Chance Book 2) Page 14