A laugh sounded down the line, before Sadie murmured, “Much appreciated, sir.”
My lips twitched. “You know she’s a hellcat when crossed.” I grunted. “Make it twenty-five hundred. Maybe that’ll keep her quiet.” Sadie hummed, and I heard the disbelieving tone to it only because I knew she was right so, forlornly, I tacked on, “One can but hope.”
“Yes, sir.” When I didn’t cut the line, she cleared her throat. “Is there anything else?”
“There’s an intern in the Marketing department.”
“Oh, yes, Micah,” she said cheerfully.
Interest had me rocking back in my seat. “You know him, then?”
A little laugh escaped her, and I knew why. I’d heard enough fluttery giggles like that to understand that Micah triggered as much interest in the women on my staff as he did in me.
And who the hell could blame them?
“We all know, Micah,” was her retort.
I’d just bet they did.
My ass clenched at the thought of last night, the inherent ache that couldn’t be replicated, the feel of him inside me, and I gritted out, “I’d like to speak with him about his internship. Can you set that up for some time today, please?”
“You want to speak with an intern?” Sadie asked, and I knew her eyes would be bugged wide like they were on stalks. She might as well have asked me if I wanted to talk with the Martians who crash landed into Astley Tower’s lightning rod every night.
“Yes. I have—” I coughed. “—things I’d like to discuss with him.”
“Okay, sir, I’ll get that arranged,” she said slowly. “For tomorrow? There’s the VP meeting this afternoon.”
“Nothing earlier?”
“Well, with some wiggling around.”
Fuck the Veep meeting.
“I’d appreciate that.”
Which was why, two and a half hours later, I found myself in my bathroom.
Brushing my teeth.
Combing my hair.
And questioning whether I had time to beat one off before Micah showed up.
Four
Micah
“He wants to speak with Micah?”
My head popped up at the sound of my name, especially with the distaste which was warring with bewilderment on Cassandra’s lips.
She was still sulking about the goddamn coffee, and it was easier for me just to keep my head down and to plow on through the work she was supposed to do.
I’d been arguing with designers all morning over Rhode’s vision and what they’d come up with. I liked their premise, but she didn’t, and whatever Rhode wanted, she got.
Every.
Damn.
Time.
It’d be irritating if I wasn’t also impressed. The power she wielded in such a male-dominated environment was admirable, but rather than do much good with it, she’d just turned into a man.
It went past the difference between a woman in power simply being a bitch whereas a guy in the same position with a similar attitude was merely a ‘go-getter.’ She was predatory—now I’d likened her to that, I couldn’t get away from the image of me being a frickin’ gazelle and her being a cougar.
In both senses of the word.
“Wait a minute, Sadie. I just want to clarify that Mr. Astley wants to see Micah. Am I hearing you right?” She saw me peering over my partition wall, and scowling at me, muttered, “Right, I’ll tell him.”
The bolt of anticipation came out of the blue. When I’d Googled the Astleys, I’d found that last night’s fuck had been with no other than Devlin Astley himself, who, according to Wiki, was also the Viscount of Lynden. I had no idea what a viscount was, but I knew who. A crusty British noble he wasn’t.
I’d never imagined I’d set eyes on my one-night stand again. In two months of working here, I hadn’t seen the ‘boss’ once. What kind of bizarre coincidence was it that I saw him this morning after last night’s sexcapade?
Arousal burned inside me as I watched her put the phone down, waiting on her instructions.
“You’re to visit with Mr. Astley at twelve-forty,” she told me primly, then her nose tipped up and her tone became scornful. “What the hell have you done to come to his attention? I wonder if he’s going to fire you for it.”
I didn’t bother answering, just cast a glance at the clock and spent the remaining moments of that one-hundred-and-fifty minute wait nervously trying to focus on my work and mostly failing.
Twenty minutes before the appointment, I got to my feet and ducked out of the cubicle because Cassandra went to use the restroom again. She either had a stomach bug, was on her period, or had some kind of UTI because I’d never known her to spend so much time in there.
Working for Rhode didn’t allow you much time to dawdle. If you could piss, eat, and have a phone conference all in one go you’d be set for life working in this high-pressure environment.
Ducking into the bathroom myself, I headed to the vanity and looked over my appearance.
He might well be calling me in to fire me... As far as I knew, from what I’d seen on the gossip sites, he was a lady’s man. Definitely not out as gay. I mean, it wasn’t like I was going to shout our hook-up to the world, not with my dad for a father, but he wasn’t to know that, was he?
My suit was dark navy but lightweight thanks to the heat of the summer, and I’d forgone a tie because it was too hot for that today. The navy offset my light blue shirt which had the faintest of cross-hatch patterns covering it. Over that I wore a vest, and though it and my pants were a little creased from both the temperature and working at my desk, I looked as fresh as I could in the circumstances.
Quickly splashing my face with water, I messed with my hair some and then, sucking in a breath, accepted that I looked as good as I could after a stressful morning of doing a job that was so far above my pay grade it was a joke, all while waiting on a meeting that had unknown repercussions.
That I didn’t have a semi was a miracle in itself.
Leaving the restroom, I was grateful to miss Cassandra as I headed toward the elevators, and a few minutes later, I was there. On his floor.
The trip in the elevator didn’t even register, not with my heart pounding so hard that it reminded me of last night when I was waiting in the dark room, wondering if I could do it. Wondering if I could finally take the step I needed to move on, to become who I wanted.
No longer the jock with the head cheerleader on his arm.
No longer the guy who was his father’s golden boy.
Just Micah Nygard. Nothing more. Nothing less.
And I had done it. I’d taken that step, had an epic orgasm as a ‘clap back’ from the universe, and now... Okay, so I might lose my position here as an intern. A lot of shit might go wrong from that one happenstance, but it’d be worth it.
I was taking the path toward being me, and I could never regret that. Just the tiny blip on my resumé.
Seeing Sadie in the reception area, I smiled a little, especially when she waved and got to her feet. She often joined Rachel and I for lunch, so I knew her quite well. That she looked pretty cheerful gave me hope because even if she wasn’t involved in Devlin Astley’s business in anything other than a light capacity, I figured she could read his mood. As she liked me, I also knew that she’d warn me if he was on the warpath.