I was at a loss for words. A rare thing for me.
She spoke again. “How is Rene?”
I shook my head to clear it. “He’s got a concussion and a messed-up arm. He’s having surgery tonight or tomorrow to repair it. He’ll be gone for a few weeks.” I had no idea what I was going to do without him. I looked at the desk in front of her—neat and tidy. “How did you do all this?”
She shrugged. “It’s like riding a bike. I did it all for Scott, and Rene is so organized, I was able to find things easily.” She indicated his laptop. “He was still signed in to your calendar, and I was able to go from there after he helped refresh my memory a little. That was the priority—to arrange your schedule. The phone calls and emails were simple.”
I studied her for a moment. “Did you really tell Molly to go away?”
“Yes.” She rolled her eyes. “I think you need to find better, ah, dinner companions.”
I chuckled over her statement. It was something Rene would tell me.
“You got me dinner?”
“Yes, I did.”
I made a snap decision. “Could I interest you in a temporary position?”
Her smile was wide. “Yes, you could.”
I attacked the Chinese food Fee had waiting for me with gusto. She sat across from me, nibbling on an egg roll.
“You need more than that,” I said. “Why aren’t you eating a combo plate too? It’s awesome.”
“I had some wonton soup a while ago. I wanted to get you something healthier, but I couldn’t leave the office.”
“Create an expense file and add dinner to the bill.” When she opened her mouth, I glared at her. “That isn’t a request. Any meals you get me, or yourself, while you work here are covered. The same with transportation or anything else. You take an Uber to get here in the morning and to go home at night. No more subway. Understand?”
“Okay.”
I opened my desk drawer and tossed a set of keys her way. “These will open the door. The code is 872977 to turn off the alarm.” I paused. “Those are for the outer office and library. They don’t open my door or the door to the file room.”
She regarded me intently. “That’s fine, Halton. As long as I can get into the front area, I can do my work.” She paused. “I know you prefer no one in your office if you aren’t here.”
“God, morphine makes Rene gossipy,” I grouched.
“I understand. I had no privacy in our house. Scott questioned everything. Looked through the mail, insisted on scrolling through my texts and email, not that there was much of either.” She sighed. “So, I get it.” That was all she said, but her words rang true.
Drawing in a deep breath, I pulled a key off the ring and handed it to her as a sign of trust. “No, you need the file room key.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. The kitchen doesn’t have a key. I like coffee waiting for me when I get here. And toast. Whole wheat toast with butter.”
“Nice try, counselor. Rene warned me.”
I threw back my head in laughter. “It was worth a shot.”
I finished the dinner she brought me and wiped my mouth. “Thanks for that. I’ve been running on empty most of the day.”
“I figured as much. The sandwich Rene got for you is still in the fridge. You can have it in the morning since there won’t be any toast.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “Okay. I’ll call you an Uber and you head home. I’ll go through everything on my desk and meet you here in the morning.”
I ordered the car and she stood, pushing a small USB drive toward me.
I picked it up, curious. “What is this?”
“That is me, fighting.”
“What?”
She fidgeted, then met my eyes. “I used a payphone this morning and called Scott’s office. I pretended to be a client needing a lawyer. I said I had to see him immediately. His assistant told me he was in court all day, but he could see me tomorrow.”
“I don’t understand why.”
She huffed out a sigh. “I was around the corner from the house. It runs along a fenced walk to the park. I slipped in the back by the garage, used my key, and it worked.”
“No security system?”
She shook her head. “Scott thinks they’re bogus and they listen in on you. He refused to get one.”
“Ah, that seems a little…” I wasn’t sure how to respond to her statement.
“Paranoid,” she finished. “He is about a lot of things.”
I held up the drive. “What did you do once you got inside, Fee?”
“I got everything I could get off his laptop. Tax returns, investment statements, emails. There was a file marked SHL and Associates, but it was password protected.”
“Okay.” This was still a ton of information I wouldn’t have to pay to get.
A grin played on her lips. “Scott has a problem remembering things like dates, names, and the like. Including passwords. He writes them all down and puts them in a small hidden compartment in a figurine on his desk. He thinks it’s clever.”
I felt my own grin start. “But you knew where to find them.”
She smirked. I found it sexy. With her hair down, her glasses perched on the end of her nose, and looking proud of herself, she was incredibly pretty.
“I do. I did. I have no idea what the files are, but they’re on that drive. Do with them what you want.”
I tapped the drive on my desk, feeling proud of her as well, and relieved that the asshole wasn’t smart enough to have realized she had a key to the garage door and changed the locks, or that he hadn’t gone home to pick up a forgotten item. God only knew what he might have done if he had discovered her downloading files. My stomach clenched simply thinking about it.
“That was incredibly brave of you,” I praised her, smiling as color flooded her cheeks at my words. “But don’t take any more risks. Let me and my team do that.”
“I was careful. No one saw me go in or out.” She lifted her shoulders. “It was as if I was invisible. The same way as when I lived there.”
I knew all too well the feeling of being invisible. But I wasn’t going to share that with her. I didn’t share that with anyone.
Ever.
My phone buzzed and I stood, crossed to the front of the desk, and extended my hand.
“No more risks,” I repeated, pulling her to her feet. “Your Uber is here and paid for. Go get some rest.”
I began to step back, but she shocked me when she threw her arms around my waist and burrowed into my chest, holding tight. I hesitated a moment, then returned her embrace. It should have felt strange holding her—yet it didn’t. It felt right.
Somewhere inside of me, I recognized how desperate she was for some positive human contact—that she was simply seeking solace for a moment.
But my body didn’t get that message. Instead, all I could think, all I could feel, was how amazing she felt against me. The way her head felt tucked under my chin. How soft her body was pressed to mine. When she lifted up on her toes and pressed a kiss to my cheek, the temptation to turn my face and catch her lips shocked me. I cleared my throat and stepped back.