He gave me a dry look. “Are you enjoying yourself?”
I winked. “I am. I like teasing you.”
“Great. As long as I can entertain you.”
“Oh no, you’ve already entertained me. This is just the icing on the cake.”
Chapter 36
Nash
I knew it was silly to count today as a good day because no one was shooting daggers at me with their harsh stares, but it was. I was certain Saige and I had turned a corner in our relationship. She seemed happier this morning. I knew it wasn’t just because she got laid, although I’d like to think that had a little something to do with the extra pep in her step.
I hoped it meant she would be willing to stay. We worked out the kinks and now we could work together. I hoped.
It might take a little more maneuvering, but I was hoping to convince her to stay. I would still offer the raise. God knew she deserved it. I never knew just how valuable she was. I had a feeling her week away was meant to show me just how important she was.
“Lesson learned,” I said.
I checked the time and got up. I wanted to catch the staff before they headed out to lunch. I walked out of my office and into what had been affectionately dubbed, the bullpen.
“Can I have everyone’s attention?” I asked. It was kind of obnoxious to try and speak over the partitions. I was beginning to understand why everyone was annoyed by the damn things. I wasn’t ready to give them up. Not yet.
“Everyone! I need everyone in the conference room!” I had to shout to make sure everyone heard me.
I knew they heard me when the ripple of whispers spread around the room. They were complaining. I suspected they were expecting me to take something else from them. I couldn’t wait to drop my little surprise on them.
“What’s going on?” Saige asked.
“I told you what I was going to do,” I reminded her.
“You were serious?” she questioned.
I smiled and winked. “Why don’t we find out?”
We walked into the conference room together. Everyone was already crowded in. I glanced to my left where she stood beside me at the front of the room. This was what it was supposed to be like. We were supposed to be putting on a united front.
“Guys, let’s give Nash our full attention,” Saige said.
The group quieted almost immediately. “Everyone, I brought you in here because I wanted to say a few things,” I said.
I didn’t miss the groans. That was expected. “I wanted to tell you that you’ve all done a great job this last week.”
That stunned them into silence. I looked over at Saige and smiled. She offered me a smile in return and encouraged me to keep talking.
“We went from being weeks behind to finding ourselves a week ahead. The hard work you’ve all put in over the last week has been amazing. I am impressed with the way you guys were able to come together. Your teamwork is admirable. The long days are worth it. We made it.”
I watched the faces transform from dread to relief. I even saw a few smiles. That was a good thing. I was doing great. This was what it was like to woo people. I understood why she liked it so much. I saw an opportunity.
“I want to take advantage of the energy we’ve got going here. There are a few things we can do to improve operations.”
Saige cleared her throat and very subtly nudged my elbow. I looked at her to see what the problem was. “Move on,” she said in a low voice.
“What?”
She gave a gentle shake of her head. “Move on,” she said again.
I looked at the room. The looks on their faces said it all. They were not happy. We went from happy to pissed within a few seconds. I suddenly caught on to where I went wrong. The improvements were not to be discussed. Not now.
“Guys, I wanted to thank you for all the hard work and give you the rest of the day off.”
No one moved or talked. I looked to Saige for help. “Guys, Nash was just telling me how impressed he is with you guys. You guys make me proud. I never doubted you could pull it off. Good job! Great job! Give yourselves a round of applause.” She started the applause. As she clapped her hands, she looked at me and widened her eyes.
I picked up what she was saying and started clapping with the rest of them. “Thank you all,” I said as the clapping faded. “Take the day. Go home. Go shopping. Go enjoy the sunshine.”
Again, they looked to Saige. They saw her as the boss, not me. I supposed that should be expected. I looked to her as well, giving her the go-ahead to tell them again.
“Guys, why are you still sitting here?” she teased. “Go on. Enjoy the rest of your day.”
The woman with the kid, Lana was her name, stared at me. “Why?” she asked me.
I shrugged. “Because I wanted to do something nice for you. I wanted to show you all how much I appreciate the hard work you’ve put in. Please, take the rest of the day and spend it however you want.”
“I can’t afford to lose the hours,” she said. “I have plenty of things to do.”
“I’m sorry,” I said and held up my hands. “I wasn’t clear. Take the rest of the day off with pay. Everyone will be paid for the full eight-hour workday.”
That got them excited, but alas, they looked to her once again. “With pay?” she asked me.
I nodded. “With pay.”
Saige grinned and turned to face the people watching us. “You guys heard him,” she exclaimed. “We are all witnesses. Go! Don’t wait for him to change his mind.”
Everyone got up but they looked confused. It was making me feel like I was really a shitty boss. “Have a good day,” I said with a wave.
They made their way out of the conference room with a buzz of conversation following them. Saige looked at me with a big smile on her face. “With pay, huh?” she teased.
“I guess I should have made that a bit clearer.”
“I think you found the honey pot,” she said with a wink.
I leaned over. “I found the honey pot last night,” I said.
She shuddered. “Damn you,” she hissed. “How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Just so easily talk like that. You can make anything sexual.”
I smiled. “I am a sexual man, and you are a very sexual and sensual woman. It’s not much of a leap.”
“What are you doing now?” she asked.
“Like this moment?”
“No. You sent everyone home. Now what?”
I shrugged. I wasn’t sure if this was her asking for sex. I would clear my whole schedule if that was what she wanted. “What do you want?” I asked in a husky voice.
She touched my chest. “I was going to ask you to lunch. Nothing sexual.”
“Bummer.”
“I need to take care of a few things,” she said. “How about thirty minutes?”
“Works for me. I need to make a few calls.”
We went our separate ways. I closed my office door and sat down. I had a bunch of stuff to do, but instead of doing any of that, I called Davin. “Don’t tell me,” he answered.
“Tell you what?” I asked.
“I don’t know. You are calling me in the middle of the day. What did you do?”