I arrive at the office on a mild limp. Getting my right shoe on this morning required a shoe horn, and I hissed and spat my way through it. I’m walking like I could have shit myself, despite my best efforts to uphold my usual swagger.
When the elevator doors slide open, my hand comes up ready to accept my coffee. Except there’s no coffee awaiting me, and there’s no PA either. On a groan mixed with irritation and worry—more worry—I traipse toward my office, bracing myself for her wrath, while preparing my speech. Gina’s face yesterday morning when I booted her out of my apartment is still playing heavily on my mind. She was injured. Shocked. I need to make this right. If she’s even here. Shit, is she here? Has she quit?
I hobble around the corner to my office on a held breath, and it only releases when I spot Gina at her desk engrossed on the screen of her computer. Thank God. “Morning,” I chirp, trying to be normal. It’s a cop-out. What would be normal here would be demanding to know where my coffee is, but I doubt that would go down very well right now. I should have called her yesterday. Not to grovel, but definitely to apologize. We had both been in the wrong, me more so.
The look she throws me is fierce, and I get no polite greeting in return. “Why are you limping?”
“I kicked a cupboard.”
“That’s a bit dumb.” She goes back to her computer and starts tapping away at the keys, giving me no sympathy whatsoever.
I sigh, dropping my briefcase to the floor by her desk. “Can I get you a coffee?”
“No.”
Oh. Okay. “Ready to deliver my rundown for the day?”
“No.”
I lose all guilt and bristle at her curtness. “Gina, in my office, please.” I pick up my briefcase and storm away, leaving the door open for her. If she wants to be all business, then we’ll be all business. Not that she’s being all business, refusing to do her job. She’s holding a protest. Not for long. “Take a seat.” I motion to the chair opposite my desk when she stomps in, draping my suit jacket over the back of mine before dropping to the seat.
She dumps her butt down heavily, making her boobs bounce under her blouse and the buttons pull taut. It gives me the perfect opportunity to get things back on track. “You wearing a push-up bra?”
“No.” She sticks her nose in the air, dismissing me.
Good Lord, she knows how to hold a grudge. “Gina—”
“Careful what you say, Mr. Christianson. I might sue your arse for sexual harassment.” Her mouth forms an O in fake comprehension. “Oh, I forgot”—she scowls—“stuff like that doesn’t bother you, does it? Here”—she thrusts her chest out, pointing at her bust—“feast your eyes, boss.”
My head drops back on my chair, a long, fucking frustrated burst of air gushing out. “I love her,” I say, going for the jugular. I’m not pussyfooting around anymore. There. Bam. Take that.
“Excuse me?” Gina splutters.
I drop my eyes, mustering my most serious face. “You heard me.”
“No, I heard something stupid.” Her expression is stunned. “Something really, really stupid.
“It’s not stupid. I’m in love with her. I’ve fallen, Gina. So fucking hard I’ve broken bones.” I flex my foot, grimacing. “Literally.” My face twists as I kick off my shoe, relieved by the release of pressure. Oh, that feels good. “Anyway, stupid because it’s Lainey I’ve fallen in love with, or stupid because it’s me who’s fallen in love?”
Her face is still stunned as she stares at me.
“Hello?” I prompt, picking up a pen and throwing it at her. It bounces off her rack and lands in her lap. “Anyone home?”
She looks blankly down at the pen, and then back up to me. “Are you serious?”
“Why is it so hard to believe?”
“For fuck’s sake, Tyler, for years you’ve fucked any female outside of this office who opened her legs for you. Every Monday morning, I’ve required a fucking list of the women to ignore for you. You swore off love because of your spiteful bitch ex. Then Lainey comes into your office, spreads her legs, and you’re in love with her? Oh, and let’s not forget that she stalked and harassed her previous employer. I got it from the horse’s mouth. What are you thinking?”
What am I thinking? I’m thinking that I want to punch something. “Enough.” I bolt forward in my chair aggressively, forcing Gina back in hers. “She did not stalk her previous employer. He’s twisted that story in his favor. He was the one harassing. Lainey wanted out, so she struck a deal with him to give her the reference she needed, or she’d go to the papers. Not that she would have, it isn’t her style, but she needed something, and that threat was it.”
Gina’s eyes get progressively wider until they’re literally bugging from her head. “And you believe her?”
“Yes,” I answer tiredly. “Of course I fucking believe her.”
She shakes her head, looking confused. “And you’re in love with her?”
I slide down my chair, already exhausted. It sucks, because I know I’m going to get this reaction from a lot of people. Everyone, in fact. With or without the details that Gina now has. And with or without those details being correct. “Yes.” I exhale my confirmation on a shrug.
“I’m stunned.” Her forehead bunches. “But I guess it all makes sense. Your weird behavior lately. Your lack of focus. It’s all because of her, and not just because you wanted to screw her.”
“I did at first,” I admit. “But you knew that. I thought if I could get it out of my system, happy days. Shit, Gina, it just made it ten times worse. Like I got a taste of something amazing and the waiter took away the plate and told me that wasn’t my dish. It was horrific. I felt like I was going crazy. And then the more time I spent with her, I wondered if maybe my craziness stood for something. I didn’t know what. I just knew that I loved being with her. I have actual conversations with this woman, Gina. Long ones. Then I started to teach her how to swim, and—”
“You’re teaching her how to swim?”
Shit, I wasn’t supposed to say that. “She’s afraid of water. Something happened in her past, and it’s deeply affected her. But she’s doing well.” I smile, just at the thought of Lainey in the water, all excited. “She’ll be giving me a run for my money soon, I’m telling you. And you know how good I am at swimming.”
“I do,” she confirms quietly.
“Anyway,” I go on, now in my stride. It actually feels good to get all these thoughts off my chest to someone other than Lainey. “Mum met her and loved her.” I nod confirmation that Gina’s heard me right when her eyes pop. My PA and my mum are both crazy about each other, and I can see mentioning that Mum loved Lainey has softened something in Gina’s eyes. My mum does not suffer fools, and Gina knows that. “And then I had that wedding on Saturday, and I took Lainey.”
She arches a brow. “Did you see the mega bitch from hell?”
“Yep. You never mentioned she’d called more than that once.”
“Why would I?” Gina laughs. “After I wound up bailing you out of jail?”