I tripped over my feet, catching myself on the wall and staring back at my guide, wondering if everyone in this place was a little batshit crazy.
“Don’t worry. The supply closet is in the opposite direction. I’m not luring you into a trap. But I can certainly see why Zara’s been in a better mood lately.”
“That’s probably not because of me.”
“It is. Except for this morning. She came back as her normal cat-got-run-over-by-a-taxi self, so whatever you did…” She rounded on me and jabbed her finger into her chest. “Fix it. She’s my only friend around here, and I won’t have someone fucking with her head. Feel free to fuck other parts of her to your heart’s content—as long as you have her consent.”
I choked on my own spit.
The madwoman patted me on the chest and walked off, leaving me alone in the hallway.
Dragging myself from the depths of my stunned brain wipe, I checked the nameplate outside the office she’d abandoned me in front of.
Zara’s name was printed on a cream piece of paper. I peered through the skinny window to the side of the door.
Inside, behind a stack of papers that reached mid-chest, she squeezed the bridge of her nose and refocused on her computer screen.
I moved out of sight to grab my phone and send off my back-up text. The heavy arsenal was needed at a time like this.
Stepping into the open doorway, I knocked on the door.
Zara’s head snapped up and she shot up from her chair. The look on her face transformed from startled anxiousness to bristling anger. “What are you doing here?”
The elevator dinged at the front of the office.
“I came to give you this.” I slipped the ring out of my pocket and held it out to her.
Her gaze bounced from me to the sparkling diamond glittering even in the dim light of her office. “You’re supposed to give it back to me on Friday.”
“You’re going to want it now.”
“Is this Zara’s office?” Kathleen’s voice broke through the simmering tension in the room.
Zara’s head whipped to the open doorway and the familiar voice getting closer with each step.
“What did you do?” she seethed.
“What I had to.”
She rounded her desk and snatched the ring from my fingers, shoving it on seconds before Kathleen appeared in her open doorway.
“Zara. There you are—and Leo. I wanted to invite you two to lunch, but Leo said the only way we could drag you away from your desk was to show up and surprise you.”
I could see the gears whirring behind Zara’s eyes. Leo’s been talking to Kathleen behind my back? This was supposed to be my Hail Mary, but it might end up being the nail in my coffin.
Zara brushed past me. “I’m glad you did. I’d love to go out to lunch with you, but why don’t we make it a girls’ lunch?” She linked her arm through Kathleen’s, leading the older woman toward the door.
Kathleen stopped in the doorway, keeping Zara from abandoning me in her office. “And leave poor Leo all on his own? I wouldn’t do that to you, especially when you’ve been working so hard that he barely gets to see you. You don’t have to protest too much with me—I know you’re dying for more time together. It will be my treat.”
The abandonment plan had crashed and burned hard.
I sent my silent thank you to Kathleen. “My treat. I don’t get to take two lovely ladies out for lunch every day.”
She blushed and swatted at my arm. “Such a charmer.”
Zara would need a full mouth of veneers from how hard she was gritting her teeth. What a charmer, indeed. I’d be lucky if she didn’t push me in front of traffic and use the sympathy to clean up with Kathleen.
The whole office was scrutinizing us as we walked out. The woman who’d accosted me when I arrived wore a scowl and a questioning look. No wonder Zara had always come to Simply Stark to work. This place was fish bowl central.
There were a few restaurants within a couple blocks of Zara’s office.
Four blocks wasn’t long enough. Once we sat down, the true challenge would begin—getting Zara to speak to me while not letting on to Kathleen that anything was up. It wasn’t my brightest idea, but if I had shown up on my own, a slammed and locked door would’ve been my only reception.
Maybe Kathleen would take a long time in the bathroom, giving Zara and me a chance to talk.
I rested my palm on the small of her back, loving how the curve of it fit my hand perfectly. My fingers brushed her elbow before we crossed the street, watching for insane bike messengers and taxis who seemed to be staging chariot races around the city. Before, I’d done it to irk Zara. Now I did it because I missed the chance to touch her.
Kathleen chattered on about all her plans for the next year, but I couldn’t stop watching Zara. Every time Kathleen looked back, I’d smile and nod like I’d been paying attention, but I couldn’t drag my focus away from Zara.
The swoop of her hair across her forehead before it was tucked behind her ear. The hug and fit of her skirt, teasing me with the legs she’d draped over mine while we’d slept.
The unpleasant way she hadn’t been distracted by having me so close, but was listening carefully to every word Kathleen was saying—or maybe she was just better at pretending than I was.
We beat the lunch rush and found a spot at a restaurant. I pulled out the seats for both of them and sat myself beside Zara even though she tried to force me into one across from her.
After the server took our orders, we settled into an uneasy silence. Zara maintained her plastic smile that didn’t reach her eyes and continued to exclude me from the conversation by redirecting everything back to Kathleen.
“The end of the year will be here soon. Have you two given any more thought to the big day?”
Zara sliced into her chicken. “We’re still taking it one day at a time. Life moves so quickly and we’re never sure what’s around the corner, so we’re holding off so we don’t get our hopes up.”
I toyed with my food. “But we also know sometimes surprises come up we can’t avoid and we have to be ready to change at a moment’s notice.”
“Change is fine as long as everyone is on the same page. If you’re not rowing the boat together, then no one goes anywhere. Or one person rows full steam ahead and the other person is stuck in a place they don’t want to be.” She set down her fork.
“I didn’t know the boat had more than one person on it. Everything up until this point has been about how this is absolutely a solo mission.” Any time I’d hinted at getting close, she put so much distance between us I couldn’t even think of what we could be, but now it wasn’t just about New York. It was about why she’s been the closed-off hard ass in the first place.
Kathleen cleared her throat, breaking up the not-so-stealthy argument. “I’m confused. Are you two planning a boat trip somewhere?”
Our heads snapped to Kathleen and we smiled wide.
Zara grabbed her drink. “It’s a mutual friend. They’re having some trouble and we’re not sure how to help.”
“Excuse me, ladies.” I got up, texting Hunter on the way to the bathroom. I hovered in the hallway as he helped me put my plans in motion. He was a magician. Sam could use someone like him to make things happen and win over clients. Had he ever not come through? Why hadn’t I thought of this before?