Page 65 of Without Apology

Her head went back with laughter. “Nope. But since it annoys you so much, here.” She quickly put them back where they belonged.

So maybe I was a bit of a neat freak. But since the alternative made me want to break out in hives, I went with it. I’d never been called on it, however. Emma would say I was particular or organized. Leave it to Peyton to do the calling out, but do it in a way where she made fun of herself, too, and didn’t put me on the defensive.

She put a pen to her lips as if she was considering a business offer. “Do you have a schedule for interviewing my staff?”

Whiplash back into the professional. “I do.”

“Terrific. I’d love a copy showing when you’re meeting with each of my people over the next couple of days.”

“For what purpose?”

Annoyance flashed in her eyes, making her even more sexy. Here was a woman who didn’t back down, whether it involved something business or personal. “For the purpose of keeping this place running. Each of them has a job to do. If you are holding interviews that take them away from their current workload, then I need to accommodate for it and provide coverage. This sale may be your first priority, but mine is to ensure we take care of all necessary daily tasks.”

I had to hide my grin. “Certainly. I’ll have Emma send it down.”

She huffed a breath. “Good.”

“How did everyone take George’s announcement?” It was the first time I’d cared about the effects of an acquisition. Knowing how much she would seemed to make all the difference.

“They took it okay. But it shocked a lot of them. People are nervous. Especially about these ‘meetings’ which we both know is actually code for interviews. Guess it’s good they don’t officially know that.”

“It’s effective when they don’t feel like they’re interviewing.”

“Despite the fact you’re doing exactly that.”

“Yes. Emma will put two hours on your calendar for tomorrow so you can give us your thoughts on each of your people.”

She took the change in stride, putting her chin on the hand she had propped on the desk. “All the directors will be doing this?”

“Yes.”

“But only about their people, not about anyone outside of their own department, correct?”

“What are you asking me?” She wasn’t hard to read. There was a reason she was fishing.

“A couple people in my department used to report to Jeff before I rescued them. I don’t want him commenting on them.”

“Because?”

“He wouldn’t have nice things to say.”

“About?”

“About anyone, but particularly Megan.”

“Your accounting manager?”

“Yes. My right-hand person. The best accounting manager—”

I held up my hand. I could hear the emotion in her voice and knew this was personal for her. “I get it. And to answer your question, I don’t care about a former supervisor’s opinion of someone who decided to leave their department.”

“Good.” She let out a sigh of relief and leaned back in her chair.

“Peyton, you can’t take this process personally.”

Wrong thing to say as her eyes narrowed. “Careful, or you’ll start sounding like Tom.”

I had to keep myself from wincing at the implication. “I only meant to say I recognize how much your staff means to you. But if they do the job and do it well, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.”

“Fair enough.” Glancing at her clock, she gave me one more look. “I have a four o’clock call.”

“Is this about not reaching out yesterday?”

Surprise jumped into her expression, and then she slowly flipped her monitor so I could see the call scheduled on her calendar. “No. I don’t play those types of games.”

I felt my face heat with the insinuation I might. “Okay. I’ll let you get to it.” I stood up and turned around, noticing she was already dialing.

I’d been properly dismissed.