Page 76 of Boss from Hell

I could have told her how deeply painful and agonizingly horrible my unrequited love for Max was, but I would only have ruined her lovely enthusiasm and joy.

Besides, I was afraid any sympathy from her would make me burst into tears.

I was happy for Maggie, really happy. It had been a long time since I’d seen her this thrilled about her relationship, and I told myself this lunch was going to be about Maggie, not me.

So I steered the conversation away from me towards her exciting weekend. Her infectious joy was contagious and even before the tacos arrived, I found myself rooting on her behalf.

Let her have the best weekend she’d ever had in her life, I prayed.

Back at the office, Max wasn’t back yet and after brushing my teeth to get rid of the smell of tacos, I settled at my desk and got to work. Max walked in an hour later. He came to my desk and smiled down at me.

“What?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Nothing,” he said, still smiling.

I let out a sigh of relief I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. Deep down, I’d been afraid that he would be cold and distant when he came back from lunch with his mother.

“How was lunch?” I asked.

“It was fine,” he said, and the smile was replaced by a frown. Almost immediately he got into work mode and asked me to print some documents for him. He moved to his office door. “Also, Chris will be here in a few minutes. Let him come straight in.” He had already opened his door when he paused and turned to face me. “I’ve nothing more for you to do and since I’m going out for a drink with Chris before the bachelor party, you can leave whenever you want.”

“Fine,” I said, and even before he had closed the door, I jumped into work mode as well.

Chris appeared half an hour later and we exchanged pleasantries.

“I keep forgetting to bring your invitation to our wedding,” he said. “I have it though, and I promise I’ll drop it off tomorrow. You won’t know many people at the wedding and Max will be busy, so bring a friend to keep you company, eh?”

I laughed. “That’s very kind of you, but you don’t have to, you know.”

“Jennifer and I are looking forward to getting to know you better.”

I liked Chris and warmth spread through my body. I didn’t want to overthink it, but if your lover’s best friend and his bride wanted to know you better, it had to be good, right? Because eventually, we’d be going for a meal together, or something like that.

Chapter 44

Max

“Well, that’s all of it then,” Chris said loudly to make sure the surveillance equipment picked him up clearly. “I’m just about to crunch the last numbers before we move in. And we have to be fast because I think there are other interested parties. The price we’ve been quoted makes it a bigger steal than I realized. I am one hundred percent sure we can turn this company around in less than a year and double its value.”

“In that case, don’t waste any more time. We’ve lost the La Zaire account because you were dithering, we need this one,” I said sternly.

Chris grinned but kept his voice serious. “On it, boss. I’ll get it done by this week.”

“Good. This is urgent. Give me a report by the end of the week.”

Had to be careful not to overdo it. I felt we had thrown enough breadcrumbs over the last week for whoever was listening, so I made a hand gesture to Chris to indicate we should end the conversation.

Chris nodded. “You up for a drink before my bachelor party?”

“Sure, let’s go.”

We walked to the door together and passed Lillian’s empty desk and chair. I always felt a strange sense of loss when I saw that. Soon it might become a permanent feature. Once we discovered who my competitor was, my little romance might be dead in the water.

My stomach felt like a tense knot in my body as we waited for the lift. Only once we were inside, did Chris speak.

“You think they’ll go for it?”

“I hope so, the paranoia caused by those bugs is fucking killing me. My office feels like enemy territory. I have to check myself the whole time,” I ground out.