Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 66184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66184 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
“Dead serious, Ana.” His tone is ice cold, while his eyes burn with an intense fire.
I look to Derek, wondering if he’ll be a voice of reason, but he’s just watching us with a grim expression.
“You can’t tell me what to do, and not that it concerns you at all, but I’ve been offered a good opportunity. There’s no reason I should pass it up.”
“No reason?!” Jansen’s voice booms so loudly that I nearly miss the knock at the door.
There’s another knock before it opens and Gloria sticks her head in. “Derek, Jansen? I’m so sorry to interrupt you, but your eight o’clock is still waiting. She says she’ll need to leave in fifteen minutes.”
“Shit! I forgot about our appointment.” Derek’s eyes dart to me, then Jansen. “I’m sorry, but we’ll have to finish this conversation later.”
Jansen looks as if he’s about to protest, but instead, he snarls and follows Derek out the door, only after shooting me a look filled with anger and edged with hurt.
Sympathy and regret flare up—maybe I didn’t handle this the right way?—but those soft feelings are quickly overshadowed by irritation and indignation.
He had no right to talk to me that way, no matter how he feels about me leaving.
I readjust my bag on my shoulder and stalk out of Derek’s office, avoiding Gloria’s eyes when I pass by her in the hall.
Jansen wants me to stay, and deep inside, I’m pleased about that, regardless of whether it’s for personal or professional reasons. It’s nice to be wanted, but not when he thinks it’s okay to treat me like that.
And why does he care so much about whether I stay or go? They’ve told me they’ve been happy with my work here, so I’m sure they don’t want to have to find yet another new human resources manager.
Or will he miss me when I leave, like I’m going to miss them? Though I’m not going to miss him nearly as much if he thinks he can boss me around like that.
And Derek isn’t innocent in this. Even though he wasn’t issuing commands, he completely disregarded my ethical concerns, though maybe it is laughable that I still consider myself to have professional standards after all I’ve done with those men.
My head is in a gray fog by the time I reach my office, so I don’t even notice the white box on my desk until I pull out my chair and sit down. When I finally see it, I don’t know how I overlooked it, because even though it’s similar, it’s quite a bit larger than the previous ones.
I haven’t received any more mystery gifts since Charles was arrested, so I’ve been assuming that the dolphins must have been from him, but apparently, I was wrong.
The box is wider, but much flatter than the others—not a shape that would typically hold a figurine. Maybe it’s something that hangs on a wall? I pick it up and find that it’s fairly light.
As I’m about to open it, Owen steps into my office. “Good morning, Ana.” His cheerful tone sounds like a foreign language after my morning meeting with Derek and Jansen.
I do my best to match his energy. “Good morning, Owen.”
“What’s that?” He nods to the box in my hands.
I search his expression for any hint of recognition. “You don’t know?”
His brows lift. “Should I?” Then, after a beat, he says, “Oh, is that another one of those mystery gifts you mentioned?
“I think so.”
He steps closer, his eyes shining with curiosity. “Do you think it’s from a secret admirer?”
My shoulders lift and fall. “I guess so? I don’t know what else to think.”
“Well … if you do have a secret admirer, I’d better get ahead of things.”
“What do you mean?” Just as I ask this, and just as his probable meaning dawns on me, Jansen appears in my doorway.
CHAPTER 48
JANSEN
Iam a fucking idiot.
That’s all I can think about as I try to show the appropriate amount of interest to our biggest investor. It doesn’t take long before the thoughts in my head are so loud that I give up the struggle.
“Excuse me. Something urgent has come up.”
Derek shoots me a look but doesn’t say anything as I leave the conference room.
I’m going to apologize first thing, and then I’m going to beg her to stay. I’ve never begged anyone for anything ever, but I can’t stand the thought of her no longer being here.
How could she still be thinking there was a six-month time limit after all we’ve shared? I introduced her to my parents, for fuck’s sake.
How can she just leave?
She’s smiling when I reach her office, and I’m flooded with relief—but then I see it’s not me she’s smiling at.
There’s a man in her office. Owen. I’ve seen this motherfucker flirting with her before. Why does she encourage it when she knows she belongs to me and Derek?