he was going to make this difficult, she sent a silent apology to her trembling limbs, and carefully climbed off his lap. “I have to get back to work.”
“You’re not on the schedule tonight,” he pointed out evenly as she started searching for her clothes.
“You’re short-staffed,” she said, grabbing her shirt off the desk only to end up frowning when she realized that her bra wasn’t with it.
“Patrick can cover it,” he said, while she continued searching for her bra.
“He can’t cover my section and run the restaurant,” she pointed out while she stood there, nibbling on her bottom lip as she tried to remember what color bra she’d been wearing.
“He’ll manage,” he said, tucking himself back into his pants as he walked over to the desk. Throwing her a look that told her just how pissed he was, he reached past her and plucked her bra off the computer.
“Look,” she said, taking the bra from him and quickly donning it as she glanced around the room for her panties, “I don’t want to quit, but-”
“Then don’t,” he snapped.
Giving up on finding her panties, because they’d apparently fallen off the face of the earth, she grabbed her pants and pulled them on. “It’s not that easy and you know it,” she said, wondering why he had to make this so difficult when they both knew that she no longer had a choice.
“You’re going to quit because you don’t want people knowing that you’re sleeping with your boss?” he guessed.
“Exactly,” she said, pulling her shirt on, glad he finally understood.
For a minute he didn’t say anything, he just stared at her in that unnerving way of his making her think that he was going to argue with her, but then he surprised her by stepping away from the door. “If that’s what you want, Rebecca, then I’m not going to argue with you.”
Relieved, and more than a little surprised that he’d given in so easily, she murmured, “Thank you,” with a frown and walked to the door.
“You’re welcome,” he said, opening the office door for her, further taking her by surprise, because she really hadn’t expected him to give up without a fight.
She was relieved that he wasn’t going to make this harder than it needed to be, but she was also disappointed that he was letting her go this easily after five years. Where was the loyalty? The adoration?
He could at least pretend that he was going to miss her, she thought with a little pout as she walked past him and headed down the hallway so that she could return to work when all she wanted to do was to turn around, head back to that office and kick the shit out of his shin while she read him the riot act. He might be fine with her leaving, but they both knew that he would never find another waitress like her. She was one in a million and he’d realize that sooner or-
Why was everyone staring at her? she couldn’t help but wonder as she stood there watching as several waitresses, busboys, a chef and the bartender along with Patrick were standing there, staring at her like she had two heads. Frowning, she looked down to find everything in order. Her shirt was neatly tucked in, her pants were on right and her shoes-
Oh, shit.
She’d forgotten to put her shoes back on. No big deal. She shrugged it off, because it could have been a lot worse and said, “I threw them at him,” expecting them to nod in understanding.
Patrick shot her a horrified look that she thought was a little over the top. “You threw your panties at him?” he asked, sounding horrified as she stood there, telling herself that he hadn’t just said what she’d thought he had.
She must have misheard him, because there was no way that…that…why were they all looking to her right? she couldn’t help but wonder as she reluctantly followed their gazes even as the tiny hairs on the back on her neck stood up in protest, trying to warn her that she shouldn’t look back or waste another precious second standing there. She needed to run away as fast as her still tingling legs would take her, but she couldn’t seem to move.
“You left these in my office, sweetheart,” Lucifer said, shocking her into silence as he reached around her and gently tucked the matching lavender panties that she hadn’t been able to find in her front pocket as he leaned