Zero Forks - Cat Johnson Page 0,20

the annual Flag Day Parade. Pictured left to right: Boone Morgan, Cashel Morgan.” She paused in her reading to whip her gaze up to me. “There’s two of them?”

“Uh, actually, I believe there are three.” I remembered Boone talking about his older brother Stone.

“Holy shit. I’m moving. Where is this place again?”

“A long ass commute away from here. So you might want to reconsider that move.”

She pressed her lips together. “You know, if you need to come in late or leave early, or even work from home some days, it’s okay.”

It might be okay with Kim, but I wasn’t sure it would be with the big boss. The old man seemed just the type to hold it against a woman who chose to work from home because of a child.

I might risk it if I didn’t already feel like I was still up against Jerry for this big project. We might technically both be assigned to it, but there was no way in hell I was letting him get a leg up on me.

When the time came for raises and promotions, I intended to be top of mind.

Speaking of Jerry. . .

Jerry paused in the hall just outside my open doorway. His mere presence, even on the periphery of my personal space, had me clenching my jaw.

I still could not wrap my head around the fact I’d actually slept with the son of a bitch.

My only excuse was that I was still reeling from the unexpected end of my relationship.

I’d been expecting a diamond ring. Instead I’d gotten a dumping.

My self-esteem had been in the crapper and just as I’d hit probably the lowest point in my life, Jerry got hired.

Drinks after work, he’d suggested. Just so I could give him the four-one-one on everyone at the company, he’d said.

Why not?

Want to share a car home?

Sure.

Let me walk you to your door and make sure you get inside.

All right.

One kiss on the doorstep after too many glasses of red wine on an empty stomach and we’d ended up naked.

It was something I’d regret for the rest of my life. Especially because I’d since learned the bastard had a fiancé living in the city he’d just moved from.

Bastard!

He’d made me unwittingly the other woman. Taken advantage of me when I was vulnerable. And now I had to work with him on the biggest project of my career, which happened to hit at the same time my sister left me with her kid.

The next few months were going to be challenging all around. No question about it.

“Yes. Can I help you?” I said over Kim’s head as I glared at Jerry, nice and angry after my trip down memory lane.

“I was hoping we could meet today to throw around some ideas.”

I sighed. I didn’t want to but I had no choice. “Sure.”

“When?”

“Whenever you want, Jerry.” I forced myself to be sweet.

Kim might be a friend but she was also my immediate supervisor. I didn’t want her doubting that I could work alongside the dickhead.

I was a professional. I’d swallow my pride and my hatred and get the job done. Then stew about it the whole drive home.

Good thing it was a long commute.

“Um, after lunch. Like one-ish?” He glanced at his watch then back up at me.

I’d seen that watch up close. On my nightstand, as a matter of fact. It was a Rolex. Real or fake, I didn’t know. I wouldn’t put either past Jerry.

The point was, he was a cocky show-off.

I doubted Boone even owned a watch. Because real men didn’t need to wear a stand-in for their dicks on their wrists to show off how successful they were.

Ignoring that I was now comparing the last man I’d had sex with against the current man I was lusting after, I nodded. “One is fine.”

Silently leveling a stare at Jerry, I waited for him to leave my doorway and my sight.

He finally took the hint.

I let out a breath and turned my gaze back to Kim.

“You really don’t like him, do you?” she asked softly.

I let out a laugh. “It’s fine. I'm fine. I’ll get the job done.”

“I know you will. But there’s something you should know.”

“What?” My eyes widened.

I hadn’t told Kim about my indiscretion with Jerry. Had the bastard said something to her? I might have to kill him if he did.

Maybe I could dump the body in the river by my new house. I absently wondered how deep it was, right before I wondered if I should be