How to Have Your Boss's Secret Baby - London Casey Page 0,16
have to,” he said. “Mr. Pickle has a cabin for us.”
“Us?” I asked.
I felt the color draining from my face.
“Us,” Cole said. “He is bringing someone for his own entertainment. He advised me to do the same.”
I started to shake my head.
“Maya, listen to me,” Cole said. “I had something arranged and it fell through. So I started thinking about it. You come up there with me. You know everything already about the company, Mr. Pickle, and what I’m going to achieve here. The moment I lock Mr. Pickle down to buy this company, we all make out just fine.”
“You mean I lose my job?” I asked.
“You’ll be taken care of,” Cole said. “Mr. Pickle will be drinking like a fish, his hands all over the woman he’s bringing… and I have you there to keep an eye on the conversation. See if any details slip or not. It’s perfect. And in exchange, you get to stay clocked in. The entire time. So you’ll get paid even while you’re sleeping.”
“Cole. I don’t think I’m the type of-”
“And during the downtime there… you can write. A cabin in the woods, Maya. Isn’t that every writer’s dream?”
Cole reached for his phone and walked toward me.
For exactly two seconds I didn’t see Cole as Cole. I saw him as Elevator Guy. The smirk on his face. The smoldering eyes. The size of his muscles. The way he oozed sex.
He showed me his phone.
“That’s the cabin,” he whispered.
It looked beautiful.
Thick, dark wood. Two dormer windows. A large front porch with huge, log pillars. Rocking chairs on the porch.
“It’s cold up there too,” Cole said. “Make sure you pack heavy clothes.”
I moved my eyes to Cole. “If I don’t do this?”
“I’ll start looking for a new secretary on Monday.”
Of course.
“What’s the sleeping arrangements?” I asked.
Cole laughed. “That’s what you’re worried about?”
“Yes,” I said. “Problem?”
“No,” Cole said. “I promise, Maya, there’s plenty of space. Worst case, you can sleep on the couch.”
“Why do I get the couch?”
“I’m the boss,” Cole said. “I get the big bed. Plus, you can sleep on the couch in front of the fireplace. With your notebooks, writing and all that.”
“I don’t have a choice, Cole.”
“Everyone has a choice,” he said.
“In this case…”
“Everyone has a choice,” Cole repeated.
He turned and walked back to his desk.
I blinked and saw the picture of the cabin.
I thought about being clocked in for forty-eight hours.
The entire weekend I’d be paid.
And if I could sneak in some serious writing…
I looked at Cole.
But I had to be near Cole.
“Maya?” Cole asked.
I swallowed hard.
“What time do we leave?”
Chapter Eight
Cole
The plans were in place.
There were a lot of things that could go wrong. But… not as likely because it was Maya. She had been around long enough to know how things worked. Plus, with her around me, it was nothing but work. I would focus on sealing this deal with Mr. Pickle. Maya would focus on her writing.
All we needed to do was play nice together in front of Mr. Pickle.
As simple as that.
A text message came through on my phone from Maya as I sat at my desk.
Someone named Mr. Assfuck is on the phone. I am not saying that out loud to you.
I gritted my teeth.
It was my damn brother again.
I texted Maya back.
Send him through.
A second later, my desk phone rang.
I picked it up while standing up.
“Cody,” I said.
“Brother.”
“I have a cell phone.”
“I know. This is cooler. Look at my brother. High rise, corporate guy…”
I shut my eyes and saw Cody as a little kid. Sitting on the steps outside our apartment building. We both knew our old man wasn’t coming to get him, but he insisted on waiting. He always worried there was traffic or an accident or something. So, I would make him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich then sit with him.
And each time he knew for sure the old man wasn’t coming, he’d cry.
I’d hug him.
Then we’d go back inside.
I rose above that shit.
He drowned in it.
“Cody, listen to me,” I said. “I’m going out of town for the weekend.”
“Vacation?”
“Work.”
“Do you ever not work?”
“It’s my job to work.”
“So you can support my broke ass?”
“No, Cody.”
“Shit, brother, then why are we talking?”
I shut my eyes again. “What do you need now?”
“Did you know… you have to pay rent… every month?”
“Fuck, Cody,” I said. “Rent? What else?”
“No lecture? No yelling?”
I opened my eyes and saw Maya passing through the hallway.
I thought about Mr. Pickle.
There were bigger things to deal with at the moment.