me.
I may have been mistaken, but I thought I saw him grit his teeth at Hamish for a second. I blinked, and when I looked at him again, his lips were pursed.
“This is the twenty-first century, Hamish. Women don’t like to have their hands kissed at work.”
Hamish stood and stared at Monty, then at me, and then back at Monty.
“I see.” He turned his body to face me and said, “I am sorry if I made you uncomfortable, Ms. Nutters—”
“It’s Julia. Just call me Julia,” I said with a big smile.
“Julia, what a lovely name—”
Monty cleared his throat loudly, stopping Hamish.
“Right. Julia. Please call me Hamish.”
“Yes, of course. Hamish.”
As I watched the two men stare at each other as if they were part of the secret society of glaring and were doing their mysterious handshake, it hit me.
“You’re the Mr. Blackwell I spoke to on Monday.”
Hamish blinked and said, “And you’re the person who convinced me to invest in a project I knew nothing about.”
Crap. He was mad about that. I never thought I’d meet the guy, so spewing bullshit to him over the phone was easy. If I knew I’d be standing in front of him one day, I may have been easier on him.
“Yes, and I’d like to say that—”
He grabbed my hand and shook it. His grip was firm, but not painful. “No one has ever done what you did. I consider myself a shrewd businessman.” He let go of me and shook his head. “No, I consider myself the shrewdest businessman alive. Yet, in the few minutes we were on the phone, you made me want to invest. Consider that an achievement. In fact, I might just headhunt you away from Monty.”
I felt Monty slip his hand onto my shoulder. Shivers ran down my spine. The way he touched me didn’t seem like we were in an office. His fingers pressing into my shoulder felt like he was about to undress me in a bedroom.
“It’s too bad you can’t have her since she just began working for me. In fact, we were just discussing her overseeing an extensive project here at The Blue Spot.”
We were? My eyes slid over to Monty for clarification, but he was back to that secret handshake with his eyes directed at Hamish.
Hamish rubbed his chin. “You know, Monty, because you’re my friend, I’ll let you have this one. But just know I always get what I want.”
Were they discussing me working for them or something more than that? Like sex.
“I am standing right here and can decide for myself who I work for.” I turned to Hamish and pointed my finger at him. “I’m sure you’re good at business, but that’s not the only reason I would come work for someone. And the fact that you discussed me like I wasn’t even here makes me think you do not understand what people think of you.” I slid my eyes over Hamish, taking in his bespoke navy suit and perfectly styled blond hair. “And let me guess . . . you think everyone loves you.”
He nodded with a smug smile.
“I got news for you, big guy, they don’t. You have just enough money to your name that no one has the balls to tell you that.”
His brow creased, and he was about to say something, but I turned toward Monty, who was doing a terrible job at holding back his laughter.
“And for you. I thought I really messed up sneaking in here to milk my boobs.”
“What?” Hamish asked, but I ignored him.
“I thought I hit the jackpot by landing this job. I have never made so much money in my life. Not even if you combined all my paychecks together. But the possessive touching and acting like I’m yours, as if I can’t think for myself . . . that’s where I draw the line. I should have told you about my pumping problem, but I was scared I’d lose this. But I’m not so desperate that I’d work for a man who thought he owed me.”
I stomped past Hamish and reached down to grab my breast pump bag. Once I made it to the door, I turned.
“If I hadn’t made myself clear, that was my resignation. I quit. Effective immediately.”
Chapter 13
Monty
I STARED AT JULIA’S desk. It was empty. No Post-it Notes of varying colors scribbled with her illegible penmanship. No pink and blue colored pens. Not even the ragged kitty toy I thought was Nathan’s but turned out to be hers.
Only