his face almost touching the panes, and he stared at me with his beady little black eyes. One of his paws came up and he dragged his claws over the glass.
"Are you threatening me?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. Gary was a lot less scary with the door between us.
The tiny paw smacked the glass, making me jump again. Gary's mouth opened and I could almost swear I heard the little bastard laughing at me.
"Oh, fuck you, Gary. I'm going to bed."
But before I left the living room, I double-checked the lock on the door. Just in case. And I was pretty sure the fat asshole watched me until I turned down the hall.
A loud, annoying sound pierced the comforting veil of sleep. I grunted and turned over, trying to ignore it, but the obnoxious beeping continued. Finally, I opened one eye and glared at the nightstand. My phone vibrated against the wood and emitted the noise again.
Groaning, I dragged my heavy arm out of the covers and picked up the offending device. My new boss's name stared back at me.
Ugh. Why was he calling me during my vacation? I had six weeks I had to take before it expired and I intended to use it rather than lose it. Actually, it was more like eight, but I couldn't bring myself to take a full two months off from work. It felt too much like shirking my responsibilities. But, Jesus, it was before sunrise. The office better be going up in flames.
With a sigh, I slid my thumb across the screen and put it to my ear. "Hello?"
"Watkins, have you checked your email today?"
Thomas Barnes was my new boss and he wasn't big on greetings. Or pleasantries. Or calling me by my first name.
I bit back my annoyance and glanced at the clock on the nightstand. Six a.m. Well, at least I'd gotten a couple hours of sleep.
"No, Mr. Barnes. I haven't. I'm on vacation for the next six weeks." I left off the "remember" because I doubted he would have appreciated it.
"Well, I need you to check it. Something important has come up and I need your input."
"I'm afraid I'm not near my computer at the moment," I semi-lied. My computer was in the living room on the coffee table, which was only twenty feet or so away. Since I was lying in bed, it technically wasn't near me.
He made an irritable sound. "Fine. Take a look at the email and get back to me ASAP."
"Mr. Barnes, I can't commit to a project right now. As I said, I'm on vacation for the next month and a half so—"
"You don't have to commit to a project. I just need you to read the damn email and give me some input. Then, you can go right back to whatever it is you're doing."
I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself because, Jesus Christ, the man was being a complete asshole. But I'd just taken this promotion and I was still feeling my way with him. Once I understood the way his mind worked and why he did the things he did, I could work around him and our interactions would be a lot less irritating. Until then, I'd have to practice biting my tongue until it resembled Swiss cheese.
"I can do that. I'll get back to you shortly," I replied.
"When is shortly?" he asked.
I cleared my throat instead of letting the sharp words I wanted to use slip out. "If all you need is input, I should be able to have something for you within an hour. Two if it's complex."
"Great."
There was a click followed by silence. I moved the phone away from my ear and looked at the screen. He'd hung up.
I let my arm flop back onto the bed. Maybe I could take a nap after I read whatever was in this oh-so-important email.
But first, I needed to get up. And make coffee. Coffee was extremely important.
I rolled over and hauled myself to my feet. My head ached and my body was sore in places best left unmentioned. I guess sex with Ben counted as a workout because I hadn't had this many aches and pains since the last time I tried one of those boot camp classes.
The sex was a lot more fun though.
After a quick trip to the bathroom to take care of business and splash some water on my face, I trudged into the kitchen and found the biggest mug Cam had in her