Office Play: Freaky Geek Series (22 page)

Still he recruited outside help and now this trip. He was wearing her down. Good, cause he didn’t have anymore tricks up his sleeve.

“I…I would like to try having something with you.”

“Not something. I don’t do temporary.”

“But Adam, I don’t think either one of us even said I love you, except in the heat of passion.”

That hit him like rock hard baguette. Did he love her? He knew he loved being around her. He loved talking with her, holding her. Like now just being near her seemed to keep him centered, even with all this chaos around him.

He knew that whenever a man looked at her, he wanted to punch him in the throat. He spent every waking moment waiting for her to either come out of meetings, or talking to co-workers. It was like he didn’t have any other friends to keep him busy—and didn’t care.

So did he lover her? It wasn’t hard to fall in love with her that’s for sure. And since she mentioned it. Did she love him? Or at the very least have very strong feelings for him.

“Okay, that’s fair. But do we need to be
in love
with each other so soon? We can grow into this relationship. Look, all I know is I don’t want to spend another day not letting everyone know that I want to be with you. I want to give us a chance. I realize we started out hot and heavy and in all places the office. I should have learned my lesson from the last attempt at a relationship. But that one wasn’t meant to be. I know that now. You are my future, I hope that I’m yours.”

Jeanette took his hand in hers and held it tight. It was the first time she took the initiative to touch him like this. He loved the warmth of her hand and the contrast of softness.

“I’m willing to take a chance. I do know that no other man makes me feel the way you do. I think about you all the time, mostly wrestling with feelings I can’t figure out.”

Adam wanted to do a high dive off the boat with a triple summersault. She did feel something. But she was so scared to voice it, afraid that they might take things too far. Maybe she was right for holding it back, cause if he knew this before they even left for Paris, he would have been careless and thrown caution to the wind.

That would have set off a whole new set of problems.

“I know you’re scared and so am I. So this isn’t ‘in love’ at first sight, but it is honest attraction and mutual fondness. Sometimes those are the relationships that last the longest. We can grow together.”

“I can agree to that.” Jeanette said, smiling. Her whole face lit up. He felt the weight of the world off his heart. It was beating freely again without hesitation.

“Great, then we can start all over.”

He took her hand and kissed the back of it. “Hello, I’m Adam Strathmore.”

“Hello, and I’m Jeanette Foster.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

They got back to the hotel real late; in fact it was one thirty in the morning. Jeanette was so tired she could barely take off her clothes. She stumbled to the bed and plopped down. She kicked off her shoes and took off her coat, then crawled in-between the sheets.

Adam quickly joined her, copying the same routine. Shoes then coat and in-between the sheets. He wrapped his arms around her and spooned.

She quickly fell asleep.

It was Thursday morning and the phone was ringing off the hook. She reached from underneath the sheets. “’Lo.”

“Bonjour madame. This is your wake up call.”

“Merci.” She hung up the phone. She wiggled out of Adam’s strong embrace and stretched. Letting out a huge yawn, she swung her feet around and onto the soft carpet.

“Is it time to get up already?” Adam yawned out.

“Yeah.”

“Damn, I could sleep another two hours.”

“Today we come back straight from work. We have to pack away. We can catch up on sleep after that.”

Adam nodded. “This is true.”

Jeanette took a quick shower and put on her sweater dress that didn’t need ironing. Thank God.

She waited for Adam as he finished dressing and putting on his tie in front of the mirror.

She stood there looking at him. She would take a chance with him. She meant what she said on the boat last night. It was a bit overwhelming, but he seemed so confidant. That confidence would help her get over whatever fires they go through.

They arrived at the office and as usual people were running around like chickens. She and Adam went to their normal temporary office in the corner. He shut the door behind them and locked it for the first time.

He held out his hand to her. “Come here.”

She cautiously stepped closer to him and put her hand in his. He brought her closer to him, then hugged her tightly. “I need you.”

Wow. The urgency in his voice and the way he held her was a bit overwhelming, but she knew he meant it with every fiber of his being.

“Oh Adam. We’ll figure this out when this is all over.”

He released her and nodded. “Yeah, we need to get this cleared up. Oh, that paper that you wrote on, Renee was giving you something.”

“Oh, yeah. I have it in my purse still.” Jeanette went through her purse taking out all the junk. She finally found the piece of paper with the names on it, all crumpled up. “Here you go. Renee wanted to know if any of these names mean anything. Two people mean something to her.”

Adam took the paper and looked it over. “Hmmm. Uh-huh. Yeah, only one name does stand out and it’s what I suspected.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’ll tell you on the flight back home.”

“Okaay.”

“Trust me, I need to get my thoughts together. But my suspicions are being confirmed everyday on this.”

Adam took a seat and got on his laptop. Jeanette took her seat in front of him and went over her notes on her
iPad
. “Are we still going to Kevin and Deena’s for dinner tomorrow evening. Are they still on the suspect list?”

Adam rubbed his chin. “They’re not off it, but just a little lower on it. We need to find…or not find some stuff there.”

Jeanette nodded and continued reading her notes.

Seconds later there was a knock on the door.

“Yes?” Adam hollered.

“It’s Kevin.”

“Speak of the devil,” Jeanette said, getting up going to the door. She unlocked it and waved her hand for him to come in. “Bonjour Kevin.”

“Bonjour mon ami. Are we still on for tomorrow evening, dinner at our place?” He smiled widely.

She didn’t remember them saying yes or no, but with this new info, it was defiantly a yes. “We’ll be honored. Perfect ending to our business trip here.”

“Bon. I’ll tell the little woman.” He left the room whistling.

She glanced over at Adam. “The little woman?”

“Yeah, I’m sure she appreciates that nickname.” He laughed.

She and Adam soon went back into working mode. She made her way over to the purchasing department again, looking for the usual suspicious activity.

“You’re sure here a lot.”

Jeanette nearly jumped out of her skin frightened by the voice behind her. She turned and saw….“Oh, hello, it’s ….”

“Henry.” He smiled.

“That’s right. Well, if you must know, I was always curious about how you guys keep on top of purchases from all the offices.” Jeanette tried to play it off. No one, at least non-management knew the real reason why they were here. Everyone just assumed that they were here on a business/vacation trip. “I also like your art department here. I’ve been looking at the commercials you do here. They’re a bit more racier than they are in the states.”

“Yeah. When I moved here, that’s the first thing I noticed too.” He chuckled.

“Well, nice seeing you again Henry. Are you coming to the farewell party tomorrow?”

“With bells on.”

Jeanette waved good-bye and went to the art department. That was close. She knew she was hanging around there too much, but had to in order to get the info they needed.

She just hoped that no one noticed her sneaking around and trying to be inconspicuous. She made her way back to their temporary office.

“I kinda got busted,” she said, to Adam as she walked in and closed the door behind her.

Adam looked up from his laptop, looking very concerned. “What happened?”

“Henry saw me, and said he’s been seeing a lot of me in the purchasing department.” She continued to explain the encounter to him.

“Oh, don’t worry about him. He’s cool. And your explanation was legit sounding.

“Great. Now I know no one really knows what we’re doing here, but I did noticed one thing being here all this week.”

“What is that?”

“I want to tell Renee and Noah when they call. I think when we get back to the States and put it all together, we’ll have a clearer picture.”

“I think so too. I’ve been mulling over this one person that stands out. Now I have to think motive and I think I know what it is.”

“Motive?” Jeanette just about spit out. “This is crazy. But—”

Adam, put his fingers on her lips. “Shhh. Like you said, we’ll wait for Renee and Noah to call.”

It was finally quitting time. Everyone Europeaned kissed everyone good night and left. Jeanette was holding Adam’s hand as they made their way back to the hotel. It felt so natural.

Once they arrived they immediately went to the menu on the dresser.

“Who’s paying for this room service? I know the company is not picking up the tab on this,” Jeanette said, as she scanned the new menu. “It seems that the hotel staff is trying to entice us with new goodies.”

Adam was taking off his clothes and tossing them everywhere. “That’s not too hard to do.” He laughed.

“Mmmm. This sounds good. Escargot for starters of course, and for the entrée, merguez which is a spicy lamb sausage on couscous with Madeira mushroom sauce and for dessert, a nutella crepe.”

“Sounds good to me.” He smiled at her and walked into the bathroom.

Damn he was so sexy. And he was hers for the taking if she fully excepted him and the relationship. She told him she was willing. But this was new to her. She never dated a co-worker and never dated someone younger than her—and so fast.

Well, maybe it was time to try new things.

She reached for the phone and ordered the food. Right after she hung up, her cell went off.

“Hello Renee.”

“Hey girl, it’s break time. I’m waiting for Noah to call me so we can see what plan to put into place.”

“Hey wait a minute we got some stuff for you,” Jeanette said. “Adam, it’s Renee!” she hollered.

“Tell her to hold on.”

“So, how are two doing?”

Jeanette could tell by the tone of her cousin’s voice that she wasn’t inquiring about their investigation. She wondered if she should tell her that she decided to date Adam. To take the leap and have this wild man as her own. She sighed. She knew Renee wouldn’t tell anyone, but at the same time Jeanette did want people to know that she and Adam were now an item. But what got out in the streets always managed to creep its way into the office.

Of course telling Renee brought on a whole new set of issues. She would want details.

Jeanette decided to turn the tables. She would tell Renee once she got back to the States, that way she could contain the situation when Renee started squealing and jumping up and down like a rabbit on caffeine.

“How are you and Noah doing? Is it still a working relationship?”

“It’s…how can I say. He’s a bit shy, but I can tell he’s interested. He keeps hinting here and there.”

Shy?
That definitely wasn’t Adam’s M.O. These brothers were polar opposite, she can see that already. “What kind of hints?”

“Asking me if my boyfriend worried about my job, if I needed to call home to let my husband or boyfriend know I’m going to be late. You know, fishing.”

“Ahh.”

“Okay, what’s going on?” Adam asked, as he entered the room.

“We want to give Renee and Noah the latest.” She put her on speaker. “What have you guys got?’ she asked. Someone knocked on the door and Adam went to answer.

“Well we took a closer look at that list of names. Nothing really stands out except two people that were just transferred there recently, and when I say recently I mean the last year and half ago. The one person was for unethical conduct, but it wasn’t serious enough that they would be fired, but put on probation.”

“What the person’s name?” Adam asked pushing the cart. Jeanette grabbed a chair and immediately took a seat. Yeah, she was going to grub while on the phone.

“Miriam Espinoza.”

“Damn! That clinches it.”

“Ooh, you know something. Put me outta work will ya.” Renee chuckled.

“Nah. If it weren’t for you and Noah, I never would have gone to this line of thinking, especially after you got these names.

“Care to share?”

“We’ll have a pow-wow when we get back. Jeanette and I just have to clear up a few more things before we leave.”

“Gotcha.” I’ll have Noah call you later, so stay up.”

“We’ll try, we’re eating a great meal,” Jeanette said, around a fork full of food.

Everyone laughed as she disconnected the phone. “I feel like I’m in the dark,” Jeanette said putting down her cell.

“You won’t be for long, but with the information I have, this might change how you and I interact with each other on the job.

Jeanette put down her fork and started at Adam.

What the hell now?