Playing with Power - Book 3: New Adult Office Romance (3 page)

About ready to give up, her eyes landed on a tall rotating display of notebooks. The plain blank books ranged from huge to pocket-sized, the smaller ones secured with a strong elastic band. She held her phone up to one to test the size and thickness, surprised at how well they matched.
If I can hollow this out and fit the phone inside, it’ll never fall out. Plus, no one will ever question what it is. Who goes through someone’s notebook, right? The subterfuge continues—

3.

A week later, Lauren was busy at work in the StyleSpur offices. She and Faith began the arduous process of planning a company day out that they hoped would boost morale. They were hunched over the table in the kitchen picking through brochures.

“I know this one will probably be fun for everyone, but I know I’ll end up playing mom with all their stuff. Look how high that rope ladder goes!”

“Yeah, I think we’ve got a few too many people afraid of heights anyway. I like that this place is all-inclusive. I don’t wanna have to fuss with having to get lunch and drinks and all that,” Lauren said pointing to a paintball excursion.

“Ugh, me too. Remember having to drag all those coolers when we went to the beach? I thought my arms were gonna fall off.”

“Exactly. With this one, we just get on the bus and an hour or so later we’re there. They’ve got paintball, rock climbing, go karts. Looks perfect! Everyone signs up for what they want to do as we’re driving up there so we don’t have to stand around. Can you call them up and get us in?”

“Yup, I’m on top of it,” Faith saluted with a giggle.

“Then I think we’re ready! I just hope we can all go.” Lauren continued in a hushed voice, “I’ve been dreaming about nailing Parker with a paintball gun for years. Never thought I’d have the chance!” Faith laughed, looking over her shoulder to make sure he wasn’t coming in.

Lauren’s phone buzzed on the table. Ever since Parker had sent her the new phone, she was careful to always carry everything together in a specific order. Her normal white iPhone sat face down on top of the black notebook. Inside the hollowed book, the black iPhone remained on silent, tightly secured and hidden from sight. Both phones had identical covers so the only way to tell either apart was to see the front side. Any vibration from calls or texts was immediately dismissed as coming from her normal phone. Lauren had even gone so far as to imply a family member was ill in order to explain the increase in texts and private phone calls. A part of her felt proud she was able to pull off such a clever deceit since lying didn’t come naturally to her. She’d always been the “good girl” and never had a chance to practice naughty skills.

“Oh crap,” she said looking at the blank screen, “I’ve gotta take this. You’re all good with this, right?” Faith nodded as Lauren snatched up the phone and notebook and ducked into the bathroom. Shutting the stall door, she pulled out the MyBFC phone. It was a text from Landon.

Please call me ASAP, urgent.

...

I’m at work, can it wait until later?

...

No, call now.

Slightly annoyed and more than a little concerned, it wasn’t difficult to fake an upset expression as she walked through the office. Faith glanced up and gave her a sympathetic smile, thinking that something terrible was happening to her family. The knife of guilt twisted a fraction in Lauren’s heart. She ducked out to the street, slipping one phone into her pocket and the other out. She felt queasy. Landon had never insisted on speaking immediately so either something very good or very bad was about to happen. Her heart thudding in her chest, she called.

“Hello?” he said formally.

“It’s me.” Her voice was nearly a whisper.

“Right, hold a second.” She heard him half cover the mouth piece and murmur an excuse to someone. “I’m sorry, I have to take this.” A few moments later he returned, speaking louder this time over the background noise of traffic. “You there?”

“Yeah, I’m here,” Lauren replied clearing her throat.

“Okay, good. I’m sorry if I panicked you,, but I had to tell you as soon as I knew. I’m coming in tomorrow.”

“Oh! Well, okay. The guys are always there so you should be able to get right in. You don’t have a key, right?”

“No, Lauren, listen, that’s not what I meant. I’m in New York already. I’m coming into StyleSpur. I’ll be at your office tomorrow morning.”

He’s in New York?
The traffic noise suddenly felt overwhelming as she was hit with a wave of nausea. She switched hands, the phone slick with sweat. Lauren had known it was inevitable they’d see each other again but she’d never imagined it’d be at work, her
real
job.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you sooner. I flew in yesterday for a meeting and my assistant just happened to get a call from Parker. I had her to extend my trip so I could fit it in. I almost didn’t but I couldn’t help myself.”

“Why? What are you doing? Damnit, you know I hate it when things are planned behind my back!” She hated the panic she heard in her voice but couldn’t control it.

“Like I said, I didn’t choose for this to happen. The opportunity just presented itself.” Landon remained calm, as if he’d anticipated her outburst. “With everything we have planned, doesn’t it make sense that I get to know Parker? I might even be able to distract him a bit, keep him thinking I’m interested. It’s not a bad idea if you just stop to think about it.”

Lauren took a deep breath. As she recovered from the shock of it she had to admit it wasn’t a terrible idea. “Right. I’d just appreciate the chance to actually think about it next time. Thanks for giving me a heads up. Since you’re in town, do you wanna get together tonight?” She started and continuing quickly, “I mean, we have a lot to go over for MyBFC and it might be good to have a meeting with the guys—”

“I can’t. I actually have plans tonight. Listen, I’m sorry if I surprised you, but I need to get back in there. I’ll just see you tomorrow morning, okay? We can probably get together later tomorrow to go over anything you’d like, okay?”

“Yeah, cool, great. See you then,” she said in rapid fire. She closed her eyes and tried to force her heart to slow. Sliding the black phone into its hiding spot, she walked back to the office in a daze. The blast of air conditioning immediately cooled the sweat that’d popped out on her brow.

“Everything okay?” Faith asked as Lauren passed her desk.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Nothing serious.”

“Good,” she smiled, her expression saying that she didn’t believe her. “I just forwarded you an email. That investor from California you stayed with is coming in tomorrow, I’ve already put the meeting on your calender.”

“Thanks,” Lauren choked out.
Everything isn’t okay,
she thought.
My two worlds colliding in less than twenty four hours and I have no idea what’s going to happen.

4.

From the moment she woke up to the moment she stepped foot in the office, Lauren felt like a bundle of live wires. Outwardly, she did her best to appear calm and collected as always, but her behavior betrayed her poker face. She normally took, at most, twenty minutes to get ready for work in the morning. Although she’d planned ahead the night before, even waking up an hour earlier just in case, she still had to rush to get to the office on time. Finding a balance between looking good and looking normal was more difficult than she’d anticipated.
Why don’t I ever dress up for work? I essentially work in fashion but I always look so sloppy,
she had cursed herself looking in the mirror. She finally chose a pair of dark jeans, black kitten heels, and a tailored blue button-up shirt that hugged her small waist. Professional, work casual, and sexy. Eat-your-heart-out meets oh-this-old-thing.

Even after all her planning, she stumbled into the office just before 8 a.m. sweaty, makeup smeared, hair disheveled. Another fifteen minutes fixing it all in the bathroom mirror and she decided it was as good as it was going to get. Her desk was in the center of the open-plan office and faced the front door. Although she knew Landon wouldn’t be arriving for another hour or so, her eyes jumped up at every sign of movement. As such, she found herself cheerily greeting every person who walked in, the odd behavior drawing a few sideways looks. She checked her calendar again, hovering over the blocked out meeting time just to see his name.
Ugh, I need to stop!
Grunting in frustration, she pushed herself away from the desk and stormed off to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee.

How am I even going to greet him? Do I pretend I don’t know him, introduce myself? No, that’s really weird. You spent the weekend at his house, of course you know him. Both Parker and Faith know that—but then how do I say hello? How well
should
I know him and how can I pretend I haven’t seen him naked? I just know I’m gonna flub this up, somehow end up kissing him on the lips instead of the cheek, make some inappropriate comment. Assuming I hadn’t slept with him, what would the boundaries have been like while staying at his house? Argh! It’s like I can’t even remember how I’m supposed to act around another human being!

Most of the staff had gotten in by the time she returned to her desk, everyone having small conversations about their evenings or plans for the weekend.

“Hey Lauren, there you are! Could I show you something? I got stuck last night after you’d left.” Josh waved her over.

“Yeah, absolutely.” Josh’s desk was directly behind hers facing the window. After a few minutes of going over the code with him, she realized there wasn’t going to be a quick fix, so she wheeled her chair over and sat next to him. She always enjoyed working with Josh and was glad she’d given him a chance. He was a clever programmer, intuitive but not cocky. He didn’t have a problem with constructive criticism and always seemed eager to learn. Lauren had high hopes for his future at the company.

The next hour flew by and she was more than grateful for the distraction. For the first time since her conversation with Landon, she managed to relax a little. For a short time it felt like a normal day, a good day. Faith even surprised everyone with a box of donuts she’d picked up on her way into work. She walked the open box around the office, tempting everyone and making it nearly impossible to say no.

“You are too sweet,” Lauren said as she chose a Boston Creme. She took a big bite and held the donut. “Okay, have you tried doing this?” she said out of the corner of her mouth turning back to Josh’s computer. Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she entered a series of commands. As they waited for the results, she took another bite of the donut, a glob of white filling squirting onto her chin.

It was at that very same moment she heard the door open and Faith call out a perky greeting. Lauren froze as her ears honed in on Landon’s voice behind her. A shot of panic jolted through her.
Shit!
Chewing quickly and without turning, she hunted for a napkin on the desk, a scrap of paper, anything. Not wanting to attract any attention, she used slow movements to wipe her chin with her fingers, cleaning as best she could.

“You must be Mr. DeWitt! I’m Faith. I spoke with your assistant Angela.”

“Please, call me Landon. I appreciate you setting all this up on such short notice.” Lauren’s ears were ringing. She felt like a deer in the headlights, frozen to her seat, praying he didn’t recognize the back of her head.

“No problem at all, Landon. Let me take you to the conference room. Can I get you anything to drink? Would you like a donut?” Their voices faded as Faith led him out of the room. Now was her chance.

“Josh!” she whispered. “Do I have anything on my face.”

With a suppressed laugh, he looked her over and shook his head. “You’re clean.”

“What about my teeth? Any chocolate?” she asked, flashing him a toothy smile.

“Nope, you’re good,” he giggled.

She exhaled loudly. “Good. God, that was close.” She glanced toward the kitchen and caught a glimpse of Landon’s back as he followed Faith into the conference room, a coffee in hand.

“You alright?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah it’s just that he’s an investor. Can you imagine me greeting him covered in donut? Listen, I think you have a few ideas now of what you can try, right? How about you take a little bit and see if any of those work and get back to me. I’m probably gonna get pulled into a meeting here in a minute anyway.” She wheeled back to her desk, straightening her hair and attempting to look as casual as she could. Faith returned alone and Lauren gestured to her. She avoided glancing at the conference room in fear of meeting his eyes through the glass.

“Was that Land—er—Mr. DeWitt?” she whispered.

“Yeah, he’s in there with Parker right now.” Lauren nodded and stood but Faith stopped her. “Uh, he said he’d let you know when they were ready for you to come in.”

“Oh, right,” she said flopping back down. Faith frowned at her, sensing something was off. “That’s good! I have so much to get caught up on. Last thing I want is to sit in on
another
boring meeting, am I right?”
That doesn’t sound contrived at all, Lauren.

“Right. Hey, you didn’t tell me how freaking cute he was! I bet Ali couldn’t keep her hands off him.”

“You have no idea...”

Lauren thought she’d hit the pinnacle of anxiety. Each time she thought it couldn’t get worse, something came along to kick it up a level. Discovering that Landon was already in the city had spiked her nerves, then she felt sick at the thought of him coming to the StyleSpur offices. Coming into work had been almost painful and then waiting for his arrival near torture. Now he sat in the other room, back turned but mere feet away and Lauren felt like she was going to burst through her skin. She couldn’t sit still, couldn’t concentrate. The anticipation had built to a point where she almost couldn’t function.