Resilient (2) (26 page)

“I’ll talk to you later. Have a great day.”

“You too. And Katrine…”

“Yes?”

“Say hi to Jaimie for me.” Click.

“That dick head,” she huffed, shoving her phone in her purse. He always had to have the last word.
 

When she walked in and saw the Jaimie in question, she almost walked past her without speaking…almost.

“Hi, Katrine. How was your weekend?”

“Oh, hey, Jaimie…It was kind of horrible, really.” Jaimie seemed taken aback. Maybe it was because of Katrine’s tone of voice or maybe it was the fact that Katrine was leaning on the desk in a very “I have so much to tell you” kind of way.

“What? You can tell me.”

Of course I can, you loose-lipped bitch.

She was already late, so why not?

“I don’t want to bore you, it’s guy problems.” Jaimie perked up like she was going to jump out of her chair.

That’s right, eat it up.
 

“Not at all, I’m a good listener.”
 
Katrine had to clench her fist when Jaimie said that.
 

“Well, I spent the weekend with a guy I used to date. I was really excited about the whole thing.” She could tell Jaimie was taking notes with her brain.

“Sex used to be really good. Except this time it was just awful…And I don’t know how it’s possible, but it was like his penis had shrunk. I didn’t even know he’d put it in. I really don’t remember his breath smelling so bad, either. And the worst thing was he was so cheap. He said he was going to take me out to dinner…He bought me a sandwich and made me eat on the ground.”

“No!”

“Yes! It was the worst weekend of my life.” The tears in her eyes were from the laughter she was using all of her will power to hold inside. Katrine wasn’t sure how detailed her report would be, so just in case, she’d laid it on thick.
 

Payback’s a bitch, Abbot…

“I better get to work. I need something to take my mind off of…the rash.” She whispered the last part and pointed downwards. Jaimie just nodded her head, dumbfounded. Katrine noticed she started scribbling manically as she walked away.
 

She was feeling triumphant. Xander hadn’t called Jaimie off yet, even though he said he would. He’d been too busy to take care of it.
 

Katrine just ensured that he would. And at about three o’clock that afternoon, her phone rang.

“Well, hello. How’s your day going?” Her voice was bright and cheerful.

“Oh, you can save the sweet routine. So who is this guy you’re seeing? You know the cheap one, with the bad breath and small dick?”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“I’m sure you weren’t talking about me because you were almost gagging on mine…And I’m certain you felt every inch when you were scraping your nails down my back and screaming my name.”
 

How fragile the male ego; his voice sounded bitter, but husky as well. Like he didn’t know whether to rip her clothes off or spank her. She swallowed hard, embarrassed that she was turned on. She stayed completely silent, to let him know she was so affected would ruin the whole thing. No way that was happening.

“What? You have nothing to say? Are you tending to your rash?”
 

Katrine cleared her throat. “Xander, I think I’ve proved my point. Wouldn’t you agree? You started it and I finished it.”

“Katrine, if you were here right now I would bend you over my desk and teach you a lesson.”

Ooooh, yes please!

“Is that supposed to be a threat? Because sign me up, baby,” she sassed. Katrine looked around, hoping no one could hear her conversation. She was whispering, but cubicles were not conducive for private conversations.
 

Click.

She laughed.

Well, aren’t we touchy.
 

That-was-genius. Revenge is mine!

 
She laughed some more, patting herself on the back while she finished the report she was working on.

That’ll teach him to mess with Katrine MacNamara…

She called him later to smooth things over, but got his voice mail. She’d forgotten about his business dinner and hoped he would still call her after. If not, oh well, he’d get over it. He was lucky that she even wanted to talk to him again after the whole office informant set up was revealed.

 
She got home and made Teddy dinner. He made a goal using his head, which sounded painful to her, but he was really excited about it so she kept her mother hen comments to herself. Again, tongue biting was successful.

It was ten o’clock on the East coast and she still hadn’t heard from him.
 

Maybe his meeting ran late or maybe he’s still really pissed.

Her “who cares” take on the situation was quickly evaporating. She wanted to teach him a lesson, but maybe she took it a little too far? When she got in bed, sleep alluded her. Toss and turn, toss and turn…The last time she looked at the clock it was two o’clock in the morning in Boston. The thought entered her mind before she had a chance to hold it off at the pass. What was he doing? Or was it a who? No way he would do that again. Would he? Without trust, there is nothing, and that was the last thought in her head as she finally fell asleep.

The bags under her eyes had bags. She looked and felt like complete doo. No messages, no texts, no emails. And it was Wednesday! When all else failed, she got angry. How dare he blow her off? How dare he not answer her four texts, three voice messages and two emails? She was just joking. Jaimie had no idea who the man was in her story, after all. So why was he so mad? And after their history, he had to know where her mind would go.
 

So much for “I will do anything to make this work.”

What a crock.

She walked into the office and flipped Jaimie off as she went by. She happened to have her back to Katrine at the time, but hey, it was the thought that counted. She mashed on her keyboard like a chicken pecking at seed.

“You’re gonna break a nail,” Anita warned, popping her head over the cubicle wall. “You want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Okay. Well, I’m here if you need me.” She lowered her head, then popped it back up when Katrine started talking again.

“It’s just that men are infuriating! They say one thing, then do another. They’re such sensitive little babies. It makes me want to kick something, ya know?” Katrine had spun her chair around to face her friend and co-worker.

“Yes, of course I know. Every woman in the world knows. But there’s not a god damned thing we can do about it, besides enter a nunnery, or become lesbians. But chicks are bitches, so that’s a whole other can of worms.”

Katrine smiled. Anita could always make her laugh. Friends should make you feel better when you’re feeling down, that’s good friend 101. Darren, their third amigo at work, chose that time to pop his head into Katrine’s office.

“My man bashing detector just went into hyper alert. I’m here to defend the male species or at least make excuses for it.”

“I wouldn’t if I were you, Darren. You might just lose an appendage. And guess which one…” Katrine warned.

“Okay, okay. Take it easy, petite menace.” Darren backed away, laughing and holding his hands up in surrender.

“Lunch today?” Anita asked.

“Yes, as long as it’s a lengthy one, preferably with a margarita.”

“You got it, girl.”

They did end up taking a little longer than usual, but alas, no tequila was involved. Nancy, their VP, had called a department meeting. This was a good thing. It meant they had a new project and Katrine was going to be all over that sucker. She’d taken the lead on three projects so far and was hoping to get a raise when reviews took place the next month.

“Okay, guys, we have three new campaigns that need to be implemented in the next two months, so we need to…”

“I’m so sorry to barge in, but we have a very important visitor,” Jaimie said, interrupting their meeting.

“Well, you’ve interrupted, so who the hell is it?” Nancy barked.

“Hal Smith is on the floor giving a tour. He’s here!”

“Jaimie, why does this affect me? If I wanted to see Hal Smith, I’d go up seven floors to his office.”

“No, not him…him.” She pointed out the conference room window.

Chapter 26

“Hi, ya’ll, sorry to interrupt, but we have a very special surprise guest in our building. This is Mr. Abbott, CEO of AG Industries, our parent company, as you all know,” Hal Smith announced in his booming good ol’ boy voice. He had the Texas oil man stereotype down pat, including the gray cowboy hat and bulbous belly. He nodded at Katrine, they were old acquaintances, after all. She played off the acknowledgment with a small wave. Her focus was not on Hal.
 

Her focus was fixed on 6 foot 3 inches of total foxy goodness.
 

“Welcome, Mr. Abbot. This is your marketing team for Smith Oil. We’re honored to meet you, sir.” It was weird to hear Nancy speak so deferentially. She usually didn’t give a shit what title any one held.
 

Wait—was she blushing? His looks seemed to have an effect on the most calloused libidos. Katrine rolled her eyes.
 

“Sorry for the intrusion,. I was in town and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to stop by. Hal told me there was a lot of talent in this room… And I’ve worked with Ms. MacNamara in the past, so I know how talented she is.” His voice was like a warm bath, like melted chocolate, like the best massage she’d ever had. Her skin became warm and her thighs started to rub together. If her clothes could have combusted with a look, they would be in ashes at her feet. In her mind, she ripped her blouse open, flew across the table, and tackled him to the ground. That image made her bite her pen. His stare was boring into her and it was making her squirm. Nancy glanced over at her, most of the team was starting to as well. She looked down at the papers in front of her, hoping he would take the hint.

“Please carry on and thank you for your hard work.” Xander gave the room his full, two dimple smile. Katrine could practically see the women’s panties melting off their bodies. They made their exit and she was left…pretending to focus, dying to get out of the freaking conference room.
 

“Katrine, you didn’t tell me you worked for Mr. Abbot?” Nancy questioned.

Did I forget to mention that little tid bit? My bad…

“I didn’t think it mattered, honestly. It was only for a short assignment, while AG was acquiring this company. Thankfully, I met Mr. Smith as a result.” Everyone was looking at her as if she were a carny. Maybe it was the fact that Mr. Abbot, the head honcho himself, was eye effing her the whole time! She wanted to crawl under the table then slink back to her desk. No such luck since the meeting lasted for another hour.

She made her way back to her cubicle, and of course, he was nowhere in sight.
 

That heavy handed ass.

He always had the last word, or the last laugh. He wanted her to stew and second guess and worry. Then he could make his kamikaze visit and throw her into a tailspin. This guy was either the most exciting and unpredictable man she’d ever known, or the most infuriating. Right now the jury was still out. Her phone binged with a text.

Checkmate.

Infuriating, it is…

She growled and threw her phone on her desk. “Fine, you win, jackass.”

Teddy was having a sleepover at his buddy’s, so Katrine went out for a drink with Anita and Darren after work. Was Xander still in town? She didn’t know and right now she didn’t care. This little stunt was a little reminder of how crazy he could make her. But she felt more alive today than she had in three months with Ian. She hated to admit it, if only to herself.

When she pulled in front of her place, she was tired and a little buzzed. One more drink and she would have had to call a cab. The two glasses of wine sure had taken the edge off. That was what she was thinking right before she saw him leaning against her door. Then all the edge came spiraling back like a cyclone.
 

“I was beginning to think you were never coming home.”
 

She hated how the sound of his voice made her insides quiver. She willed her parts to get with the program.

“Xander, I’m a little mad and a bit tipsy. So why don’t we just talk tomorrow?” She tried to move him aside to put her key in the door. He didn’t budge.

“Come on. You started it and I finished it. What? You can dish it out but can’t take it?”
 

She gritted her teeth and fisted her keys. “Wrong thing to say to me right now.” This time he let her move him over. She jammed the key in the door and walked inside. She tried to close the door right behind her but Xander put his hand out to stop it from shutting in his face. He came in and closed the door behind her, obviously he wasn’t leaving without talking. All of the wondering and worrying came down on her. She
was
mad.
 

“First of all, I shouldn’t have said those things to Jaimie.”
 

Wait, that sounded like an apology.

She clamped her mouth, jarring her teeth. Changing directions, she added, “Why was it such a big deal, anyway? She didn’t even know who I was talking about…And if she wasn’t your little spy in the first place, we wouldn’t be having this conversation!” There that was better. This was his fault, not hers.

“Katrine, I don’t get to see you very often. I don’t want to waste valuable time fighting. I’m sorry I had Jaimie keep tabs on you. I’m sorry I made you worry. I know you must’ve been going crazy. I just got you back in my life, so I have no room for stunts like that.”

What? She was poised for a fight. He was giving in way too easily.

“So you flew down here to what? Prove you could one up me? Embarrass me in front of my colleagues? Well, congratulations, you managed to do both,” she huffed and crossed her arms. She was feeling calmer and knew she would fold like a shirt in no time.

“I came to tell Jaimie in person that her spy, as you like to call it, services were no longer needed. And for the record, I wasn’t mad that you said those things to her. I thought it was funny. But I wanted to teach you a lesson…no, that’s not right. I wanted to mess with you. You should have seen the look on your face when I walked into the conference room today. It was worth every penny for the plane.”