The Design (6 page)

When the woman’s light blue eyes met mine, she smiled and continued on with the task she’d been doing while I was leaving Brooklyn a message. She was taking the contents from a box of snacks and stuffing them into a basket inside one of the kitchen’s cabinets. There were more grocery bags littering the floor near her feet, and I assumed there was more food inside of those as well.

I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure out who she was. She wasn’t dressed in business attire. Instead, she had on a pale pink tracksuit, the kind that J-Lo used to wear a few years back.

“You don’t have to stop venting on my account. I’m a pretty good listener and I’d probably agree with you,” she said, offering me a warm smile.

“Oh,” I said, peering down at my phone and wondering if I should take her up on her offer. Leaving Brooklyn a message hadn’t cured my annoyance, so I shrugged and decided to give it go.

“I just really hate my boss… and my boss’ boss,” I said. Maybe she was a narc, but she’d already heard me shit talking.
What did it matter now?

I tore back into my Cheez-Its while she mulled over my outburst.

“I’ll tell you what, Grayson can be a real handful. He was a tough kid to raise and I know he’s hard on you employees,” she said as she kept right on emptying chips bags into the basket.

I squinted as I worked out her statement.
A tough kid to raise?

“His dad was in the army. Does he tell you guys that?” she asked, spinning around to look at me. “I suppose not. He’s pretty private.”

“I’m sorry but, who are you?” I asked with a timid smile.

She threw her head back and laughed before stepping over toward me with her hand stretched out. “I’m Emma Cole, Grayson’s mom.”

Motherfucktitsfuckass. I am officially a royal idiot.

…

Grayson’s
mom ended up being a chatterbox. Even though she should have hated me for what I’d said about her son, we sat in the break room for the rest of my lunch break as she told me bits and pieces of Grayson’s childhood.

Apparently, his father was a military man and he was very strict on Grayson and his brother while they were growing up. Grayson was constantly reminded that his actions reflected on his father, so he was expected to stay in line. It was the little things that let Grayson know his father was in charge. Every night at 7:00 pm, dinner was on the table. His father sat at the head of the table, Grayson sat to his right, his brother, Jackson, sat to his left, and his mother sat at the opposite end, across from his father. For eighteen years, save for holidays or a random trip to a restaurant, they ate dinner this way.

Curfew was at 10:00 pm throughout high school, and the one time Grayson pulled in at 10:05, his father had been standing inside the door, ready and waiting to pass down a punishment he saw fit. While no one could argue that he was a stern man, Grayson saw how well he ran his family and how well he operated as an engineer in the army. It was those principles that his father had instilled in him that allowed Grayson to start and run a company the way he had at such a young age.

“Like father, like son,” I quipped as I stood to toss my empty bags into the trashcan in the corner of the break room.

“Exactly,” his mom agreed.

“Do you come to the office often?” I asked.

She smiled. “Every now and then. Grayson hates that I come here, but if I don’t stock these cabinets, no one will.”

“Well, I appreciate it,” I said. “It looks like I’ll be eating my lunch in here from now on.”

She smiled and I turned toward the door knowing I was in danger of going over my allotted lunchtime, but before I could leave the kitchen, Mrs. Cole spoke up again.

“Cammie, could I ask you to do a favor for me?”

I paused and turned to look back at her.

“Could you keep an eye on Grayson? Make sure he’s taking care of himself, not working until all hours of the night, you know?”

“Mrs. Cole, I don’t think Grayson would like me keeping tabs on him. He seems like a pretty independent guy.”

She held my gaze as her mouth hitched into a knowing smile. “He does seem that way, but I assure you, Grayson is no different than any man. He needs someone to watch out for him and I’m afraid the women he keeps around don’t do a good enough job.”

I contemplated her request. I’d be keeping tabs on Grayson whether or not she asked me to. Was there any harm in reporting back to her if he was staying late? I didn’t think so.

“I promise that I’ll watch out for your son as much as he lets me.”

She smiled. “Good.”

Chapter Six

Later that afternoon Grayson announced a company-wide meeting. With mild groans, everyone stopped their work and filtered toward the conference room. By the time I walked through the door, there was standing room only. I pressed against the far wall, with Hannah wedged in front of me. Her hair smelled like garlic from her lunch and my stomach grumbled with the reminder that Cheez-Its were
not
enough to tide me over until dinner.

“Listen up,” Grayson’s voice boomed from the front of the conference room. Everyone paused their conversations and the noise level slowly trickled down to nothing. I shifted in between Hannah and the person beside her so that I could get a clear view of Grayson.
Yup, hot as ever
.

When all eyes were on him, he continued, “We’re here to announce the mentor-mentee assignments that will be in effect for the next month or two. Each senior team leader will take on an associate architect. New staff will shadow the team leader, follow them to job sites, and learn how we run our business here at Cole Designs.”

The groans from the front of the room indicated that the senior designers were less than enthused about taking on a bunch of newbies. I just crossed my fingers that I didn’t end up with Alan. I highly doubted he’d be willing to teach me the lay of the land. In fact, he’d probably leave me at the job site and call it a “learning experience”.

Grayson stepped to the side so that Beatrice could have the floor. I watched him as Beatrice started calling out names, pairing up the mentors with mentees. He kept his eyes on Beatrice, never wavering even though I practically begged him to glance in my direction. His hair was still perfect, and his suit looked just as pristine as it had that morning.
So maybe his lunch date hadn’t included a happy ending?

When Beatrice called Alan’s name, I held my breath and crossed my fingers behind my back.
Please don’t be me. Please don’t be me.

“Hannah Montgomery,” Beatrice said. I cringed for her. I wouldn’t wish Alan on my worst enemy, least of all my new roommate.

“Cammie Heart,” Beatrice spoke, glancing up to try to find me in the crowd. I raised my hand behind Hannah and her eyes flew in my direction. “You’ll be paired with Eli.”

Eli stood up near the front of the room and I shifted out from behind Hannah to get a good look. OH, HELL YES. Eli looked to be one of the youngest senior associates. He was handsome, with a bright smile and cropped blonde hair that made him look angelic. He’d forgone a suit jacket in favor of rolling his shirt sleeves up to his elbows. The effect made him far less intimidating than Grayson, who was standing a few feet away with his arms crossed, a deadly look permeating his features.

“Actually, Cammie will be with me,” Grayson spoke up, cutting Beatrice off as she continued reading from the list.

Whispers broke out immediately and my face flamed.
What the hell was he doing?

“Um, but you don’t usually…” Beatrice began to dispute his outburst, but Grayson held up his hand.

“It’s done. Eli is working on the Whitaker Street project and I can’t afford any more delays.”

My bullshit meter was reading red hot.

Grayson, you dirty dog
.

After all of the names were called, there was another twenty minutes of humdrum information, which I completely ignored in favor of breaking down Grayson’s motives for taking over Eli’s role as my mentor. (I couldn’t come up with a single one that wasn’t part of a freaky fantasy.)

Finally, Grayson announced the end of the meeting. Everyone trailed out, begrudgingly heading back to their work stations. A few pairs of mentor-mentee pairs stopped for a moment to meet formally. Alan didn’t even blink in Hannah’s direction as he stomped back over to his desk.

“Wow. How did I get lucky enough to land that asshole?” Hannah whispered as we headed out of the conference room.

“Yeah, I was crossing my fingers that neither one of us would get him.”

She peered over at me from beneath her lashes. “Well it must’ve worked, because you ended up with the best option of them all.”

We both turned to watch Grayson head back into his office. As I watched him move in his suit, I decided that every man over the age of twenty-one should have to wear tailored pants. The fabric worked wonders for his already rockin’ physique.

“Seriously, I can’t believe he’s your mentor,” she said.

“Yeah, I’m not sure how that happened,” I admitted, still staring at his closed door.

“Who cares? Figure out if he’s single for me. I saw him eating lunch with some girl, but that could have been anything,” Hannah said, tilting her head to get a better look at him. “I think he dates around a lot, and he’s really only a few years older than me.”

I bit down hard on the inside of my mouth to keep from telling her to back off. I wanted to hate her for taking an interest in him, but it’s not like I could blame her. Any woman with eyes would do the same.

“That probably won’t come up during our training,” I pointed out, just as Hannah’s table-mates called out for her to join them.

“Whatever. Just ask him. You can mention that you’re asking for a friend or something if you’re too nervous.”

A friend.
Were we friends?
We were roommates, so I guess that made us friends by default?

“Oh, and let’s order some takeout later. Nothing like wonton soup to christen our new apartment!” she said, waggling her eyebrows playfully as she backed up toward her desk.

I nodded, letting my gaze slide back to Grayson’s door. If I wanted to know why he’d stepped in to be my mentor, why couldn’t I just ask him? Beatrice wasn’t back at her post yet. He was in his office alone and he’d left the door ajar. Everyone was too busy getting back to their desks to notice me, and even if they did see us talking, they’d just assume it was about him being my mentor, which, technically, it was.

With that thought, I walked directly to Grayson’s office, trying to contain my private smile. When I approached his door, I saw him sitting behind his desk, bent over his work and completely unaware of my presence. I tapped my knuckles on the open door, twice. It was a friendly kind of greeting, but when his steely gaze shifted from his work up to me, he didn’t appear to want a friendly conversation. No, he clearly would have preferred no conversation whatsoever. I ignored the warning signs and proceeded as planned.

“Looks like you’ll be my mentor then,” I said with a smile as I took a step into his office. He was never going to invite me in, so either I had to take the initiative or I’d just be stuck in the doorway wishing I was brave enough to enter the dragon’s lair.

He adjusted his tie and slid his hand down the material before finally speaking. “We’ll start tomorrow. There’s a job site I’d like you to see and it’s just a few blocks away from here.”

Well that was certainly faster than I’d expected.

“Sounds good,” I said, trying to think of something else to say that would keep me in his office longer. “Brooklyn told me you were coming to dinner with us.”

His left brow perked up. “Did she?”

I nodded and took another hesitant step toward his desk. His eyes shifted down to my feet; he knew what I was doing.

“Yes. She said she had to coerce you.”

He leaned back in his chair, running his finger along the edge of his desk. “I’m a busy guy, Cameron. I don’t get out too often.”

I crossed my arms and settled my weight onto my left leg. “But you’ll come out for me?”

He sighed and pointed to the door. “You realize that no one else comes into my office without an invitation. Yet you just wander in here like there’s a revolving door with your name on it.”

I glanced back at his door, standing wide open. It beckoned me forward, but I imagined that to everyone else, there was a giant red “X” warning them away.

“I like it in here,” I admitted, scanning the decor around the room. It was masculine with dark forest green wallpaper and built-in wooden bookcases spanning from floor to ceiling along an entire wall. “Besides, we have a history together.”

“I need to get back to my work,” he said, his tone gentle enough that I could have probably pulled another five minutes out of our encounter, but I didn’t want to annoy him, so I started back up toward the door.

“Tomorrow then,” I said.

His blue eyes locked onto my face and he nodded. “Tomorrow. Now shut the door.”

“Wait.”
Do it, ask him. Do it.
“How was lunch?”

“Cameron.” His voice was tired and annoyed. “Get out of my office.”

“She was pretty,” I said, pushing him even further out of his happy mood.

He narrowed his eyes.

“Yes and we had sex directly where you’re standing,” he spoke, his words like venomous talons. “Is that what you wanted to know?”

He didn’t have to ask me to leave again after that. I turned without a word and slammed his office door shut behind me. The hinges rattled and Beatrice gave me a curious glance as I passed by her desk.

“Nice of you to join us,” Alan snapped as I took my seat.

I didn’t bother offering an apology for my absence. For all he knew, Grayson was giving me an assignment as my mentor, but my silence must have pissed him off even more.

“Since you have time to bat your eyes at the CEO, I suppose you can stay late and finish drafting those bathrooms I need you to have done by tomorrow,” Alan continued with a harsh tone.

Stay late?

Peter shot me an apologetic smile.

I wanted to argue, but I wouldn’t give Alan the satisfaction of getting a rise out of me.

“Sounds great,” I said with false enthusiasm. The smile felt sour on my face.

Alan grunted and went back to work.

At 5:00 pm, the office started to empty as one by one employees picked up their bags and briefcases and headed for the elevators. I, on the other hand, stayed in my seat, drafting light fixtures for the bathrooms of some high-rise condominium. My hunger was gnawing away at me, but I didn’t want to have to ask Alan if I could grab dinner, so I stayed put. My first day on the job had taught me three things: Grayson was an arrogant bastard, Alan was a suckwad, and I needed to shove snacks into every free space around my desk if I had any hope of surviving at Cole Designs.

At 6:00 pm, Grayson left his office with his phone pressed to his ear. Goosebumps bloomed on the back of my neck as he walked behind my desk en route to the elevators.
Would he stop and talk to me?
I concentrated on the drafting pencil in my hand and pined to listen to the conversation he was having. Had the room been full, I wouldn’t have been able to hear him, but we were practically alone— save for Alan—so I could hear every word crystal clear.

“I’m leaving now,” he said. “I’ll have my car pick you up at your apartment. Don’t bother dressing up, we aren’t leaving my place tonight.”

His words were acid and I had to fight the urge to throw my pencil at the back of his head. There’s no way that Grayson was that open with his relationships. He was putting on a show for me.
Right
? He wanted me to know he was unavailable.
Extremely unavailable
. Little did he know, I didn’t want him to be
easy
and
available
. I wanted prey.

“You have another twenty of those bathrooms to draft before you leave tonight,” Alan reminded me, effectively emptying a bucket of ice water over my head. I inwardly groaned. Alan really knew how to ruin a moment with his drab orders and terrible breath.

Soon, Alan and I were the only two employees left in the office and I knew that in any other situation, I’d have thought he’d asked me to stay late so he could hit on me or something. Maybe another man would have, but not Alan. I had a feeling he was asexual. Like a cactus. Although, to be honest, I was so hungry that if he’d told me I could go home if I let him touch my boob or something, I’d have whipped it out.
I was really hungry and I have great boobs, so whatever
. But this wasn’t a soap opera and he was probably not a sex offender, so I had to keep working.

At 7:30 pm, determined to stick it out as long as Alan wanted me to, I texted Brooklyn pleading for some sort of dinner. Alan was in the bathroom, so I figured I had a few minutes to beg for food. Besides, I was in danger of keeling over if I didn’t get something to eat soon.

Cammie
: SOS. Please send food. Dick boss is making me stay late.

Brooklyn
: Grayson is making you stay this late on your first day? I’m calling him.

Cammie
: NO! It’s this middle management guy. I’m trying to prove that I can handle the workload.

Brooklyn
: Nomz on the way.

Cammie
: THANK YOU! Also, nobody says nomz anymore.

After I sent her a final text, I saw that Hannah had texted me a few minutes earlier as well.