“What would you consider invasive?”
“Well, I know Cain Enterprises did a background check when I was hired full-time. So, did you just abuse the privileges your name offers you and get access to my file?”
“I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“How do you accidentally read someone’s background check?” That teasing light in her gaze had dimmed.
“Dalton had the file in his desk. I saw it this morning. I shouldn’t have read it, but I did.”
And now the details of her life seemed to have lodged themselves firmly into his brain, even though he’d only read the file once. He’d felt vaguely sick to his stomach. His disgust had been partly aimed at her mother because no one’s parent should put their kid through the things Sydney had gone through. But mostly, he’d been disgusted with himself because he should never have even looked at the damn thing. Somehow, despite having been neglected and then abandoned by her mother, despite having bounced around the foster care system before finally landing in a good home, somehow, despite all that, Sydney had developed into a decent human being. And she’d deserved better than to have her past dug up.
She clenched the strap of her purse in her hand. It was a classic navy shoulder bag made of fine leather, just large enough to hold her personal belongings and the company-issued iPad. She massaged the strap with such intensity he half expected to see a wear mark on the leather.
“Do you know about Sinnamon?” she asked abruptly.
“I do.”
Sinnamon was the name Sydney’s birth mother had given her. Her foster mother had filed a petition to have it changed with she was eleven, which was a few years after she’d ended up with Molly Stanhope.
“Do you know about Roxy?” she asked after a moment.
“Your birth mother? Yes.”
“What else do you know?”
“More than I should,” he admitted, keeping his gaze glued to that white bumper as if he could will it out of his way. “The background search that Cain Enterprises did was pretty extensive. After all, you were hired to be the CEO’s assistant. It doesn’t get much higher up the chain of command than that.”
He glanced at her, fully expecting her to be angry; instead, she looked a little bruised but mostly curious. “Do you read the company background checks on every woman you date who works for Cain Enterprises?”
“No! Jesus, this was nothing like that. It was a mistake.” She nodded slowly, but she didn’t lose that hurt look. He was so focused on the background check and her reaction to that that he almost didn’t catch it. “Wait a second. What do you mean, every woman I date at Cain Enterprises?”
“Well, you know…” She gave a little shrug and looked embarrassed. “I’ve seen how you are with women around the office.”
“You think I sleep with everyone at the office I flirt with?” He laughed. “I wouldn’t get anything done at work.”
She pursed her lips as if lost in thought. “What about Jenna Bartel?”
“Down in marketing?”
“Yeah.”
“She’s happily married with five kids.”
“But she’s always flirting with you!”
“Well, yeah. Five kids. She’s desperate for adult conversation.”
“Okay.” She seemed to be scrounging for another name. “How about Peyton in HR?”
He nodded appreciatively. “Oh, she’s great.”
“So you dated her?”
“No, she’s a lesbian. And in a long-term relationship.”
“Okay, what about Chloe Young in R&D?”
This time he cringed just thinking about the disaster that would be. “She’s engaged to Ryan Thomas.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely. And he’s one of those medieval Ren Faire types. Owns a broad sword and everything. No way I’m messing with that. He’d kill me.”
“Hmmm,” she mumbled.
“So have I convinced you?”
“Yes.”
“The real question is why you needed convincing.”
*
Sydney hesitated. Well, the answer to that was transparent. It was easy to believe they were having a no-strings, just-sex relationship when she thought she was one conquest out of many. She wanted to be the rule, not the exception.
She felt her cheeks turning pink, and she refocused her attention on the bumpy spot on her purse strap.
“I can’t be the first woman you’ve dated who works for Cain Enterprises.”
“Why not?”
She blew out a breath of frustration. Why not indeed? Because it implied she was more important than she thought she should be. Because it meant maybe this was something special. And she so didn’t need those kinds of thoughts in her head. Instead of going down that twisted path, she asked, “So you’ve honestly never slept with someone from Cain Enterprises before me?”