“You’ve been a great employee, Baylee. A real asset to the firm, and we’ve been impressed with your fresh, creative designs. You have your pulse on the look for the future.” He paused. “I’ve enjoyed watching you grow as an architect. Your mother would’ve been very proud of you.” His voice caught.
Is he leaving the firm? Is he sick? What’s going on?
“Thanks, Gary. I love working for the firm, and I’m happy you and Bob gave me a chance.”
“Your mother was a lovely woman. She was so creative. You remind me of her. She was also very ethical—sometimes too much.” He muttered the last part of the sentence so she had to lean in to pick up his words.
“It makes me happy to hear you compare me to my mom.”
Okay, this is getting weird. Why does he keep talking about Mom?
“Is your biker friend still in the picture?”
“Yes.”
Gary nodded then stared at her with piercing eyes, the tenderness of the past few minutes gone in a flash. “Is he going to pick you up after work tonight?”
“I’m not sure. Why?”
“I noticed your bodyguard is gone.”
“Yes. I haven’t had any more problems. I guess it was just some loony who got his kicks scaring me. He was probably doing the same type of things with other women. Some people are very strange.”
“You see, I told you there wasn’t anything to worry about.” He smiled thinly at her.
For a split second, an icy fear froze her as she looked at him. Then it melted away, leaving a sense of confusion in its wake.
Gary rose to his feet and walked to the doorway.
“You’ll have to work late tonight. I have some things I need to go over with you, but I don’t have time now.”
“On the strip mall?”
“Yes.”
“I thought everything was on target.”
“Well, it’s not. Are you questioning me?” he asked tersely.
“No. Sorry. I’ll see you at seven-thirty.”
“Okay.”
Then he stalked away.
That was weird as hell. I wonder what he’s talking about. Too strange.
She walked down the hall to Logan’s office. He was staring at his computer screen intently, so she knocked on the door frame. He pivoted to the door, a smile crossing his face when he saw her.
“Baylee, come on in. What’s on your mind?”
“Gary’s back in town.”
“I know, I just saw him.”
“Did he tell you about the meeting tonight?”
Slowly shaking his head, a frown crossed his brow. “No, he didn’t mention any meeting. When did he tell you that?”
“Just a few minutes ago. That’s strange.”
“It is.” Logan tapped his pen against the desk.
“Maybe he forgot to mention it to you. He seemed a little out of sorts,” she offered.
“Yes, that’s probably it. You’re right, he didn’t seem like his normal self.”
Pushing up from the chair, she said, “I’ll let you get back to work. I was just checking. Are you excited to be going back to Denver?”
“Hell yes. Small-town living isn’t for me. It’s been a long summer.”
Baylee ambled toward the door when she heard Logan call out.
“Baylee, thanks for the heads-up about the meeting. What time?”
“Seven-thirty.”
“I’ll be there. See you.”
“Later.”
Back in her office, dread pricked at her, and as hard as she tried to shake it, it persisted. She chalked it up to her anxiety about leaving Axe and going back to Denver. She was tired and over-anxious, and the strange visit from Gary didn’t help. Why hadn’t he told Logan about the meeting? Her hands shook as she brought her lukewarm coffee to her lips.
What if I’m going to be fired? I bet that’s it. That’s why Gary was so weird, and didn’t tell Logan. There is no strip mall meeting, the firm is letting me go because I dated Axe—a client. It all made sense. Gary probably felt guilty about the firm’s decision to terminate her, so that was why he was reminiscing about her mom.
Her eyes stung and her stomach churned. How could she have been that stupid to think they would keep her after Gary warned her about getting too friendly with Axe? She’d known she was taking a huge risk with her job by seeing him, but she hadn’t cared. But it was all coming crashing down. She pulled out her phone and dialed Axe, needing to hear his voice.
“The firm’s letting me go because we went out,” she blurted out when he answered.
“Whoa, babe. What the fuck? Who told you that?”
“Gary. He wants to meet with me tonight. I know he’s going to fire me. He was acting so off this morning.”