Bedwrecker(31)

Right now the Melrose Corporate Office is a key location for Simon Warren since it is literally above the flagship store, and last I heard he hadn’t decided what to do with that. Is he closing it? Or . . . no, no, no. He’s not putting Keen there. Is he?

“Don’t you agree, Maggie?” Cam questions.

“Why exactly am I showing him around?” I ask, trying to keep my voice even.

Cam is smiling so wide, I think it might be Christmas morning. He claps a hand on Keen’s shoulder again, but this time it’s more an out-of-respect gesture. “This brilliant guy right here has taken the position as head of the men’s retail division.”

Please tell me for a different company.

Not for Simon Warren.

I can’t work with him.

No way.

No how.

“Temporary head,” Keen adds, looking hesitant.

“Semantics,” Cam counters. “You’re going to love it and never want to leave.”

“Trial basis—remember, buddy,” Keen stresses.

Please tell me trial basis for Austin Mars.

Cam rolls his eyes as if not bothered by Keen’s reluctance, and then redirects his attention on me. “Anyway, Maggie, my plan is for you to introduce Keen to the company while I’m gone.”

Summoning all of my willpower to prevent me from fleeing right now, I suck in a breath and try to keep my voice even. “Okay, so you want to show him a store or two so he has a feel for men’s retail?”

As easy as it sounds, I doubt I can do that, but I can’t tell Cam that.

Cam shakes his head. “What I have in mind is a little more in-depth than that. Think of it as the first of the training sessions we’ve been talking about, except instead of you training the store department heads, you train the company head.”

The company head?

Like of what company?

Reluctance coats my brow, and I ease my words out carefully. “Okay, I can do that.”

Cam claps his hands together again. “Great. So I was thinking you could take him to the Santa Monica Distribution Center on Monday. And Jordan whispered in my ear that he is planning a little get-together to celebrate the completion of the upcoming fall line, so maybe you could both make an appearance. On Tuesday you’ll take Keen to the Melrose flagship store, and then the two of you will fly out to New York for the rest of the week to meet with your mother and attend a few of the men’s fashion shows, to give him a taste. Finally, next week you will show him the ropes at the corporate office. And then we’ll see where we need to go from there.”

Stunned.

Horrified.

Furious.

Those are just a few of the emotions I’m feeling when I look toward Keen and ask, “You’re going to be running Simon Warren?” at the same time he asks, “You work for Simon Warren?”

“Yes.” He smirks as if he wants to shout, “And now you will have to see me and hear me because I just might be your new boss.”

“Yes!” I respond tartly to his question. I can’t even look at him or Cam.

Silence fills the room.

“I should go give this back,” I say to Cam and then grab Makayla’s raincoat and get the hell out of Dodge, leaving my freshly brewing coffee behind.

“Maggie!” Cam calls.

I look over my shoulder.

“Any questions?”

With a shake of my head, I give him a thumbs-up and then go in search of Makayla, who I hope to God is home because I am in desperate need of her calming abilities.

Have you ever hated someone so much and yet wanted to fuck him on sight? Well, that’s how I’m feeling right now, and I can’t stand it.

With what Cam has planned for me, I have a lot of practicing to do on how to ignore, fight, maybe even repel extreme sex appeal, especially considering I’ve never had to do it.

Like ever.





Keen

Ignoring a slightly misplaced foot, pushing past a nagging fear of gear failure, or ramping up the intensity to latch a small hold.

They all require mental awareness.

Most climbers know that the mental game of climbing is just as important as, if not more so than, the physical aspect. So it is no surprise when Cam pulls his Jeep into the parking lot of the Hangar 18 Indoor Rock Climbing Gym.

Peering over his shades, he removes the key from the ignition and glances over at me. “You ready to show me you can get your shit together?”

The question isn’t off the wall. The drive from Vegas to Laguna was spent with me spilling my guts about losing my job, my life, my mind, and even myself, and Cam just listening.

Not judging.

Not commenting.

Just being who he has always been—my friend.

I wanted so badly to talk about Maggie to him, but that promise we made to each other isn’t one I could break, even if I broke a million others. I get that it doesn’t really mean much; she might be with my brother right now for all I know.