"I won't hold my breath," she muttered.
"Always a ray of sunshine."
"I run a business. I don't need to be a fucking ray of sunshine. I just need to get shit done."
I held up my hands in defense. "If only we were all as amazing as you, Morgan."
"Don't do anything stupid, okay?"
I flashed her a grin. "Do I ever?"
"All the time. You and Austin. You're going to give me gray hair." She shook out her long brown hair before moving toward the door. "If you're going to do something stupid, then don't blame me when it backfires in your face, okay? I'm warning you now."
"Warning noted."
I wasn't an idiot. I knew that Miranda had something up her sleeve. But I wasn't sure if it was enough to let this all go or to give in to her demand. Either way, I knew that I needed to talk to Heidi and make this right. Because Miranda was right.
I was seeing someone else.
And the reason I wanted this divorce finalized as quickly as possible was all for her.
Twenty-Three
Landon
Morgan left my office and headed back upstairs. I peeked my head out of the office and found a wall of eyes staring at me.
Apparently, none of that had been subtle. Morgan and Miranda weren't exactly inconspicuous. I guessed that everyone at least had known that I had marital problems if they hadn't heard our discussion of a divorce. Thankfully, much of it had been muffled before Morgan catapulted into the room.
But the one set of eyes not on me was the one I was looking for. Heidi had her head buried in her work. She was purposefully not looking up. I wondered if she was even reading or if she was just staring.
Well, fuck working the rest of the day. I straightened my tie and strode toward her. I knew she didn't want anyone to know about us while I was her boss, but I wasn't about to wait around all day until I could see her after work. I didn't want to stress her like that.
Before I reached her, however, one of the other engineers stood up and blocked my path.
"Hey, Landon!"
I tried to reach for his name in my mind. I'd been trying to memorize all my employees' names, but I hadn't been here that long. This guy did not ring a bell.
"Hey, man," I said with a Wright smile. "What's going on?"
"It's Matt," he said in a rush.
"Right. Matt. What can I do for you?"
"I wanted to give you a high five, man," Matt said, holding his hand up.
I gave him a blank look but high-fived him anyway. Why was this guy treating me like we were best friends when I was clearly his boss and didn't know him at all?
"What for?"
"You have a really hot wife!" Matt said.
Heidi's head snapped up at that. Her gaze settled on Matt, as if she could burn through his skull with laser beams from her eyes.
"I mean, they don't make them like that around here, if you know what I mean." He chuckled twice.
I was barely able to control the disgusted feeling that washed over me. Heidi was not.
I straightened up and stood a head taller than him. "You should remember who you're speaking with. I won't condone people degrading women in such a manner in my office."
Matt stammered, "Uh, yeah, totally. Sorry. I didn't mean anything by it. I thought it was a compliment."
"That's what concerns me."
Matt opened his mouth and then closed it. "I, uh … "
"Don't worry about it. Just try to be more respectful in the future."
With that, I eased past Matt and straight to Heidi.
She glanced up from her work. "Can I help you?"
"Yes. As a matter of fact, I need to see you in my office."
"Did I do something wrong?" she asked, tilting her head at me.
"On the contrary, I wanted to discuss Jim's old job. I'll be talking with everyone throughout the week, regarding the new position."
"I see." She stood slowly to her feet and stared up at me with part confusion and part fear in her eyes.
"After you." I gestured for her to go ahead.
She took a deep breath and then walked right into my office. She didn't look around once. She strode past all her male colleagues, ignoring their questioning stares. I snapped the door shut as soon as she was inside.
"That was … interesting," Heidi muttered.
"More like outrageous."
"Which part? Morgan or Miranda?"
"Yes," I told her, striding to the desk.
She plopped down into the chair in front of my desk and warily looked at me. "I'm guessing I'm not here to discuss the new job."
"Not exactly," I admitted.