Undersold(12)

I hadn’t heard from him or seen him since our meeting in the bar, and I knew I couldn’t be the one to initiate anything. If he was really as set on a professional relationship as he said he was, then texting him out of nowhere could jeopardize my position in his company.

I stopped what I was doing, saved it, and rolled myself back from my desk. “No, what’s up?”

Linda scooted herself around the partition, still in her chair. “Apparently, he’s been holing himself up in his office all week, working on some unspecified project.”

“Really? I didn’t hear about that.”

“It’s all over the office.” She rolled a little closer. “Want to know what I think?”

My heart started to hammer in my chest. “Sure, what do you think?”

Her face took on a mischievous look. “I think he’s in there banging a bunch of different girls. I heard he’s a huge flirt.”

“Linda!” I said, and my face turned red. Linda giggled at my reaction.

“Oh, come on, new girl. We all know he’s hot as hell. Got to blow off a little steam every once in awhile, you know?”

I wasn’t offended by her joke at all. I felt pretty close to her, and I assumed she felt the same way about me if she was already willing to joke about our boss having sex with strange girls. It was just that I wanted to be one of those girls. Actually, I wanted to be the only girl. Was I feeling jealous? I was feeling jealous. It was crazy, but I found myself wanting to be taken by this man, anywhere he chose, anytime he wanted.

“He is pretty hot,” I offered.

Linda grinned. “That’s the spirit. But in all seriousness, he should be working with you more. It’s weird that he hasn’t even stopped by.”

“Think it’s anything to do with my project?” I felt a little uneasy.

“Oh no, no, don’t worry.” Linda’s face got serious, and she held up her hands. “You’re totally fine. You’re way too new to have done something to make him hide away in his office yet. Maybe one day, though.”

I laughed. “A girl can dream.” If she only knew what I’d already done, I think I’d be the center of gossip in this office for weeks.

“Anyway, I doubt it’s girls he has back in there. Or boys, for that matter. I hear he hardly dates, if he dates at all.”

“Has he ever had a serious relationship?”

Linda shrugged. “I think so, awhile ago. But I’m not really sure. It’s all office gossip, and I don’t really buy this one.”

“What is it?” I felt nosy, but I couldn’t help it. I wasn’t usually the type to get into gossip, but I felt hungry for anything about him. And Linda seemed particularly interested in talking about his personal life.

“Well,” Linda said, leaning in conspiratorially. “I heard him and Janice, his assistant, had a long relationship a few years ago. They ended and stayed friends, but there’s a tension between them, like nothing was resolved.”

That made me pause. Janice and Shane? She was tall and gorgeous and fashionable, everything I wasn’t. But them dating, that made a lot of sense to me. Why was she still working as his assistant if they were exes? That wasn’t exactly normal. It didn’t make a lot of sense, but Shane was a mystery to me. Everything about him felt like a secret, and I was desperate to learn the truth.

“But you can never know what’s real with this stuff,” Linda finished, leaning back.

“How true do you think it is?” I was hoping not at all.

“Not very, if I’m honest. But they are pretty close, so who knows.”

I hadn’t noticed that, but then again, I’d only been around a short time.

“Brother and sister close?” I asked.

“Well, look who’s interested in the office rumor mill all of a sudden,” Linda said, teasing.

“I’m not interested, I mean, I’m just curious.” I felt myself backpedaling, embarrassed. I didn’t want her to know how intensely interested I really was. Like, willing to torture her for more information, if I had to. Okay, maybe I wasn’t that interested, but I couldn’t stop thinking about him. He was like a black hole I kept tumbling down deep into.

“Oh it’s fine, relax. I’d say brother and sister, but what do I know.”

“Where do these rumors come from, anyway?”

“Who knows? He’s so private about his personal life. People probably make stuff up to fill in all the blanks. And that man, he has a lot of blanks.”

“Sorry to shoot all these questions at you,” I said. It was strange trying to find out about a man through one of his employees, especially a man I had sent such detailed, personal messages to. I felt like I was cobbling him together from second hand sources, trying to paint a picture without paint. It was frustrating, but it was all I had.