“The senator requested an early time and you said to do anything he needed.” Karen frowned at AJ. “It was in your email this morning.”
“Of course.” AJ decided he was changing his mind about voting for the man. He wanted Kat, not a stuffy meeting.
“A senator?” Kat repeated. She glanced over at AJ and then back to Karen. “I should let you take that meeting. I’m sure my explanations can wait.”
AJ tried to keep the disappointment from his voice. “Of course.”
Kat smiled at Karen and gave her a friendly nod before heading to the door. “If you have any more questions, Mr. Jacobson, you know where to find me.”
Then Kat left, closing the door behind her. AJ sat across from Karen in his usual chair and signed the documents she put in front of him, but he wasn’t paying attention to any of them. All he could think about was Kat and how badly he wanted to finish what they had started. He couldn’t wait to get her alone again.
He signed another document, his hands thinking of how soft Kat’s hair had felt rather than how to sign his name. Her ass had been right where this document was. He greatly preferred her ass to the paper. He would have given his left arm to skip the meeting with the senator so he could be with Kat.
But he also couldn’t believe that the secretary had almost caught them. He shuddered to think of the fallout that would have caused. If he thought the business was in trouble now, he could only imagine the press’s response to the “good” CEO caught sleeping with an employee. They’d have to make sure they were more careful next time…
19
Kat
Monday morning was destroying Kat. She felt like she’d had a bottle of tequila chased by a bottle of whiskey, even though all she’d had was a cup of mint tea after a quiet weekend alone. She was exhausted and queasy beyond belief. She had tried a cup of coffee before leaving the house, but the first sip had her running for the toilet. Currently, she was sitting at her desk devoting all of her energy to not puking up the tea and saltines she’d forced down.
“You doing okay?” Renee asked, putting her hand on Kat’s shoulder. Kat hadn’t even heard her come up.
“What?” Kat asked, startling out of her daze. She realized that she was still on the same screen she had been on thirty minutes ago.
“Are you okay?” Renee repeated. “You look pretty awful.”
“Gee, thanks,” Kat replied, putting her hand to her head to find it was the normal temperature, but the small movement made her stomach churn. “I don’t feel so good, though.”
It was then that the contents of Kat’s stomach decided to stage a revolt. There wasn’t much in there, but the tea and crackers were not going to stay down. The last thirty minutes focusing on keeping everything down were in vain.
“That’s disgusting,” Renee commented as Kat hugged her waste basket a little bit closer.
Kat had no comment, but she definitely agreed.
“You need to go home,” Renee said after a moment. “I think you caught the flu or something. There’s one going around the office.”
“I can work,” Kat protested weakly, setting down the trashcan. Her stomach was still unhappy, but she was sure it would settle now that it was empty. “We have so much to do. I can’t go home.”
Renee shifted back on one foot and raised her eyebrows. “No. I don’t want what you have. Blech.”
“But...”
“Don’t make me call Cass on you,” Renee threatened. “If she finds out you stayed at work sick, she’ll kick your butt.”
Kat thought for a moment. There was so much work to be done to get the project started. The board had given preliminary approval and things were just starting to gain momentum.
A new wave of nausea washed over Kat. She closed her eyes, telling her stomach that there wasn’t anything left in there to come up. With her eyes closed, she realized just how tired she was. Bone tired. She hadn’t felt this tired in her entire life. It had to be the flu.
“Okay,” Kat agreed. “I’ll go home and work from there.”
“Good,” Renee said. She covered her mouth with her hand and took a step back. “Take your trash with you. It’s gross.”
Kat opened her eyes and stared at the trash can. She knew she should do something about it, but the little energy she had was quickly disappearing. It was as if someone were siphoning it all off.
“Seriously?” Renee scoffed as Kat just stared at the trash. “It’s a good thing that I’m such a good friend.”
She picked up the edges of the bag, keeping her face turned as far away as possible and tied the small plastic bag up. With a disgusted look, Renee handed the bag to Kat.