King of Hearts
Page 32
Had I mentioned how much I really, really loved this girl? Getting comfortable, I told her everything. And when I was done, she threw a blanket over me, because I’d already drifted off to sleep.
***
On Monday morning, King needed me to assist him with a small meeting in one of the conference rooms. It was with a client company whose shares he was supposed to value so that they could be sold on to investors. At least, that was the gist I got of it. I had a folder full of spreadsheets that Eleanor had prepared, so all I needed to do was hand them out, make tea and coffee, and take notes of what was discussed during the meeting.
Oh, and did I mention that King was being weird with me?
I couldn’t tell if it was because of our conversation driving home from the shoot, or something else. To be honest, I thought it might be a bit of both. He seemed preoccupied, and it couldn’t all have been because of me.
The clients hadn’t arrived yet, and King had just finished having a chat with Daniel James, who had dropped into the conference room for a minute, when I lightly touched my hand to his elbow. I know we’d made that no touching rule, but I felt compelled to do it anyway.
“You okay, boss?” I asked softly.
His posture showed that he was definitely wound tight, and all the air seemed to rush right out of him. “Alexis,” he said, and turned his body to face mine. His usually bright eyes seemed tired, and he looked like he hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep. He spoke low, like he didn’t want anyone else to hear. “My mother had a bad episode last night. She…I had to take her to the hospital.”
Shocked by the admission, I gave his elbow a squeeze. “Oh, my God, is she all right?”
“She’s stable now.”
I wanted to ask him what had happened, but a moment later the clients arrived. King went to greet them, and I busied myself with the documents. It was a minute or two before I recognized one of them. Her name was Mila Rhodes, and I’d seen her before in a picture at King’s apartment. She was his ex-girlfriend, the one he broke up with because she wanted more than he could give.
Well, this was interesting.
I wondered if they’d met through doing business together. King didn’t seem at all affected by her presence. In fact, he still seemed preoccupied, probably over worry for his mum. He shook Mila’s hand and said hello to her just like he did the three men she’d arrived with. After the pleasantries were over, we all sat and got down to business. I sat on one side of King, my work laptop open in front of me to type down notes. The entire thing would have been a complete snoozefest if it weren’t for the underlying tension emanating from both Mila and her colleague, a middle-aged man named Vincent Jones.
I was good at reading people. Put it down to my years of bar work, watching how others interacted in social settings. And it was clear that something was going on between Mila and Vincent. I saw him touch her hand at one point during the meeting, but she’d very subtly pushed his fingers away, glancing surreptitiously at King, who was entirely oblivious to the exchange. Not me, though. I’d caught all of it, and surmised that Mila was having a relationship with Vincent that she didn’t want King to be aware of. Perhaps she was holding out hope he’d change his mind about settling down and come back to her. She didn’t want him to know about Vincent, that was for sure.
My seat was right next to King’s, and my laptop was open as I took the minutes for the meeting. At one point King leaned over to glance at my screen, his shoulder brushing mine as he shook his head. He wanted to correct something I’d written, but instead of telling me to do it, he reached over and did it himself. Practically leaning over me, he deleted a section of my notes before correcting them. I had no idea what to do with my hands as he typed, and felt a hot blush mark my cheeks at his familiarity and closeness. His cologne smelled gorgeous.
Even though Vincent had been talking the whole time, his voice filling the room, Mila hadn’t failed to notice. I saw her brows narrow in suspicion, and she cast me a considering look. And yes, just as before, King was entirely oblivious to it all, his mind focused completely on work.
The whole thing just made me feel awkward.
I didn’t know how to deal with posh people drama. If something like this were to happen at home, for instance, if one woman was jealous of another, it’d be handbags at dawn, earrings out, and a hair-pulling session. But here, in this professional environment inhabited by the wealthy and privileged, it was all narrow-eyed looks, passive-aggressive comments, and repressed anger.
I was practically bursting with the need to simply shout, There’s nothing going on! Because that’s what I’d do in any other setting, but not here. Here my employment was at stake. Soon the meeting drew to a close, and I excused myself to go use the bathroom. I’d just left the stall and was washing my hands when the door swung open and Mila Rhodes strode in.
Oh, for fu….
“Hello, Alexis,” she said, coming and setting her handbag by the sink. I nodded hello to her and turned off the tap as she pulled out a tube of lip gloss and began smearing it across her heart-shaped mouth. She was a petite little thing, at least a few inches shorter than me, and extremely pretty. She had one of those doll faces that always looked young, no matter the person’s age.
I had just turned to leave when Mila asked blatantly, “Are you fucking him?”
Well. Maybe these posh types didn’t beat around the bush after all.
I turned back around. “Excuse me?”
***
On Monday morning, King needed me to assist him with a small meeting in one of the conference rooms. It was with a client company whose shares he was supposed to value so that they could be sold on to investors. At least, that was the gist I got of it. I had a folder full of spreadsheets that Eleanor had prepared, so all I needed to do was hand them out, make tea and coffee, and take notes of what was discussed during the meeting.
Oh, and did I mention that King was being weird with me?
I couldn’t tell if it was because of our conversation driving home from the shoot, or something else. To be honest, I thought it might be a bit of both. He seemed preoccupied, and it couldn’t all have been because of me.
The clients hadn’t arrived yet, and King had just finished having a chat with Daniel James, who had dropped into the conference room for a minute, when I lightly touched my hand to his elbow. I know we’d made that no touching rule, but I felt compelled to do it anyway.
“You okay, boss?” I asked softly.
His posture showed that he was definitely wound tight, and all the air seemed to rush right out of him. “Alexis,” he said, and turned his body to face mine. His usually bright eyes seemed tired, and he looked like he hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep. He spoke low, like he didn’t want anyone else to hear. “My mother had a bad episode last night. She…I had to take her to the hospital.”
Shocked by the admission, I gave his elbow a squeeze. “Oh, my God, is she all right?”
“She’s stable now.”
I wanted to ask him what had happened, but a moment later the clients arrived. King went to greet them, and I busied myself with the documents. It was a minute or two before I recognized one of them. Her name was Mila Rhodes, and I’d seen her before in a picture at King’s apartment. She was his ex-girlfriend, the one he broke up with because she wanted more than he could give.
Well, this was interesting.
I wondered if they’d met through doing business together. King didn’t seem at all affected by her presence. In fact, he still seemed preoccupied, probably over worry for his mum. He shook Mila’s hand and said hello to her just like he did the three men she’d arrived with. After the pleasantries were over, we all sat and got down to business. I sat on one side of King, my work laptop open in front of me to type down notes. The entire thing would have been a complete snoozefest if it weren’t for the underlying tension emanating from both Mila and her colleague, a middle-aged man named Vincent Jones.
I was good at reading people. Put it down to my years of bar work, watching how others interacted in social settings. And it was clear that something was going on between Mila and Vincent. I saw him touch her hand at one point during the meeting, but she’d very subtly pushed his fingers away, glancing surreptitiously at King, who was entirely oblivious to the exchange. Not me, though. I’d caught all of it, and surmised that Mila was having a relationship with Vincent that she didn’t want King to be aware of. Perhaps she was holding out hope he’d change his mind about settling down and come back to her. She didn’t want him to know about Vincent, that was for sure.
My seat was right next to King’s, and my laptop was open as I took the minutes for the meeting. At one point King leaned over to glance at my screen, his shoulder brushing mine as he shook his head. He wanted to correct something I’d written, but instead of telling me to do it, he reached over and did it himself. Practically leaning over me, he deleted a section of my notes before correcting them. I had no idea what to do with my hands as he typed, and felt a hot blush mark my cheeks at his familiarity and closeness. His cologne smelled gorgeous.
Even though Vincent had been talking the whole time, his voice filling the room, Mila hadn’t failed to notice. I saw her brows narrow in suspicion, and she cast me a considering look. And yes, just as before, King was entirely oblivious to it all, his mind focused completely on work.
The whole thing just made me feel awkward.
I didn’t know how to deal with posh people drama. If something like this were to happen at home, for instance, if one woman was jealous of another, it’d be handbags at dawn, earrings out, and a hair-pulling session. But here, in this professional environment inhabited by the wealthy and privileged, it was all narrow-eyed looks, passive-aggressive comments, and repressed anger.
I was practically bursting with the need to simply shout, There’s nothing going on! Because that’s what I’d do in any other setting, but not here. Here my employment was at stake. Soon the meeting drew to a close, and I excused myself to go use the bathroom. I’d just left the stall and was washing my hands when the door swung open and Mila Rhodes strode in.
Oh, for fu….
“Hello, Alexis,” she said, coming and setting her handbag by the sink. I nodded hello to her and turned off the tap as she pulled out a tube of lip gloss and began smearing it across her heart-shaped mouth. She was a petite little thing, at least a few inches shorter than me, and extremely pretty. She had one of those doll faces that always looked young, no matter the person’s age.
I had just turned to leave when Mila asked blatantly, “Are you fucking him?”
Well. Maybe these posh types didn’t beat around the bush after all.
I turned back around. “Excuse me?”
