“The receptionist here at work is a friend of mine and she’s been out sick all week. I’m worried about her.”
“If you’re hoping to head over to her place and check up on her, you should get the address from her.”
“I would if she’d return my calls.” I ran my fingertip around the lip of my coffee mug and stared at the collage of pictures of Gideon and me that decorated my desk.
“Are you not on speaking terms at the moment?”
“No, we’re not fighting or anything. It’s just not like her to not get in touch with me, especially when she’s calling in sick to work every day. She’s a chatty girl, you know?”
“No,” he drawled. “I have no idea.”
If it had been any other guy who’d said that, I would think he was being sarcastic. But not Gideon. I didn’t think he’d ever really talked with women in any meaningful way. He was too often clueless when interacting with me, as if his social development hadn’t quite been well rounded when it came to dealing with the opposite sex.
“Then you’ll have to take my word for it, ace. I just … I want to make sure she’s all right.”
“My lawyer’s standing right here, but I don’t have to ask him about the legality of giving you the information you’re asking for via the means you’ve suggested. Call Raúl. He’ll find her.”
“Really?” An image of the dark-haired, dark-eyed security specialist ran through my mind. “Is he going to be okay with that?”
“Angel, he’s paid to be okay with everything.”
“Oh.” I fiddled with my pen. I knew I shouldn’t feel uncomfortable using Gideon’s resources, but it made me feel as if our relationship were unbalanced in his favor. While I didn’t believe he would ever hold that over me, I didn’t think he’d see me as equal to him, either, and that was really important to me.
He had already taken care of issues on his own that I should’ve been a part of. Like Sam Yimara’s horrid sex tape of Brett and me. And Nathan.
Still, I asked, “How do I reach him?”
“I’ll text you his number.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
“I want either myself, Angus, or Raúl with you when you go see her.”
“And that wouldn’t be awkward at all.” I glanced at Mark’s office to make sure my boss didn’t need me for anything. I tried not to make personal calls at work, but Megumi had been out for four days straight without a single returned call or text the whole time.
“Don’t throw me that ‘chicks before dicks’ line, Eva. You need to give me something here.”
I got the subtext. He was worried about me going to San Diego and was letting that issue slide. I had to bend a little somewhere else in return. “Okay, okay. If she’s not back in the office on Monday, we’ll figure out how to handle it.”
“Good. Anything else?”
“No. That’s it.” My gaze returned to a photo of him and my heart hurt just a little, the way it always did when I looked at him. “Thank you. I hope you have an amazing day. I love you madly, you know. And no, I don’t expect you to say it back while your lawyer’s hanging around.”
“Eva.” There was an aching note in his voice that moved me more than words ever could. “Come see me when you get off work.”
“Sure. Don’t forget to call Cary about taking your jet.”
“Consider it done.”
I hung up and sat back in my chair.
“Good morning, Eva.”
I swiveled to face Christine Field, the executive chairman. “Good morning.”
“I wanted to congratulate you again on your engagement.” Her gaze went past my shoulder to the framed photos behind me. “I’m sorry, I hadn’t realized you and Gideon Cross were dating.”
“That’s okay. I try not to talk about my personal life at work.”
I made the statement casually, because I didn’t want to antagonize one of the partners. Still, I hoped she got the hint. Gideon was the center of my life, but I needed some parts of it to belong only to me.
She laughed. “That’s good! But just goes to show that I’m not keeping my ear close enough to the ground.”