Morgan had that effect on people. She was two years younger than me, and we had cheered together in high school. But she had been bred for her position as a senior vice president of the company since birth. Some people said she ran the business even better than Jensen. It was clear to me that she enjoyed it more.
She commanded attention and respect, and these men, who gave it out so rarely, dished it to her in spades. It didn’t matter what she was wearing or how she looked or how pretty she was—those things that men would never consider about other men but usually judged women on. What mattered with Morgan was that she was smart, loyal, fierce, motivated, and hardworking.
If she didn’t know how to help you with your job, she would learn how to help you. She would go out to the construction sites. She would get her hands dirty if she had to. Morgan Wright was unstoppable.
“Thank you for convening here on such short notice this early in the morning. I’ll make it brief, so you can go back to your coffee breaks,” she said with a mischievous smile.
The men laughed at what wasn’t exactly a joke. I loved how sarcastic Morgan could be without ever breaking character.
“I wanted to let you know that we have reorganized the company a bit, and we’re adding a new level of management to this department that has been needed for some time.”
A rumble of confusion followed that statement.
We needed better management? That was an odd thing to say.
Engineering and project teams along with a few smaller departments all reported directly to their supervisors, and the supervisors met with a team manager for the department. Then, the team managers reported up from there. The way things had worked had never been a problem before.
“Don’t worry. It doesn’t change anything with what you already do. We have recently hired on a new employee who will be filling the void in this area. Is that clear?”
The answer was essentially no.
“We can work out the kinks as we go, but I think this will be a good solution for everyone involved. Let me introduce you to your new boss,” Morgan said.
With a giant grin, she pressed the door open, and in walked none other than Landon fucking Wright.
Nine
Heidi
All eyes turned to Landon, and a short smattering of applause followed his entrance, but I was frozen like a block of ice in the Arctic.
What the hell was Landon Wright doing at Wright Construction, on my floor, in my department? Why was he even in Lubbock?
And, oh my God, he was in a suit. A sharp-cut, clearly custom-fit black suit with a crisp white shirt underneath and a patterned blue tie. His hair was cut shorter than normal, and his dark eyes were aimlessly wandering the room, as if he were lost. A lost, lost puppy trying to find his way in this strange world of corporate America.
Then, his eyes, those puppy-dog eyes, landed on me. He found me standing in the back of the conference room, shell-shocked. Surprise was written on his face, but mine only revealed horror.
Had he really not known that we would be working together when he showed up?
I didn’t know the answer to any of these questions. I didn’t know why he was here or what had happened, but none of it mattered.
Landon Wright was my boss.
He was my boss.
Fuck, he was my motherfucking boss.
I couldn’t process that information. I couldn’t process what Morgan was saying, and I certainly couldn’t understand why he was here, standing a few feet in front of me.
Why would Landon be my boss?
Sure, he had a business degree from Stanford that he’d gotten while on a golf scholarship. He knew his shit. He was perfectly competent. And he was a Wright. But it still didn’t make sense.
It didn’t help the knot that had formed in my stomach and weaseled its way up to my throat. My mouth was dry, and I felt sick. As if it weren’t bad enough that I had kissed him while he was married even if he had been legitimately separated, I didn’t know if I could handle seeing him day in and day out.
I slowly inched toward the door. I couldn’t be here a second longer.
Work was my safe place. My happy place.
He couldn’t take this away from me.
We were still staring at each other, even as he spoke to the department about how excited he was to be here. Though he said it with no enthusiasm. He wasn’t convincing me at least. I knew a lot of the guys looked up to him for his PGA wins, so maybe they didn’t hear how he really sounded. Or they didn’t know him like I did.
I had known him.
Past tense.
Previously.
In another life.
Big difference.
Without a second thought, I broke eye contact, yanked the conference room door open, and disappeared down the hallway. Our side of the building was a graveyard, and I jogged in my high heels down to the restroom.
I burst through the door of the vacant room and pressed my hands onto the counter. I leaned forward and tried to catch my breath. I felt as if I were hyperventilating. Unable to get enough oxygen to feed my brain. My utterly confused and bewildered brain.
“He can’t be my boss,” I whispered to myself. “He can’t be.”
I wanted to call Emery and demand answers. How could she not have known that Landon was coming back to town? How could she not have told me that he would be working here?
Of course, I couldn’t call Emery. And the reason I hadn’t known was because I would completely shut her down anytime she tried to talk about Landon with me. I’d said time and time again that there was nothing between me and Landon. Emery had had him first, and I would never break girl code like that. Yet here I was, having a mental breakdown because he was here.
As it was, Emery was too suspicious about me and Landon. Calling her and demanding answers would only prove her point. And nothing was going on.
Not anymore.
Still…I had so many questions to ask him. They all flew through my brain at lightning speed.
Why was he in Lubbock? Why was he working for Wright Construction? Why wasn’t he golfing? Had he known he’d be my boss? Had he asked to be my boss? Was he here with Miranda? Had their relationship recovered? Did she know that we’d kissed? Did he think about that kiss like I did?
Fuck!
No!
I looked up at myself in the restroom mirror, took a deep breath, and straightened to my full height. I needed to get myself together. This was not the end of the world. Landon wasn’t my direct supervisor. He wasn’t even my supervisor’s supervisor. I didn’t have to see him. I wouldn’t have to come in contact with him. This didn’t even have to be a thing I stressed about.
Besides all of that, this made our entire situation easier. I would never jeopardize my career, the most important thing in my life, for anything.
Rule number 1: Don’t date your coworker.
Rule number 2: Definitely don’t date your boss.
Rule number 3: Forget the taste of your boss’s lips.
Okay, the taste of his lips was a new one, but I needed to follow it anyway because, sometimes, that taste of whiskey would creep right up on me.
The truth was, I had worked too damn hard for this job. Nothing and no one was going to distract me. Not even Landon Wright.
I left the restroom with my head held high. I could do this.
The meeting had been adjourned when I got back to my desk.