Lib Novel Page 15
“Absolutely. So keep yourself safe, Daisy Price. You’re extremely valuable to me until next week.”
As Charles saunters off, his grin lingering, I storm back into the restaurant. “You are so dead, Vi. How am I going to go back to work tomorrow and face my boss?”
“What do you mean?” Violet’s jaw slackens as she stares at me in disbelief. “Did you miss what just happened? We asked for a prince, and Charles strolled in. Who else is more princely in this town than Charles Hawthorne?”
“Holy crap!” Willow gasps.
“I can’t believe it!” Elodie’s voice is filled with awe.
“Are you all out of your minds?” I throw my hands into the air. “Charles is the furthest thing from my prince, if I even have one!” I sink into my chair. “He saw those pictures in my hand. He probably thinks I’m some kind of pervert.” I groan, banging my head against the table.
I imagine every possible scenario where Charles won’t be ridiculing me tomorrow, but short of getting hit by a truck and ending up in a coma, there’s no escape.
Dragging my feet, I enter the office building.
As I pass through all the security protocols to reach Charles’ floor, I earnestly pray for a glitch to keep me outside, away from my boss. But of course, everything runs smoothly today like every other day.
I don’t even bother swapping my heels for comfy fur slippers this morning, knowing he’ll summon me soon enough.
And have I ever been wrong when it comes to my boss?
Logging in to my computer, I find his email on the top of my inbox.
From: CHARLES A. HAWTHORNE
To: DAISY PRICE
I would like to discuss something urgent with you. See me in my office as soon as you get this email.
– Charles A. Hawthorne
CEO, Hawthorne Holdings &
Board of Directors, Elixir Inc.
Urgent, my foot.
Ignoring the message, I focus on the real urgent emails in my inbox until my desk phone buzzes.
“Daisy, can you come in here, please?” His voice is a blend of honey and wine, a sweet and dangerous combination. The please sounded less like a request and more like a demand.
“If it’s not urgent, I’d like to go through my emails first.”
“Did you miss my message? As I mentioned, this is extremely urgent.”
“I didn’t see it. It must be buried in my unread emails.”
Charles chuckles, sending goose bumps across my skin.
“You know I get read receipts on my emails, right?”
Asshole.
“Don’t waste time, Daisy. Come in.”
I end the call, my shoulders slumping with resignation. There’s no escape.
Grabbing a pen and a Post-it pad without worrying about the color, I drag my feet toward his office. Knocking once on the door, I enter to find Charles leaning back in his chair, his smug smile intact.