Off the Cuff Read online

  It wasn’t coming out. I knew it, the mustard knew it, and so did my shirt.

  I gave up and returned to my desk, opening the bottom drawer to pull out my spare shirt, only to find the space empty. A groan left me, and I banged my head against my desk.

  A similar disaster had hit last week, and I’d used my backup and apparently forgot to bring another one back.

  “Fantastic,” I hissed just as my calendar app chimed.

  Up popped an event reminder, and I glanced at the clock. There were only fifteen minutes until my one o’clock meeting with Matt and Donte. Thankfully, I just had the re-read of my social media pitch to deal with after that.

  I cleaned up my mess before detaching my laptop, grabbing my water, and heading to Matt’s office. As soon as I entered, Donte gave me a sad smile.

  “Rough day?”

  A whimper left me. “Tell me it gets easier.”

  He patted my arm. “It does, and it will. Teething?”

  I nodded. “I think I maybe got two solid hours of sleep and a few cat-naps.”

  Donte was another of the few people who knew about Kinsey. It wasn’t that I was keeping her a secret per se, but I only interacted with a few people in my department. I didn’t feel the need to scream out that I suddenly had a baby.

  Donte had two kids himself, so he understood.

  “Sorry about that,” Matt said as he rushed in and got settled back at his desk. “How’s everyone’s day today?” He looked me up and down, then shook his head at my new stain.

  “Yeah, it’s that good,” I said with a chuckle. Because if I didn’t laugh, I might cry from exhaustion.

  “Get some sleep tonight,” Matt directed.

  “Can you tell the ten-month-old that? Because she doesn’t seem to agree.”

  Both men chuckled.

  Matt drummed his hands on his desktop. “Okay. The boss wants us to draw up some materials for the initial public announcement of the Worthington Exchange takeover. He wants their customers to be reassured and excited about the changes.”

  “Print graphics? Commercials? What media are we talking about?” I asked in an attempt to get a handle on the scope while tamping down the excitement buzzing through me.

  “All.”

  My eyes widened. “That is a huge undertaking.”

  “Which is why I’m giving it to you two. You’re going to hand over a lot of your other commitments to Liza and Mateo. This will be your focus.”

  Donte nodded. “Sounds good.”

  Matt drummed his hands on his desk again. “All right, get to it. Roe’s getting me the social media proposal and Donte’s got the editorial in by…”

  “Tomorrow afternoon,” Donte replied.

  “Excellent. Off you go,” Matt said, shooing us from the room.

  “We should nab some time in one of the conference rooms this week,” Donte said as soon as we were out of the door and headed back to our desks.

  I nodded in agreement. “Definitely.” They always seemed to fill up fast, and we would need a few hours each day to talk things out without disturbing people working around us.

  “Now to finish up this social media pitch and figure out what information I need to send with these other projects.”

  “Want me to go over the pitch for you?”

  “Would you mind? I’d really appreciate it.” I reattached my laptop to the docking station and woke my computer up. “I’ve spent the last two weeks on it and could really use another set of eyes.”

  “No problem. This is just for ads, right?”

  I nodded. “Facebook. Twitter. Instagram.” My eyes narrowed at the screen. Something wasn’t right. I’d enlarged the top font earlier in the day, and it was smaller. I scrolled down, and a few other things I’d changed were also missing.

  A prickle of panic shot through me, and my stomach dropped.

  “No. No, no, no.” My eyes were wide as my breath left me. I saved before I left. I knew I did, but it was back to the point of my arrival that morning. “I saved before lunch, but all those updates are gone!”

  “Calm down,” Donte said over my shoulder. “We’ll find it.”

  “I will seriously cry if it’s gone,” I said, on the verge of tears as I sat back to let him get closer. I couldn’t even think straight, and I was thankful Donte was there with a clear mind.

  He leaned over me, focused on a list of files. It was a few minutes before he clicked on one. “I think I found it,” he said.

  The file popped open, and I gave a huge sigh when I saw a more recent update. As I scrolled through, I noticed it wasn’t to the point it was when I left for lunch, but it was closer.

  “Almost, but a lot better than that other one.”

  “It’s a large file. You may have closed it down before it finished saving.”

  That made sense. I was rushing to get out to pick up lunch. “My fault, then.” I looked at him and gave him a strained smile. “Thank you so much.”

  “Is it too far off from where you were?” he asked, scanning the file along with me.

  I shook my head. “No, but it still stings, given the day I’ve had, and this delays me more.”

  “It’ll be okay,” he said as he straightened. “Take a few deep breaths, get some coffee, and maybe put in your earbuds to drown everything out.”

  “That sounds like a great idea.”

  He smiled down at me. “About time to recognize.”

  A laugh left me, and I rolled my eyes. “All right, you’ve got mad skills.”

  “That’s what I’m talking about.”

  “Thank you again, Donte. So much.”

  He grinned at me. “I got you, dog.”

  After he stepped away, I took a more in-depth look at the proposal. Thankfully, I didn’t lose much. The only reprieve to my day.

  I made a few alterations, staring at the screen until a yawn rolled through me.

  Coffee time.

  When I got to the break room, I let out a whine at the empty pot sitting on the burner. Why didn’t the person who took the last cup make a new pot? We were all coffee addicts; it wasn’t like it was going to go to waste.

  As I prepared a new pot, another yawn moved through me. I prayed that sleep would fill my night.

  I leaned over the counter of the break room, watching the pot of coffee slowly fill. The smell of the fresh brew lifted my spirits, and it helped me knowing soon I’d have a delicious cup in hand that would help me get through the next few hours.

  “Are you okay, Roe?” January asked.

  I blew out a breath and turned to her. “It’s the worst case of the Mondays. Please tell me it will get better. Lie if you have to.”

  “Oh, sweetie.” Her gaze moved down my shirt. “It will get better. Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

  Before I could ask or have her just meet me at my desk, she was gone.

  My eyes drooped for a second, heavy as afternoon drowsiness hit and combined with my already tired state. After ten months of caring for my baby niece, you’d think I’d have the perpetual lack of sleep down to an art form, but alas, it wasn’t so. There was no such thing as getting used to operating on just a few broken hours of sleep. A quick intake of breath and some blinks shook me awake, at least for a moment.

  While I spaced out, the dripping of the coffee subsided and I poured a cup. The smell was divine, and I pulled a container from the fridge. I loved to mix in some premade cold mocha to cool it down faster and make it even yummier. I took a sip of my coffee, a moan leaving me. Perfect.

  In my tuned-out state, I wasn’t aware there was someone behind me. As I turned, my elbow caught his outstretched arm. The jostle sent a wave of coffee over the lip of the mug. Hot, dark liquid splashed across my hand and the clothing covering the person behind me.

  My eyes were wide as my body bowed back to avoid more of it landing on me, my hand stinging from the warmth. Thankfully the mocha had cooled it down some.

  “Oh, crap. I am so sorry!” My shit day that was h
aving a brighter moment just got even worse.

  “Fucking incompetent twit!” he spat as he grabbed for some paper towels.

  My mouth dropped open. “I am so sorry,” I apologized again, my brain stuck in blame-taking mode even though his words were grating on me. It could also be partially blamed on the hotness towering over me.

  The man before me with his whip of a tongue was just as lashing with his looks. I’d seen him around before. Who wouldn’t have noticed that razor line of a jaw, stunning blue eyes, dark hair, or his perfect body in a suit that had to be custom made?

  He may have starred in a fantasy or two of mine, but that was to be expected with a man like him.

  My gaze caught on the flicker of his black cuff links as they glimmered with each swipe of his hand. They struck me as odd and off brand from what little personality I’d built up in my head.

  “Sorry doesn’t fix this,” he growled at me.

  He was pissed, and for some reason, that was funny to me. Of course Mr. Too-Sexy-For-His-Suit had a bad attitude. It was an accident. If he’d done something as simple as alerting me to his presence behind me, it wouldn’t have happened.

  Past his looks, I knew who he was in name only, but our encounter showed me that it was more than enough.

  “It was an accident. If anyone is at fault, it’s you for sneaking up on me.”

  He glared down at me, taking in my stained shirt, and tsked.

  “You are incompetent,” he sneered as he brushed a wet paper towel against his shirt.

  Incompetent?

  The word repeated in my mind as I stared at him.

  The day had been long, the challenges hard, and I had battle scars in the form of the discoloration of my shirt to prove it.

  The vein on my forehead throbbed, and the anger that simmered under my frustration of the day boiled over.

  I’d had a shit day, and he was the icing on that cake. Icing I didn’t want. I already had formula, mustard, and coffee.

  Fuck. Him.

  I narrowed my gaze at him before extending my arm and tipping my cup, splashing another dark stain onto the very expensive, fitted suit he filled out so well.

  “Oops.” I smiled, watching the brown soak into the white of his dress shirt before heading to the doorway where January was standing, a detergent pen in her hand, jaw dropped as she witnessed what just happened.

  “Thanks,” I said as I snatched the pen from her, ignoring the death glare being burned into the back of my head.

  Well, my day didn’t get better, but I sure felt better after that.

  His words played out in my mind long after I’d left work for the day. Even though the night went by without a peep, I couldn’t move past the feelings he inspired in me. Was I truly inadequate, or was he just a dick?

  It seemed maybe Kinsey was just as tired as I was. After dinner, she passed out and so did I.

  In the morning, I felt refreshed and was determined to have a better day than the day before. I’d been able to get my social media pitch in, and I was going to start the day out passing off projects before meeting with Donte in the afternoon.

  It was a new day, and I was excited for my new assignment.

  When I arrived at my desk, there was obviously something wrong—my laptop was missing. Everything else was where I left it, but in place of my company laptop was a simple blank Donovan Trading and Investment business card. Instead of an employee’s information, neat handwriting in all capital letters spelled out—YOU’RE MINE.

  I stared down at the words, trying to understand their meaning.

  First thing I needed to do was to find out where my laptop had run away to. I often took it home, but I knew there was no way I was getting work done after the shit day I’d had.

  A knock to my boss’s open door drew his attention, and he looked up.

  “Morning,” he said as he waved me in. “Great job on that pitch.”

  His compliment did little to settle my nerves, which were strangely on edge. “Where’s my computer?”

  He froze, then cleared his throat. “Ah, about that. You’ve been reassigned.”

  I froze. “Reassigned? What does that mean?” I demanded.

  He held up his hands. “It’s just temporary.”

  “Why?”

  He let out a sigh and rubbed at the back of his neck. I liked Matt, he was a good guy to work for, but something was off.

  “Because you had a bad day yesterday and pissed off an exec, and the whole office heard about it. You know how gossip is.”

  The simmering anger morphed into a stone sitting in the pit of my stomach, growing larger and denser with each passing second. The asshole was an executive. Figured, with the expensive suit and sexy scowl.

  I knew my behavior was wrong, but the man didn’t need to respond the way he did. Accidents happened, and he’d hit the right nerve on the wrong day. No regrets or anything, but I knew what was happening was punishment.

  “How is this even possible? I’m in Marketing!”

  “He’s the President of Acquisitions. The Worthington takeover takes precedent. He needs help, and he has decided you are the one to fill that role.”

  “What about my Worthington project?”

  “Donte will become lead, and you will assist. I’ve worked it out that you will still be able to work on it some while helping Carthwright.”

  Some.

  Anger coursed through me. I’d worked so hard to get where I was. The prestige of such a project would greatly help my career—only now the credit I’d hoped to receive might not come, affecting my evaluations and raises for years to come.

  All for a couple of drops of coffee.

  And then a lot more when that pretty mouth of his started insulting me.

  “He’s waiting for you.”

  I shook my head. “I’m not going to be some asshole’s gopher as punishment for an accident.”

  He stared at me, his eyebrow raised, and I rolled my eyes in response.

  “Please, Roe. I promise you it’s temporary. Everything will be back to normal in no time.”

  “No,” I said as I shook my head.

  “There’s only one other choice in the matter, and I know with your situation you don’t want to take it.”

  He hit a nerve there. No way was I able to just quit. Taking care of Kinsey had drained a lot of my savings over the last year. While I did get assistance from the state and she was on Medicaid, without Pete paying half the rent, the full amount fell on me.

  That, and babies were expensive.

  And so were cute baby clothes.

  “I can’t believe this is happening.”

  “You’ll be back in no time and can jump right back in with Donte.”

  “This isn’t fair.”

  “You, more than many, know that life is rarely fair.”

  I nodded. I’d made my bed and I would lie in it, albeit unwillingly.

  I returned to my desk and got my bag. If I needed anything else, I could always come back, but for now, I was going to go meet with the asshole ruining my life.

  I blew out a breath to calm myself.

  You put yourself in this position, I reminded myself. Only I was to blame for my actions, but I still couldn’t believe he’d taken it so far.

  I could feel the strain on the muscles of my face from the frown of disgust I was wearing. I’d never really ventured to this side of the building. There just wasn’t a need, which probably explained why I’d never really seen him but on occasion. Then again, Donovan Trading and Investment occupied three floors, and I’d only seen two because I was always at my desk.

  The laptop was sitting on the desk right outside his office. With it were two monitors, one attached to the desktop for his assistant, I gathered. Maybe I’d have more time than I thought if he had the foresight to set up a second workstation.

  Then again, Matt did say he got Carthwright to allow me to also work on my regular work. It would be slow, but at least for some of the day I could forg
et where I was.

  “Come on in,” a deep, smooth voice called from the door behind me.

  I took a breath in and a breath out before I turned and stepped inside, my fists clenching and unclenching with each step. Steps that faltered when my eyes met his.

  I knew he was good looking, but seeing him up close, getting my first real good look at him, I was stunned. He went past the fantasy version I’d built. I didn’t remember him to be show-stopping attractive. The glower he was shooting me only intensified his gorgeous eyes and the angles of his face. His dark hair was very short on the sides and longer on top and was perfectly swept back.

  “Miss Pierce,” Carthwright said as I stopped a few feet from the edge of his desk.

  “It’s Roe,” I said as I crossed my arms in front of me, my hip cocking to the side as I shifted my weight—a movement that didn’t go unnoticed by him.

  His gaze locked on mine. “I’m well aware. Do you know who I am?”

  “The suit I bumped into by accident and unfortunately splashed some coffee onto.”

  “Anything else?”

  “Carthwright.” The Assholian. I snickered internally.

  He leaned back, his eyes still studying me. “I’m the President of Acquisitions. Do you know what that means?”

  I sighed and shifted my weight again, cocking the other hip. Talking to me like I was stupid was my biggest pet peeve. “You’re working the Worthington takeover.”

  “That was an expensive suit.”

  “Was?” I quirked a brow. “Did I sully it and you had to put it out of its misery?”

  The fuck-me eyes of his glowered at me again, but I caught the uptick of his lip. His full, kissable lips.

  Get ahold of yourself, Roe!

  “Feisty. Yes, I can work with that.”

  Feisty?

  I wasn’t sure what his game was, but I’d never had someone get under my skin so easily or fast. I knew better than to accept people at face value. I also knew I couldn’t trust them as far as I could throw them. And Thane Carthwright? Well, I didn’t think I could even get that man a centimeter off the ground.

  He was easily over a foot taller than my even five feet.

  “Why am I here?” I asked in an attempt to steer my thoughts away from the god-like man in front of me.