Conflict of Interest (Employee Relations Book 1) (41 page)

“You strike me as a non-carb kind of man.”

I toss a grape in my mouth. “What makes you say that?”

“I’ve seen the proof,” she motions toward my chest with her hand. “Am I wrong?”

“This is perfect.”

We spend the next fifteen minutes reviewing our schedules. I’ll be in small group meetings with employees throughout the day today and tomorrow, followed by individual meetings with a dozen or so leaders on Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday will be packed with customer meetings followed by a customer event that evening. When we prepared for the trip, Gabriella was curious about the meetings so I invited her along. Aside from a two hour window I carved out on Wednesday to take her to one of my favorite places, Hat and Garden on Leather Lane in the Diamond District, we won’t see each other that much during the daytime.

But I’m the only one she’ll be with at night. Not in the capacity I want but I’m going to take what I can get.

We leave through my door and walk side by side down the hall. Silently, we step into the empty elevator and watch each other in the mirrored walls. I’m surprised I hadn’t noticed yesterday that the entire interior is covered. Cliché or not all sorts of possibilities arise from being trapped with her in a steel cage. Entering her from behind with her breasts pressed against the glass as both of us watch our fogged up reflections is at the top of my list.

The doors begin to close, snapping me back to the present. In a panic I lunge forward to stop them from closing.

“Forgot something. Meet you in the lobby.”

Walking past our rooms I follow the sign for the stairs.
Friends don’t fuck friends in elevators…repeat, repeat, repeat.
Yesterday she literally saw my cock rising under a towel and I was able to control myself, so why am I struggling today?

Bemused, I take my time descending the stairwell and head straight for the garage, blasting the air conditioning as soon as I’m seated behind the wheel. It doesn’t escape me that all I’ve done is trade one steel cage for another, except this one requires me to operate it. It’s a small difference but I’ll take it all the same.

A full five minutes later I text her to meet me out front and swing the car around to get her.

Gabriella gracefully slides into the car and buckles. “Get what you needed?”

“Yup. You ready?”

“Um, yeah.”

She fiddles with the radio and settles back in her seat. “So,” she begins. “Why’d you rent a car when we could have taken taxi’s everywhere?”

Small talk. You can do this.

“We have customer engagements and you mentioned that you hadn’t been to London before. I thought I could show you around on Friday, visit some castles so you can take pictures for Francesca. If that’s all right with you.”

“That sounds amazing. How do you know London so well?”

“Boarding school. I spent four years here and believe it or not I was a lot of fun.”

“Did you own jeans?”

I’m sensing this is a theme. Last night after I dressed she razzed me the entire way to the restaurant. Even if I wanted a pair at this point I refuse to buy them on principal alone.

“No.”

“Then you weren’t fun.”

Shaking my head, I keep my eyes forward but feel the weight of her stare.

“All kidding aside…thank you. It was really thoughtful of you to get the car and offer to show me around.”

I focus on the road and nod once, all the while trying to put into words for myself how her appreciation makes everything more significant.

The day goes perfectly. I shoot an email to Jack letting him know just that and wait in the lobby for Gabriella to join me. While I was busy spending time with employees trying to understand their challenges from a product standpoint, Gabriella was meeting with middle management to deliver an all-day training session on performance management.

I scroll through my emails and find one from Brandon with his resignation. After what he pulled with trying to get that woman fired, I laid into him. Guess he couldn’t take the heat and I’m in no way sorry to see him go.

“You’re rather happy. Good day?”

Gabriella stands in front of me.

“It was, but that’s not why I was smiling.”

I hand her my phone and let her read the email herself. “That is definitely a reason to smile. He probably knew he’d be issued a performance improvement plan long before she was.”

“Exactly. You ready?”

“Ready to get out of these shoes. I’m not looking forward to stepping into the heat though.”

“Not to worry. I ran out ten minutes ago, started the car and cranked the air conditioner.”

“Oh, my God, you’re my hero!”

Gabriella teeters forward. For a second she looks like she’s going to hug me but she catches herself. There’s a good chance she’ll never hug me again and I hate that I did it to myself.

“I’ll do it tomorrow. Keep things even,” she says casually.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m not keeping score.”

“Okay then,” she lifts her shoulder casually as we head to the parking garage. “Tell me about your day.”

“I’m actually still processing. Why don’t you tell me first?”

While I can turn on the charm and enjoy leading group discussions, it drains me. Listening to Gabriella, I’d say she’s the opposite. She may be exhausted but the entire ride back to the hotel she energetically tells me about her day.

Turns out her training session was more interactive than she’d experienced with the U.S. employees. The London management team feels the company’s take on performance management is behind the times. They want more recognition, opportunities to work on innovative projects that matter and most of all they want to feel good about the products they deliver. Apparently they have the notion that their U.S. counterparts get to work on the cool stuff and they get the shit work.

Conversation continues to flow and before I know it I’m unlocking the door to my hotel room. Gabriella follows me inside.

“Oh shit, sorry. I’ve been talking your ear off and didn’t pay attention.”

“No worries, the adjoining door is still open. Like a short cut.”

She kicks her shoes into her room from where she stands and drops her bag just inside her room. “I had big hopes for dinner in the city tonight but I think I’m too tired.”

“Me too. Room service?”

“Perfect. We can review your notes if you want.”

I frown. “I’d rather relax if that’s alright. Watch a movie or something.”

“I have the best idea! Let’s watch the original Office. I’ve heard the UK version is so much better and I LOVE Ricky Gervais.”

“You can YouTube that you know?”

“Yeah but it wouldn’t be the same experience watching it at home. Come on.”

Her pleading is too cute to ignore so I cave.

We search all available channels and end up having to YouTube it anyway. Gabriella is curled up on the small couch, hysterical for most of the show, and I’m sitting on the floor. I could have easily shared the couch with her or sat on the bed for that matter; a lack of physical control ruled out the first and the other seemed like an invitation.

Being friends isn’t so hard when we’re working. It’s times like now, when we cross over into this personal territory that I find it impossible to be near her without touching her. Hence why I’m sitting on the floor halfway across the room. I was well on my way to being drunk when we kissed last weekend but I didn’t imaging the spark. I’m certain of this since I feel fully charged when I’m in her presence, even if we aren’t touching.

Around 10PM Gabriella checks her phone. We’re both struggling to keep our eyes open so we say goodnight and agree on getting an early start to check out a local breakfast place.

At two in the morning I wake with a jolt when the adjoining door opens and Gabriella groans. I’m so out of it I can’t tell if this is a dream or not so I force myself out of bed. I stumble across the room to where light floods in from Gabriella’s room. My vision’s still adjusting but I’m positive I see her silhouette in the doorway.

“Gabriella? What’s wrong?” I ask, my voice gravely from sleep.

The second her door’s fully open I’m hit with a heat wave. Squinting at the brightness, I rub my eyes and find Gabriella drenched in a light pink tank top and cotton sleep pants that cling to her body.

I’m instantly hard.

Get a grip, mate.

“Sorry to wake you. My air conditioning isn’t working and I wanted to see if yours was before I called the front desk.”

Her shoulders sag and her eyes close as she steps through the doorway into my room. “Guess it’s just mine.”

“I’ll take a look.” I push past her and enter her room to inspect the cooling unit. There’s a flashing caution sign. Being semiconscious, I mess with the unit for about ten seconds before giving up and call the front desk.

“Hi, I’m calling about an issue with the air conditioner in room 616. Can you send someone up?”

“I’m sorry, sir. All our technicians are attending to other guests at the moment. Twenty-eight rooms have been impacted by one of our units crashing. We don’t have anyone available until 6AM.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, sir. Would you like me to check availability for another room?”

“No, that’s not necessary. Send someone up first thing in the morning,” I grumble and hang up. Turning to Gabriella I give her a shortened version. “It’s not just your room. There’s nothing they can do tonight.”

“What kind of place is this?”

“London’s not usually this hot, Gabriella.”

“I can’t sleep like this.” She looks though the open door to my room. “Can we leave the door open to cool it down in here?”

“And break my air conditioner? I don’t think so.”

She picks up the phone. “What are you doing?”

“Getting another room.”

I take the phone from her hand and set it back in the receiver. “Come on.”

I grab her blanket and pillow and lead her into my room. “Take my bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“I can’t do that to you. I’ll sleep on the floor or maybe the couch.”

“Not gonna happen. Besides the couch is more like a love seat, you can’t even lie down.”

“Lucas, I didn’t wake you up to put you out like this.”

“It’s fine. Go to sleep.”

“But it’s your room.”

“You’re not sleeping on the floor and if I get in that bed it’s not going to be alone. I’m sure you can imagine how well that’d play out for our friendship. Now…go to bed.”

She stands at the end of the bed for a minute while I toss the pillows on the ground. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m all wet. I need to change my clothes. I’ll be right back.”

Lord help me now.

I pull my white t-shirt over my head and toss it to her. “Here.”

She looks at the crumpled shirt in her hands for several beats before padding to the bathroom. I don’t care that it would have taken two seconds for her to change into her own clothes in her room. For some reason I want her sleeping in mine. I turn off the light and settle on the floor, resting my head on her pillow and fall asleep inhaling her scent.

The next morning I wake freezing and sore. Wanting nothing more than to yank down the covers and give her a wake-up call, I quietly change and leave for the gym, turning the air off so she’s not uncomfortable when she wakes.

When I return I realize that might not have been the best idea. Instead of being buried in a mountain of pillows and blankets like she was when I left, she’s kicked off the covers and is lying face down, wrapped around my pillow. She swims in my shirt and I’m sure if she were standing it’d hit right about mid-thigh. Right now? It’s halfway up her back, exposing her legs and thanks to the inventor of thongs, her glorious backside too.

My dick jumps at the sight. I lightly cover her and force myself to walk away and get ready before she wakes. She’d be embarrassed and regressing to awkwardness when we’re getting on isn’t what either of us needs. Once I’m dressed, I call the front desk to confirm what time the maintenance guy will be fixing her air conditioning unit. Turns out he’s on his way up.

Sitting on the bed I set Gabriella’s coffee on the table and gently shake her shoulder. She groans, pushing my hand away and rolls back into the pillow. It’s adorable. I shake my head. When the fuck did I get so soft?

“Gabriella, you need to get up.”

“Too early.”

I chuckle. “The maintenance guy will be here any minute and who knows how long it’ll take. You should get your things and shower in here so we still have time for breakfast.”

Gabriella’s eyes pop open and I can tell she’s wary of my motive. “In here?”

“Relax, it wasn’t an invitation to join me…I’m almost done getting dressed. I’m not comfortable with you showering in there while some stranger is working in your room. Alright? I’ll wait downstairs in the lobby.”

“Okay.” She pushes up on her elbows and reaches for her coffee, gulping it like water.

I stand and head to closet to select a tie when she appears at my side.

“Wear this one,” she says, pulling the black and grey stripped tie off the hanger. Slipping in front of me she flips my collar up and loops the fabric around my neck and proceeds to tie the perfect Windsor.

“My parents were always chasing my brothers around to get them ready for church on Sunday’s. My dad taught me how to tie a tie so that it was even. Man on man versus zone defense I guess.”

I grin picturing a miniature Gabriella chasing her brother with a tie. Probably with the rock in tow.

My resolve is cracking.

The woman I want…the only woman I want…is getting me ready while wearing nothing more than my shirt and a thong. Pretending to be unaffected is impossible. I stuff my hands in my pocket and remind myself why nothing can happen between us.

I’ve worked hard to prove myself and earn everything I have. My education. My career. My…

Holy shit. That’s all I have. Two things, mainly my success, sum up who I am. Yes, I have money outside of what I’ve earned but I’ve never viewed that as mine. Suddenly I’m devastatingly aware that the things I’ve achieved don’t seem like enough.