Obsession (7 page)

“Well, look here, I’ve found the
record holder’s square footage! Mitch, what do you think?” I asked
apprehensively while shoving my phone in front of his face so he
could see the number.

Mitch pried his eyes from Kobiashi and
found the number on my screen. But his confidence vanished as he
stared at the number.

What the hell?

“Mr. Kobiashi, we’ll need to get going
if we’re to make it to your next meeting in time,” his assistant
squeaked. It was blatantly obvious she was terrified to interrupt
him, but knew his need for punctuality.

“Of course,” Kobiashi snapped, then
turned to me. “You’ll be calling?”

I nodded enthusiastically, then
proceeded to walk Kobiashi and his assistant to the main lobby to
call for the elevator.

“What the fuck, Mitch? Is there a
reason why you just sized up our most important client?” I growled
the second the elevator doors started closing, taking Kobiashi out
of the potential downward spiral of a business deal.

“Me? He’s a dick! And what the hell is
your problem?” Mitch yelled back as he began stuffing the rolled
prints back in the tube.

“What do you mean,
what’s
my
problem?”

“Why did you answer for me?” he
shouted in anger.

“I saved your ass!”

Was he really mad at me for answering
simple questions that a well-established construction worker should
be able to answer? All he’d had to do was read the numbers on the
prints. How could he be building these monstrous buildings if he
couldn’t even find a simple number on a piece of paper?

Mitch flew by me to punch the elevator
number. “You made me look like a fucking idiot.”

“If you would have answered the
questions sooner I wouldn’t have had to intervene. Gosh, does Tony
do everything for you?” I exaggerated my words, which only fueled
his fire more, but I couldn’t care less at the moment.

“Tony does his job, and I do mine.” he
bit back.

“Well, I sure hope Kobiashi doesn’t
take offense to your attitude. He’ll tell Nathan then you’ll have
to deal with him.”

“Nathan doesn’t scare me,” he
snorted.

I crossed my arms as the elevator
pinged back to our floor. “He should. I don’t know where else he
can ship you off to.”

Mitch’s ears turned bright red and his
green eyes were wide with fire behind them, but I refused to back
down. He might have big muscles, but I could throw a mean knee to
his crotch if he got physical.

Mitch slammed his hand on the first
floor button, then turned to cage me in the elevator. “You know
nothing about why I’m here.”

“Then tell me.”

Mitch curled away from me, running his
hand down his face. “My brothers don’t know me like they think they
do.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means they’ve got bullshit
accusations. I’m surprised Becca hasn’t told you how they think I’m
some drug addict who hides shit all over the place for
dealers.”

I looked at him in shock. “Do
you?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” he
shouted as the doors opened on the first floor. He threw his helmet
on one of the workbenches and sauntered toward his big truck. I
huffed as I followed his lead. He was furious with more than just
me at the moment.

His cocky and flirty presence was gone
as he slammed the truck door, firing up the loud diesel engine. I
almost thought he was going to take off without me. Luckily I
managed to pull the door open, which was way heavier than I’d
thought, and climbed in successfully on the first try. A small
triumph clouded my mind because I didn’t need his help this
time.

The ride back to the office was
silent.

Chapter Five

The only words that came out of
Mitch’s mouth as he dropped me off were, “Enjoy dinner with
Nathan.” The sass in his voice was evident, and it took everything
in me not to flip him the bird as he drove away. To think I’d
started to feel sorry for him.

My feet were killing me as I climbed
the stairs to my office. The first thing I did when I arrived was
kick my heels off in the entryway. Thankfully, a pair of flats was
stashed in my drawer. My feet wouldn’t make it through dinner in
four-inch heels.

My desk had never felt more
comfortable as I flopped down rather ungracefully. My legs were
sprawled in front of me as I slouched to find comfort. What a mess
this afternoon had turned out to be. I understood Mitch was relying
on Tony to take over the business side when dealing with clients,
but surely he had to understand how to read a print. How could he
be so good at building and not be able to read the instructions?
Maybe that was what Tony did, read him the instructions? His hands
were pointed to the right numbers when I looked over his shoulder,
he just couldn’t get the words out.

He had a hard work ethic—I saw that in
his mentality. And I knew he cared about his buildings. More
questions unraveled in my head about why Mitch acted the way he
did, and I couldn’t help but want to figure out his
mystery.

My phone vibrated. “Got a time and
place for me?”

“Yes, 7:30 pm at Gabbiano,” Nathan
replied.

“
Gabbiano? Isn’t that
upscale? Can’t we just go to a chain restaurant?” A beer from a
bottle sounded way too good.

“Of course not. Don’t be late. I’m
curious to hear how today went.”

“Yes, sir,” I said mockingly as I hung
up the phone.

***

Shutting down my computer, I slid on
my flats and made my way to the restroom. I needed to freshen up if
we were going to Gabbiano. Hopefully, Nathan wouldn’t give me too
much crap for wearing flats to the high profile restaurant, but I
honestly couldn’t give two shits if he scolded me. I’d had a rough
week.

I tousled my caramel hair, debating if
I should throw it in a ponytail, but went against it. After redoing
my makeup and rejuvenating myself the best I could, I made my way
to my desk to grab my purse. My heart thudded to a near
halt.

A black envelope was sitting dead
center on my keyboard.

My eyes darted around the room as my
back slammed against the wall. Crouching low seemed to be my first
instinct. My hand instantly covered my mouth, trying to control my
breathing while the other reached for my neck
protectively.

He was here.
Watching me
. My heart
beat rapidly as fear coursed through my veins.

What do I do
now?

Sweat formed on my forehead as I
frantically looked over at Corey’s drafting table. Usually, the
mess he constantly left drove me crazy, but I was thankful for it
as I reached for the scissors he’d forgotten to put away. I had no
idea what to expect from Rod and I wasn’t going to be confronted by
him without some form of protection.

I breathed heavily as the adrenaline
took over my body and gripped the scissors tighter in my hand.
Inching my way quietly between the few cubicles, I searched the
area before my eyes landed on the front door. I had a clear shot,
but needed to take my time. He could be in the shadows, lurking,
waiting for me.

Wiping my forehead, I took one last
look around before I reached into my purse, quietly as possible,
desperate to find my keys. My heart felt like it was beating out of
my chest as my fingers finally grasped them. I squeezed the cold
metal in my palm, still gripping the scissors in my other
hand.

Everything is going to be fine. I’m
going to be okay.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly started
making my way toward the front door, my eyes darting from shadow to
shadow.

Then it occurred to me, this could be
exactly what he wanted. What if he was waiting by my car? Wanting
me to flee outside in a rush out of fear?

Back tracking my steps, I headed
toward the conference room, where a door led outside toward the
main street. There was more traffic and more people. I’d be able to
flag down a taxi instantly.

Looking through the open door of the
conference room, I wished like hell it wasn’t so dark. I blinked my
eyes rapidly, trying to get them to adjust. Letting out a slow
breath, I readied myself to start moving. Just as I lifted my foot
to cross the threshold, the main entrance door creaked
open.

My eyes widened in fear and I stopped
breathing.

Chapter Six

My body twisted around as fast as
lightning, my hair flicking me in the face from the rapid movement.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I shouted as I nearly stumbled
to the ground from fear.

Mitch’s face was sour as his eyes met
mine. “I was looking for my black notebook.”

I blew out air as I sat down in the
nearest chair, dropping the scissors on the table and putting my
hands on my head. Every bone in my body had thought Rod was going
to come through that door and put my life through another
whirlwind. I never thought I’d be so happy to see Mitch.

The thud of Mitch’s boots got louder
as he moved closer to me. “You all right?” he asked.

“Yeah, I just…” I dropped my hands
from my scalp and thrust my head upwards to look at him. “You just
startled me, that’s all. I wasn’t expecting anyone.”

“You didn’t peg me as one to be
jumpy.” The aggravation in his voice returned.

“I’m not,” I said defensively. “I just
have a lot on my mind.” I couldn’t think of a better excuse,
although it wasn’t an excuse. It was the truth.

“Yeah, well, seems to be the growing
problem. I figured you’d be out with Nathan by now. I didn’t mean
to come when you’d still be working.” He moseyed over toward my
desk, his eyes searching the area.

My feet couldn’t find the floor fast
enough as I darted to grab that black letter before Mitch saw it.
“I was just leaving, but I can help you look for your notebook.” I
didn’t want to be in the same room as Mitch, but I also didn’t want
to leave the office without his muscles being next to
me.

“Don’t worry about it. I can look for
a notebook on my own.”

Rolling my eyes, I nudged by him to
search through a pile of magazines. “Stop being such a guy. It’s
okay for there to be strong and able women in this
world.”

“I never said it wasn’t.”

“Then what are you so mad about?” I
asked as I slammed a magazine down and crossed my arms.

“I’m not mad at you, Jamie. I’m mad at
myself, and right now, I really need to find that
notebook.”

“What’s so important in that
notebook?”

“I just need it, okay?” He looked like
he needed a tall beer as badly as I did.

My arms dropped and I began looking
again. After ten minutes of very tense silence, Mitch spoke. “So,
where are you going with Nathan?”

I sighed as I moved a stack of papers.
“He wants to go to some fancy Italian restaurant. To be honest, I’d
rather just go home and drink whatever alcohol is in my
fridge.”

Mitch grinned as he looked through
another stack of magazines on a table with a few chairs in the
waiting area. “Then ditch him.”

My laugh was low. “Trust me, I’d love
to, but he seems anxious to hear about how our meeting with
Kobiashi went.”

Mitch stopped searching and stood
tall. “What are you going to tell him?” My eyes found his. I knew
how much Mitch wanted Nathan to approve of him.

“That Kobiashi wants to break records
and we might have to extend the time period to make it
happen.”

Mitch’s brow rose as he watched me
continue to look through the stack of papers on my desk where he so
often tossed the mail down. “Is that all you’ll tell
him?”

“Mitch, that’s what happened. He
doesn’t need to know you froze. I handled his questions. That’s why
I went. Don’t worry about it.”

Silence passed between us again. Then
Mitch’s voice was quiet. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that. I
should have been more prepared.”

I looked up from the stack and gave
him a slight smile, impressed by his apology. His eyes looked
downward, and just as I was about to say something more, he jolted
underneath my desk. “Found it! Thank God!” He jerked from under my
desk and held the notebook in the air, then brought it to his face
and kissed it.

The giggle that escaped me didn’t go
unnoticed by Mitch. He lowered the notebook from his face, giving
me a genuine smile. Maybe Mitch did have a gentler side.

“Feel better?”

“Yes, Tony isn’t going to be with me
tomorrow, and this notebook…well— it helps when he’s not
around.”

My puzzled look didn’t faze him as he
folded the notebook and put it in his back pocket. “Well, you
better get to that dinner date.”

“It’s not a date. I’m sure he’ll be
using the company card to pay for it.”