CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Tara
Tuesday arrived quickly. After my meeting with Sean the day before, I felt confident for the future. Sean finally turned his act around. He was no longer giving me attitude all the time, and I could see all kinds of possibilities for him with the company. Before I saw Sean with Paisley, I had been ready to give up on him. That day changed everything between us. He no longer looked at me like a pesky fly that needed to be swatted. He seemed to finally respect me, and my feelings toward him had definitely softened.
I was having lunch with Niki, but my thoughts were still wrapped up with Sean. I told myself it was just work. I was just planning out his schedule, but I knew that wasn’t true. Sean occupied my mind far too often now. I thought about him while I was at work and when I wasn’t. He crossed my mind on and off throughout the day. I kept telling myself it meant nothing. Nothing at all.
“So,” Niki said. “How’s work?”
“You’re actually willing to talk about work?” I asked in mock surprise.
“Ha. Ha,” Niki mocked right back. “I was just being polite. Besides, I already know how things are going.”
“Oh, you do?” I raised my eyebrows.
“I do,” Niki nodded. “I saw that Yates’ has dropped in the stock market.”
“You looked up our stocks?” I asked with genuine surprise. “Really?”
“I was curious.” Niki shrugged.
“And you say you hate corporate America,” I scoffed.
“I do,” Niki promised. “Which is exactly why I enjoy watching big companies fail. You may be struggling to keep Yates’ Motorcycles afloat, but I’m just itching for you to fail. I get off on it.”
“You’re a terrible friend.” I laughed.
“And yet, you adore me,” Niki teased.
“Hanging out with you is just an obligation at this point,” I said. “After all these years, how could I just abandon you? What would you do without me?”
“Have one less connection to the world I hate,” Niki answered easily. She looked at me with a fake seriousness before she laughed. “But seriously, Tara, when was the last time you were even on a bike?”
“What do you mean?” I asked with a frown.
“Well,” she began. “Before you started at Yates’, you rode all the time. It was your thing. Then, you started working there, sold your bike, and you haven’t ridden since.”
“That’s not…” I began. “Yates’ isn’t the reason I stopped riding.”
“Then what is?” she asked.
“There is no reason,” I said evasively. “I just lost interest. It happens.”
“I guess.” Niki shrugged. “It’s just strange that you spent most of your life on bikes and now, nothing.”
“I still spend my life around bikes,” I reminded her. “It’s kind of my job, Nik.”
“Not the same thing,” Niki said. “And you know it.”
“What does it matter?” I asked. “You always hated them, anyway.”
“Did not,” Niki argued. “I just never saw the point in risking my life. Call me crazy, but I’d rather have a protective metal cage around me while I’m flying down a highway.”
“So much for that free spirit of yours.” I laughed.
“I’m free,” Niki said. “Free to avoid motorcycles.”
“Such a badass,” I mocked. “Really, bad to the bone.”
“Shut up.” Niki laughed.
We spent the rest of lunch talking and laughing together. I worried Niki would bring up Sean, but she graciously avoided the subject. I thought I saw something in her eyes that was a little too understanding, though. She knew something was going on with me. She could tell something shifted since the last time we saw each other, but I wasn’t ready to explain it to her. I wasn’t even ready to admit my feelings to myself.
Denial is a powerful thing, and I was smack in the middle of it. I told myself over and over again that Sean was nothing more than an employee. He was Ray’s son. Zach’s brother. Paisley’s father. And that was it. Beyond work, Sean meant nothing to me. Nothing at all.
***
Back in my office, I busied myself answering emails. It took me almost an hour to work my way through everything. When I finally did, I looked up to see Zach standing in my doorway. He cleared his throat loudly and stepped inside. I didn’t know how long he’d been standing there, watching me.
“Hey, Zach,” I said uneasily. “What’s up?”
“I just wanted to check in with you,” Zach said smoothly. “It’s been a while since we touched base.”
“Oh.” I nodded. “Well, things are fine. Nothing big to report.”
“How’s Sean doing?” Zach asked. “Still giving you trouble?”
“No,” I said. I shook my head firmly. “Not at all, actually. He’s been great.”
“Really?” Zach asked. His surprise made my stomach burn. “Just watch him. Sean has a way of disappointing people.”
“Okay,” I said, ready for him to leave my office. He didn’t.
Instead, he stood in front of me and fixed me with a stare that made my skin crawl. I could see the wheels turning in his head as he thought of what to say. It was obvious that he hadn’t barged into my office to talk about work. There was clearly something else on his agenda for the day.
When Zach continued to stare at me without speaking, I considered kicking him out of my office. There were times I thought about slamming the door in his face. Ever since I started working here, Zach seemed to make it his mission to make me uncomfortable. He stared at me. He checked me out. He leered in my direction. But, unfortunately, he never said anything inappropriate so I never had a reason to confront him.
“Well,” I said, unable to take it any longer. “I have work to do, so if that’s all…”
“It’s not,” Zach said quickly. “I wanted to ask you something.”
“Okay,” I said.
“I want to take you out,” he said. “To dinner.”
My first thought was that he hadn’t asked a question. It was merely a statement, like he was telling me it was going to happen with or without my permission. My face flushed, and Zach grinned at the sight. I assumed he thought I was embarrassed by his interest, maybe even a little flattered, but really, I was only angry at his presumptuous nature.
“I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” I said slowly. I enunciated each word carefully so he couldn’t misconstrue my meaning. I wasn’t playing hard to get. I wasn’t pretending to evade his advances so he would try harder. I simply had no romantic interest in him.
“And why not?” he asked playfully. He placed his palms on my desk and leaned across. His face was too close to mine. I pushed my chair away from my desk to get some distance from him.
“Because,” I said. “We work together. Technically, you’re my boss. It wouldn’t be appropriate.”
“There’s no rule about dating within the company,” he said, as if that were my only concern. “So, there’s nothing to worry about. We’re free to do whatever we like.”
“Still,” I said firmly. “I’m not interested.”
“Oh, come on.” Zach laughed. “Don’t be like that. We talk. We flirt. We’ve known each other for years, Tara. Don’t you think it’s time we explore this thing between us?”
“This thing?” I asked with raised eyebrows.
“Our connection,” he said. “You can’t deny it. I know you feel it, too.”
“Zach,” I said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I just want to do my job. Please.”
Zach opened his mouth, but my face must have changed his mind. He narrowed his eyes at me and waited for me to say something else. I could tell he thought I would change my mind, that if he stared at me long enough, I would backtrack and accept his offer. That was the last thing I was going to do. The longer he stood in my office, the more determined I became.
“Just think about it, okay?” he said finally. He smiled and turned his back to me.
“I really don’t have to,” I said. “My answer is final.”
Zach froze on his way to the door. He slowly turned back around to face me with a grimace. He tried to cover his anger and disappointment with a small laugh, but it just made him seem even more maniacal.
“That’s fine, Tara,” he said softly. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Thank you,” I said with a nod. I hoped that would be the end of our conversation, but I was wrong.
“Just make sure you keep Sean in check,” Zach said, changing the subject quickly. “I would hate for him to fail. After all, you are the one who brought him on in the first place.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. My stomach flipped nervously. Where was he going with this?
“Well,” he said slowly. “If Sean doesn’t work out, we would have to seriously think about your role in this company.”
“Are you threatening my job?” I asked breathlessly. I couldn’t believe this was happening.
“What?” Zach asked in mock horror. “Tara, why on Earth would you say something like that?”
“Because that sure as hell sounded like a threat,” I said.
“No, no, no,” he said with a shake of his head. “Tara, of course not. I would never threaten you or your job. I just want you to be aware of the situation at hand. Sean is your responsibility. My father and I are trusting you to get a top-notch performance out of him.”
“I will,” I said with confidence. “Don’t worry.”
“Sean can be difficult,” Zach reminded me.
“To some people, maybe,” I said with a shrug. “But once you get to know him, he opens up. I think I can handle him.”
I smiled condescendingly and turned my attention back to my computer. Zach’s eyes stayed on me while I pretended to work. After a few seconds, he turned to leave without a word. I glanced up to make sure he was gone before I sunk back in my chair and exhaled loudly.
Of all the things I expected to happen today, that was not one of them. Zach had always been a creep. For years, I picked up his slack and made sure his job was always done. It didn’t matter how often I covered for him, he never said thank you. Instead, he seemed to make it his life’s mission to hit on me every chance he got. I never imagined he would ever dare ask me out, though.
Now that he had, I was speechless. It was bad enough that he treated me like an object, but to threaten my job simply because I rejected him? I fumed with rage. I thought about marching into Ray’s office and telling him everything Zach said. The only thing that stopped me was the fear that Ray wouldn’t believe me. Zach was his son, after all. Didn’t Ray have an obligation to support him? Would he even consider my side of the story as truth?
I didn’t want to think about the answers to my questions, so I forced myself to focus on work. I skimmed through my recent files, trying to decide which project to work on. It wasn’t long before I knew it was no use. My head was spinning too much. All I could think about was Zach’s threat. Did he mean what he said? Would he really fire me if Sean failed to perform? Worst of all, would Ray let him?