Chapter Seventeen
Julia
The rest of my weekend was so busy that it felt like a vacation when I finally got back to work. And I was surprised to find that Artimus had beaten me to the office. He stood in the lobby, talking to Brady about something when I stepped off the elevator.
A bright smile that reached all the way to his eyes greeted me. “Hey, Julia. How’d the rest of your weekend go?”
After giving Brady a nod and a wave to say hello, I headed toward my office, and Artimus joined me. “Sunday was full of house cleaning, laundry, and generally busting ass.”
I opened the door to my office, and he came inside with me. “Sorry about that. I should’ve thought about everything you needed to do this weekend. I’m sure the outing on Saturday evening put you behind on whatever you’d had to do at home. At the very least, I should’ve sent over one of the maids to do all that for you.”
Taking the seat behind my desk, I noticed that Artimus was frowning. “Yes, going out on Saturday did put me behind.” I stopped to think about all the fun I’d had. “But I would gladly get behind again if I got to do a repeat of Saturday. I had the best time ever, Artimus. Thank you again for asking me to go with you. I’m glad you waited until it was too last-minute to invite an actual date.”
His expression changed to one of surprise. “You are?”
Is he kidding? “Of course. That was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing for me. I seriously doubt I would’ve ever gotten to go to anything like that if you hadn’t taken me to it. My mother thought it was so nice of you to take me too. I told her all about it.”
“And she wasn’t angry that I had you go with me on one of your days off?” he asked with worried eyes.
He wasn’t acting like himself. “Artimus, why would she be angry about that? It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Who cares what day it fell on? Not me, that’s for sure. And I had the best time ever. Mom couldn’t believe I danced all night long. I have a reputation in my family for being a bit of a klutz.”
“I couldn’t tell that at all. You were light on your feet.” He took a seat on the other side of my desk, looking much more relaxed than he had been a moment ago. “And I had the best time ever too. But I won’t be bothering you with things like that anymore. I was wrong to put you in a position where you had to sacrifice your personal time for me, especially when it hardly had anything to do with your job. I realized that later that night. I’ve been asking too much of you, Julia. I’m sorry for that.”
What the hell is he talking about?
“Artimus, I really mean it. I had the best time with you Saturday night. I felt like a princess. Why would you say that you’re sorry for making that happen for me? I don’t understand.” My hands fisted in my lap, feeling that there must be something or someone behind this sudden change of attitude. Maybe even someone who didn’t want us to be together at all.
I thought Saturday night had really shown how great he and I were together. We had a connection that couldn’t be denied, yet there we both were, denying it.
He leaned up, putting his elbows on my desk then holding his chin on top of his fists. “Can I ask you to be perfectly honest with me, Julia?”
“I am always honest with you, Artimus.” I waited for his question and wondered what the hell had happened for him to be thinking this way all of a sudden.
His blue eyes peered into mine, and he wore the most serious expression I’d ever seen on his handsome face. “Did you agree to go with me to that event just to please me?”
Had I?
He’d asked me to be honest, so I gave him an honest response. “Artimus, I do like to please you. That said, I wouldn’t go just any place you asked me to. I thought the charity event sounded amazing. And it didn’t disappoint me at all.” I decided to be even a bit more honest than that. “I liked that you felt that you could ask me to do that. And I’d love it if you asked me as often as you’d like. I really did have the best time. And the sweet kiss you gave me when you left me at my door was nice too.” I tried to say that in the most professional manner I could, while also trying not to blush.
The worry vanished from his face, replaced by happiness. “That’s good to hear. I spent the rest of the weekend worrying that I’d been asking more out of you than is acceptable for the job. Promise me that you’ll let me know if you feel like I’m overstepping any boundaries. I don’t mean to. To be honest with you, I truly enjoy your company, and that’s why I’ve been taking up too much of your time. But I’ll stop doing that.”
Stop?
“No, don’t stop doing what you’ve been doing.” I reached out to take one of his hands. “I enjoy your company too. I haven’t felt put out even once. Let’s not change a thing. Please, boss.” I squeezed his hand as I smiled at him. “And please don’t feel guilty or worried about a single thing.”
He blinked, long and slowly, before asking, “Do you really mean that? Or do you just think that’s what you need to do and say to keep this job?”
I had to laugh. I hadn’t done a thing wrong with the job I’d been given. “I’ve never once felt that my job is on the line. I don’t need to do a damn thing I don’t want to in order for me to keep this job. I haven’t made one mistake since I started here. There are no grounds to fire me, and I’m not jumping through any hoops to keep it.” I hated that he thought I was only spending time with him because I wanted to make sure I kept my job.
His entire demeanor changed. Artimus sat up, tall and confident. “Good. Then let’s get to work, shall we?”
Glad to have things back to normal, I opened up the laptop that was sitting on my desk. “I’ll get to checking out the weekend ratings.”
He got up, heading to the door that joined our offices. “And I’ll get on checking out the quarterly reports. We’re both going to be busy until lunch, so I’ll order in something around noon. Okay?”
“Sounds good to me.” I watched him leave my office, closing the door behind him. Then I shook my head, still not understanding what had prompted him to bring up our earlier conversation.
Did he really think I was just kissing his ass to keep my job?
The thought was ludicrous.
Only fifteen minutes had passed when my office phone rang. Looking at it, I hated that I had no idea who would be on the other end of that line. I picked it up. “Julia Bengal.”
“Hey.” His voice sent chills through me.
My hand gripped the phone, wanting to crush it. “What do you want, Price?”
His tone turned stern, “I want to know why you and your boss were out on the town this weekend. I thought you said nothing was going on between you two. Did you lie to me, Julia?”
My temper flared. “Let me get this out of the way. Price, you are nothing to me. I have no reason to lie to you. And what I do with anyone is none of your business.”
He cut in, his voice deep and threatening, “Listen to me, Julia. I always get what I want, and I want you. I’ll fight Moneybags if I have to. He won’t win, I can promise you that. I’ve got the perfect job for doing the man in. Is that what you want? For Artimus Wolfe to end up a victim of the tabloids with hundreds of women claiming he’s sexually harassed them?”
Now I was beyond pissed. “That would be a lie, Price. Would you really stoop so low as to make shit up about a person just to get what you want? And just so you know, no matter what happens, I’ll never be with you again. So don’t waste your time and reputation to try to bring anyone down. It won’t get you what you’re after anyway.” I paused in my rant, wanting to make sure he knew something else. “If anything is put in print about Artimus Wolfe, I will go straight to the authorities and let them know about this threat, Price. Don’t fuck with me. I’m a nice person as long as I’m dealing with nice people. If I’m not dealing with a nice person, I can be their worst nightmare. My advice to you is not to push me to hurt you.”
He huffed. “You don’t scare me, Julia.”
Shaking my head, I couldn’t believe what a jackass he was. “You should be scared. I mean it. I won’t be your victim anymore. You need to get it through your head that what we had wasn’t much and now it’s over. You have yourself to blame for that. And don’t call me on my cell or this office line again.” I slammed the phone down before putting my head in my hands in frustration.
I heard the door between our offices open and then Artimus asked, “Is everything okay, Julia? I heard you shouting at someone.”
Lifting my head, I looked at him. His expression was one of concern. “Everything is fine, Artimus. Thank you for asking.”
Coming to me, he placed his hand on my shoulder. “Julia, you can tell me anything. If you need help with something, or if someone is bothering you, or even if you just want to talk, I’m here for you. I am more than just your boss; I’m your friend too.”
My hand moved before I realized what it was doing. It traveled all the way up to rest on his hand, which still lay on my shoulder. “I know you are. It’s just some old friend who used to be in my life but isn’t anymore, and he’s not too happy about that. I shut him out, and every once in a while he tries to get back in.”
He gave my shoulder a little squeeze. “What did he do to get you to shut him out?”
I wasn’t about to admit to him or anyone else that Price had hit me. I shook my head. “I’d rather not talk about it. It’s nothing, really. I just didn’t like the guy anymore and didn’t want to spend any more time with him, and he can’t seem to take no for an answer.”
With a huff, he said, “Maybe you should tell me who this man is, so I can make sure he knows you’re done with him and he needs to move on. And if he can’t move on by himself, then he can move on with my foot up his ass.” He moved his hand to rub my shoulder. “If you tell me who he is, he will leave you alone. I’ll make sure of that.”
I was pretty sure Artimus could follow through with that promise. But I didn’t want to tell him the real reason I didn’t want Price Stone in my life any longer. If I asked him for his help, one day I would have to tell him what had happened.
“Thank you, Artimus. I tell you what, if the guy gets any worse, I’ll definitely ask for your help. Right now, he’s just bugging me.” It wasn’t the truth, and I knew that. Price was escalating, making open threats. And not just about me anymore, but about Artimus. I should’ve told Artimus all about it.
Why does admitting that someone hit me make me feel so damned ashamed of myself?