“Kinley, pass me the phone.” The voice was much firmer this time, and she glanced up at James, who stood in the open doorway of the cubicle.
“You scared me,” she snapped at him. But she held up the phone to him. He easily removed the battery then rubbed it against his pants leg.
“Don’t. You’ll get your pants dirty,” she protested.
He gave her a look of disbelief. “It’s just water.” Toilet water, although she didn’t point that out.
“There’s a heater in my apartment.”
What did that have to do with anything? Maybe she wasn’t firing on all cylinders at the moment, but she still couldn’t make the connection.
“We need to put it somewhere to dry out,” he explained gently, frowning slightly as he studied her. “Are you okay, Kinley?”
“Of course I am.”
She was wondering if that was the truth, though. Her head was swimming, and she felt a bit nauseous and sweaty.
That could just be because of the fright she’d just had. Or the fact that Sloan had been calling, and she’d missed it.
“I need to use a phone.” She had to call him back. He’d think she was dodging his calls. But then why should she answer him right away? Shouldn’t she make him wait like he’d done to her? Except Kinley didn’t play games. Wouldn’t know where to start. No, she needed to call him back. She looked up at James, who was tucking her phone and battery into his pocket. As soon as I get somewhere private.
“You really need to stop sneaking around. You’re going to give someone a heart attack.”
“I apologize for scaring you. I thought you’d have heard the door open.”
The fire in her temper disappeared in the face of his genuine apology. “I guess I was preoccupied.”
“A pretty important phone call?”
“It was my . . . just a friend,” she told him. “It can wait until I’m finished here.” Sloan could break up with her in the morning as easily as tonight.
“Not your boyfriend?”
“No,” she lied. Well, was it a lie?
“Everything all right between the two of you?”
She gazed up at him through narrowed eyes. “I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
She could almost swear she heard him say, “It will be.” That made no sense, though. She was obviously hearing things.
“What are you doing cleaning down here?” James asked. “This isn’t your floor to clean.”
“I’ve been reassigned.”
He frowned. “What? Why? I told Elsa I wanted you cleaning my office.”
“She said you left this morning, and she didn’t think you would be back anytime soon.”
“Elsa didn’t have the right to make that call.”
She felt a bit sorry for Elsa. If the look on James’s face was any indication, she was soon going to get an earful from him.
“She obviously didn’t know you’d be coming back. You can’t blame her.”
“Can’t I? She works for me. She follows my orders. I don’t pay her to second guess my decisions.”
She winced. Ouch. He really wasn’t happy. She wished she was standing, rather than sitting on the floor with him looming over her, but, frankly, she wasn’t quite certain her legs were going to support her. “Why were you assigned these floors?”