Her words float around me, but they're so foreign I can't absorb them. "I'm not a whore."
"You kissed him in full view out in that corridor." Her hand flies next to my face in the air. "You were practically sucking his face off, Lark. That's the only reason you're assigned the bigger campaigns. It's because Ryker's dick is so far up your ass, that he can't think straight."
I want to slap her but I can't. My hands shake, my knees tremble but I stand firm. I'm a Benton. My parents taught me to never back down if I'm firm in my conviction. "I'm going to do everything in my power to get you fired."
She laughs so loudly that the sound vibrates off the walls. The room is silent save for the reverberating sound of her cackle. "Good luck with that. I haven't done anything wrong."
"I disagree." Crew steps in place beside me. "You're fired, Christine. As of this second, you no longer work for Matiz."
***
"Ryker kissed you at the Christmas party last year?"
I look up and into Crew's face. I've been sitting at his desk for half an hour. I know I should go back to the party and face my co-workers, but I'm not up to it right now. I don't want to give Christine's ugly accusations any weight. I haven't been granted any special favors by Ryker. I don't have to prove that to anyone.
"I kissed him too." I swallow past the lump in my throat.
"Was that the start of something between you two?" He leans against the edge of his desk.
I don't know how to take that. He's essentially asking me if I was involved with Ryker while he was involved with Gem. My brother knows me so well in many ways and apparently I'm a stranger to him when it comes to where my moral compass is.
"We kissed under the mistletoe and never talked about it. He met Gem. I met Dale from the deli, and we both did our own thing."
"So nothing is going on at the moment between you and Moore?"
"Technically, no," I murmur.
He furrows his brow. "What does that mean?"
His tone is firm, the question expected but infuriating. I shouldn't be required to explain my attraction to my boss to my brother. I'm a grown woman. I don't want to be under his watchful gaze for eternity. "I like him, Crew. I like him a lot."
"You like Ryker?"
My skin peppers with a sheen of nervous sweat. I wore the dress that Crew dubbed as Mrs. Claus like tonight and it's clinging to me like a wet second skin. I'm not only uncomfortable because of the topic, but I'm physically uncomfortable too. "I do, yes."
"Because of those pictures that were online?" He rubs his chin. "Is this about those pictures or the kiss?"
"It's about him." I pull on the collar of the dress but it does nothing to offer me a reprieve from the warmth I feel. "I don't even know if he likes me that way, Crew, but I want to find out."
"It's not a good call to get tangled up with someone you work with, Lark. If things hit the rails, you're setting yourself up for a complicated work dynamic with him."
"What if things don't hit the rails, Crew?" I twist my hair into a knot in my hand, exposing my neck to the cool air in his office. "I want to find out for myself. I want to take chances and make mistakes. I want to experience things. I want to know him outside of work."
He studies my face, his eyes narrowing. "You're still my little sister. I don't want your heart to get broken."
I fist my hand on my chest. "I'm not saying I'll fall in love with him, Crew. I just want to see if he feels the same spark that I do."
"I'd never stand in your way." He moves closer, edging the toe of his black oxford against my shoe. "If he made you feel all this from a kiss, take the chance."
"You're not going to flip out when you see him, are you?" I push myself to my feet. "Promise me you won't go all overbearing br
other on me if you see me talking to him at the party."
"I can't promise that," he says with a smile. "I can promise to trust that you know what you're doing. He's not at the party, though, Lark."
"He's not?" I pause to collect myself, disappointment rushing through me. "I thought he was going to be there."
"Something came up." He looks at me. "He texted me right before the party started to say he couldn't make it. He asked me to make an appearance in his place."