“I’ve heard that Mr. Heart is difficult to work for, among other things,” Felicity loudly whispered.
“Oh, how so?” Beck asked. She was going for casual, sounding anything but. She just hoped that her new friend Felicity would chalk it up to the workout.
“Well, I heard that he makes demands on his assistants—day and night if you get my meaning.” Yeah—she got Felicity’s meaning all right. Beck wasn’t the first assistant that Knox had played with. She wasn’t his first “relationship” with an employee, as he promised. God, he was lying to her this whole time and Beck had bought into it hook, line, and sinker. She was a fool for falling into bed with Knox on the very first day on the job.
“How do you know this, Felicity?” Beck asked. “I mean, are we talking common office gossip or do you know someone that this happened to?” she asked. Beck was fishing, but she was hopeful that her new blond friend was just an office gossip mill and not spilling facts that might ruin her life. Beck had started falling for Knox and if it was all just an act, she’d be heartbroken. How could he do that to her—to all of the women that he had bedded and made pretty, false promises to?
“Oh—it’s not gossip,” Felicity promised. “You see before I worked in accounting, I was Mr. Heart’s assistant. He’d call on me at all hours of the night if you know what I mean. I finally got fed up and quit.” Beck stopped her machine and stepped off. Her legs felt like jello and she was sure that she was going to be sick—not from the workout but from the news that Felicity had just delivered.
“I see,” Beck whispered.
Felicity didn’t miss a beat—continuing her workout. She smiled back over her shoulder at Beck and winked. “Just be careful with that one. I’m sure that you’ll be fine though. He seems to have a type—blonds.” Felicity flicked her long, blond ponytail over her shoulder as if proving her point.
“Thanks for the warning,” Beck whispered. “Good to meet you, Felicity.” The pretty blond waved over her shoulder and Beck stammered off into the locker room. She found the closest stall and quickly shut the door, making it to the toilet just in time to be sick.
Beck cleaned herself up, showered, and dressed, all the while trying to figure out what to do next. How that hell was she going to face Knox? How would she be able to continue to work for him knowing that he took all of his assistants to bed and lied to them? Had he told them all that he wanted a relationship or was she the first? It didn’t matter, really. All Beck knew for certain was that she needed to get out of there and think everything through.
Beck made a beeline for her beat-up old car in the employee parking lot, her bags in hand. She got in and quickly locked the door as if she was being chased by someone. Would Knox even come looking for her or would he just move onto a new assistant to bed? She was going to call him but decided to take the coward’s way out, texting instead.
Feeling nauseous. Think I’ve come down with a stomach bug. Need to take a sick day—sorry.
Beck sent the text, not bothering to wait for a response. She turned off her cell phone and tossed it to the passenger seat, quickly speeding out of the parking lot. She couldn’t go back to her apartment—Knox knew where she lived. Instead, she headed for Rainey’s house. Her sister would be able to talk her through her next move. Rainey had been through enough heartache that her sister would know exactly what Beck should do next.