“Not tonight.” Darcy flashed a sweet smile, but I knew there was venom behind it. “I’ll let you know when I’m ready for you again.”
I found myself growling under my breath as I left. How the hell had she managed to get me to talk so much? I needed to make sure that didn’t happen again. Next time she scheduled one of these little interviews, she was going to be the one walking away disappointed.
11
DARCY
Dominic Lockwood was a royal pain in my ass. I’d been working for him for three weeks now. I knew he spent an unhealthy amount of time every day micromanaging his employees. He monitored our screens and was always checking in on our projects. He had endless suggestions and tweaks for our pieces. He was never satisfied with the way things were done and always seemed to want to change this and that.
Worse, his desire for change also meant the people I’d worked with for the last two years were dropping like flies. I admittedly wasn’tsupersad to see Stinky Steve go. He apparently was running some sort of stuffed animal business through eBay and used work hours to keep up with it. I thought the real reason was that Dominic happened to walk byrightas Steve was trying to get my attention from his desk in the corner.
Then Cathy had been axed. Technically, that one was also probably for the best. Cathy wrote an advice column responding to emails from readers and she’d been going more and more off the rails ever since she discovered the healing power of crystals. And then there was Jack from the research team. Apparently, he’d been caught interviewing with the competition and badmouthing the new leadership here, so Dominic relieved him of his duties.
Maybeyou could argue all the things Dominic did to be a pain in my ass were just him being on top of his job as our boss. But things had been just fine with Jasmine in charge and she’d simply trusted us to get our work done. Maybe I should’ve appreciated Dominic clearing out freeloaders who weren’t putting in as much effort as the rest of us, but I couldn’t bring myself to feel grateful towards him for anything–unless he decided to walk off a bridge or jump out a window, that is.
I rolled my neck out and looked at my screen. I’d been grinding on this piece since Monday and the weekend was only hours away. I knew Dominic expected every assignment to be completed by the end of the week, and Ireallydidn’t want to give him an excuse to get on my ass. I’d barely had to interact with him since Eloise’s art gallery atd’Orsay.Going to his office and begging for more time might put me back on his radar.
With begging off the table, that meant I was staying late tonight.
Closing time rolled around and my co-workers started gathering their things. Elizabeth stopped by to wish me luck. Farhad gave me a nod and a thumbs up on his way out. Pollie flashed a smile and a wave. Within a few minutes, the office had almost entirely cleared out except for one or two of Dominic’s new hires who looked like they were intent on finishing something before they left. That was a sign of how much things had changed. There were now people in my office every day I just thought of as “the new hires”. I didn’t even remember their names, yet.
I got myself a coffee and sat back down to work. I’d done all the research I needed for my piece on a popular multi-level-marketing company that was starting to crack at the seams. The piece was a little outside my normal zone of focus, but Dominic was always pushing for that crossover between entertainment and information. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had a motto about it stitched into his underwear.And I should not be thinking about my boss’ underwear.
I shook my head, physically trying to get rid of the image I’d cooked up of Dominic looming over me in nothing but tight fitting gray briefs. In my mind, he was so rippled with muscle that a beginner rock climber could’ve scaled his body from one ab to the next.
When I looked around, I realized the last of the new hires had headed home for the night. I was officially alone on the floor. I could see the vague shape of Tristan moving around in Marcus’ office and I knew Dominic was still in his office as well, but none of my colleagues were still around.
Marcus and Tristan still popped in the office from time to time, but they worked off-site and sometimes went whole days without showing up at our location. The two of them hardly interacted with staff. They mostly worked directly with each other and sometimes with Dominic, but I got the sense most of their business didn’t involve us or him.
I focused back on my task. I hadn’t expected to care so much about this story, but my mom got sucked into a multi-level marketing scheme a few years back. She’d been convinced by a friend that it was the new wave of working from home. She thought she could make thousands per week just like the top sellers did. In the end, she ended up with a garage full of poorly made leggings she couldn’t sell. It cost her a job and her savings. She never said as much, but I worried it also cost her most of her self-respect. My mom always saw herself as the kind of person who didn’t fall for scams, but she didn’t realize the company she joined was nothing more than a pyramid scheme.
So, yeah. I felt like I had a bone to pick with the whole business model, and this new one seemed more predatory than usual. I’d spent most of the week researching and gathering information. I’d even gone farther than I normally do and contacted a few people for interviews. It was exhilarating, to be honest. I felt like I was actually working on something important, and I didn’t want to screw it up.
Every time I opened the document to work, I felt my perfectionism kicking in and stopping me from making progress. I knew it needed to get done, but I wanted to do it justice.
I was rubbing my temples when Dominic stopped by my desk. I hadn’t even noticed him leave his office.
“Stuck?” he asked simply.
I licked my lips, then looked up. He seemed even more insanely tall when I was sitting. As if he could sense my thoughts, he leaned one butt cheek on my desk, folding his arms and bending his neck to look at my screen.
“A little,” I admitted.
“How long are you planning to stay?”
“As long as it takes. It has to be finished by the end of the week. Those are the rules, right?”
He didn’t respond right away. Dominic had on a silky gray vest over his black button down today. A scarlet tie was tucked underneath. His dark hair was pushed back and he looked so painfully good it almost hurt to meet his eyes. I never knew I was into vests, but something about the way that vest hugged his broad chest and made his big arms seem even more impressive as they shot out from the sleeves was just…Mmm.
“Do you need more time?” he asked.
“No,” I said. “Because if I tell you I need more time, then you get to say I’m not hacking it and it’ll be part of why you fire me.”
He looked frustrated–or maybe he’d eaten something that didn’t agree with him. Dominic let out a long breath through his nose. “You can have until next Friday. But take any longer than that, and your ass is mine.” He had started to walk away, but he froze, as if replaying his last words. “Poor choice of words,” he added in a near whisper. Then he went back to his office and closed the door.
A brief but very vivid mental image of Dominic taking my ass in both of his hands invaded my thoughts. My core tensed and my body went warm. Goosebumps prickled up and down my thighs and arms.
“Get it together, Darcy,” I said, blinking hard and trying to think about something innocent, like bunnies hopping through fields of flowers.