Zach looked absolutely miserable, and a petty part of my brain was glad for it. “I kissed her first,” he said, “but then she kissed back, and...”
“Did you have sex?” I didn’t want to know, but Ihadto know. To know how to deal with it from the firm’s perspective, of course, and not for my own sick need to know how far he’d gone with Alex.
Zach shook his head. “No, but it was a near thing.”
“How near?” He pressed his lips into a hard line. he wasn’t going to tell me... and I supposed it was none of my business to know just how much he’d touched her.
“I didn’t come to get out of trouble,” Zach said. “If there are to be consequences, I’ll face them.”
“You should go to HR and self-report,” I said. My tone was brusquer than I intended, but there was a deep well of anger that had opened up in my gut that I was having a hard time ignoring. “You didn’t need to tell me.”
“I did,” he insisted, “because Alex told me something that involves you.”
I closed my eyes and took a breath. She told him. I couldn’t believe that she actually told him. “Zach—”
“She’s attracted to us,” he said. “And Thomas, I think.”
That was... not what I was expecting him to say. “I don’t understand.”
“Alex wants us,” Zach said. “She’s feeling conflicted about it.”
It was understandable. It was bad enough to be attracted to a coworker, but to be attracted to more than one? She must be so confused. “Go grab Thomas. He’s in the northside conference room. His meeting should be just about done,” I said. “The three of us need to talk about this.”
Zach frowned. “Do we really?”
I leveled a look at him. “Do you think we can ignore it? Seriously?” I asked.
He sighed. “Probably not,” he admitted. “Okay, I’ll go get him.”
When he left, I picked up my phone and called Natalia, my assistant. “Yes, Mr. Jacobs?” she greeted after a single ring. She had been my assistant for the last three years. I liked her. She was a solid worker. My schedule had never been so organized. But she was also a terrible gossip.
“Natalia, can I be a pain in the ass?” I asked. It was my way of asking her to get me something that couldn’t just be ordered and delivered.
She laughed. “Of course, Mr. Jacobs. Our schedule is fairly light for the day. I think you can probably handle it without me for a bit.”
“Great,” I said. “I am absolutely craving a coffee from that place. You know the one.”
Natalia sighed. “You mean the coffee shop over by the marina?”
“Yes! I need a latte and one of their bear claws. Can you make that happen? Feel free to get yourself whatever you want as well.” It was one of the only coffeeshops in the area that refused to do delivery service, and it would take her at least forty-five minutes to get there and back.
I could tell that Natalia wasn’t thrilled, but she agreed and told me she would be back as soon as she could. I heard her desk drawer open and close and then the click of her stilettos on the floor as she crossed to the door. Only when the door shut could I relax.
Five minutes later, I heard the door open again, and then Zach and Thomas were in my office. “What is this about?” Thomas asked. He gestured to Zach. “Why does he look like someone died?”
I glanced at Zach. He looked like he was a step away from throwing up. “Do you remember what we talked about earlier? About Alex?” I asked.
Thomas glanced at Zach and then back at me. His shoulders were visibly tense. “Yes,” he said.
“Things are even more complicated now.”
His dark eyes went wide. “What? You had sex with her again? I’ve only been in that meeting for forty-five minutes. She’s supposed to be working on my brief, dude.” The tone was joking, but the fear on his face was very real.
“You hadsexwith her?” Zach yelped.
Thomas flung his arm out and struck him in the stomach. Zach grunted at the impact. “Scream it louder, why don’t you?” he hissed.
Zach sank into one of the chairs in front of my desk. “You gave me shit for kissing her, and you slept with her?”