“Yeah, you’ve come down with a stomach bug, so you can’t be away from the can.”
“Oh, lovely,” I said, letting out a whimper at the idea of everyone in the office thinking that. Couldn’t they have come up with something with a little more dignity than that? Shingles? Pneumonia? A freaking flesh-eating virus?
“Sometimes the best covers are the ones everyone can relate to the most. Who hasn’t had a stomach bug?” he asked, shrugging it off. “So, yeah, Cam is working from the office, pretending to be you working from home, so no one thinks you’ve been missing.”
“Oh, good,” I said, exhaling hard. I guess I could survive the embarrassment of a stomach bug that kept me home. Did it fit the perfectly crafted public persona I’d worked so hard to cultivate? No. But it was better than everyone knowing the truth, that was for sure.
“I, ah,” I started, waving toward the hallway.
“Really need to wash the hospital off of you?” he asked, sounding almost like he completely understood the feeling. Which didn’t make sense.
“Yeah, actually,” I agreed, nodding.
“Go ahead. Lock the door if it makes you feel better, but you’re safe with me here,” he said.
I immediately believed him.
I was someone who only put a small amount of weight on things like gut feelings. In my world, many of the people I was around had been groomed from the cradle to put on an ironclad persona that no one could see past. It was an old-money thing that took me years to truly understand, since I hadn’t come from that world. And it had been a tough lesson to learn. I’d lost money and friends along the way because of it.
But it was a valuable lesson to learn.
Now I knew that if someone gave me the ick immediately, then I could generally trust that. But if someone made me feel comfortable and safe at first blush, then that was a sign to tread carefully, to look for cracks in the corners where you could peel back the mask and see what was truly underneath.
Jaded?
Yes.
But a solid defense mechanism.
“How many people have you killed?” I asked.
That was another trick I’d learned.
If you asked a shocking, somewhat invasive and unexpected question, you were both showing confidence and dominance as well as putting the other person in a position to scramble.
When people scrambled, they tended to show parts of their true selves.
“Sixty-three,” he answered immediately. No hesitation. No fumbling over his words. He didn’t even break eye contact. Though those stormy eyes of his went darker at the admission, and the smirk fell from his face.
“Okay then,” I said, nodding. “If you’re going to hang around, though, would you mind…”
“The coffee maker is set. And the food is ordered,” he informed me.
“Cam?” I asked.
“Cam,” he said, nodding. “Go on. Get that ick off of you. I’ll be here to talk when you’re done. Take your time.”
With that, I did exactly what he suggested.
And I absolutely did not think about his hands being the ones rubbing the soap all over me.
Nope.
Because that would have been wildly inappropriate since he was going to be working for me.
An abuse of power, even.
But, God, did that sound like fun…