Because of His Past (12 page)

It was a great pace, and her “done” pile
was growing more quickly.
 
However,
her back ached and her eyes were tired.
 
She was getting a bit of a mental fog, and she took a break and stood
up, stretching.

Easton’s office door was closed.

What
is his problem with me?
She wondered.
 
But wondering did no
good.

When she checked her phone, she saw Liam
had texted her.

How’s
the job going so far? Are u sad u aren’t with me?

She laughed.
 
The man didn’t know the meaning of
work.
 
This kind of life was
inconceivable to him.

Work
sucks
, she texted
back.
 
Are
u even out of bed yet?

His reply was almost instantaneous.
 
Just
got up and ordered room service.
 
You should come back and eat it with me.

Grace shook her head.
 

Can’t.
 
Your buddy has me working like a dog.
Says if I don’t complete my task he will fire me at end of the day.

There was a longer pause.

R
U Joking????

She responded.
 

NO.

And then he wrote back.
 

I
will talk to him when I come in later.

She rolled her eyes.

Not
necessary.
 
I can handle this.

She sat down and waited for his response,
getting back to her data entry.
 
It
was about five minutes before he finally replied.

OK.
It’s
ur
call.

“Exactly,” she muttered, realizing that
she shouldn’t be annoyed that Liam
wanted
to defend
her.
 
Easton was his friend and Liam
thought he could make her life easier.
 
That was a good quality he had.

Think
about how he stood up to his mother—the queen of bitches.
 
He stood up to that woman for you,
Grace.
 
You need to appreciate him.

It was true.

As she came back to reality, she realized
she’d made a few mistakes on the last record she’d been inputting.
 
It took her awhile to fix that and then
re-check the last few she’d done.
 
Each one had mistakes due to her daydreaming.

Focus,
Grace.
 
Don’t give Easton an excuse to fire you.
 
If he wants to do it, make him search
for a good reason—don’t make it easy for him.

And with that, Grace redoubled her
efforts, working furiously, oblivious to everything around her.
 
All she saw was the computer screen, the
keyboard, and the records on the desk in front of her.

She began entering data even faster than
before.

Hours went by and she didn’t slow
down—hardly even noticed when Easton passed by and looked at her.

She worked through lunch, through every
opportunity for a break, and didn’t stop until the very last record was
complete.

At just after four o’clock, she moved the
last record to the “done” pile and breathed a sigh of relief.

“I did it,” she said, blinking.
 
The time had flown by.
 
She checked her phone.
 
About ten minutes ago, she’d gotten a
text from Liam.

On
my way
, it said.

Turning in her chair, she saw that
Easton’s office door was ajar.
 
Wanting to let him know that the task was completed, she stood up,
noticing the stiffness in her legs, and walked to his door and knocked.
 
“Easton?” she said.

“Yes?” he called out.

“I just wanted to let you know that I
finished the assignment.”

There was a long pause.
 
“Okay.”

That was it.
 
Okay.
 
No thank you, no good job Grace—not
a word of encouragement or thanks.

She’d just about had it with his
treatment of her.
 
“Could I come in
for a moment?” she asked.

“Fine,” he replied.

She opened the door further and walked
hesitantly in to the room, as Easton put down his fancy pen and wiped at his
eyes, as if he’d been staring at his own work for too long.
 

“Hi,” she smiled, her hands intertwined,
wrangling nervously in front of her as she stood there.
 

“Can I help you with something?” he
asked, none too friendly.

“I feel like you’re upset with something
I’ve done…or maybe not done.
 
I
don’t know.
 
I just feel as though
you hate me.”

“Hate’s a strong word, Grace.”
 
He crossed his legs and stared at her,
not bothering to reassure her any.

“So I did do something wrong.”

“Did you?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I only just started yesterday, and
today’s my first assignment.
 
I
think I’ve done well, all things considered.”

Easton nodded.
 
“Have a seat, Grace.” He motioned to the
chair across from his desk, and Grace went and sat down, her mouth dry.
 

Easton just sat and stared at her like a
humorless, cold snake.
 
His eyes
were foreboding.

She decided to put it out there.
 
“I’m not sure what happened to get us
off on the wrong foot.
 
But I really
want to do a good job for you.”

“Well I don’t believe you,” he told her
calmly.

She was shocked by his rejection.
 
“You…you don’t believe me?”

“No.”
 
He glared at her.
 
“And I’ll tell you why, since you’re so
curious about my feelings towards you.”
 
He folded his arms.
 
“I’ve
got a lot of security systems in place, due to the nature of my business.”

Uh-oh
, she thought.
 
Here
it comes
.
 
She felt frozen under
his gaze now, unable to escape the humiliation coming her way.

 
“Security’s really come a long way in the
last few years,” Easton continued.
 
He suddenly sat forward and motioned
toward his computer.
 
“For instance,
when I leave for the day, I arm a program that alerts me if my computer’s been
accessed, or even if someone’s
tried
to access it.
 
The moment the mouse
or any keys are pressed, I get an alert, and cameras begin recording and
sending me live footage of the office.”

Grace felt like she was going to throw
up.
 
Her stomach lurched and she
nearly vomited.
 
“Oh my God,” she
whispered.

“That’s right,” Easton said, not looking
away or even blinking.
 
“I received
real-time video of you and Liam Houston’s extracurricular activities
yesterday—video streaming directly to my phone, so I had the pleasure of
seeing that while I was at the doctor’s office with my sick, pregnant wife.”

She put a hand over her mouth.
 
Her mind had gone blank.

“I’m so—so—
“
 
She
stood up, preparing to flee.

“Sit down,” he commanded, his voice loud
in the room.

She did as she was told.
 
Sweat had broken out over her entire
body.
 
She was shaking, and she felt
like she might faint.
 

Easton had seen everything.
 
And he had videotape.

“Please,” she said.
 
“I’m so sorry.
 
I don’t know why I did that.
 
I understand that I’m fired.
 
I totally understand.
 
I just hope you won’t…press charges or
show the tape to anybody.
 
Please.”

Easton raised a hand to calm her.
 
“I deleted the video and there’s no
backup file of it anywhere.
 
It’s
gone.”

Relief flooded her system.
 
“Oh, thank god.
 
Thank you for doing that.”

“Do not thank me.”
 
He didn’t smile and his eyes were
hard.
 
“What you did in my office
was a show of very low character, Grace.
 
So I don’t trust you and I can’t say I particularly like you.”

“I understand.”

“But, let’s just say that I’ve made some
mistakes in my life, too.”
 
His tone
finally softened.
 
“I’ve done some
things and people gave me second—sometimes even third chances.
 
So,” he said, taking a deep breath.
 
“I put you through an ordeal today to
see if you were worth giving another chance to.
 
And it seems that you are.”

She nodded, tears springing to her
eyes.
 
“I won’t disappoint you.
 
And I promise I’ll never do anything
like that again.”

“I should hope not.
 
Because unlike some of my
predecessors—I don’t give third chances.
 
This is your last shot, Grace.”

“Thank you, thank you,” she said again,
feeling like a parrot stuck on repeat.
 
She got up from the chair and made her way out of his office.
 
Just as she was coming out, Liam entered
the suite.

The moment he saw her, his eyes
narrowed.
 
“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she said.
 
“Just—let’s go.
 
I’ll tell you when we leave.”
 
She held out her hands to him as she
crossed the floor, imploring him with her eyes.

“Where’s Easton?” he asked loudly,
peering past her.

“No,” she whispered.
 
“Stop it.
 
We have to get out of here.”

“Did he yell at you?”

“It’s fine.
 
Everything’s—“

But it wasn’t.
 
Because at that
moment, Easton appeared in the doorway.
 

Liam straightened up and looked at
him.
 
“I texted you but never heard
back,” Liam said.
 
“What’s the
problem, Easton?”

Easton stared at him.
 
“Maybe you should go and get filled in
by your girlfriend,” Easton told him.
 
“I don’t think it’s really good workplace fodder.”

“I don’t mind talking here,” Liam
said.
 
“Unless you’re scared to
speak to a man rather than a girl who you can intimidate.”

Easton’s brow lowered.
 
“Maybe you should chill out with the
John Wayne act and shut your mouth for once, before you finally get yourself in
real trouble.
 
What you did in my
office yesterday was pretty low, buddy—even by your standards.”

Liam laughed.
 
“Oh, so now you’re suddenly a boy
scout.
 
Don’t forget, I know you too,
buddy
.
 
I know all the shit you got up to, in
college and ever since.”

“Is that a threat?”

Grace closed her eyes.
 
“Don’t,” she said, trying to pull on
Liam’s arm, but he pushed past her and walked straight at Easton.

“It’s not a threat, dude.
 
It’s
just
fact.
 
Are you hassling Grace
because you found out we hooked up in the office?”

Easton folded his arms.
 
“I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

“You do if you start fucking with Grace,”
Liam said, getting even closer into Easton’s personal space.

“From where I stand, the only one fucking
with Grace is you,” Easton replied, his eyes staring at and through Liam.

“Don’t ever be cruel to her,” Liam said,
“or you’ll have me to deal with.”

“Liam, no,” Grace said.
 
“I’m okay.
 
It’s all fine!”

But the two men were locked in a stand
off, little more than inches from each other, and the tension was explosive,
like dynamite ready to go off at a moment’s notice.

“I wasn’t cruel,” Easton said, his jaw
twitching.
 
“I dealt with the
situation as I saw fit.”

“This isn’t one of your girls that you
can play with for kicks,” Liam told him.
 
“I know how you operate, man.
 
Don’t forget that.”