Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 75553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“Well, the lucky woman is, in fact, in this very room,” he answered with a smirk.
“W-what?” Kelly asked, her expression changing from surprise to confusion in an instant.
“You see, Miss Sinclair, my secretary, Remy Nelson, is also my girlfriend.”
5
Griff
I had no idea where the words came from, but once I started, I couldn’t stop. I glanced over at Remy and tried to beg her to go along with what I was saying. After all, I wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t. This was all mad. Why had I decided to tell Kelly that my secretary was my girlfriend again? Why didn’t I just make up some fake name or give them the name of one of my exes? Why on Earth did I decide to get my secretary involved?
Despite my inner panic, I remained remarkably calm and collected on the surface. I was certain that neither Kelly nor Isaac were suspicious of me. After all, I’d grown up learning how to hide my feelings, now was no different. Remy, however, was another story. Her pretty blue eyes were wide in shock and her mouth was gaping slightly. I hoped they wouldn’t notice. I prayed she’d go along with my crazy story.
Thankfully, she did.
I watched as Remy swallowed hard and then nodded. “Guilty as charged,” she said with a waver in her voice. She ended with a nervous giggle and I hope it played off as embarrassment instead of guilt for lying.
Kelly’s head whipped around to stare at my blonde secretary in shock. “You aren’t serious?” she spat out with a scrunched up expression. “I had no idea you were dating anyone, let alone your secretary!” She turned to Isaac and leaned in closer to him. “Were you aware of this development?”
For a second, I grew more nervous. Perhaps my lie was too obvious. Would Isaac truly believe it as well? He knew me far better than Kelly. Yet, when I took in his expression, it was not one of disbelief but one of genuine happiness. He shrugged. “In all honesty, Kelly, I thought Griff might be dating someone, but I didn’t know that person happened to be our Remy,” he told her and I felt my shoulders relax in relief. Isaac glanced in my direction and sent me a surreptitious wink. I’d never been happier to have made a friend of him.
Kelly frowned as she turned to look at me again. “Now, Mr. Strong, while the Anderson Group is family-orientated, workplace romances are generally frowned upon.” She sent me a stern look and her lips thinned as she pursed them. I had to think on my feet.
“Well, I’ve registered the relationship already with the HR department,” I lied with an easy wave of my hand. “But now that there’s been a change in ownership, I’ll need to fill out some additional documentation I imagine.” It sounded truthful even to my own ears. I turned my eyes onto Kelly’s face and gave her my most confident expression. I leaned my elbows on the desk and smiled at her in the charming way I knew always persuaded even the most difficult of clients.
“In all honesty, Griff,” she said as she leaned forward like she was confiding in me. “I hope you don’t mind me calling you Griff.”
“Not at all. May I call you Kelly?”
She nodded and cleared her throat once more. “I was sent here to determine whether the west coast manager was Anderson Group material.”
My eyebrows raised in surprise. I had no idea they were keeping such a close eye on me, I’d assumed they weren’t so serious about the whole ‘family-oriented’ thing. At least, not serious enough to send someone to specifically audit me about it! I felt relief flow through me that I had lied and made up a relationship with Remy. What might have happened if I didn’t? Would Kelly have fired me on the spot? Or perhaps, she might have demoted me? Either way, I didn’t like it. I was the manager of the Seattle branch and that was how it was going to stay--no matter what it took!
“I think your job is done here then, Kelly,” Isaac stated as he clasped his hands together on his lap. “We clearly have our answer here. Griff is clearly Anderson Group material, so why don’t we wrap up our visit and move onto the next office?” He looked over at Kelly intently with his dark eyes and I couldn’t help but hope that Kelly would agree with him.
With a smile, Isaac ran a hand through his hair and lifted up from his chair as though to stand, but Kelly stopped him. She shook her head. “If you don’t mind, Isaac,” she began in her businesslike tone, “I’d actually like to spend a little more time in this office.”
My smile slipped. Shit, I cursed to myself. I was hoping that she would be convinced with just one meeting. How much more was I going to have to demonstrate to her? My hand was rubbing against the stubble on my chin as I tried to come up with ways to get her to leave, but for the first time ever, my mind was drawing a blank.