“So, you need me to look for incident reports and set those aside. Then I can file the rest. Anything else?”
“No, that’s it.”
Kay pushed up her sleeves. “I can do that. Don’t worry about me. Just go do… boss stuff.”
Eli watched her with amused eyes as she plopped down in his chair and opened the first file folder.
“Okay. I won’t be gone long.” He kissed her lightly on the cheek and then he was gone. She could hear him talking to Hope all the way down the hall.
She let out a breath before turning her attention to the mountain of folders. It shouldn’t be that difficult to scan through each file and see if there was anything Eli needed to sign. It was the type of work that wasn’t difficult, just tedious. She scanned through the first stack and then filed them. By the time she got to the next stack, she was actually enjoying herself. Some of these case files read almost like fiction.
“What is going on in here?”
Kay looked up from the file she was reading. Carly stood in the doorway, her hands on her hips.
“Eli asked me to help him get his desk in order.”
Carly marched over to the desk and snatched the pile of papers from her hand. “That’s my job. I’m his assistant. I keep his desk in perfect order, thank you.”
Kay snatched the file back. “I’m sure you do, but he’s the one who asked me to help him with this stuff. Maybe he thought you were too busy working on something else.”
“I’m never too busy for him. For anything he needs me to do.” Carly crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.
Kay shook her head. “Really? You don’t think I already know that? I figured that out about ten seconds after we met.”
Carly’s eyes narrowed. Before she could respond, Kay held up a hand. “Whatever. I couldn’t care any less about your past with Eli. Based on your behavior, I’m going to take a wild guess that he was the one who broke it off? Which means he made his decision before I came along. So, like I said, if you have a problem take it up with him.”
Eli entered the room then and stopped short when he saw Carly. “Hey, what are you two doing?”
Carly whirled around. “Nothing. I was just welcoming Kay to headquarters.”
Kay looked at her in disbelief. Her voice had switched from furious to saccharine. Carly sashayed across the room toward Eli. “I’ll just go back to my desk. Let me know if you need anything.”
Kay blew out a breath and told herself to let it go. It wasn’t even worth mentioning to Eli. He’d probably assume she was taking it out of proportion or just being a typical jealous female. Men were so clueless about that kind of thing. She definitely wasn’t going to give the other woman the satisfaction of driving a wedge between them with her antics.
His past interactions with his assistant were clearly not being repeated, otherwise Carly wouldn’t feel so threatened by her. So there was that.
Tank appeared in the doorway. “Boss, can I talk to you?” His eyes landed on Kay briefly before they skittered away.
Right.
“I’ll just wait outside.” She took Hope and then left, pulling the door shut behind her. Eli smiled at her gratefully right before the door closed.
“Kicked out already?” Carly sneered.
She let out a long breath and hugged Hope closer to her side. She was way too tired for this nonsense. Of course, Carly looked perfect, slim and beautiful and she didn’t have bloodshot eyes from exhaustion. The world really wasn’t a fair place most of the time.
“Why do you stay? Working for your ex has to suck.”
Carly seemed shocked at her statement. “I don’t know. It’s a good job. I like my job. Or I used to anyway.”
“You could always get another job somewhere else.”
“Look, I’m not just being bitchy here. You seem nice enough and I’m trying to warn you. Don’t get too comfortable. As soon as he gets bored with the good-girl routine, he’ll come back where he can get what he really needs.”
“What does that mean?”
Carly’s eyes narrowed. “Have you slept in his room yet?”
Heat rose to Kay’s face as the other woman’s lips curled up in a satisfied smile. “I didn’t think so. Because you don’t look like the freaky type and there’s no way he’s getting what he needs from you.”
The door opened behind her and Kay whirled around. Tank and Eli emerged, still talking quietly. Kay looked back at Carly, who simply shrugged.
“Are you ready to go?” Eli asked.
“I’m not sure.”
Eli looked at her strangely but didn’t comment. “Well, let’s go then. There’s time for me to give you a quick tour.”
Kay followed and was extremely proud of herself for not looking back even once.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
AS SOON AS they pulled into the garage, Kay unhooked her seatbelt. She could feel Eli’s eyes on her as she fumbled with the door, but he didn’t comment. He waited for her to get Hope out of the car and then held the door open for her.
Once they made it into the house, Eli entered first and disabled the alarm. As Kay got Hope settled in her play area, her mind swam with questions that had no answers. She should be thinking about what to make for dinner or enjoying a few stolen moments with Eli while the baby was distracted, except all she could think about was Carly’s words.
Have you slept in his room yet?