17. Ember

17

EMBER

I woke up to three terrible realizations:

First, someone had replaced my brain with a throbbing ball of regret. I knew it was bad because I was trying to remember how many bottles I had, not how many glasses I had.

Second, I was still wearing yesterday's clothes, minus my shoes which were placed neatly by my bed, along with aspirin and water. Had Orion done that?

And third, most horrifyingly of all, fragments of last night were starting to come back to me. Including, but not limited to, telling my boss he had an amazing butt that could probably give me a black eye. If you asked me, it was a very unique and flattering compliment, but I wished I had kept that one to myself.

There were other memories trying to surface—something about calling him "Daddy" and suggesting tickle torture?—but I shoved those into the deep dark place where embarrassing moments go to die.

"Oh God," I groaned into my pillow. "Just kill me now."

Catman's sandpapery tongue on my exposed foot made me yelp. "What?" I asked him. "Come to finish me off while I'm weak? Is this finally it? Have you chosen today to reveal your true nature as an immortal death-bringer?"

He just stared at me with his one eye, then hopped onto my dresser and knocked over my phone. The clatter made my head split, but I noticed the screen lighting up with notifications.

Kora: Girl. You better call me with details about dinner.

Kora: Did you and Mr. Hottie Boss Man finally tear each other's clothes off or what?

Kora: Hello??? Don't leave me hanging! Did you at least kiss him?

Kora: If you're dead in a ditch somewhere I'm going to be really annoyed.

Cole: This Davenport lead is good work, Ember. I'm impressed. I can see why Orion is sniffing around him. You know, I sometimes think about how good we used to be together. Kylie is going to be out of town for cosmetic surgery next week. Maybe we could spend a little time together?

I stared at the text from Cole with two distinct flavors of disgust. One? I already hated that I had carelessly fed him something that might actually help him and hurt Orion. Two? Barf. Mega barf. Super-sized barf with a side of what-the-actual-fuck. I couldn't believe the man was such a goddamn snake. He cheated on me with Kylie and now he was basically suggesting we reverse cheat when his new mistress was out of town for cosmetic surgery? The levels of ick were astronomical.

I nearly threw my phone across the room before I saw the email notification from Orion. The subject line simply read "Urgent." That couldn't be good.

I grabbed the aspirin and water, downed them, then opened Orion's email with trembling fingers.

Miss Hartwell,

Meeting in my office. 8AM sharp. Regarding appropriate workplace conduct and professional boundaries.

-O. Foster

I checked the time. 7:43AM.

"Shit!" I scrambled out of bed, nearly face-planting when my legs tangled in the blanket. How was I supposed to face Orion today? After last night? After the butt comment? After calling him Daddy? Oh God, had I actually booped his nose?

I threw on fresh clothes, ran a brush through my hair, and made it to the office at 8:37AM, walking straight into Orion's office without bothering to knock. At this point, what was one more breach of professional conduct?

I found him standing by his desk looking... amused? That couldn't be right. My hangover must be causing hallucinations.

"Rough morning?" he asked, voice deceptively mild.

"Listen," I started, "about last night?—"

"When you said my butt has caused a significant drop in your workplace productivity?" he asked, tone completely flat. "Or when you suggested my gluteal muscles could cause facial injuries?"

I dropped into the plush chair across from his desk and covered my face. "Please tell me you made that up."

"You texted me about it in the middle of the night with a number of emojis I have never seen before. Check yourself, if you don't believe me."

God... If you are up there, just smite me now. Better yet, open up a portal to an alternate dimension where I made better life choices.

I peered through my fingers to find Orion actually smiling. I was getting a very good look at those cute dimples of his, too. Seeing his smile did interesting things to my stomach. Or maybe that was just the hangover. Probably the hangover. Definitely the hangover.

"In my defense," I said, "your sister kept refilling my wine glass."

"And that made you develop an obsession with my posterior?"

"I am not obsessed with your—" I stopped, noticing his smirk. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

He moved to stand in front of his desk, putting himself directly in front of me. Putting himself closer to me than was strictly necessary, and the proximity was already making me feel like I was getting a hot flash. "We should discuss appropriate workplace behavior,” Orion said.

"Right," I said, straightening. "Very professional. No more commenting on body parts. Got it."

"Or booping noses."

I groaned. "I was hoping that part was a nightmare."

"If it helps, Catman seemed to approve of me."

"He's a terrible judge of character. He once tried to adopt a raccoon. We had to have an intervention."

Orion's laugh was unexpected and...nice. Really nice. The kind of nice that made me forget about my hangover for a second. The kind of nice that made me want to make him laugh again.

"About last night," he said, his voice turning serious. "I want to make sure we're clear about?—"

A knock at his door made us both jump. Roman stuck his head in.

"Sir? You asked me to let you know when the meeting was about to start.” Roman glanced at his phone, then gave a quick smile. “Five minutes."

Orion stood, professional mask sliding back into place. "We'll finish this discussion later, Miss Hartwell."

"Looking forward to it," I said, then immediately wanted to kick myself. "I mean, not looking forward to it. Just... acknowledging it. Professionally. Like a professional who professionally acknowledges things. Professionally."

His lips twitched. "Get some coffee, Ember. You look like hell."

"Gee, thanks, Da—" I clamped my mouth shut. "Thanks. Just... thanks."

"And Ember?" he called as I reached the door. "Nice shoes."

I looked down at my feet, realizing in horror that in my rush, I'd put on one black heel and one navy one.

Perfect. At least I couldn't possibly embarrass myself any more today.

Then my phone buzzed with another text from Cole.

Cole: Just thought of that thing you used to do with your tongue. Remember?

I stared at my phone in horror. Apparently, today could still get worse. Wonderful. And there went my appetite for lunch, which was especially frustrating because I loved lunch.

At least I had coffee to look forward to. And possibly an exorcism for whatever demon had possessed me last night and made me think booping Orion Foster's nose was a good idea.

“Maybe let’s try to be less of a walking disaster from here on out?” I muttered to myself as I walked back to my desk.

A passing employee gave me an odd look, probably wondering why I was talking to thin air.

Yep. This day was already a write-off, and it wasn't even 9AM.