FOUR: James

FOUR

JAMES

“Mr. Calloway?” Daphne waves a hand in front of my face later that evening. “Mr. Calloway?”

“That woman has some fucking nerve…”

“Um.” She blinks. “Are you still talking to yourself or to me, sir?”

“The only reason the past couple years have been so miserable are because of her,” I mutter. “It has nothing to do with my family, and she knows better than to discuss that.”

“Speaking of ‘family,’” Daphne says, “your mother was surprised to hear that you were considering coming home. Should I tell her that your hotel is only fifty miles away from her?”

“ No .” I snap into reality, brushing thoughts of Taryn away. “I’ll call her later.”

“Your hotel is also pretty close to where Miss Stone will be staying for the holidays as well,” she says. “I mean, if she doesn’t cancel her reservation and come to work, that is.”

She better cancel it.

“I’ll deal with Miss Stone later as well,” I say, opening my drawer and pulling out a pink giftbox. “I meant to give you this yesterday. Thank you for being a great assistant this year.”

“ Really ?” She gasps and takes the gift from me, holding it against her chest. “Does your girlfriend know that you bought me something?”

I shake my head. “Happy holidays, Daphne. You can go home.”

“Thank you.” She leans over the desk and hugs me.

I pat her back, giving her the cue to let go, but she squeezes her arms around me even tighter.

“Daphne…”

“I could stay like this all day.”

Okay, never again . I gently push her away.

“Enjoy your well-earned days off.”

“Call me if you need me.” She takes her time leaving me alone.

Before I can shut the door, my marketing manager—Stephen—slips inside.

“You look like shit, dude,” he says. “Who died?”

“No one. What do you want?”

“The spare keys to your place.” He holds out his hand. “You told me to look after it while you were away.”

“Oh, right.” I pull them from my pocket. “Don’t forget to set out notes for the housekeepers on Thursday, and if you use the balcony’s fire pit?—”

“Be sure to close the grate.” He finishes my sentence. “I heard you the first million times this week.”

“Sorry.” I sigh. “I’m not used to leaving my place during the winter.”

“I’m just glad you’re finally going home to patch up things with your family.” He pats my back. “It’s about time you put the past behind you.”

I nod. That’s not where I’m going at all , but if that's what everyone wants to believe, that’s fine.

"Can you do me a favor whenever you come back to work?” he asks.

"What's that?"

"Ask her out on a date.”

“ Who ?”

“Taryn.”

“Miss Stone and I are strictly platonic.”

“You honestly believe that?”

“We haven’t spoken to each other about anything other than work for an entire year.”

“By choice or because you’re both stubborn as fuck?”

Both.

“I just think it would do a lot for company morale if you two would just get over yourselves and see what everyone sees,” he says. “The tension between you two has gotten to an unbearable level in this building.”

“I need a list of this so-called ‘everyone’ who is spreading false rumors.”

He rolls his eyes. “If you don’t care about her in the slightest, why did you make me look into how she got that mark on her neck last year?”

“I was simply concerned that she’d hurt herself.”

“With kisses from another man’s lips?”