Mr. Big Jerk: A Forbidden Second Chance Romance (Kinda Cocky Series Book 3), стр. 21
Then, that damn warning dinging sound started going off again.
“What now?” I growled.
It didn’t take me long to click through and realize what happened. Roxy had typed her password in wrong again one too many times. I shook my head as I navigated away from the interface and pulled up the front desk cameras, just to make sure nothing hinky was going on upfront. As the camera screen started loading, all sorts of horrid things rushed through my mind. Maybe someone was holding her hostage, and this was her way of contacting me. Maybe someone was threatening her, and she was trying to signal something to me.
But, when the camera feed finally loaded, I saw Roxy by herself, sitting at her desk, staring right at the camera that faced her from the front door.
Then, she held up her middle finger.
I chuckled to myself before I swallowed the sound down. I clicked away from the camera feed and pulled up my company’s system interface again before resetting her password attempts. Then, I kicked the number of password attempts up the highest it would go, all the way to nine hundred and ninety-nine.
“See how busy that keeps you,” I murmured.
I leaned back in my chair and sighed. I started chewing on the bed of my nail before I realized how much I was fidgeting around. I had to get to work. I had to focus on something. I strummed my fingers against my desk before I picked up another file. I signed at the bottom after speed-reading through the material, then moved to my computer to check my email. I rolled around my office in my rolling leather chair, spinning around and trying to disorient myself.
But, every time I gave myself a moment’s breath, her face appeared in the back of my mind.
Come on, Clint. You’re being nuts. Knock it the hell off.
I looked over at my phone before I plucked it from the receiver. I pressed the number six on the dial pad before the phone started ringing in my ear. I reclined back in my chair as I gazed up at the ceiling, propping my feet up on my desk.
“Come on, pick up,” I whispered.
Then, I heard her voice. “Clint?”
I smiled. “Hey, Mom.”
“Clint! What in the world are you doing calling on your lunch break?”
I blinked. “My what?”
She giggled. “Your lunch break. It’s a bit past noon. Or, are you working too much to notice?”
More light daydreaming too much. “Can’t a man call his mom and say, hey?”
“I’m just saying you usually have a routine you stick to. And you don’t deviate much.”
“Well, I’m deviating today. Plus, I think I left my wallet in the car.”
“You did what?”
I started patting myself down. “Yeah, my wallet’s still in my car. So, I haven’t ordered food yet.”
“Are you okay, Clint? That’s not like you?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. Just a Monday, that’s all.”
She paused. “You want to give that one more try?”
I chuckled. “I’m fine, Mom. Really.”
“Says the eldest son who keeps to himself and never calls unless he’s got something on his mind.”
“Am I that easy to read?”
“You’re my son. You’ll always be that easy to read to me.”
I smiled. “Thanks for talking to me, Mom.”
“Don’t know what I did, but it’s always good to hear your voice.”
“Yours, too.”
“Sure, there’s nothing you want to talk about?”
I slid my feet off my desk. “I’m sure, Mom. Thanks, though.”
“Well, if you change your mind, I’m only a phone call away.”
“Love you, too.”
We blew each other kisses through the phone. Then I dropped it back down into the receiver. I stood up from my desk and patted my pockets down one more time before I looked over at my office door. Damn it, how the hell did I forget my wallet? I never forgot my wallet.
Roxy.
“Jesus,” I growled.
I stormed out of my office and backed down the stairwell. It poured me out into the parking garage, where I unlocked my car and rummaged around. I finally found it underneath the driver’s seat, almost as if I’d never slipped it into my pocket in the first damn place. And after digging it out, I headed back up the stairwell.
Then it dawned on me yet again that it was my lunch break.
“I could just go somewhere for lunch,” I said to myself.
I paused, midway up the stairs to my office, and sighed.
“Or, I could order something. Have it delivered. I never have lunch delivered, though. People might think something’s wrong. But, if I go out, I might run into Roxy. What if she goes to the diner I usually go to? I could pick something up. Call the order in and drive through to get it. Then, I could park and sit in my car to eat. But, what if someone catches me? They might think--.”
You’re going crazy. Cut it out.
I leaned against the concrete wall and heaved a heavy sigh. I had finally snapped. At least, it felt like it. I was actually debating with myself in a stairwell, talking out loud, as if someone else were here. I’d never felt so fucked up in all my life, and I had survived seven different war zone areas. I pressed the heels of my hands into my eyes to try and clear my mind. But, all it did was give me more black space to envision Roxy, in that cute little outfit.
With that cute little tipsy stare in her eyes.
“I can’t wait until today is over,” I whispered.
I finally decided to just order food and have it delivered. Because that option was much better than having to face the world and possibly run into Roxy. I knew she was upset with me, and rightfully so. But, we didn’t need to be causing any more of a scene in a professional atmosphere. I leaped