Whispered Secrets by Elizabeth Lennox
Chapter 13
Desiree tapped her pen against her notebook impatiently as she watched Oliver walk out of the conference room. But ‘walk’ was the wrong term. He rushed out of the conference room. He’d been doing that a lot lately and it irritated the hell out of her!
How was she supposed to corner him to convince him to take her back into that huge, lovely penthouse if she couldn’t even get two words out before he was through the door? Months ago, the first time she’d gotten to him, she’d simply sauntered into his office after hours. He’d been working so hard and she’d convinced him to take a break and grab a drink with her. After that, it had been easy enough to get him to drive her home, since he was such a damn gentleman. Inviting him into her apartment had been the next step, even though it had taken her about a month of drinks and boring chitchat to get him through the door.
Damn him, what the hell was going on? He didn’t work late anymore, so she couldn’t sneak into his office after hours. These days, he didn’t come in early either. She’d even gotten up at the ungodly hour of five o’clock so she could be at her beautiful best when he walked in at seven, which is when he used to get in to work when she’d lived with him.
But lately, the man had been sauntering in around eight o’clock like a normal person! And that really scared her. Because Oliver wasn’t normal. He was brilliant and handsome and…good grief, did he ever know what to do with that body. And hers, she thought with a smile.
So, why was he coming in “late” and leaving “early”?
Desiree stalked out of the conference room, furious with herself for letting this situation get away from her, as well as disgusted that she hadn’t fixed it already. That smug, pain in the ass of an assistant didn’t even let her sneak into his office during the workday. He guarded Oliver’s office like a dragon guards its hoard!
Taking a deep breath, she put her hands on her hips and looked out the window. Damn, she loved this town. Washington, D.C. was the powerhouse of the country! She loved rubbing elbows with the rich and powerful. The senators and congress members wanted to court Oliver, get him to build something in their states to increase jobs and employment, which would bring in more tax dollars.
Damn, she missed those lovely parties that Oliver was always invited to. He’d scorned so many of those invitations before she’d met him. But Desiree knew how to whine and wheedle with the best of them. Eventually, she’d convinced Oliver to attend, telling him that it was good for business.
Good for her business, she thought with a malicious chuckle.
“Desiree, do you have those reports for the next marketing campaign?” Mark, her boss, asked from the doorway.
She smiled over her shoulder. “Yep. I have them right here,” she told him and reached for the file folder she’d prepared yesterday. The campaign was great and she was proud of her work, but boy, she really needed a spa day! This working-every-single-day crap was irritating as hell!
“That’s great!” Mark replied, visibly relieved as he took the file and hurried off.
As soon as he was gone, Desiree’s smile dropped. She was really starting to hate this job. She wasn’t made for the daily grind. She wanted so much more for herself than working a nine to five job!
Of course, she didn’t actually work from nine to five. It was more like…well, ten to two. Sometimes less than that. None of her tasks were particularly challenging, so she could get her work done in just a few hours.
Still, what was she going to do about Oliver? She wanted back into his life and his bed!
Deciding that it was time to find out, she collected her purse and marched out the door. She didn’t care if Mark saw her leave. She was on a mission to get her man and her credit cards back!
