Do Me Right (De Toi à Moi #1)

Thirteen

Monday was a slow day in the office. Ryder’s morning meeting with Wayne got cancelled and moved up to  Wednesday, so he had time to catch up with some work that had been left last week. He spent most of his time cooped up in his office and only came out if he needed to use the restroom or if he had a new task for me.

I didn’t have much work to do myself, and there weren’t too many e-mails or phone calls coming in, so I worked slowly, taking quite a few coffee and bathroom breaks in-between. But even though I worked as slowly as I possibly could, by lunch time, I had finished everything that was on my schedule for today.

After lunch, Ryder locked himself in the office again. He didn’t have any appointments in the afternoon, but I was sure he had more than enough work to make it through the day. Still, something felt off. And I knew exactly what it was. I hadn’t clarified that the plans I’d made with Hunter had been cancelled, so Ryder probably thought I’d gone out with his brother last night when in fact, I sat on the couch all night with a bottle of wine, my best friend and her cat watching Friends episodes on a loop.

He was still mad at me.

I glanced at the clock, noticing it was only one fifteen. I’d just finished preparing a power point presentation for a meeting on Thursday. I didn’t have anything else to do so I got up and headed to the coffee machine to prepare myself a cappuccino. Once it was ready, I grabbed the mug and sat back down in front of my computer. I waited a few minutes, but no new messages came in, so I decided to keep myself busy until I got a new task.

The launch party Wayne was holding at one of the Jackson Palmer owned locations was coming up this weekend. It had all gone extremely fast. I always thought these things were planned months in advance, but apparently I’d been wrong. I knew my presence was required, since Ryder would be attending. What did one wear to a magazine launch party anyway?

I opened my internet browser and started looking for some outfits online. I copied a few links to some dresses into a new e-mail and sent it to myself. Carrie could help me decide which one would be right. And by the way Ryder had been criticizing my outfits lately, I was sure he’d want to approve of them too.

I checked the time again. Thirty minutes had past. Sighing, I emptied my mug and swiveled around in my chair, staring at the closed door to Ryder’s office. He usually always came out around one thirty to grab a coffee, or ask me to fetch one for him. But he hadn’t come out since we returned from our lunch break, which we’d spent separately.

While chewing on my bottom lip, I contemplated my next move. I had to let Ryder know that nothing had happened last night. The poor man was probably pulling his hair out in there trying to figure out why the woman he was sleeping with would suddenly be more interested in dating his brother. Which I wasn’t. Hunter had been right. Despite the fact that I knew Ryder and I couldn’t be together, I couldn’t stay away.

When I knew what I had to do, I got up and knocked on the door to his office. I heard a faint “come in” and opened the door. Ryder was sitting at his desk, engrossed in work. He looked up when I didn’t immediately say something. “Your two o’clock is here,” I said, my heart hammering behind my ribs. Oh God, I was really doing this.

Frowning, Ryder stared at his computer screen. He was probably pulling up his calendar to check if he had an appointment. “I don’t have any appointments,” he said, looking back at me in confusion.

“It was sort of last minute,” I replied. I looked up at the ceiling, chewing on the inside of my cheek.

Ryder sighed and closed the file on his desk, arranging the papers and setting it aside. “Alright, let them in.”