“No!” The word burst out of me. “Please don’t.”
His hand stilled, eyebrows rising in question.
“If you confront her, she’ll know I said something.” I twisted my hands in my lap, hating the fear in my voice but unable to hide it. “She already dislikes me because of Tiffany. It will only make things worse.”
“Why does she dislike you because of Tiffany?”
“Because Tiffany is her niece and she’s not happy that I got the promotion to team leader that she’d earmarked for her .”
Jack studied me, his gaze so intense I had to fight the urge to look away.
“Alright,” he said finally. “I won’t speak to her directly, but I’m not letting this continue.”
Relief washed over me. “Thank you.”
“Instead,” he continued, his tone shifting to something more business-like, “I want to focus on your customer archetypes. The system you’ve developed could significantly impact our retention rates company-wide.”
I blinked, surprised by the sudden change in topic. “You want to implement it across both divisions?”
“I do. But we’d need to adapt it for Porter’s team, analyze their customer base, and develop training modules.” He glanced at his calendar on his computer screen. “It would require additional work, outside regular hours.”
My mind raced with the implications. More work was the last thing I needed, but the opportunity to see my system implemented company-wide was too tempting to pass up.
“I’m willing to put in the time,” I said, professional pride overriding my exhaustion.
“Great. How soon can you start?”
“Whenever you want me to.”
The ghost of a smile played around his lips. “How about you take the weekend to rest and regroup. We can start Monday evening. I’ll work with you directly on this.” His eyes met mine. “We’d need to keep it between us for now, until we have a complete proposal.”
The thought of spending evenings alone with Jack sent a flicker of something dangerous through me. He was my boss. There were boundaries. Professional lines that shouldn’t becrossed. But I couldn’t ignore the way my pulse quickened at the suggestion.
“Why the secrecy?” It was an effort to keep my voice steady.
“If Porter catches wind of this before it’s ready, he’ll fight it every step of the way. And given Rebecca’s... creative interpretation of my directives, I’d prefer to keep this project off her radar as well.”
It made sense. Logical, strategic sense. Yet I couldn’t help the little flare of very unprofessional excitement in my belly at the idea of spending all that time alone with him.
“One more thing,” he added, his voice lowering slightly. “It might be best if your car isn’t in the company lot during our evening sessions. If anyone notices both our vehicles here after hours regularly...”
He didn’t need to finish the sentence. Office gossip spread faster than wildfire, and Rebecca would be all too happy to find a reason to cause problems for me.
“I can arrange something,” I assured him, already thinking I could ask Emily to come and pick me up, or take an Uber.
“If you can make your own way in, in the morning, I’ll drive you home afterward.” His tone was casual, though there was nothing casual about the way my heart rate picked up at the thought of being alone in his car, driving through the dark.
“Honestly, I’ll be fine to get home on my own.”
“Mia.”
“Y-yes?”
“I’m not sure exactly where you live, but Esperance is a small town. Dropping you off home is not much of a sacrifice, considering what it’ll cost you to stay back. Just let me do this for you.”
Oh, well, when you put it like that, in that deep, gruff voice…“Fine. So, what time Monday?” I could only hope he couldn’t hear the slight tremor in my voice.
“Seven? Everyone should be gone by then.” He leaned back in his chair, watching me with those perceptive eyes. “Bring your data files and any analysis you’ve already done on Porter’s division.”
