Page 16 of Reckless Love

That philosophy worked for me with every man but one.

The idea that she could be grooming Stephen to be the one she gets under while he’s supposed to be guarding me is unacceptable, though.

Any other man. I would support her wholeheartedly. Of course I would. I’m a girl’s girl. She should sleep around, have some fun.

Stephen’s here to guard me, not to be flirted with. She needs to be more professional.

The more I think about what might be happening outside my door, the more frustration and jealousy eat away at my chest cavity, hollowing me out to the point where the ache of what I’m missing is all I can think about.

Fuck it.

Work isn’t happening, so I might as well indulge what I really want.

With determination, I push back my rolling chair and stride to my door. I’m almost there when I catch my heel on the decorative rug, unable to right myself in time. Off balance, I slam into the door, palms slapping against it, and let out a furious huff before straightening my long dress and stepping back. With a deep, stabilizing breath, I tug the door open. Both Datu and Stephen look startled by either the open door or the noise I made when I almost went through it.

“Are you okay, Mrs. Santos?” Datu asks.

Of course Stephen has him calling me that stupid moniker now too.

“Mrs. Santos?” Nancy says with a little laugh. “She’s Ms. Tucker if she’s anything other than Ava.”

“Thank you, Nancy,” I say, pretending an authority I suddenly don’t feel. “That’s what I’ve been saying. Mr. Foster, can I speak to you, please?”

Stephen raises his eyebrows, but he steps into the office with me.

“Shut the door, please,” I say as I walk back to my desk, frantically trying to think of a reason I’d need him in here alone.

Reasons are annoying—I just want things to be. He’s in here because I don’t want him out there chatting up my secretary as though they’ll have a sweaty encounter later.

God, the way he used to make me sweat.

I wave my face from the heat of remembrance that rises. Hopefully, Stephen isn’t paying close enough attention to see what’s happened. He used to be able to clock the second I was thinking about sex from across a crowded room. Honestly, it’s been years since sex has been at the forefront of my mind.

“What did you need, Mrs. Santos?” he asks, breaking into my scattered thoughts.

“Even Nancy told you you’re wrong about my name,” I say, whirling around when I get to my desk and leaning back against it.

He doesn’t say anything, just watches me with a wariness I hate.

“Have you heard how Landon’s first day is going?”

Stephen checks his watch and then squints at me. “We literally dropped him off an hour ago.”

True. Stephen, Datu, me, Kiara and her team, and Landon all went to the school to drop him off. It feels more like five hours ago, though.

Why is this the longest day of my life?

“So you’re saying you haven’t heard anything?”

“I can’t be in here with you alone,” Stephen says, stepping back toward the door. “Datu will come in if anyone has a meeting with you and you want security. Otherwise, we’ll be outside the door.”

“I want you to stay in here,” I say with a huff.

“You’ve been gone from the office most of the week. You must have things to catch up on.”

I do. A lot. I opened my inbox and immediately regretted taking so many days off. All these decisions await me, and I love the power sometimes. But sometimes I just wish I could plan the fun parties and leave the hard bits to someone else. The employee parties and socials are my reward for taking ownership of the hard decisions I dislike making.

He reaches for the door handle to leave.