Page 24 of Dancing With Lies

9

Lincoln

Lincoln texted Chloe - Roxie, he reminded himself - the address of the building he’d taken an office in temporarily and waited to see if she’d show up or not. Myrtle Beach was a far cry from the financial center that New York City was, but he could have an office here too, he’d decided that night on the yacht. Why not open another office? He’d thought, most of his business transactions were done online now and his clients might like the change of pace that was the wonderful surprise down here, where they all became anonymous?

He was sitting in an office in an old historic building that only had three floors but still had a great view of the ocean and landscape. One of his assistants, Monica, had found the place, ordered rudimentary furniture, and had the phone lines and Internet connected with a few clicks of a mouse. He wasn’t sure what he’d accomplish down here, but maybe a change of pace would do him good. He’d become bored with New York City, but it had always been home. Until now.

Lincoln heard the elevator ding outside his office and went out to find a woman with sunglasses perched on her nose, dressed in a black t-shirt and black jeans with combat boots and purple and black hair in his office. “Chloe?”

“I told you not to call me that.” She barked as she marched around looking for something. “Where’s the bathroom?”

“Down the hall, to the right.” He directed, amused at the picture of flustered frustration she presented. He’d expected the black hair, not the ombre from black to purple that she currently sported, and a suit and heels, not combat boots, a well-worn t-shirt, and tattered black jeans. This was going to be fun, he decided.

He had a rebel on his hands and she wanted him to know it. When she didn’t have an urgent need for the bathroom that is.

She was soon back, the sunglasses now perched on top of her head, a grim look on her face. “What’s my name?”

Oh, he liked that tilt to her chin and the glare in her eyes. “Roxie.”

He couldn’t help a smug smile as he stared down at her, beautiful and badass suited her, even if he liked the sweet and innocent look on her too.

“Good boy. Now, what do you want me to do?” She looked around the office, obviously trying to gain the upper hand, but he’d soon work that out of her, he decided.

“Right now, I’d like some breakfast. Later, I need you to take my laundry to a dry cleaner, a good one. And can you find me a coffee machine?” He started a list of things for her to do but he had so much more.

“You want me to go get your breakfast? You gave me 150 grand and you want me to get your fucking breakfast?” She stood there with her arms wrapped under her very luscious breasts, one leg kicked out to the side. “Holy fucking moly, Lincoln, are you fucking serious?”

“That’s another thing, watch your language in here. You’re my employee, not my kid sister’s BFF anymore.”

“Whatever. What do you want to eat?” She rolled her eyes and he had a feeling she’d be chewing gum when she came back, just to piss him off even more. She was acting like a teenager, but he’d let it go for now. It was amusing him, watching this brand-new version of Chloe act out.

He told her what he’d like for breakfast, gave her a credit card to buy a coffee maker with, and handed her a bag filled with his laundry.

“I know a place for that, I’ll drop it off when I go home tonight.” She muttered as she took the bag from him.

He knew exactly where she lived and guessed she’d take the laundry to the place below her apartment. He knew a lot about Miss Roxie, but not as much as he’d like to know. She didn’t have an online presence at all, no websites, no social media, but he’d found out where she lived, and a few other things from Dylan James.

While she was out, he sent her another text to demand she go to his friend Kai’s house, where he was crashing until he found his own place and get the other cellphone he carried that he’d forgotten to pick up that morning. A few minutes later he sent another text to tell her to find a more permanent home for him while she was at it. She sent back a short reply.

“Do you want to wear your breakfast, or shall I just throw it away as it will be cold by the time I get back from all of this?”

He’d snorted out a laugh. She’d always been so easy to rile. He’d have her pitching a fit before long and he’d have her right where he wanted her: back to the old Chloe who’d need him.

He didn’t want to break her, but he did want to see a spark of the girl he used to know back in her eyes. She’d had it rough since she ran away from the fire and her parents’ deaths. He knew that, but did she always have to be so fucking…tough?

With little else to do but check how things were in New York, Lincoln found a local furniture store online and ordered more furniture. He’d bring down whichever of his PAs back in New York wanted to relocate and have them show Roxie the ropes, and maybe stick around. He’d bring them both down if they wanted to, actually. He didn’t really want to keep Roxie on as an assistant, he just wanted to have her around where he could keep an eye on her.

By the time Roxie made it back to the office, it was lunch time and all she could do was glare at him. She handed him a bag of cold sausage biscuits with hash browns, a cup filled with cold coffee, and then disappeared. When she came back, she had a cellphone dangling out of her pocket, a coffee machine in her hands, and a stack of brochures from luxury apartment buildings in her bag.

“Right, well, since that took you so long, I’d like you to get my lunch.”

She just glared at him harder, if that was possible, and asked him what he wanted.

The back and forth went on for a few days until he was certain she was about to quit but he just loved pushing her buttons. Even when Monica and Tanya took a few days off in New York to come down and sort things out for him, he was still pushing Roxie.

He wasn’t even sure why he was still pushing her by the time the next week rolled around. Monica and Tanya went back to New York, with Tanya promising to move down if he was serious about staying. He’d noted how both his PAs glared daggers at Roxie, but she ignored them when they weren’t instructing her on something.

It was Monday morning and time for Roxie to come in. He already had a shitty day planned out for her, and he just hoped she didn’t quit on him before Tanya made it down on Wednesday.