L.A. Cinderella by Amanda Berry Page B

“Of course not, Mr. Morrison. I’ve got the numbers tied into the expense reports and just need to categorize two more reports before I’m finished.” She hoped he was convinced by her lie, because she could hear the tremor in her voice and could feel the tightness of her smile.
    “Good. I’ll see you Monday morning.” He hefted his briefcase in his hand and was out the door before she could say anything else.
    Now she just had to wait for the rest of the office to clear out. Which shouldn’t take long. Over half the staff hadn’t come back after lunch and half of those remaining had taken off early. They had places to go and be seen.
    Her phone rang. She stared at it for a moment. The caller ID came up as Unavailable. She really didn’t want to talk to Jared Anderson again, but he wasn’t the only one who had her phone number.
    Tentatively, she picked the phone up from the cradle. “This is Natalie. How may I help you?”
    “Nat,” Rachel’s voice yelled above the background noise. “Brian finally asked me out.”
    “Good for you.”
    Rachel had been trying to get Brian from work to ask her out for months now.
    “Don’t wait up, sweetie. I don’t think I’ll be home tonight.”
    “Be careful.”
    “Hey, sorry about the mess in the kitchen, I was experimenting last night with cupcakes. Turns out I can’t cook, so I picked some up at the store this morning. Would you mind cleaning it up? Just in case Brian and I end up back at our place?”
    Natalie had seen the mess when she’d come home last night but had been too exhausted physically and emotionally to do anything about it. “Sure. Be safe.”
    “Thanks, sweetie. See ya.” The line went dead.
    She set down the phone and stood. Time to wander through and see who was left in the building. The hallway runway was quiet as she headed down to fill her water bottle.
    She held her breath as she passed by Chase’s closed door and breathed a sigh of relief when nothing happened.
    After filling her bottle, feeling confident that no one was left in the building besides Chase and her, she stopped at his door and knocked tentatively.
    “Yeah?” She heard from within. She cracked the door open.
    “Chase, Mr. Morrison has left for the day.” As she pushed the door open, a pair of feminine legs came into view. Someone was sitting in the guest chair. “Oh, I’m sorry.”
    Alexis Brandt was back for her Friday-night pickup.
    “It’s all right, Natalie.” Clearly distracted, Chase looked up from some papers on his desk. He held out a set of keys. “Let me know if you need anything.”
    She nodded to Chase, took the keys and pulled the door closed. Her chest had tightened, and she could barely breathe. She walked on wooden legs back to Mr. Morrison’s door. Her hands shook as she inserted the keys to find the right one.
    She had no reason to feel jealous. She didn’t have any claim to Chase—just because he’d kissed her last night didn’t mean anything. Hadn’t he said that? The keys made a heavy thud when they slipped from her hands.
    Squatting, she picked them up and shoved her glasses back up her nose. She was being ridiculous. Guys like Chase went for girls like Alexis. Just because he’d kissedher didn’t mean he felt anything for her. He kissed women as a career. Maybe he’d just been practicing.
    She found the right key and pushed into the office. Get what she needed and get out. The sooner she was done, the sooner she could be away from Chase for a whole weekend. A weekend to strengthen her resolve to stay away from him.
    Papers covered Mr. Morrison’s desk. Boxes of files covered the floor in front of five gray filing cabinets. This was going to take hours. Natalie shoved the keys into her jacket pocket.
    Picking a drawer, she started methodically rummaging through the files. She was so absorbed in the files she tuned out the noises from down the hall. She didn’t care what those two were doing, anyway. It wasn’t any of her