Taking a deep breath, I step off the elevator, smoothing my blouse to make sure it’s still tucked in. This is one of those days I hope Reece is at my desk waiting for me so Pierce has reason not to be.

A pit forms in my stomach when she’s not. I set my stuff down and begin putting the final touches on my board. Seeing his apartment when we were in New York gave me a better idea of what he would favor if he booked a penthouse suite; they always say you should please your audience.

“Wow. That looks great.”

I glance up from my desk to see Reece, staring down at me wearing a white blouse with black printed skunks. I’ve really seen it all now. “My fingers are going to bleed I’ve been coloring so much.”

She lifts a brow. “You know they have computer programs for that these days.”

“That’s no fun.”

“I saw Pierce this morning. The coffee pot was empty, so he took the whole damn thing and threw it in the trash. A perfectly good coffee pot.”

Grabbing a pencil off my desk, I focus back on my drawing. “Doesn’t Jane get his coffee?” I didn’t even think he knew where the break room was.

“I have no idea, but she was in the file room crying this morning.”

Her words crush my conscience. Pierce is as even tempered as they come. He keeps control by showing all of us that forward is the only way to go. That keeping our emotion out of our work is the only way to succeed. You can’t dwell over failures, or hold onto wins.

“Maybe you should go check on him,” she says when I don’t ask any more.

I throw the pencil down. “I can’t, Reece. Am I the reason for his bad mood? Probably. Is it going to get any better if I go waltzing into his office? Probably not.”

“You’re stubborn.”

Glaring up at her, I say, “I’m sane.”

“Do you have lunch plans today?” she asks, ignoring the fact that I’m annoyed.

“Blake is going to be in the area, so he’s taking me out.”

Her mouth forms an “O”. “So,” she drags the word out like it actually means something. “The first day your ex comes back to the office, your current squeeze is coming to take you to lunch. Not so much of a coincidence if you ask me.”

“It is a coincidence.”

She turns to walk away. “Whatever you say. By the way, when you get a minute, come find me. I want to show you someone in IT.”

I shake my head. I can’t imagine what her latest prospect looks like.

Focusing on my drawing, I try to finish the last bits and pieces. A dark cloud blocks my creativity because all I can think about is Pierce. What’s going through his head after we spent several days apart? I want to think it’s a failed business deal that put him in this mood, but I know better than that.

In the span of an hour, I shade in one tiny section only to erase it. I stare at it, but my focus is elsewhere.

After two hours of nothing, I pick the board up from my desk and head down the hallway. Jane isn’t at her desk, so I keep walking, taking my chances that Pierce isn’t in a meeting or on a call.

I tap on his closed door twice, waiting for an answer. When one doesn’t come, I try once more.

“Come in,” he says in an annoyed tone.

I turn the knob slowly, making sure the door closes behind me. His eyes are locked on his computer, but I’d be surprised if he doesn’t sense that it’s me. I know Pierce Stanley.

“What can I do for you, Ms. Fields?” He still hasn’t looked up.

“I wanted to show you the progress I made last week. See if you had any ideas on how to finish the top floor.”

“Schedule something with Jane, and we’ll talk about it later this week.”

My frustration grows with every second he won’t look at me. “She’s not at her desk.”

“Send her an email. You know how to use it, right?”

I bite down on my lower lip to keep myself from breaking down in tears. He was the first person I met in Chicago. He helped me through some of the worst times. And, I repaid him by letting him down in the worst possible way.

Unable to form words, I leave him alone, walking past Jane’s empty desk again back to my cubicle. He’d said we could still work together, but I’m starting to doubt that.

While I wait for lunch to roll around, I attempt to work through a few more aspects of the design, but I hate everything.

I even venture down to Reece’s floor to scope out the newest guy in IT. It might be my mood, but he was about as interesting as the pencil holder on my desk and looked like the guy who wears the Dickie on The Big Bang Theory.

As I ride back up to my floor, I feel little hope for the rest of my day. I might as well go home sick, hit restart, and pray that tomorrow has a better outcome. The whole idea goes out the window when I see Pierce standing by my desk. His expression hasn’t changed much from earlier which leads me to expect an empty cardboard box and a security escort.

“Where have you been?” he asks when I’m within earshot. He leans against the cubicle wall, his tie slightly loosened.

“I had to run down to IT for a minute.” I rub my palms against my black trousers, nerves so high it almost feels as if I’m meeting Pierce for the first time. It’s weird how quickly we’ve gone from lovers to strangers.

“Problems with your computer?”

“Something like that.”

“Look,” he starts, “I just wanted to come over and tell you that I’m sorry for blowing you off earlier. You don’t have to make an appointment to discuss projects with me.”

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding. “I shouldn’t have barged into your office like that. To be honest, someone told me you were out of sorts this morning, and I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

He laughs. I’m not sure what to think. “The building won’t crumble if a guy has one bad day in ten years.”

“Where did you go last week?”

“I have a house in Michigan. I go there when I need to think.”

I nod, not wanting to delve any deeper. “Did you come to look at my board or do you want to talk about it later?”

“Let’s see what you got.”

My stomach ties in knots as I flip the board over. Pierce has been critical but helpful. Hopefully, the change in the way he sees me doesn’t change how he views my work.

He leans over my chair to get a better look. “I like where you’re going, but why so modern?”

The knot gets a little tighter. “I paid attention when we were in Wade’s apartment a couple weeks ago, and I tried to create somewhere he would like to stay.”

“Okay,” he says, tracing his finger along the drawn penthouse walls.

“You don’t like it?”

“It’s not that I don’t like it.” He pauses, studying it for a few more seconds. “Think about the rest of the hotel design. If you walked in front of the building or into the lobby, is this what you’d expect?”

That’s why he’s had the success he has. He thinks from every angle. “This is why you were hired for the project.”

“If the client wanted to use his style, he wouldn’t have a need for us. Our job is to hear his vision and insert our expertise. That’s what we’ve done with every room in that hotel.”

I nod, letting it all sink in. Making notes on what is salvageable and what needs to change.

“You’ve been back for a few hours, and you’re already moving in on her.”

We look up in unison, to see Blake standing there, a tight expression on his face. This morning has been so screwed up, I almost forgot about lunch. From the look of it, I’m probably going to regret it.

“Lila is my employee, and the last time I checked, working on a project together isn’t equivalent to rolling around in bed,” Pierce snaps back.

“It’s happened once,” Blake shoots back.

“She was just as much a part of it as I was.”

Blake lurches forward, but I stop him, curling my fingers around his collar. “Don’t.”

Our eyes connect, and his whole expression softens.

“Let’s go to lunch. Pierce and I can wrap this up later.”