Chapter 38-1

Claire immediately slapped her hand over his mouth, stopping him short. Heath stared at her to see that she was glaring. “What are you doing?” He raised a brow and spoke. Though his voice was muffled by her hand, she could still understand his words. “What do you think?” “It’s still the middle of a work day!” she said incredulously. “I don’t have the time for this right now, Heath! First, you left, then Julia left, and now I’m stuck with a lot of things to wrap up. Why don’t you help me with work and get your mind out of the gutter?” “But you had enough time for the revenge.” He tried to find holes in her excuse. Claire wasn’t going to fall for it. “Even when Kane and Tori were in my office, I still did my job as the general manager. They were distracting, but all I had to do was tune them out. Even during all of this, I was still working to the best of my ability, Heath.” That reminded him… “Why didn’t you mention anything about Kane or Tori in your office? Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to act like my shock was actually part of the plan?” “Hey, your reaction was genuine, right?” Claire laughed it off, but Heath wasn’t going to easily go with the flow. She noticed his suddenly sour mood and sighed. “Are you getting jealous again?” “You and Kane looked so natural next to each other.” He softly said. “It surprised me.” “Does it make you feel better to know that Tori had been trying to hold in her laugh from how ridiculous we sounded the whole time under the desk? She said it was the most disgusting yet hilarious thing to hear how Kane and I pretended like there was something between us.” “Why was she under your desk anyway?” Claire shrugged. “She wanted to listen to the whole thing, but at the same time, I didn’t want others knowing she was there. It would’ve been suspicious. So she decided to hide under the desk. There was plenty of space for her there.” “Interesting.” Heath muttered, and Claire saw that he was staring at her legs. The skirt she was wearing wasn’t the longest, but it was one of the longer ones she had. The length didn’t matter though since it still felt like Heath could see right through them. “Heath.” She hissed, warning him. “Get off of me.” “Hm…” he murmured as his eyes ran down her legs to her feet. “Your heels aren’t that high today.” “Of course not.” Claire sharply retorted. “I’m not at some party or a club. I’m at work!” “Claire…” Heath softly said and she stiffened from his voice. “What are you so afraid of?” The room fell silent as the two of them stared at each other. Heath was absolutely calm, but Claire was internally panicking. She didn’t think that he would catch onto her mood so quickly, but of course he would be sharp during a time like this. “I-” A phone rang. Claire shut her lips just as Heath’s brow furrowed in frustration. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his personal cellphone. The caller ID said that it was his father, Logan. Heath was just about to toss his phone out of the way and get straight to making Claire his, but Claire just had to ask, “Who is it?” The split second of hesitation made Claire snatch the phone out of his hand and she saw that it was from Logan. Claire knew exactly what Heath had been thinking, so she quickly answered the phone. “Hello?” There was a pause. “Claire?” “Yes?” “Oh, good. This will just make things easier.” Logan said and Claire was confused by his words. But he quickly continued. “I forgot to tell you about something.” Heath tried to take the cellphone, but Claire slapped his hand away. “What?” “Clarissa.” Logan suddenly said and Claire stiffened. Heath noticed her behavior and tried to take the phone again, only to get another slap. “You’re still curious about who she is, right?” “Yes.” She immediately answered. “So Heath hasn’t told you?” Claire gave Heath a pointed glare. “He told me he didn’t know who she was, but I’m not sure whether he’s telling the truth or not.” Heath caught on and knew they were talking about Clarissa. “I told you, I really don’t know anyone named Clarissa.” “So what?” Claire raised an eyebrow at him. “She’s your imaginary friend?” “Not quite.” Logan answered on the other line of the phone. “But she did come from his childhood.” “Oh, really?” she raised an eyebrow at Heath. “What?” Heath said. “What did he say?”