Office Affairs (+18) | Completed

CHAPTER 20

Peter POV

After lunch, I headed back to my apartment to do some work from home. I was grumpy from the way lunch had gone, and I didn't particularly want to see anyone.

I left the goddamn Harmon file at my desk, though.

It was a good thing I had an assistant. I called up Georgiana, and she said she'd bring it by. After I got off the phone, the door to the spare room opened, and Dane popped his head out.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I grumbled. Though it was normal for him to stop in every so often, he'd been doing it more than normal lately. Part of it, I was sure, was based entirely on boredom. The other was that, for whatever reason, he'd decided that Fairview was a solid town to spend some time in. That was the most frustrating part, because he'd always mocked me for it before.

"Was that Georgiana?" he asked,

ignoring my bitter question.

Christ, it couldn't be. Had Dane actually gotten his head out of his ass and seen how much better she would be for him than his one-week lovers?

"It was," I replied brusquely.

I couldn't help but feel relieved but also annoyed. I liked that Dane was growing up—becoming interested in Georgiana, after all, could been seen as nothing else—but I worried that he wasn't quite grown up enough to do well by her. I didn't want to lose a perfectly good assistant because of my brother's dalliances.

"Is she coming over?" he asked, trailing out of the room like a dog toward a treat.

"What is it to you?" I asked, turning a caustic grin on him.

He slunk back. "Nothing," he replied. "Just curious."

I scoffed. "Sure."

Dane, apparently, decided to change the topic. "When can I start going out again?" he asked. "I've been dying to go skiing."

"It's summer."

"In Dubai you can pay for it to be whatever season you want."

I rolled my eyes. "Go skiing if you must," I said. "Just make sure that's the only kind of white powder you're diving into."

He stretched languidly, ignoring my last comment. "I'm bored."

"You're always bored."

He frowned. "You're right," he said. He turned to me with a bright expression on his face. "Do you have anything that I can do?"

"Not really," I said. "Unless you feel like going over some contracts with me."

While the acquisition from Harmon had gone well weeks ago, new pieces had cropped up to be dealt with. The worst of the storm had passed, though, so I wasn't particularly worried.

"Okay."

I looked at Dane, surprised. I hadn't actually expected him to want to help. "What?"

"I said okay," he repeated. "I don't have a fancy business degree for nothing."

I blinked a few times to make sure that I wasn't dreaming. Dane had never shown an interest in the business. He'd taken his sweet time getting through college, taking semesters off here and there for "study" trips to exotic destinations. When he finished, he made no move to do anything in his own right to contribute. He'd continued living the party lifestyle for the past year, until I grounded him a few weeks ago.

"You want to help?" I asked again. He was going to dissolve into laughter at any moment, I knew it.

Dane gave me a forthright look. "Yes," he said, more sternly. "Are you going senile?"

Our nearly ten-year age difference was often a cause of humor for him.

I shook my head. "Whatever," I said. "Just make sure you listen carefully to my instructions."

At that moment, Georgiana stepped into the room. She'd had a key to my apartment for years. It was just easier that way.

Dane, though, apparently hadn't realized she would be coming straight up.

"Georgie!" he said, shocked. "You got here so quickly."

Georgie? He was shortening her name now?

"Yes," she said. "The office isn't that far away."

"Then why don't you tell my brother to go get his own damn files?" Dane said, cuffing me on the shoulder.

"Because I'm the one who pays to keep the lights on," I growled at him.

Dane excused himself to the spare room momentarily. If I had to guess, I'd say he was freshening up.

"Thanks for bringing the file, Georgiana," I said to the slight girl.

"No problem," she said, her eyes trailing toward Dane's door. "Do you need any help? All I'm doing at the office is a bit of filing."

In my head, I groaned. What had I done to become the babysitter of two love-struck teenagers? Well, neither were actually teenagers, but that only made it worse.

"Fine," I said shortly. "Could you please make us some coffee while Dane irons his pants."