Page 27 of Strictly Against Policy

“Give me your number.”

“What?” I scoffed.

A grimace pulled his lips into a scowl as he quickly glanced past my shoulders to ensure we were alone. Sheryl and Grace could be walking in at any moment. He looked back at me with furrowed brows, gesturing for me to quiet down.

In a low and quiet voice, he muttered, “Judging by how dark the circles under your eyes look today, I bet your brother did as he promised last night.”

“Judging by how dark yours look today, I bet you stayed up all night thinking about me. Exactly as I suspected,” I immediately countered. “You’re obsessed with me, Dr. Lo.”

Jonathan blinked, slowly, looking down at me as he continued standing too close. “Well, you’re not wrong. I was worried about you and your safety. But I was more upset at myself for letting you leave without ensuring you’d be fine.”

My nostrils flared. He dipped his head toward my face. “Give me your number, Lina. I’ll give you mine. If you need anything, just give me a call.”

“What are you going to do? Come running like you’re my savior?”

Jonathan’s lips pulled into an animalistic grin. One that a predator wore before he stilled himself—before cracking a neck in half with his bare teeth. “No, I’ll actually call the police on your behalf.”

“I’m not going to give you my number,” I stated.

He straightened, shaking his head as he walked toward the lockers. He opened his cubicle and pulled out a package. “I figured you’d say something like that.” He placed it in my hands. “I suggest you move out of your apartment as soon as you can without your brother knowing. In the meantime, please try to keep yourself safe.”

In my hands was a box containing a bright pink pepper spray and taser. I looked up at him, lips parted and unable to say anything.

“You like pink, right?” he asked. “Your vibrator was⁠—”

“Why are you doing this?” I huffed out.

Jonathan stared at me, pinning me to the wall with his dark gaze. “You’re my employee. It’s my job as your manager to keep you safe.”

I scoffed. “Your job, huh?”

The corners of his lips tipped upward into an amused, smug smirk. “You’re not doing a really great job at keeping yourself safe. Someone has to do it for you.”

My skin ignited in a searing flush. I cleared my throat, waving the gifts he gave me without a biting reply. “F-for your information, I like blue. Not pink.”

That man never made a move to get out of the way as I walked up to my locker. The sleeve of my button-up brushed against his chest momentarily. I could hear and feel the long breath he released across the back of my neck. With my hair tied up, the heat of his exhale swirled its way across my skin. Goosebumps raised immediately down my back. I shoved his gift into my locker loudly to push my attention elsewhere.

“Noted. I suggest you give me your number. Then, I’ll consider us even,” he said just as Sheryl walked into the break room.

Neither of us heard her walk in.

Her green eyes grew wide as she quickly turned on her heels. Before I could utter a word, she bounced to the bathroom with her bleach-blonde ponytail swinging. I glared at Jonathan over my shoulders and he shrugged.

“Let them. They’re already talking.”

That man was out of the break room after pouring his cup of coffee down the drain. He acted nonchalant, but his brisk footsteps professed to everything his voice didn’t.

I didn’t want this either; Jonathan knowing my brother had been stalking and harassing me, him going out of his way to be involved in my personal life, or even assuming I liked pink because of Mary’s salacious birthday gift.

Instead of getting myself a cup of water, I went straight for a cup of black coffee. Like Julie had said—with the two of us working together, there never seemed to be a dull day.

CHAPTER 14

Lina

It finally dawned on me, after everything Neng had done, that I needed to move as soon as possible.

Finding a one-bedroom apartment was never the concern, and neither was the size of it. It was how secure that apartment was going to be that was the most important to me. I needed a place with controlled access. If there was a security guard on site? Even better.