Trusting Jay: (A Chicago Suits Romance) (Loving Jay Book 1) by Simone Sowood Page A

before realizing it’s mine.  That I can come home from work and put it on again.  I removed the stockings and unzipped it. 
    Once off, I examined it a little more.  The label said Agent Provocateur.  I’d never heard of them.  My fingers skimmed over the label, and along the perfect stitching.  Somehow I didn’t think this had been made in a third world sweatshop.
    I couldn’t resist.  I know it’s rude when someone gives you a gift, but I had to know.  I Googled ‘Agent Provocateur.’  Maybe I would buy another one to surprise him with.
    Even their website was beautiful, and sexy.  Sexy like I wanted Jay back right now.  I clicked around until I found my corset.  I choked on my coffee.  That couldn’t be right.
    The corset was two thousand bucks.  Easily more than the cost of Jay’s new car.  My brow furrowed in confusion.  This couldn’t be right.  I found the panties, the panties I’d barely worn before he ripped them off of me.  Ruined.  And they’d cost over three hundred dollars.  For almost no fabric.  How was that even possible?
    It didn’t make any sense.  How did Jay have this?  Did he steal it?  No, that sounded silly.  But what possible explanation was there?  It’s true he always dressed nicely, in expensive looking stuff, and he wore a flash watch.  But he’d said he had all that from before he lost his job.
    Now he drove around in a cheap old banger I’m surprised even runs.  That made sense to me.  That explained the contradiction.  Even quail’s eggs and champagne fit in.  It’s possible he’d had that champagne sitting around his house.  That he’d never had a reason to drink it until our picnic in the park.
    And quail’s eggs.  Well, I have no idea what they cost, but they’re so tiny it can’t be that much.  Maybe he was trying to impress me.
    But this lingerie.  What are the chances he’d had a brand new set sitting around, unused, in his home that happened to be my size.  None.  And what are the chances his last job paid enough money to blow almost three grand on a skimpy bit of cloth?  No one had that kind of money.  Except maybe movie stars.
    The questions kept churning around in my mind as I showered and dressed.  I tried to push them down.  To not have them hanging over my first full day in my new role.  The closer I got to my office, the quieter the questions became.
    As I stepped into the elevator of my building I laughed.  Not only would I never see Calvin again, I didn’t have to think about my bills. I grinned wide and punched the air.  It was a good thing no one else was in the elevator with me, or they would have been freaked out.

27
    I ’d arrived before Sam .  I went straight into Calvin’s office.  My office.  The cleaners had been, everything was sterilized and ready for a new inhabitant.  They’d boxed any paperwork, I’d have to go through them later to decide what, if anything, I needed to keep.  Lord knows I wasn’t keeping anything that even hinted at the prior existence of the Weeksend report.
    After I’d finished my inspection of my new workspace, I headed back to my old desk to pack.  Sam still wasn’t in.  I checked the time, she wouldn’t be here for at least another ten minutes.
    I hoped she felt comfortable with me being her new boss.  After all, she had been with the company a lot longer than I had.  And we’d become such close friends, I hope it didn’t feel too awkward for her.  Or worse, that she resented me for getting the position instead of her.  Perhaps I should talk to her about it?  I don’t know.
    Someone had left an empty box on my old desk.  I dropped it on the floor, sat in my old chair and opened my old desk drawers.  I put the recycling bin beside the empty box.  Might as well clear out the files I don’t need now.
    I started in the bottom drawer and was about halfway through it when I heard Sam’s telltale heavy feet.
    “Good morning boss.”  I stood up at the