Page 10 of Strictly Against Policy

As soon as I took out my earbud, she asked with a huge and sweet smile, “You and Lina used to be high school classmates?” She glanced between Lina and me.

“Yeah,” I answered, keeping my eyes trained on Grace.

The older woman grinned, turning in Lina’s direction about to say something when Sheryl’s voice butt in. “Did you two date?”

Her question was so loud that my ears started ringing. I slowly turned to her as she shrugged at me with a smirk. Our team is close-knit enough for me to call my pharm techs my second family. But for them to make comments like this . . . maybe we were too close. I wasn’t offended, but I wished they’d have this conversation without me instead.

“You two fight like you did,” she quickly added.

My brows crumpled together, my mouth ajar and disgusted. “No, we didn’t,” I said, standing up and accidentally making eye contact with Lina.

“We never did. We were just academic rivals,” she confirmed with an icy voice. She looked at me, straight in the eyes. “We competed against each other to see who would be class valedictorian our senior year.”

The techs’ eyes grew wide as they glanced between the two of us, me staring her down.

“Who won?” asked Carmen, hesitant.

“Me, of course.” Lina nodded slowly—proud and pompous. I wasn’t surprised this was still the only expression that showed through her facade of cool calmness. She was finally showing everyone her true colors. “I won.”

I grinned back, flashing my teeth. “And now I’m your manager.”

Her mouth pulled into a calm and gentle smile, practically mocking me. “Yes, Dr. Lo.”

I blew out an even breath, trying to control the irritation spreading across my face. I cleaned up after myself and left the break room without another word or glance at Lina Lee. She was probably still grinning at the head of the table.

Sure. She won back in high school. I was winning now by being her manager. But I was still letting her win. I was letting her win by allowing her to get under my skin.

The frigid air nipped my cheeks and icy drops of rain pitter-pattered against my shoulders as I made my way through the parking lot to sit in my car. I decided it was best I learned how to control myself around Lina. It didn’t look good. It could escalate, which was the last thing I needed on top of making sure the pharmacy was performing well.

I could even become more of the asshole boss I told myself I’d never be.

But never say never, right?

CHAPTER 7

Lina

On my ninth day at Sierra, I returned the shirt Jonathan had lent to me after the whole fiasco on my first day. With the tension brewing between us, I couldn’t find the right time to give him his shirt back. I figured I might as well do it today before too much time had passed and things got too tense.

“Dr. Lo.” I hurried toward him before he left.

Carmen and Grace had already clocked out, and Sheryl was staying behind to help me close the pharmacy today.

The only acknowledgment he made was a glance over his shoulder. It was a slow day for the pharmacy, and there were no patients waiting. So, I told Sheryl I was going to be quick as I followed Jonathan into the break room. He glanced at me as he reached for the coat he wore this morning from a hook on the wall. The muscles of his neck stiffened.

Without saying anything, he arched a brow at me. This was what our conversations had now boiled down to, with me usually doing the talking and him resorting to only nonverbal communication.

“I wanted to return your shirt to you,” I said. I quickly reached into my locker and pulled out a paper bag with his shirt neatly folded inside. “I’m sorry it took me so long to give it back. I couldn’t find the time to get it washed until this past weekend.”

Jonathan kept his gaze trained on an obscure corner of the room. He hummed, and that was his only response to my statement.

As I handed the bag to him, his hand haphazardly grabbed mine by accident. He immediately yanked his palm away with a sharp wince as if my skin were fire itself. I blinked at his dramatic antics as he glowered at me, finally locking eyes with me. I couldn’t help but perk up, holding my stance.

“Have a good night, sir,” I forced myself to say.

He didn’t say anything as he threw his coat over his forearm. He snatched the bag from me and was out the door without a single regard to my presence.

I thought a bit about how we were in high school, the memory of one of our last interactions before graduation coming to mind. It was when I had let him know, as gently as I possibly could and without gloating, that I was the victor of our final competition.