Break the Rules (The Flanagan Sisters Book 1) (3 page)

Chapter 3

On Monday morning Bridget arrived at work early
to catch the six o’clock shift. She always made an effort to meet with all the
operation technicians before they started to discuss any safety issues they
might not be aware of.

She
walked into the supervisor’s office, placing her hard hat on the table.
“Morning, Joe.”

Joe,
the outgoing shift supervisor, looked up from his computer. “Howdy, Bridge.
Why’d you have your phone off last night?”

“Out
of range,” she lied.
“Any problems?”
She’d turned her
phone on this morning and had listened to the messages. The only good one was
from Jack, asking how her lunch had been. She hadn’t wanted to call him back so
early, so she’d saved his number and would call him this afternoon.

“A
permit problem, but Ken helped out.”

“Great.”
She’d follow up with Ken, one of the safety officers.

Joe
handed her a report.
“The incidents for the shift.”

Bridget
glanced through the short list. A twisted ankle and a level transmitter that
was sticking, which meant a tank could potentially overflow. She sighed. So
much of the plant was rundown and needed replacing. She had her own project to
replace relief valves on the crude tower that were venting to atmosphere.

“I
hear the new safety manager’s starting today,” Joe said.

“That’s
the rumor.”

“What’s
he like?”

She
looked up. “No idea. I don’t even know his name.”

“It’s
tough they didn’t give it to you. We all wanted you to get it.”

Bridget
smiled. He was genuinely upset for her. It was nice to be appreciated. “It is
what it is. Anything else I need to know?”

“Nah.
That’s about it.”

“Great.
Why don’t you go home?”

“Hallelujah
to that.”

Bridget
chatted with the incoming shift supervisor and made sure he knew about the
sticking level transmitter.

“Bridge,
that thing always sticks. It’s the nature of the stuff. It’s murder on
equipment. It usually unsticks itself.”

“If
the tank overflows we could be in serious trouble.” The likelihood might be low
but the consequences were very high.

“All right.
I’ll get one of the guys to raise a work order.”

“Thanks.”
She’d have to remember to check it was done. Part of the problem was the guys
on the plant were so used to its quirks, they didn’t recognize the potential
incident. “Don’t forget to remind your guys not to cut through the units.”

Each
section of the plant was a separate unit, surrounded by a concrete containment
area. Roads divided the units and workers were meant to use those roads, but
too many of them took shortcuts to save time. It was also bad practice, as
everyone had to sign on to the exact unit they were working in so they knew
exactly where everyone was if an emergency occurred.

“Sure thing.”
He turned to his computer.

Bridget
sighed. She’d been dismissed. Most of the guys thought she was overly safety conscious
to the point of being pedantic but she couldn’t help it. She knew what it was
like for someone not to make it home from work.

“Have
a safe shift.” Replacing her hard hat, she strode across to the administration
building where her office was located. She had another hour or so before her
new boss arrived and she wanted to write some notes so he knew the current
status of safety at the plant.

Stopping
by the breakroom, she poured another coffee, greeted a few co-workers who were
early starters like herself, and then retreated to her office and turned on her
computer. She opened her email, scanned quickly to make sure there was nothing
urgent, and then began to type a report for the new manager. Management might
not think she was capable of doing the job, but she wanted to give her new boss
a good first impression.

A
knock on her door had Bridget glancing at the time. Already half past nine and
she hadn’t left her computer. She turned around to find Anthony, the human
resources manager, standing at the door.

“Bridget,
I want to introduce you to our new safety manager, and your new boss. I thought
the two of you could have a chat, and then you could call a department meeting
and introduce him to the team.”

Bridget
stood.
“Sure, Anthony.”

He
turned to gesture the person into the room. “This is Jackson Gibbs.”

Bridget’s
stomach dropped and she gasped. She blinked quickly, hoping her eyes were
playing tricks on her.

They
weren’t. Jack was standing there, with the thick brown hair she’d dug her
fingers into on Saturday night, and those brown eyes looked as stunned as she
felt.

Holy hell.

The
disappointment felt like a heavy brick in her stomach. The one guy she’d
connected with since Lionel, and he was her new boss. In one carefree moment
she’d broken both her dating rules. This was why she had the damned rules in
the first place.

Pushing
aside her shock and regret, Bridget stepped forward. She didn’t have time for
self-pity now. She needed to act professionally, and the minute she got Jack
alone, she had to swear him to secrecy. Saturday night never happened.

She
smiled, her hand outstretched.
“Nice to meet you.”

* * *

Jack
took Bridget’s hand automatically, shaking it as he tried to process what he
was seeing. The gorgeous, feisty woman who had captured his thoughts all of
yesterday was now standing in front of him, and she was part of his new team.

“Likewise,”
he replied.

Her
hair was tied back in a messy bun and she was wearing a high-visibility yellow
long-sleeved shirt with cargo pants and steel-toed boots. Not the sexiest
attire, but she made it look good.

In
the next breath he remembered part of the conversation they’d had on Saturday
night. She’d been angry about not getting the job she’d applied for.
His job.

Shit,
this was messy.

Why
hadn’t Anthony mentioned that one of his team had applied for the job? Surely
he knew there could be disgruntled feelings Jack should be aware of.

“I’ll
leave you to bring Jack up to date with the safety department,” Anthony said.
“And I’ll see you at the
manager’s
meeting this
afternoon, Jack.”

He
acknowledged Anthony with a nod as he left and then turned back to Bridget. She
brushed past him and closed her office door.

“You
can’t tell anyone about Saturday night,” she said. Her eyes were fierce.

“No, of course not.”
He wasn’t the type to kiss and tell.

“Good.
It never happened. We need to pretend we don’t know each other.”

He
frowned. “Why?”

“It
won’t work. People talk.”

“It’s
all right, Bridget. Colleagues get involved all the time.”

“Not
me. I have my rules.”

That’s
right. Her second rule was not to date co-workers. Jack hadn’t given it much
thought, hadn’t imagined it would be a problem. He smiled, trying to make it as
relaxed and casual as he could. “You broke one rule on the weekend.”

“And
look where it got me.” She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Jack. I won’t deny I
enjoyed Saturday night, but it can’t go any further. I won’t break my second
rule.” As if sure of his acceptance, she indicated the small meeting table in
her room. “Have a seat. I’ve written a short report on the latest issues.” She
handed him a document before opening her door and calling, “Ken, department
meeting in half an hour. Can you book a room and tell the others? I’ll
introduce our new boss then.”

“Sure
thing, Bridge,”
came
the reply.

Bridget
came back inside and closed the door behind her. “If I leave it open, we’ll get
disturbed.”

She
was very businesslike, not at all like the woman
he’d
met on the weekend, the woman he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about.

He
couldn’t be quite so businesslike. “I think we need to talk more about the
other night.”

“There’s
nothing more to talk about. I won’t date a colleague.”

“What
if I’m not happy with that?”

She
frowned at him. “Then you’ll have to learn to deal with it. We didn’t know we
were colleagues at the time. It can’t happen again.”

But
that was the problem. He
wanted
it to happen again.

“Now
let me explain what’s been happening in the department.”

Jack
had no choice but to let the matter drop, for now. He would find out the reasons
behind her rules later. At the moment he had to focus on his new job.

* * *

By
the end of her overview, Jack felt sick. The safety situation in the plant was
appalling. The company safety audit had issued a number of corrective actions
at their last inspection, some of which were now urgent. The problem was they
only had a set amount of funds with which to fix the issues, and they all
seemed to be priority one to him. But despite the audit occurring several
months ago, Bridget hadn’t started any of the main actions. As annoyed as she
was about not getting the promotion, it was obvious why she hadn’t: she’d
clearly not been effective.

He
could hardly say that though. He’d have to raise the issue and find a way to
resolve it immediately. It was not how he’d hoped to start his new job. No,
when he’d applied, he’d just wanted to get back to Houston. He wasn’t
completely qualified for the role – sure his safety skills were top notch, but
he didn’t have the official university degree, and his knowledge of training
and environment – the other two sections of his responsibility – needed to be
improved. He had no experience working in an oil refinery, only mine sites and
processing plants. He’d hoped to be surrounded by staff
who
knew the plant and knew their areas so he could learn from them.

He’d
never been responsible for so much and Jack suddenly felt he was in way over
his head. He’d have to fake it until he made it.

“We’d
better get to the meeting so you can meet the others,” Bridget said. “I’ll find
out which room we’re in.” She disappeared across the hallway and he glanced at
her report. His brain was too overwhelmed to make sense of the words.

“We’ve
got time to grab a coffee,” Bridget said, returning to the room. “I’ll show you
to the breakroom.”

The
administration building was a maze of hallways and Jack took note of the
locations Bridget pointed out. They eventually made it to the meeting room
where his team was assembled. As safety manager he had responsibility not only
for safety, but also environment and plant training. He had three safety
officers, a fire officer, two trainers, two environment officers, and Bridget,
who would now return to her original role as group leader of safety.

After
the introductions had been made, Jack stood at the front of the room.

“I’m
really looking forward to working with you,” he began. “Bridget has given me a
good overview of the department, but I’d like to hear a little about what
you’re working on. We’ll go around the table and you can tell me your top two
priorities.”

The
environment officers went first, and as each person spoke, it was clear most
were enthusiastic about their job. There were a range of ages and experiences.
A couple of his safety guys had been at the plant for over ten years and Jack
was hoping they would have a good understanding of what was required – though
with the current state of the plant, maybe he was being too hopeful. Aside from
Bridget, there were two more women on his team, one in environment and the
other in safety.

Jack
took notes and asked questions, and when they were done he gave a spiel about
how important safety and the environment were to him and how he was always open
to suggestions for improvement. There wasn’t much more he could say at this
point because he didn’t know enough. This week would be a getting settled and
fact-finding week.

Then
he would work out what to do about Bridget.

* * *

Bridget
returned to her office and closed the door. She shook her arms, trying to
release the tension that had taken hold from the moment Jack had walked into
her office. There was no way she was going to open herself up for that kind of
gossip ever again. It had ended
so
badly last time.

She
slumped down on her chair and rested her head on her arms. She should have
stuck to her rules on the weekend. She’d been foolish to get caught up in the
moment, to not assess the risks. This was worse than awkward.

But
at least it proved she was right to have her two rules – if only she’d followed
them.

A
knock on her door had her getting to her feet. She didn’t have time to feel
sorry for herself. There was a lot of work that needed to be done and little
time to do it.