“I’m doing very well. Who is this?” Annetta examined Elissa from head to toe, pausing for a moment on her shoes of the day, Elissa’s favorites, with her namesake butterflies painted across the toes in a rich golden brown on the black ballet flats. Her dad’s passion, and all three of the Wright children were named after moths and butterflies. Her parents were strange—her father for picking the names and her mother for letting him.
“This is Elissa Wright. I’m planning on retiring in the next few years, so Elissa will be shadowing me, getting to know our clients on a more personal level, so she can take over when I do.”
“It’s a pleasure, Ms. Herrera.” Elissa held out her hand, and the other woman shook it.
“Call me Annetta. Sit, please.”
Karina sat next to Annetta and Elissa chose the chair next to her mentor. Valerie sat down across from them, but Ryan still stood at the door.
“Can I get anyone anything? Water? Coffee?” he asked.
He, too, was acting professionally and didn’t seem to be affected by her presence here. No fair. She couldn’t stop her gaze from finding him, couldn’t stop herself from wanting to be near him.
“Coffee would be lovely,” Karina said.
“Make that two, baby.” Annetta replied.
“Aunt Annetta, you promised to keep it professional.” But Ryan’s eyes twinkled and he smiled. God, he looked fantastic when he smiled.
Bad Elissa.
“Sorry, make that two, Ryan,” Annetta corrected herself.
“Water, please,” Elissa said in a small voice. He nodded and left, allowing the door to close with a quiet click.
Holy crap, he was the boss’s son. Karina had briefed her on the structure of DeMarco Property Management but only mentioned one son, Alexander. No wonder Ryan believed she might wish to take advantage of his family contacts. The DeMarcos were a Tucson fixture, appearing at all the charitable events, sponsoring a gallery at the art museum, and Elissa was pretty sure there was a scholarship to the U.
A moment later, the door opened, and two men entered. The first was an older version of Ryan, most likely Alessandro DeMarco. The other bore little resemblance to Mr. DeMarco, but he reminded her of Ryan. Probably the smile, though it didn’t compel her to throw her morals out the window and drop her panties.
“Karina! Good to see you again,” the older man said as he approached her mentor.
“Alessandro!” Karina stood and shook the man’s hand before turning to the younger one. “Alex. It’s great to see both of you. I’d like to introduce Elissa Wright. She’ll be taking over for me when I retire, so she’ll be my shadow for the next couple years.”
“Elissa, welcome to DeMarco Property Management.” Mr. DeMarco offered his hand.
“Thank you.” She took it. Firm grip, brief shake, all business.
“Ms. Wright, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” The younger DeMarco held out his hand, too.
Alex DeMarco was tall and lithe and completely corporate. Short, immaculately styled light brown hair, suit, tie, expensive shoes, and an even more expensive watch. His pupils dilated as he tried to keep his hazel eyes focused on her face, but they’d dart down for a split second every once in a while as he checked her out. At least he was trying not to be obvious about it, and he wasn’t leering, merely looking. But unlike with his brother, she was not at all tempted to return the favor.
“Thanks. I’m happy to be here. I’ve heard great things about your business.”
His hand was warm and soft and held hers exactly the right duration to seem friendly but professional.
“Excellent. I look forward to working with you.”
Alex pulled out her chair, laying the charm on thick. Too thick. If she showed the slightest interest, Alex would jump at the chance to ask her out. But Elissa wasn’t interested. Not only was he the chief operating officer, and thus posed a potential conflict of interest, he wasn’t her type. He was too tall and too perfect, almost artificially so. After Victor, she’d sworn never to date a man who was too perfect again. It was hard enough to satisfy her own expectations, let alone those of a perfect man.
“We won’t hold you up,” the elder DeMarco said to Karina. “I just wanted to say hello. I know we’ll be meeting several times before this is done. Have you met Ryan yet?”
“Yes. You’ll have to tell me what you did to lure him in. The last time we talked, you seemed to think he’d never come around.”
“It’s a good story,” Alex said, but shut his mouth when his father shot him a disapproving look.
Excellent timing, since the subject of their discussion walked back into the room.
sixteen
