And that Sebastian and I had been doing a decent job staying out of each other’sways.
My phone lit up with a call, and I answered on the first ring. “I’m not sure I can dothis.”
“Unless the objective is avoiding death or taxes, it can be done,” my bossreplied.
I checked the screen. I’d texted Luciano to call and talk me off the ledge, but instead, I saw Dionne’s name. “Sorry,” I said. “I thought you wereLuciano.”
“I just got back from Italy and wanted to check in. How’s theassignment?”
“The men have been resistant,” I said, double-checking that I was alone on the sidewalk, “but I anticipated that. I think some of them are coming around. The rest are waiting for someone to tell them I’m not there to burn the placedown.”
“Let me guess—thatsomeoneis Sebastian Quinn?” she asked. She and I had been e-mailing the last few days, and I’d briefly filled her in on what I was dealingwith.
“Yep. Sebastian and I share an office, which makes it hard for him to ignore me completely,” I said, “but we’ve mostly been working around each other. At some point before the next issue goes to press, he and I will have tocollaborate.”
“I have faith in you. That’s why I put you on this assignment. So, what is it you don’t think you cando?”
I glanced at the door to the cantina the men had just walked into. “Happyhour.”
“You’ve been to plenty of those in yourlife.”
“Not like this. It’s not a work thing. More like hanging with the guys. Or, I’m afraid,initiation.”
“Ah.” After having spent enough time with me around Neal, Dionne was familiar with my insecurities outside workinghours.
“I’m afraid if I don’t bond with them, I’ll make this whole assignment harder on myself. I’m not sure I’ll ever get Sebastian on board, but at least his team isreceptive.”
“Yourteam,” she said. “Don’t let Sebastian push you around. Not at the office, and not outside of it. He’ll get on board, because he has nochoice.”
“It’s just that he . . . well, you know his reputation. He’s not used to taking orders, especially fromwomen.”
“There’s more to someone than their rap, Georgina. I don’t let others walk all over me and that has earned me thebitchlabel, but anyone who knows me understands I’m notthat.”
Was Sebastian more than the image he projected, or was he an actual bad boy to handle with caution? I’d seen glimpses of both. Then again, he’d witnessed different sides of me as well. “At work, he’s intimidating,” I said. “Outside of the office . . . forget aboutit.”
“Fight that feeling,” she said. “Remember, he’s not Neal. He’s just a regularcolleague.”
She’d obviously never seen him in a suit. Or up close. Or at all.Regularguys didn’t leave a trail of longing sighs in theirwakes.
My phone beeped with an incoming call. “I’ll come by the office tomorrow to debrief,” I toldDionne.
“Good luck,” she said and hungup.
I switched lines, but this time I answered with, “Can you teach me to be a bitch in sixtyseconds?”
“I’ve been trying for years,” Luciano replied, “but unfortunately it won’ttake.”
“I don’t know how to act in there. They think I’m someone I’m not—someone cool and confident with actualgame.”
Luciano didn’t bother to mute his laugh. “Wait. Slow down,” he said. “Where are you, and who thinksthat?”
“My new boss wanted me to go to happy hour with the guys, so I’m here. I believe he said I could ‘teach them a thing ortwo.’”
“Why does he thinkthat?”
“I was critiquing their current methods by pointing out better ways to pick up women. My ideas make sense in theory, but I never thought I’d have to test them with everyonewatching.”
“Relax,” Lu said. “Buy them a few rounds of drinks, and they’ll forget all about that. And if they don’t, just approach a man the way George would—like he’s a situation to behandled.”
