“I already have a favorite,” he replied simply.
“But how do you know it’s your favorite if you haven’t tried anything else?”
“Because I know. Anyway, I’m not here to debate with you. I need your help with something.” He placed a hundred-page spiral bound book on her desk.
“Sure, Tyler. What do you need?” She looked up at him with those pretty blue-gray eyes and he almost forgot what he wanted to say.
“These are the latest revenue projections for Hampton Homes. They’re asking for two hundred and fifty million, so crunch the numbers and let me know if it’s worth that price. The meeting’s at nine on Thursday morning.”
Jordan had already begun scanning the document, but his words made her head snap back up. “Thursday? It can’t be done. It’s too little time. I can’t get through all this information in two days.”
“So work late,” was all he said before he turned and walked away.
Jordan stood up and scampered after him. “You know this is impossible, right?”
“There is no such word in your vocabulary.”
“Tyler…wait.” She doubled up her steps so she could keep up with his long strides in her heels. “You’re not listening. This deal is worth two hundred and fifty million. I need more time.”
Nothing irritated him more than unnecessary arguments and those were never in short supply when she was around. He was already feeling edgy this morning and while it wasn’t entirely her fault, she was quite a significant contributor. Being dictatorial and domineering wasn’t his management style, but right now she was forcing it out of him. He stopped and turned to her with a slight humph of annoyance. “Jordan, how many employees do we have working here at head office?”
She responded with a confused twitch of her eyebrows. “Seven thousand, eight hundred and forty two.”
“Right. And out of those employees, there are over a dozen people I could go to, but I came to you. I have listened to all your ifs, buts and maybes for the last two years and I have taken every shred of advice you’ve given…apart from the chocolate covered balls. I trust your judgment. Now all I’m asking is for you to trust mine.”
“But, Tyler—”
Still arguing!“I’m not sure how you misconstrued that this was a negotiation. I’m not asking you, I’m telling you. You will get it done because you don’t know how to fail.”
He turned and walked back to his office, leaving Jordan gaping behind him.
*****
It was almost 10 p.m. and Jordan was starving. These numbers were all wrong. She had worked on the projections for twelve hours straight and it still wasn’t making any sense, but now her eyes were sore and her tummy was rumbling and she couldn’t look at it for one more second. She had worked extra hard the last few weeks so she could ease into the Fourth-of-July celebrations on Friday and here she was, still in the office two hours before midnight. She’d told Tyler this was an impossibletask and she still believed that statement to be true. She was going to fail and all the faith he had in her would dissipate into nothing.
She couldn’t allow that to happen. For some obscure reason, his opinion mattered. Maybe more than it should. Somewhere in the transition period between June and July, she had developed a teeny, tiny crush on her boss. And every time she acknowledged that feeling, she threw up a little bit in her mouth. She’d get over it eventually. His odd behavior and weird little quirks would soon remind her that he wasn’t crush material.
But right now he was her last concern. Food first, then she needed to get her head in the game again and figure out what the hell was happening in those projections. Matthew had left an hour ago, but Tyler was still in his office. She walked to his door and tapped lightly.
“I’m just popping out to get a bite to eat. Can I get you anything?”
He lifted his head from the contract he was perusing and looked up at her. “Where are you going?”
“I know a place…it’s just a couple miles away. The food is cheap but it’s great.”
“I’ll come with you. I need to take a break and clear my head.”
He stood up and she almost cringed at the sight of him. His tie was undone, the tails of it hanging over his broad chest. His shirt was unbuttoned, revealing the very lickable spot at his collar bone. She wanted to rip open that shirt just to see what was underneath it. She briefly shut her eyes and started a slow chant in her head.
Tyler Evans is not sexy.
Tyler Evans isnotsexy.
She opened her eyes and had to hold back a sigh of disappointment. Well, that didn’t work.
“Okay.” She turned and started heading to the elevators. “I’ll drive.”
*****
