“I’m sure your slide show was fine, but I’m still going to kick your ass.”
“Did you send yours? I didn’t see you on the mass response he sent.”
“Oh yeah, I got a copy. He must have just left me off the original.”
The lie slips out too easily, and I turn to fiddle with the paper weight near my keyboard to keep Ben from seeing the falsity on my face. I’ve never been good at deception.
“Yikes,” Ben responds. “Being forgotten probably isn’t a good sign, babe.”
“I could say the same for being lumped into the masses,babe.”
He makes a face before ducking behind our shared wall. After yesterday, I didn’t make the same mistake of not checking my inbox before coming in. Aside from the memo Noah sent yesterday excusing the entire floor from work, and a few client contracts, my email was a ghost town. Wondering what the mass memo said, and fighting the itchy questions about why I didn’t get a copy of it, I log in and start my routine of clearing out junk.
“Attention, everyone.” Spencer’s voice filters over the rows of cubicles. “I want to introduce you to Flourish’s CFO, and our newest LA transplant, Noah Graves.”
I stand from my chair as others are offering their timid welcomes. Amy flips her hair over her shoulder, and Mark bobs his head in the classic man-to-man acknowledgment. Noah meets my gaze and quirks a dangerous half smile. My stomach flips and I shift to stare at the floor as his voice fills the room.
“Thank you Spencer. And thank you to all of you who sent project proposals for the launch of our newest product line and storefront development. There were some incredible ideas and I look forward to getting to know each of you as we press forward towards what I hope is the best season for Flourish. I am sure you are all anxious to know who landed the assistant position for this launch, and since our timeline is so tight, I have made my decision.”
Unwilling to watch as someone else takes the job I’ve been hanging all my hopes on for the last few months, I slump back into my seat, figuring I can congratulate them later. I close my eyes and brace myself for the blow.
“The person who showed the most dedication for this launch and who will unfortunately have to deal with me and all my demands for the next three months, is Miss Charlotte Wilde.”
My eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. I’ve dropped into a lucid dream. Again. There is no way I heard that correctly. Ben’s face appears over my cubicle.
“Lottie,” he hisses. “That’s you.”
I jump to my feet, my heart thrumming wildly in my chest as the floor breaks into a polite, albeit unenthusiastic, round of applause. I find Noah’s steel-tinted gaze across the room, my brow dipping into a confused frown as he beams and claps with the rest of my coworkers.
“Damn,” Ben says, his face cracking with a sly grin. “I guess getting left off the main email chainwasn’ta bad thing. Congratulations.”
I let out a nervous chuckle before bowing my head, nodding at the rest of the room.
“Thank you.”
As the pathetic applause fades, I sink into my chair.What the hell is happening?My presentation yesterday was, well it was fine. The recollection is still fever-tinted and fuzzy, but I did my homework. I knew that proposal inside out, backwards and upside down. But that was before the betrayal of my intestines.
Ben shrinks back behind his cubicle and I spin in my chair, flopping my head back to stare at the ceiling as it turns above me. Thoughts flip and flitter with my nerves as I work through how I’m going to bring myself to sit in a room with Noah again. Do I make a joke about yesterday? Ignore it entirely?
I’m interrupted before I can settle back into my normal state of unbothered.
“Ahem.”
Scrambling to grab the desk and right myself without falling out of the chair, a crimson warmth rises on my cheeks. Spencer and Noah are standing at the entrance of my cubicle. Still slightly dizzy, I break into a full smile.
“Hiya!” I cry out.
It’s too loud and my blush deepens. Until this week, I didn’t even know my body was capable of such deep hues. Noah presses his lips together to conceal a laugh and Spencer gives me a withering look; even Ben has a hard time disguising his chortle from behind our shared wall.
“Good morning and congratulations,” Spencer continues, his tone professional as always. “I’ve assured Noah you will bring an excellent perspective and fresh ideas to the launch. I came to make a formal introduction so you two can get started.”
Understanding this means Noah didn’t mention our disastrous meeting yesterday, I stand, wiping my hand on the dark fabric of my slacks before extending it.
“Charlotte Wilde. It’s a pleasure.”
Noah slips his warm palm into mine. “The pleasure is mine entirely. I look forward to working together on this launch.”
We hold this pose, hands clasped and ignorant of the office around us, for what is probably an uncomfortable amount of time. I should care, but I’m too absorbed in the twinkle of his gray eyes and the playful mischief behind them. What the hell is this fucker thinking?
