Aunt Steph picked invisible lint from her navy jacket, a small tell that she wasn’t comfortable. “She didn’t say too much. I think swapping her to an assistant’s position was a mistake, but we needed someone, and I thought she was the best option.”Ha, mistake or manipulation? She gave a small shrug. “What did she say to you?”
Hmm, the best option because other staff might have balked at betraying me? I only just managed not to roll my eyes. It was hard not to revert to teenage me, but I managed. “Much of the same. She apologized for quitting. But what can you do? Anyway, I have enough to worry about with my job on the line, so I’d best get back to it.” I took a sip of coffee from my takeout cup to hide any disappointment in my expression. I wasn’t my father. I didn’t force loyalty from those around me. Respect should be earned.
Something genuine came to life in her eyes, or was this more manipulation? “I’m glad you’re handling this well. I know your father can be… well, you know. I don’t always agree with him.” She stood. “Let me know if you need anything. For what it’s worth, I don’t want you to lose your job.” I believed her, but it was too little too late. Maybe I’d trust her again once this was all over, in time. For now, it was me and Faith.
“Thanks. I appreciate it.” The silence that followed as she waited for me to say something else was more awkward than the time I’d had to tell an employee his hygiene was killing morale.
“Okay, well, my door is always open. So, I’ll see you at your parents’ this weekend?”
“No. I have a couple of things planned with friends, and to be honest, I’ve seen enough of my father for one week.” I managed not to smile at the thought of spending the whole weekend with Faith. Last night, we’d worked until eleven and gotten more done than I thought we would. I dropped her home afterward. As much as I wanted to throw her on my bed and make her come ten more times, I didn’t want her to think I was taking advantage. Today was Thursday, so we had plenty of time to build up to the weekend. Hopefully the more she got to know me, the more she’d trust me.
“Right, that’s understandable.” She made her way to the door, turning to me just before she opened it. “Good luck, Curtis.”
I gave her a nod. The more she tried to be nice after the fact, the more irritating it became. Finally, she left. She would take my lack of enthusiasm for our conversation on the fact that I was stressed—because I was—not because I was angry with her for her part in my father’s shitshow. The fact that they could question my loyalty or think I would try and manipulate a woman into sleeping with me…. I took a deep breath, cutting off that thought because it would get me nowhere. I had a meeting with the accounts department, and then I was free to pick up Faith and take her home… to work. Yeah, just to work.
Ah, the lies we told ourselves.
CHAPTER 27
FAITH
Curtis picked me up in hiscutecar at 10:45 a.m. and insisted on opening the door for me again. A girl could get used to that. Unfortunately, his gentlemanliness had been in full swing last night, and nothing overtly romantic had happened. I had my fingers crossed for tonight though. We planned to work through until eleven again. There was a lot to do, and the pressure was high because so much was riding on it. Hopefully I’d get a ride later—of the naked variety. Argh, my brain had no chill.
We were close to his place when he said, “I spoke with Amy this morning, and I’ve instructed her to start the process of suing Cassie Thomas. I can’t trust our inhouse lawyers with this. If I manage to keep my position, I’ll be restructuring some of our processes.”
Amy hadn’t said anything, but I guessed if they only chatted this morning, she hadn’t had time, plus lawyer/client privilege. “Amy’s the best. If anyone can put together an airtight case, it’s her, and she’ll dig up all the dirt on this woman.” Amy was the best up-and-coming trial attorney at her firm. I sat up straighter. “She’s not serving her with papers or anything yet, is she?”
Curtis smiled. “Don’t panic. No one will find out what we’re doing until we’ve got all our ducks in a row.”
“Quack.” I couldn’t help it. Let’s hope we didn’t see any cows because, well… saying mooooo wasn’t very attractive.
He chuckled and side-eyed me. “You didn’t.”
“I did. And I’m not even sorry about it.” Hopefully I hadn’t just signed the death certificate of our sexual relationship. Since we were just having a fling, I figured I could be my authentic self. I hadn’t pulled out an animal noise with Mark until four months into the relationship, and even then, I wasn’t totally comfortable being me. Curtis might as well know who he was hanging out with from the beginning. If he didn’t like it, well, best to know now. Maybe that was what I’d been doing wrong in the past, always being a subtler version of myself until I got to know a man. Scared that I’d be too much. Well, no more. What I’d been doing hadn’t worked for me, so it was time to change the script.
“You’re unlike anyone I’ve ever met, and that’s a good thing.”
My stomach warmed at his compliment. I didn’t often accept compliments at face value—I just figured the person was doing their best to be nice—but he had no reason to lie to me, and I didn’t want to ruin the happy moment by second-guessing things. “Thanks. You are too.”
“So, today we’ll be brainstorming the commercial. When we’ve done that, I’d like you to write the script, and I’ll get some images together to present to Marvin so he can get a good idea of the concept.” Ooh, exciting. I loved collaborating and script writing. “Over the weekend, I want us to write all the ad copy for social media. And next week, I’ll source the images, and then you can create the graphics. Once that’s done, we’ll structure the ad spend,timing, channels etcetera. We want to include ads on street furniture, train, bus, etcetera with this one.” Wow, he was organized. Hotandorganized. How was this man single? “I also have ideas on specific in-store advertising. I have to speak to her, but I think I can get a collab with Brittany Watkins.”
“Wow! She’s so big right now. I love theStirring Things Up With Brittanyshow. They do the best healthy desserts I’ve ever tasted. And their five-ingredient dinners make life easier.”
“She’s got the main demographics we’re after—women twenty-five to sixty.” Before I knew it, we were pulling into the driveway to his parking. “What’s your favorite dessert of hers?”
“Hmm, let me see…. I basically love any dessert, but if I had to pick one, it would have to be the sugar-reduced salted-caramel chocolate mousse. It’s sweet enough without being sickly. I love the salty kick, and it’s so smooth; it just glides down the throat.” I put a hand on my heating cheek. “Oh God, not what I meant.”
Curtis laughed as he drove in and parked. “You always have such a way with words.”
I pretended my face wasn’t beet red. “That’s why you’re paying me the big bucks.” I waggled my brows.
One hand on his door handle, he turned his head, fixing me with a piercing stare. “You’re worth every penny and then some.”
My stomach did a double-back somersault with a two-and-a-half pike. If you could get gold medals for attraction, I just won one. Rather than say something dumb, I smiled and put my hand on my door handle.
He raised one brow. “Oh, no you don’t.Wait.” His voice pitched lower on the last word, and I froze. I raised my eyebrows, and he shook his head. “Wait.” He got out, came around to my side, and opened my door. This was ridiculous, but I liked it. No one had ever gone out of their way to treat me as if I was special… well, no man. Besides, I always saw myself as an independent woman, but if it made him happy, who was I to argue?
I got out. “Thank you.”
