“Get the hell out of here!” he yelled.
When I opened the door to his office, Mr. Bannon, my boss’ boss, stood there with a thunderous expression on his face. I knew he must have overheard everything because he stepped to the side to allow me to exit and put a light hand on my elbow.
“Please wait for me in my office, Ms. Archer,” he murmured. “I would like to speak to you before you leave.”
I nodded and watched as he entered Alan’s office and shut the door behind him with a quiet click.
Despite the door between us, I heard Mr. Bannon speak. “What in the hell is going on here, Alan?”
As my old boss sputtered and tried to come up with a plausible excuse for yelling at me, my smile widened. Then I walked away. I proceeded to Mr. Bannon’s office to wait as he asked, but I wasn’t worried. Not anymore.
Now, Chris was giving me a chance to prove myself and I wasn’t about to fail. Thoughts of Landen Weber and his sexy threats had no place in my brain at the moment. Not when I was getting a chance to do what I’d always wanted to do.
With that thought in mind, I settled in and concentrated on the task at hand. Somehow, I succeeded in compartmentalizing. In fact, I was so successful that I didn’t hear the door to the office open. My first clue that someone was in the office came in the form of a hand reaching across my desk to set a to-go cup next to my computer keyboard.
Startled, I jumped and looked up to see Landen grinning at me, his ass perched on my desk. “Jesus Christ!” I gasped, slapping a hand to my chest. “Don’t sneak up on me like that.”
His smile widened. “I wasn’t sneaking. I walked in the door and you were so engrossed in whatever you’re doing that you didn’t hear me.” He gestured to the cup on my desk. “I brought you some coffee and I wanted to see if you’d have lunch with me.”
I narrowed my eyes at him and picked up the cup to take a sip. It was my favorite, a non-fat mocha with extra chocolate syrup. I know, I know, getting the extra syrup negated the non-fat milk, but that was the way I liked it, so that’s the way I always ordered it. I wasn’t sure how Landen knew that, but I appreciated it all the same.
“Thanks for the coffee,” I said, lowering the cup. “But it’s not lunchtime yet.”
He lifted a brow at me. “I know, but it will be soon.”
I glanced at the clock and my brows lifted when I saw that it was nearly twelve. I’d been at it longer than I realized. “Wow, okay, I didn’t realize the time, but I usually don’t take lunch until one.”
“Then I’ll be back at one.”
He rose and came around my desk. I eyed him warily, unsure of what he intended to do. Then he brushed his lips against mine, setting off those damn tingles again. And the damn man knew it. His eyes sparkled with the knowledge and the same promise he’d sent me via text. I turned to watch him walk out the door and caught sight of Lucy hovering just outside.
“I’ll see you soon,” Landen murmured, repeating the words he’d texted me last night. He held the door for her, winked at me, and then disappeared from view.
Lucy approached me, a take-out bag in her hand and a knowing expression on her face. “Okay, I’m a happily married woman but, damn, that was kinda hot.”
My cheeks flushed and I cursed my fair skin because I knew I couldn’t hide the blush. “What was hot?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” she murmured, taking the coffee cup from my hand and eyeballing the label on the side. “The fact that he brought your favorite coffee and didn’t sulk when you said you couldn’t go to lunch with him yet. Then there was the kiss thing. Not to mention the fact that it sounded like he meant something completely different when he said he’d see you soon.”
I swallowed the groan that wanted to slip from my throat. So I hadn’t been imagining the underlying meaning to his words. “Exactly how long were you standing there?” I asked suspiciously.
“I came off the elevator and saw him walking into the office.”
“So you were spying?”
Lucy grinned. “Absolutely.”
I sighed. “You’re awful.”
“True, but that’s why you love me.” She shook the paper sack at me. “I’m taking Chris his lunch and then you and I are going to talk.”
I lifted a brow at her. “After your nooner?”
She shrugged. “I’m a newlywed, what do you expect?”
I rolled my eyes. “If that’s the case, I probably won’t be here when you get back.”
“That’s okay. I’ll just wait. Or call you later.”
