For the next hour, we discussed salary, benefits, and a few of his expected duties. Declan assured us that he would be able to start on Monday the following week. As we walked him out of the office, Lucy came through the doors, stopping short when she saw him.
Chris tensed when Lucy looked over at me and gave me wide eyes and I had to bite back a laugh.
Once Declan was gone, Lucy turned to me. “Who was that?”
“Our new executive assistant,” I replied.
“Wow,” Lucy breathed. “I may have to come into the office more often.”
Chris cleared his throat. “I’m standing right here, ladies.”
We both smirked at him.
“And?” Lucy prompted.
The look he gave her promised retribution as soon as they were alone. I stifled a laugh when Lucy shivered. She might appreciate a good-looking man, but she was crazy about Chris and made no bones about it.
“Ready for lunch?” Chris asked, his voice low.
“Definitely,” she replied, her voice breathy.
I bit my lip to keep from voicing my amusement. I also felt a surge of poignancy and even a sliver of envy. I wanted a man to look at me the way Chris looked at Lucy. Well, I had it. Watching them, I recognized the expression on Chris’ face because I’d seen Landen wearing the same one on more than one occasion. I’d noticed it yesterday but seeing it again today only reinforced my decision when it came to Landen.
Before they walked out, Chris looked at me. “You should get started arranging the second office to your liking. If you need help, we’ll get Henderson in here to move the furniture.”
“What about the file cabinets?” I asked him.
He grimaced. “I forgot those were in there. Do you mind keeping them in the office until I can get the storage room re-arranged?”
I shrugged. “Sure. But I’ll call Henderson and see when they can come in to handle it next week. I don’t want it to become indefinite.”
Chris nodded and put his hand on Lucy’s lower back, guiding her to the door.
As they left, I settled at my desk. There were several items on my to-do list but my brain was still stuck on Landen. I picked up my phone and went to my text messages. I stared at the thread of messages under Landen’s name. He hadn’t texted me since he called Monday night and I’d missed talking to him all week.
It was Thursday now and I had no idea when he would be home, so I quickly typed in a message before I lost my nerve.
When will you be back?
I hit send and waited. Within a minute, he replied.I’m taking a red-eye tomorrow night. Will I see you?
I gnawed on my bottom lip as I formulated my answer.On Sat. We need to talk.
There was a long pause before he answered.Ok. What time?
Without letting myself think too much, I responded and sent the message.I’ll come by at 2.
My house?
I nodded then rolled my eyes when I realized that he couldn’t see me.Yes.
I’ll be waiting.
His last message read almost like a threat, as though he were a predator waiting to pounce. Knowing Landen, it likely was.
I put the phone down and picked up my pen, adding two more items to my to-do list. The first was to call Henderson about the file room and my new office and the second was to figure out what in the hell to say to Landen when I saw him on Saturday.
