“Is this your way of asking me what I think you should do?” A smile plays on her lips, and for some reason, she doesn’t look as nervous anymore. She looks confident, like she doesn’t care what happens next.
“What do you think I should do?”
“Well, you already said you’re going to fire me, so I guess I should consider myself fired.”
“Is that what you want?”
“What does what I want have to do with anything? I want to be a supermodel. I want a million dollars. I want to wear Gucciand strut my stuff down the streets of Paris, but here I am.” She shrugs nonchalantly and looks around the room. “What I want means nothing to the universe.”
“Maybe it means something to me.”
“And that means what?”
“Maybe it means that I am your universe.”
“Do you want to be the center of my universe?” She bursts out laughing. “Is that your way of getting into my pants?”
I study her face as she giggles, and a wave of light humor crashes through me, and I can’t stop myself from laughing as well. “Okay, maybe that didn’t come out as I’d intended. I meant to say that as your boss and the controller of your job, I can decide whether you keep said job.”
“You’d fire me for such a little thing?” She pouts and sits forward. “I didn’t realize you were that sensitive.”
“You just told over a thousand of my employees that I’m not the sexiest man alive.”
“I’m sorry to burst your bubble.” She cocks her head to the side and lets her eyes roam over me. “You didn’t seriously think you were, did you?” Her eyes widen in fake shock. “Please tell me that we didn’t just…” Her voice trails off, and she can’t control her escalatingly loud giggles. “I’m so fired, aren’t I?”
“Actually, I think that I have another proposition.” I frown as my phone rings, and I see the name Raquel P on the screen. I let out a deep sigh at the call. This is the fifth time she’s called me today. And she’s already left three voicemails and sent eighteen text messages. No one would ever believe she was a successful actress with a billion things going on in her career, given the number of times she’d contacted me. I had zero interest in her and already regretted the one lunch date we’d gone on. The lady was proving to be stalkerish.
“Are you going to answer that?”
“No.” I press my lips together. “I’m not.”
“Okay then.” Her eyes narrow as she gazes at me perceptively. “Who’s calling? Is it a lady? Oh, it’s totally a lady.” She laughs and then continues. “Your girlfriend? Ex-lover?”
“Neither of the above. We went to lunch.” And it had been fairly boring at that. I’d gotten a tuna tartare and side salad, and she’d gotten a bowl of clear soup and a glass of water. The conversation had been as dull as the food, with talk about cars, money, and celebrities I’d either never heard of or cared about.
“Do you want me to answer and tell her to get a life? I’d be more than willing to do that. I’d be happy to tell her you’re gay and with your big, burly lover and can’t come to the phone.”
“Oh, Katherine, no need to call yourself big and burly.”
“Rude.” She sniffs, but she still can’t stop the smile from spreading across her face. “I was trying to help. The best way to get a woman to stop constantly harassing you is to tell her you’re in another relationship, or you could threaten to press charges. That works as well unless she’s an absolute psychopath.”
“Well, I don’t need your help, thank you very much. In fact, I…” I pause as Raquel calls me again. I should just block her, but I know she’s going to be at a dinner that I’m attending that evening. “Actually, I have an idea.” My heart pounds as I consider the latest thoughts cascading against my skull. “But maybe not.” I stare at Katherine and the defiant impish expression on her face, and I know that what I’m considering is crazy.
“What?” She stares at me and taps her finger against her leg. “Don’t tell me you want to marry me?” She laughs. “Are we going to be the new Sebastian and Willow?”
“I think not.” I shudder, though, is what I’m about to suggest that much better? “But I do have an idea, if you don’t want to lose your job.”
“What’s the idea?”
“I have to go to a dinner tonight. There will be a number of people there, including Raquel…the woman who is currently trying to call me.”
“Okay, and what do you want me to do?”
“I want you to come to the dinner with me, as my date.” I pause as she pretends to throw up. “No need to act like a kid, Katherine. I’m not actually asking you on a date. Also, you weren’t pretending to throw up when I had you on the…”
“Enough, fine.” She says quickly and sharply as she cuts me off. “We do not need to talk about that again.” She blushes a deep red, and a wicked thought crosses my mind for a few moments before I dismiss it.
“So are you in?”
