“I’d have an assistant?” I bounced out of my seat and to my feet, unable to stop the grin from spreading across my face. I couldn’t remember the last time I was this excited about work. “Sir, it would be my honor to help you with this.”
“Good, then let’s go get Olivia and take a ride out there and check it out.”
I didn’t give it a second thought. After nodding at him, I walked as calmly as I could out of his office and toward the Marigold conference room where Dare and Olivia were waiting. I forced myself not to grin too widely because Mr. Mansfield was right beside me when we made it there.
“Olivia, come with us,” Mr. Mansfield ordered gruffly. I wondered how much she knew if Cam, her ex-husband, was building the new offices.
Olivia perked up, while Dare frowned at me, but I made a small hand movement at my thigh to tell him I’d talk to him later. Mr. Mansfield guided us out to his shiny new black Audi Sportback, pretty and sleek and the style of car I always imagined a rich man like him would have. Although I’d expected it to be sportier, rather than efficient. I volunteered to take the back seat so I could message Dare on the way there.
Z:Omg. The firm’s expanding. Mr. Mansfield is starting a criminal defense firm. He asked me to open the office for him.
My knee bounced in excitement as Mr. Mansfield drove the car out into the street. Cars beeped around us, and a young homeless man I’d seen hanging around the office was huddled up in a doorway, out of the path of the many stomping feet of city workers. I always felt bad for him because the right side of his face was scarred like maybe he’d been in a fire, and he often pulled his hood over it. We stopped at a red light, so I stared at him as he glared at everyone walking past him, and when his stare focused on me, I raised my hand in a wave. He didn’t respond before we took off again.
My phone buzzed and I stared down at it.
Dare:What?For real? Where are you going?
I typed furiously.
Z:Mr. Mansfield has already started work on the new office. We’re checking it out.
Dare:But why you?
I paused, staring at the screen, rereading the message again. It sounded… almost like he was jealous, but that couldn’t be right. My fingers hovered over my phone. I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I hit the Power button to lock the screen and stared out the window.
Tall buildings flew by, and we finally pulled to a stop in a construction site full of men in high-vis vests and lots of plaid. There were a few men in suits huddled in a circle, and they turned to stare at us when we parked.
Mr. Mansfield got out of his Audi and walked to them, hand out for them to shake. They spoke quietly as Olivia met me around my side of the car and we followed our boss. He introduced us to the men but spoke so fast I missed their names. I did hear they were from some branch of some conglomerate that was going to share our building, though.
A huge man who towered over everyone walked toward us and Olivia lit up. She leaned into me. “That’s my Cam.”
I whistled low. “Damn, Liv. How did you let him go?”
She giggled and slapped my arm. “He’s gay. He didn’t really know until later in life, but he’s a good father. He has a partner now. I think you’d like him. His name is Mark. Feisty little thing.”
“Oh, well, then he’d get along with you,” I teased, and she elbowed me with a twinkle in her eye.
Cam stopped in front of us and shook hands with Mr. Mansfield. “Glad they brought me over to finish off this beauty.” He jerked a thumb at the building, and while I couldn’t see in my head what it would look like when it was completed, the steel structure and the windows going in on the outside were impressive.
I stopped to appreciate him because even though I finally had Dare now, that didn’t mean I couldn’t admire what was in front of me. And he was one big piece of man meat. Tall and wide with bulging muscles, he reminded me of a giant. As handsome and perfectly built as he was, though, he couldn’t top Dare and his teddy-bear body.
When he turned to me to shake my hand, I grinned. “Hello, I’m Zayden.”
A smile broke out on his face. “Ah, you’re the Zayden I’ve heard so much about.”
Olivia shushed him, glaring, and we laughed.
Mr. Mansfield took over and we discussed the building and how long it would be before it was ready. Cam knew his stuff and made the businessmen very happy by the end of the meeting.
Mr. Mansfield couldn’t stop grinning. I thought he’d start skipping his way back to the car after Cam told him everything would be ready in about two months.
By the time we were back in the car, he was tapping the steering wheel in a very uncharacteristic way. “Olivia, Zayden.”
I blinked in surprise at him. It was the first time I’d heard him say my first name.
He turned in his seat to stare at me in particular. “In a few months, we’ll have a new branch of the firm. Are you up for the challenge?”
“Yes, sir,” I said, without hesitating.
