“Good work,” he shouted from his office. “Send it to the printer and see if you can sweet talk them into getting it by next week without making it a rush job.”
I exhaled. Sure. Right. Because the print shop he wanted me to use was run by a guy very similar to him. Fortunately, Allen had a fondness for low-cut shirts and high-end liquor. Even more fortunately, we happened to have some high-end liquor lying around for occasions such as this. I also happened to be wearing a low-cut shirt because, hey, you gotta highlight your assets.
Unfortunately, the sweet talking and the liquor required a visit to the print shop rather than a simple call or email.
I grabbed my purse and was about to push my chair under the table when a tall blonde woman walked through the door. “Excuse me, is this High Spirits Liquor Distributors?”
“Yes,” I said.
“I’m looking for an Isaac Gibson about a possible job?”
I smiled widely. He must be hiring her for my position. With her sleek hair, tight clothes and manicured nails, she would be what most men considered an upgrade on this current secretarial model.
But I didn’t care.
Because that meant I was going to be promoted.
“He’s right through there,” I said, pausing only to use the phone—like a civilized person—to tell Isaac that he had a job applicant. He’d already seen her through the glass of his office wall and was gesturing her in.
For a split second, I wondered if I should stay behind and chaperone. Maybe at least warn the poor woman?
No, he usually behaved during the job interview. If she got the position, I could give her the lowdown before I moved on. I had a printer to persuade.
6
Cole
Ifound myself humming Christmas carols, especially “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.” Things were definitely looking up, and I didn’t even mind sharing the house with Aubrey as much as I had before. Sure, my attraction to her was inconvenient, but she’d been so kind about all of the decorations and even about letting me work in peace.
And look what had happened? I’d come up with the solution for the contract and had time left over to watch a movie with her. Maybe she and I could learn to coexist after all.
“What the heck are you humming?” Delray asked as he stepped inside by office. He folded his large frame into the chair on the other side of my desk.
“My roommate wanted to watch The Grinch last night, and now I have an ear worm,” I said.
“Your roommate? What is she, twelve?”
I waved him off. I didn’t have time for any kind of male posturing about things that were childish. I needed to get to work on all of my end of the year reports because Christmas Eve was our last day in the office. Anything not finalized by then wouldn’t count toward the bonus I’d receive early next year. Even though I wasn’t planning to marry Deidre now, I was more than earning the bonus that would come my way. Maybe I’d take myself on a tropical vacation.
Or I’d save it as a down payment on a house because I was nothing if not pragmatic.
“Listen, you got the Angelo thing ironed out?”
My phone buzzed. “Oh, look. There’s Ezekiel Angelo’s agent now.”
Delray motioned for me to take the call, and I put it on speakerphone.
“What’s up, Luis? Are we a go?”
After a pause, Luis finally said, “We need to talk.”
“Uh-oh. It’s not me, it’s you, isn’t it?”
Delray snorted from his perch across from my desk, and I help up a finger to shush him.
“Come on, Cole. You know I’m rooting for you, but he still won’t sign the papers.”
My fingers paused over my laptop keys. “But I figured out the Beethoven rider.”
