Willow:Is there something going on between her and Mace? She's always like saying how wonderful he is.
Josie:Gross. I hope not. Though probably. He has terrible taste. You should see his PowerPoints
Willow:Have seen one. Thought I was going to have a stroke. It's like that with everything on this project, though. You needed to be on this team. You'd whip them into shape
Josie:I wish I was doing marketing. Anything is better than being Mace's assistant
Sticking my phone in my mouth, I hauled myself up the ladder to the loft. I curled up on the musty mattress and passed out.
I woke up with a start the next morning and looked at the time on my phone. Crap! I was going to be late again. I ran around, throwing the jars of candy, the mac 'n' cheese packet, and a bowl into my purse. Then I walked outside into the sunshine and looked solemnly at the trailer hitch.
Nope, still couldn't figure it out.
"You're coming to work with me, tiny house!" I shouted and jumped into the truck.
"Being mindful of any wayward trains," I ordered myself over the grinding of the engine. I prayed that the truck would hold out as I trundled down Main Street and up the hill to the Svensson PharmaTech offices.
Belching exhaust, my truck pulled up beside a cute little sports car. I looked over. Tara was giving me a sour look through the window.
"Good morning!" I said cheerily. She didn't wave back, just zipped her little car into a parking space.
The tiny house wasn't going to fit that neatly. I drove it over to an empty part of the lot and parked the trailer as best as I could. Something creaked in the house, but I decided to ignore it.
I checked the time on my phone—three minutes before nine. I sprinted to the building. Tara was waiting for me in the lobby. The ground was still wet from the rain last night. I saw the mat I had tripped over yesterday and braced for impact. My foot hit the mat, and instead of slipping and falling, I was stable.
"I had someone fix that," I heard Mace say. Tara beamed at him. I was satisfied to see that he only gave her a professional smile back. Wait, what did I care? If he wanted to hang around no-taste Tara, that was his problem.
"I see you're a man with foresight," I told him. "Nicely done." He looked annoyed. "Today is a new day," I promised him. "I am a new me. I'm not going to let you down, boss." I clapped him on the bicep. I had to reach up slightly because he was very tall. He also had a very muscly arm under that designer suit. Not that I cared, of course.
Mace looked down at my hand on his arm. "See that you do. This is a streamlined operation. I can't have a repeat of yesterday. You've been highly recommended by my brother's assistant. Her reputation as well as yours is on the line."
I saluted him. "Won't happen again."
"I highly doubt that," he replied and directed me to the stairs. "There are quite a few things that need your attention," he told me as we climbed the five flights of stairs up to his office. I was huffing and puffing once we made it to the landing.
Mace looked at me. I bent over, my chest heaving. "I only ate wine and cookie dough for dinner last night," I told him. "I'm a bit low on energy. Give me a second."
His mouth turned down in disgust.
"You take those stairs really fast. You should slow down and admire the view." I snickered to myself. "Although I guess the view from behind you is actually much better. "
I heard him suck in a breath, and I looked up at him, giggling internally at the expression on his face.
"Sorry," I said, "that was totally inappropriate. I swear I'm turning over a new leaf. Girl Scout's honor."
He gave an incredulous snort.
"Hey!" I exclaimed when I walked into the office. "All the ink's gone."
"And I see you also removed it from your skin," Mace remarked. I looked down.
"It's still on me, it's just that this shirt is a little higher collared," I explained as I unbuttoned the top two buttons and pulled the shirt down to show him the faint ink stains. My boss reddened ever so slightly as he looked at my chest. Then his gaze went quickly to the ceiling.
"I didn't mean it like that," I said. "I was just trying to make conversation since you brought up the ink."
"Youbrought up the ink," he corrected.
"But you brought up ink on my skin." I looked at him. "Do you have any tattoos?"
