“Coming right up.”
“Thank you,” Denny said.
“She’s so nice,” Isla said.
“Julian says she’s the only reason he gets anything done.She keeps him on schedule and never lets him forget anything important.”
Isla liked hearing how much Julian appreciated an obvious treasure like Mattie.She gave him a few points that took him out of negative numbers in her mind.And yes, she knew it wasn’t fair to think she had him all figured out before she even met him, but she sure as hell knew his king-of-the-world type and didn’t think much of it.
Mattie returned with two coffees in cups with lids, which Isla appreciated with the kids squirming on their laps.From her suit coat pocket, she produced two juice boxes and a pack of vanilla sandwich cookies.“I figured it had to be snack time, right?”
“Snack,” Theo said as he zeroed in on the cookies.
“Thank you so much, Mattie,” Isla said.
“My pleasure.”
Ten minutes later, the door to Julian’s office opened, and Cresley Dane came strolling out in all her stunning glory.Good God,Isla thought.It almost hurt to look at her.
She smiled at Isla as she went by.She was already past when Isla started wishing she’d said hello or done something other than gape at the woman with her mouth hanging open like a fish out of water.A cloud of expensive perfume followed Cresley as she headed for the elevators.
“Holy smokes,” Denny muttered.“She’s even hotter in person.”
“Put your tongue back in your mouth.”
“I could say the same to you,” her brother retorted, making Isla laugh.
How long had it been since she’d laughed at anything other than the silly things the kids did?
“Julian will see you now,” Mattie said.
They collected the kids and made their way into a massive office with two glass walls overlooking Neiman Marcus on the other side of Wilshire.The scent of Cresley’s expensive perfume lingered in the air.
Julian, who’d shed his suit coat and rolled up the sleeves of a crisp white dress shirt, stood to come around the desk to welcome them with handshakes.He wore a navy-and-purple silk tie, dark navy pants and a silver watch.“Isla, it’s so nice to finally meet Denny’s favorite little sister.”
“Nice to meet you, too.”She was almost as dazzled by him as she’d been by Cresley, and he smelled every bit as incredible as she had.He was a lot to process, which was why she didn’t tell him she was Denny’sonlysister.Besides, he probably already knew that.“Thank you for seeing us.”
“My pleasure.And who are these two cuties?”
Had she really almost forgotten that the kids were with her?“This is Theo and Mila.”
Julian reached out to shake hands with Theo, who looked him in the eye the way Isla had taught him and said, “Nice to meet you.”
Smiling, Julian said, “You as well, sir.This is your sister?”
“Yeah, but she’s shy.”
Mila had buried her face in Isla’s shoulder to avoid looking at him.
“I was shy when I was little, too.Luckily, I grew out of that, or my job would be torture.”He gestured to a gathering of sofas and chairs.“Please have a seat.Make yourselves comfortable.”
“Impressive digs, Counselor,” Denny said.“I mean, I knew it’d be something, but this…”
“I can’t take any of the credit.My grandfather had good taste in office space sixty years ago.The place has aged well.”
And he was humble.So much for preconceived notions.He was about six two or three, with wavy dark hair, soft brown eyes and just the right amount of facial hair.His smile was warm and welcoming, his face radiated kindness, and Isla immediately felt safe in his presence.That was an odd realization since she really only ever felt safe with Mrs.V and Denny these days.She’d expected to meet a man whose success had made him pretentious and probably full of himself and had to admit her preconceived notions had been unfair.
Theo couldn’t take his eyes off the man who’d treated him like an adult and not a bothersome child, which was what Isla had expected him to do when little kids invaded his workplace.
