Chapter 6
Jay left his office door open and sat at his desk, going over receipts and reading through everything to be done for Saturday’s wedding. They were legitimate tasks, but of course, his mind was on that stupid stack of resumes on Rebecca’s desk, and Clarissa. The infuriating woman was keeping him from getting real work done, especially with her coming in to chat every four seconds, her eyes often flitting over to Rebecca’s unoccupied desk.
He finally gave up on trying to get anything else done and took the stack of resumes from Rebecca’s desk, making sure to stop and stare at them in front of Clarissa’s open door before continuing to walk down the hall.
“Marlise?” he called out.
Just as he expected, Clarissa bolted out her door and cut him off on his way to Marlise’s office.
“Is something the matter?” Clarissa asked sweetly.
“Yeah. I found these under a stack of files on Rebecca’s desk. Why did Marlise give them to her? I have enough for her to get done. In fact, she’s off picking up linens as we speak. Too many were stained at the last wedding, and I’m afraid we won’t have enough for Saturday.”
“Well, don’t you worry. Get back to work, and I’ll take these resumes to Marlise.”
He followed her into her office, where she set them off to the side and concentrated on looking busy.
“I thought you were going to take them to Marlise.”
She looked up. “I will. Quit worrying about it. Besides, if Marlise is thinking of hiring another assistant, shouldn’t I get a chance to take a look?” She raised her eyebrows at someone behind him and he turned to see Rebecca lurking in the doorway, holding a stack of linens.
What part of “take your time” did she not understand? But he quickly hid his irritation and motioned for her to come in.
“Excellent. Let’s drop these off on the way to our appointment at the florist.” He turned back to Clarissa. “You’re right. I think you should hold onto those resumes and have a look.”
The smile Clarissa shot back at him could have frozen the Mohave Desert. “Thanks. See you both Sunday.”
After they left the office, Rebecca turned to him, looking nervous. “You took care of it?”
“Kind of.” He blew out a long breath. “You couldn’t have given me an extra five minutes? I was about to make her admit to it.”
“So, she thinks you were taking them back to Marlise? I don’t see the downside to that, Jay. I think you’re better off looking clueless about the whole thing.”
Jay stared her down before opening the passenger door of his car for her. “Yeah, perfect. She’ll just continue to bully you behind my back now.”
Rebecca had her arms folded tightly when he got in on the driver’s side.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.”
“No, I know that look. Just tell me.”
“I don’t want to talk about Clarissa anymore. Let’s just work.”
Jay laughed, trying to let go of the ever-present knot in the center of his chest. “Fine by me.”
***
“My boss is driving me nuts. I think I hate him a little.” Rebecca felt terrible letting the words leave her mouth. If she’d only just met Jay, she wouldn’t feel like this. But after a week, shouldn’t they have figured out how to kill the awkwardness?
Ian glanced at her and then went back to perusing her fridge. “Do you have any more of those deviled eggs you made last week?”
“Are you even listening to me?” Rebecca asked. “And no, I threw them out.”
“You threw out deviled eggs? Without asking me first?” Ian closed the fridge and helped himself to a bagel from a package on the counter instead. “And I was listening. It’s just that most people can’t stand their bosses. If you’d said you loved your boss, that would have been more newsworthy.”
“Sorry to bore you.” Rebecca sat at the table and dropped her head in her hands. “If you want to hear the interesting part, there’s another girl in the office who hates me.”
