He paused so long, she thought he’d hung up. It was quite possible he held a stricter view.
“Luc?”
“You need never lie to me, Nadia.”
The reproach in his voice didn’t sit well. “Look, if you don’t want to meet for dinner tomorrow, I understand.”
“Do you not want to spend any more time with me?”
“That’s not the point.”
“That’s not an answer.”
She closed her eyes and huffed out a breath. In for a penny, in for a pound. “I would like very much to spend time with you. I wouldn’t have asked you to dinner otherwise.”
“Then we shall stick with our original plan,” he replied. “I will pick you up tomorrow at six.”
Just when he would’ve hung up, Nadia called his name.
“Yes?”
“Do you have a girlfriend?” she asked, feeling like a silly schoolgirl with her first crush. “I mean, I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes or anything.”
Again, she envisioned his amused grin.
“No, Nadia. There is no one else.”
5
Their dinner didn’t come to pass, much to Nadia’s disappointment. Luc had been called out of town on emergency business, or so he claimed. In all likelihood, he’d had second thoughts and decided she was well beneath him. The man was major-league. And Nadia? Yeah, she occupied a folding chair at a neighborhood softball field.
Still, a girl could yearn.
She spent the following week moving her meager belongings into her new two-bedroom condo and scanning the paper for quality second-hand furniture. By week two, she’d created a distinct homey feel, and she’d fallen in love with the place. And if she’d selected items with Luc’s large frame in mind, well, no one was to know. Nadia would be sure to claim all her purchases were for comfort if anyone—namely Katie—asked.
Then came her new job, which was, for the most part, fulfilling. However, by day three, she’d seriously fantasized about throat-punching her boss. Smarmy, overconfident, and domineering, Sal was the perfect evil trifecta, able to turn off women in a single sneer. His underhanded, creepy quality made spending time with him torturous. Her skin crawled whenever he came into view. Being driven, she understood, but acting like an asshole and sacrificing employees to achieve an end-goal didn’t sit well with her.
At every opportunity, he tried to hook up with Nadia, going so far as to hint she might lose her job if she didn’t give him what he wanted. Unfortunately, no true human resources department existed at Grimwich’s library to file a complaint. Other than hiring, personnel issues were resolved at a higher level. Here, Sal was the head honcho and had the final say. He also knew how to make life exceedingly difficult for those who tried to go above his head, according to her co-workers.
Nadia intended to probe Luc about the guy’s character, if he ever returned. Maybe he’d have insight into how to best handle him. Hopefully, it wasn’t a case of birds of a feather flocking together because Sal was more of a Cassowary than the Casanova he believed himself to be.
And speaking of the dickhead…
Like a damned wraith, he appeared in the doorway.
The calculating gleam in his eye didn’t bode well for her.
Today, he’d already been particularly trying, and she’d dodged his hands for the better part of the last seven hours. The moment of reckoning was upon her. Two weeks of his shit, and she was beyond ready to file a complaint with the president of the board. She feared the fallout wasn’t going to be pretty.
“May I help you?” Nadia asked coldly.
Please say no. Please say no!
“My boss would like a progress report on your work,” Sal said.
He slithered into the room, and the space grew heavier, as if the weight of his intent thickened the air. If asked, she’d swear she smelled sulfur, but it could be her mind working overtime from the latest text she’d translated.
Nadia frowned as she climbed to her feet and bundled her notes. Had she been slower, he would have invaded her personal space, and she’d prefer not to be trapped in her chair with his penis pressed to her shoulder.
