Page 23 of Bobby

“Of course I did.”

“Then what part of leading the team was made unclear?”

“The part where I met with you on a regular basis.”

He raises a brow. “Am I that awful?”

“Of course not. I just meant I expected there to be a go-between. You’re a busy man.” I take a breath, but he shakes his head with enough force that I close my mouth.

“I might be a busy man, but I’d be a man without a job if I let this go. This is my company, and I refuse to not be on the ground floor working on it. I might not have the time to do the detailed level of work that you do, but I will be looped in through the findings. This is important to me, and I’m not about to just pass it over because I think myself too high and mighty.”

“Forgive me,” I say, eyes downcast. His dedication and passion for the company is commendable. “I didn’t mean to insinuate that you don’t care.”

He gives a soft sigh. “I know. I also trust you with this.” He stands and walks around his desk to get close to me.

When I came in this morning, I went straight to my new office. I was the only one there, as the car service had me at the girls’ school earlier than I expected. Since I’m not one to waste time, I just came to the office. The first thing I saw was the note on my desk, directing me to come to Bobby’s office first thing. I lasted about ten minutes after putting all my stuff away before coming up to his office from the twentieth floor. I wasn’t surprised he was here early—he’s known around the office for working just as hard as he expects everyone else to.

Alfonso, his secretary, told me to go right in this time. I stood because I thought this would be, I don’t know, just a friendly visit. Not a boss-to-employee one.

But the second I walked in, he started going on and on about how often he wanted updates from me and his expectations. Thank God he said he’ll be sending me his notes on the matter, because I don’t think I can recall anything he’s said. Especially after I asked him why he was telling me all this, and he said it’s because I’m going to be the one reporting it to him weekly.

Me.

He reaches out and rubs my arm reassuringly. “You’ve got this. Don’t let my title or anyone else’s make you doubt your ability to run this team and report your findings to me. I know I just gave you some deadlines for when I expect findings, and while I would like us to keep close to those, I’m willing to move things around if you find you need more time. I’ve been told, mostly by my brothers, that I can be a bear in the workforce. I want results quickly and don’t account for how long something takes. Which leads to people cutting corners to get me what I want, which is probably how this all started. A mistake to get something done leads to a profit for someone who saw an opportunity to keep going.”

I find myself nodding in agreement. “I think boar is a better term.”

He snorts with a smile, and I giggle at my random thought that just slipped out.

“I’ll let you be the one to debate that with my brothers sometime. As for now, settle in. I expect most of the team to arrive today and the rest tomorrow. I’ll get something on the calendar tomorrow morning to go over everything with expectations. Today, I want you to show everyone how to identify the issues. They’ve all been briefed on the job, so today is just about showing them what we’re looking for. Tomorrow, we’ll break down which files will go to whom and get the team to generate ideas on areas to focus on next once we look over the initial investment group. I expect this goes further than just one area of my company.” He pauses, his expression hardening. “For now, Spencer's departure stays between us and those with a need to know. Until we’re sure how far this reaches, I'd rather everyone think it’s business as usual. I don’t want to spook anyone else involved in this too early.”

I nod in agreement. “Yeah, we’d be lucky if only one section was touched, but it’s not a good approach to assume luck is on our side.”

“Exactly.” He has both hands on my arms now. Not sure how it happened, but it’s almost as if we’re embracing.

We hold this position for longer than is proper. Him with his hands on me, even if respectably, and me just staring into his eyes. Until my gaze dips, and I look at his lips. They’re almost lush against the dark stubble of his chin and top lip. Not for the first time do I imagine what they would feel like against mine.

I thought about them a lot last night, which was wrong on many levels. Not only because he’s my boss, but because I was with my girls and was practically drooling over him at dinner. But can you blame me? The place he took us to only had Italian-speaking employees, and Bobby spoke to each person with ease. He told us he’d been going there for years, as it was his grandmother’s dream to open an authentic restaurant in New York when she was a child. She died before she could see the dream come true, but the place was named after her, and his family has kept it as authentic as they could for the past thirty years.

The food was amazing, and so was the company. Bobby didn’t even have to entertain us, as most of the people there seemed to be family friends, and they all came over to greet him and speak to the girls. And they loved it. They felt like royalty, eating up every “bella” compliment they got and devouring their food, including the gelato and cannoli.

I couldn’t decide for myself and let Bobby order for me. We shared not only some amazing seafood pasta but this chicken that had some kind of red sauce that was better than any marinara sauce I’ve ever had.

And the way he licked his lips to get every bit of the delicious flavors into his mouth had my eyes drifting to him more and more.

Just like now.

“Sir, your brother is on line two.” Alfonso’s voice comes over the intercom on Bobby’s desk, and I jolt just enough to step out of his hold.

“Duty calls.” He pushes his glasses up his nose and walks back to his desk.

“Right. Well, have a good call and, um, day. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” I turn and make quick work of getting to the door.

“Willow?”

I turn at his request.

“Yes?”