Page 16 of Tough Luck

Suddenly, the spacious office felt incredibly small.

“Good morning, boss,” I said, my heart doing that ridiculous, high-speed fluttering thing it had perfected over the last twenty-four hours. “I, uh… I love it. I’m not sure I deserve it though.”

“From what I’ve heard and seen, it’s a much better use of the space,” Rick said, stepping into the room and letting his gaze sweep over the view of downtown Golden before landing back on me. “Since Leonard doesn’t work here any longer, the real estate was available. I figured the person who actually did the work he took credit for should get the space.”

“So it’s true? You really did fire him? Was it because of what I told you?” I asked.

“Not only because of what you said. I did some research of my own. I noticed a lot of inconsistencies after glancing over the server logs. According to the records, he had deleted a lot of records after you had uploaded them. He shifted files from your folders into his own as well. But the biggest part was him adding all your overtime to his own time.” He tilted his head. “Didn’t you notice you weren’t getting paid for all those extra hours?”

“He assured me he was trying to get it straightened out,” I said, suddenly feeling stupid. “I suppose I was kept too busy to look into it further.”

“That ends now,” he assured me. “I also took a look at his personnel file,” Rick said smoothly. “Let’s just say, all of his concepts lacked a certain… authenticity. Plagiarism doesn’t fly on my watch, nor does lying to me.”

A massive wave of relief washed over me, so intense my knees actually felt a little weak. I sat down in the chair with relief. The tyrant was really gone. I didn’t have to spend my weekends doing data entry or hiding my sketches anymore.

“Thank you,” I said softly, meaning it from the absolute bottom of my heart.

“Don’t thank me yet,” Rick murmured, his eyes locking onto mine with a playful, heated intensity that made the room feel twenty degrees warmer. He stepped a little closer to the desk, tilting his head. “You still have a brewery pitch to finish. And considering I caught you violating my strict no-work-after-five policy at the Italian place last night, I expect those sketches to be spectacular,” he joked.

“I accept that challenge.” I laughed.

“Good.” A devastatingly handsome smile broke across his face. He tapped the edge of my new desk. “Get settled in. Pack up whatever is left in your cubicle, and then bring your napkin sketches down to my office at eleven. Let’s see what else you came up with while you were supposed to be off the clock.” He turned and left me alone in my new office.

My very own office! I held in a squeal of excitement as I spun my chair in circles.

Chapter 6

Rick

Over the next few days, I shifted into gear, taking over for my dad. It wasn’t hard. After all, I’d been running my own marketing firm in San Diego for the past few years. Sure, it wasn’t this large and I only had a handful of employees and clients, but it was still growing. My dad’s agency operated on a much grander scale, thanks to its reputation and the fact that it had been in business for more than a couple decades, but also thanks to the board members he’d brought on over the years. Having help running the backend of GSM let my father focus on what he loved best, and that was what really had caused the business to soar.

But marketing was marketing, and the core principles remained the same.

The best part of my week, hands down, was watching Sofia adjust to her new role. I was incredibly impressed with her work. She wasn’t just dedicated and smart; she was brilliantly, effortlessly witty. The unique brand of humor and fresh perspective she brought to each account was exactly what this firm had been missing.

By Thursday, things at my parents’ home were finally settling into a rhythm too. My dad’s health was improving a little, mostly because he was actually resting on the golf course instead of micro-managing a creative department. He even took daily naps, according to my mother. I’d caught up with the family last night during the once-a-week family dinners my mother had required of me since my return.

Being under my parents’ roof again was a little strange. The house still felt as loud and alive as ever. My youngest brother, Chris, who was currently home from med school, had spent most of dinner analyzing my dad’s sodium intake or quizzing me about California. I couldn’t tell if he planned to migrate out West or just liked hounding me about my time there.

My middle brother, Jax, had been working at the firm all along as a senior project manager. He would have been a massive help with the transition this week, but he was going back and forth to Las Vegas, locking down the deployment logistics for a major new entertainment client we’d just signed. Besides, Dad and the board had agreed I was the right Mylonas to handle GSM in my dad’s absence.

Because Jax was busy, I was on my own handling the day-to-day running of the business. Not that I was complaining.

“Rick?”

I looked up from my laptop to find Sofia leaning through my open office door. She was wearing a sharp forest-green blazer. Her hair was pinned back in a bun, and she held a stark white foam-core board under her arm like a weapon.

“Do you have ten minutes?” she asked, her hazel eyes flashing with fiery enthusiasm. “Because the printer just delivered the high-res mock-ups for the Clear Creek campaign, and if I don’t show someone right now, I might actually burst.” Her voice rose slightly with excitement.

I smiled, closing my laptop screen on the work I’d been looking over for my California office. “Sure, come in.”

The moment she turned the proof around, my breath caught.

“That is…”

She bit her lip as she waited for my opinion, and I completely lost my train of thought. The sexy move had my body responding so quickly, I was thankful I was sitting down.

“What?” she finally said after a heartbeat, breaking the trance.