"What idea?" I said, figuring that if he wasn't going to start off with a common greeting, I didn't need to either.
"The flowers," Anton replied, gesturing at my desk. "It's your first day and your boss didn't think to order flowers to welcome you. Good thing someone else did."
I decided not to mention that if Anton had thought to order flowers for me and Jude ever found out, Anton would be speaking an octave higher for the rest of his life.
"I wasn't sure what the dress code was, so I hope I did all right," I said, looking down at my outfit. In contrast, Anton had on a stylish navy suit and a maroon pencil tie. I was definitely underdressed if this was the standard.
"You couldn't be more all right if I'd dressed you myself," he replied with a smile.
"Oh," I said, diverting my attention from him. He was staring at me in that unblinking way, not sexually, but in a searching way that made me uncomfortable. I didn't want to be inspected. I wanted to clock in, make my money, and clock out. "That's good."
Anton came toward me and extended his hand. "Nice to finally meet you in person, Lucy Larson," he said, his smile so white and perfect it didn't seem real. "And if I had known you were even prettier in person than in a picture, I never would have hired you."
I rolled my eyes. He was a flirt. Like brother, like sister.
"Why's that," I shot back, realizing my smart-ass self was going to fit in fine here, "because you'd no longer be in the office running for best-looking?"
Anton's head tipped back as he laughed. His laugh, like his voice, was clear and almost musical. "India warned me you were a firecracker. For once, I'm glad she was right about something," he said, his shoulders still shaking. "But no, that's not the reason. At least, not the main reason. My dad keeps one rule, and one rule only, in business. He says all the rest you can bend along the way if need be, save for one." He paused, studying me again. I watched his pupils, and never once did they wander south of my face.
"What's that?" I said, since he was obviously not going to say any more until I inquired.
"The fifty/fifty rule when hiring an admin," he said, with a shrug like it was common knowledge.
"This ought to be good."
Anton slid a hand into his pants pocket. "Make sure she's over fifty and fifty pounds overweight."
"I didn't realize I was coming to work for a chauvinist," I said, followed by an exaggerated sigh. "Why's this the number one rule?"
He mimicked my sigh. We'd spoken a few sentences, but I had a feeling I had met my match. "So there's no temptation," he said.
Flashing my left hand in front of him, I waited for him to take note of the ring on a certain important finger. "In case India forgot to mention it, I'm engaged. So there'll be no temptation whatsoever."
Anton studied the ring for another moment before he smiled broadly. "Forbidden fruit. Wanting what a man can't have. I don't think that worked out so well for Adam and the whole fall-of-man thing." His smile pulled higher as he waited for me to reply. He was enjoying this banter.
Since it was my first day on the job, I decided to bite back what I wanted to say to him.
"Anytime you're ready to tell me what I'm here to actually do . . ." I said, gesturing at my desk and computer. "I didn't get all dressed up for nothing."
"No." Anton chuckled, coming around the side of my desk. "You certainly didn't." Continuing past the desk, he opened the door to his office and sauntered in. When he got to his desk, he glanced back at me where I hovered at the door. "Anytime you're ready for me to tell you what you're actually here to do . . ." He gestured at the chair in front of his desk and waited.
"I didn't realize we were playing tag," I muttered, just loud enough for him to hear.
He smiled and fired up his laptop.
Anton's office was posh-if you were into the modern twist on 1960s cool. Like India had said, it was a scene pulled from Mad Men, right down to the fancy crystal bottles of liquor displayed on a shelf behind his desk. Like his little sister, Anton had expensive taste.
I took a seat in the chair across from him and waited.
"Do you know much about what we do here in this office?" he asked, his eyes fixed on his laptop, all business. He could flip the on and off mood switch as fast as I could.
Should I have done research? It was too late now.
"Nope." Super. Real intelligent-sounding, Lucy.
"I love an honest woman," he said, his eyes flicking to me. "And one who isn't ashamed about it."