“When will he learn it isn’t the machine, it’s him?” Rosemary whispered to me, grabbing two menus.
“Ha. God only knows. Thanks for the help. If you need anything—”
“Actually….” She leaned in.
I should have seen it coming. “I can’t help you with anything related to Darcy Entertainment,” I quickly added.
She shook her head. “I wouldn’t ask that. I wanted to ask if you happened to have Petty Officer Jackson’s number?”
For some reason, I couldn’t help the grin that spread across my face.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?” I asked, bending down to check under the register where I had stuck the movie receipt he had put his number on the back of.
“I shouldn’t call him, right?” She seemed to be speaking more to herself than to me.
“Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart,” I replied. “It’s my new life motto.”
“Who said that?”
“Erma Bombeck,” Manny answered before I could.
Finding the receipt, I put it on the counter in front of Rosemary.
“That’s right. How’d you know?”
He casually shrugged. “What I lack in height, I make up for in brains.”
She gave me a look, and I tried not to laugh. Manny had his moments. Rosemary waited until he was out of earshot before she whispered, “I saw your bag. Are you meeting him after your shift? What are you wearing?”
I didn’t answer. I just smiled to myself and took the menus and my notepad as two guests walked in.
12:00 p.m.
“Ma’am?”
“One second,” I said, staring at my watch.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
“Ma’am, if you don’t have an appointment, I’m going to have to—”
“Actually,” I grinned, giving her my full attention. “I have an appointment with Mr. Darcy. Can you please let him know how sorry I am for being late?”
She looked me up and down, skeptical. “Name?”
“Felicity Harper.”
She typed on her computer, shaking her head at me, though she did manage to give me a fake smile.
“I’m sorry, but you aren’t on the list.”
“If you call him—”
“Sorry. I can’t do that either. You have to be on the list.” She cut me off, and I glared at her a moment. She had already killed my plan. Sighing, I pulled out my phone.
It only rang once.
“You’re late.” His voice was stern, smooth, and sent shivers up my spine.
“Apparently there’s a list my name isn’t on, according to”—I leaned forward to read her name tag—“Abigail.”
He hung up, and a second later her phone rang. Her eyes widened, and she stared at it in shock.
“You should get that,” I told her.
She seized the phone. “Hi—I mean sir— I’m sorry—No I—Yes, the list—”
She put the phone down and slipped me a badge. “Please go ahead, Ms. Harper. Top floor.”
“Thank you, Abigail!” Turning away from her, I headed toward the elevators, my heels clicking across the lobby. A giant D was in the center facing the glass.
Scanning my badge in front of the security guard, I made sure to get on the elevator quickly, closing the door before anyone else could get on behind me. Even though I knew it was kind of bitchy, I wanted some part of this to work, though Abigail had dampened the move. Theo and I were in the middle of foreplay. When the doors opened, he was standing there in a fitted black three-piece suit. To anyone else he would have seemed pissed from how hard his expression was, but I could see the lust.
“You’re late,” he said coldly.
I stepped out of the elevator right beside him and whispered, “I know. That’s why I wore a skirt.”
I headed directly to his office. His name was clearly printed on the frosted glass. I also made sure to put an extra something into my walk just for him. I felt him staring. Was it wrong that I was more excited because so many people were still at the office?
There was something wrong with me.
But I liked it.
And so did he.
Theo
I made sure to have my secretary hold my calls before I entered my office. The sight of her sitting in my chair with the first four buttons of her shirt undone, her red bra exposed, feet in black heels up on my desk, almost made me lose control. I pulled off my tie and locked the door.
“Where’s your luggage?”
“In a taxi downstairs. Can you help me take care of that, Mr. Darcy?”
I reached for the phone next to her. She watched me intently but did not move at all. I called the driver. “There is a taxi in front of the building. Pay the tab and get the luggage from the back. I’ll be another hour.” She slowly uncrossed her legs, allowing me to see she had no underwear on. “Two hours. Let the pilot know as well.”