Yours Truly(20)

“No, sir. I am most certainly not,” George replied, stepping back and straightening his tie.

“What are you doing here?” AJ asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He looked at the crumpled bedspread beside him. She had clearly been sleeping there, so at least he knew he wasn’t dreaming. But where could she have gone? He had been looking forward to waking up beside her.

“You canceled all your meetings today, sir,” George explained. He fiddled with his tie for a moment before starting to bustle around the room, opening up the curtains and wearing the slightly worried expression that he always wore. Sometimes AJ wondered if the man was ever not frowning. “Do you have any idea the kind of problems that causes?”

“George, if you don’t relax, you’re going to have a heart attack.” AJ leaned back into his pillow, watching as George went to AJ’s suitcase and began neatly folding the clothes from the floor back into it. He watched him for a moment before looking at the empty bed again.

“Whatever you say, sir.” George didn’t even look up. He just kept picking up clothing and organizing.

“There was a girl here. You didn’t happen to pick her up while you’re hurrying me out of my comfortable room?” AJ asked, looking over at the empty bed. Where could she have gone? He was usually the one bailing on one-night stands, not the other way around.

“Girl?” George looked baffled and then bent over and picked something up from the floor. “That explains this, then.”

He held up a sparkling silver high heel.

“You sure it was a girl?” George asked, examining the shoe. “I think this is the biggest shoe I’ve ever seen.”

“Wondering if they have one in your size?” AJ asked. George chucked it at his employer’s head, but AJ managed to catch it.

It was a size 11.5, which was large but not extreme considering the average US woman wore a 8.5 or a 9. He examined the beautiful shoe a little bit closer. It was a Christian Louboutin Suellena Laser-Cut Peep-Toe Red Sole Pump in Silver, which he recognized as being a top seller from his own store. His date certainly had good taste.

It actually was a rather large shoe, but he hadn’t been paying attention to the size of her feet last night. He had been too caught up by her smile. “You didn’t happen to see a note, have you?”

“A note?” George paused, the line between his dark brows deepening. “Why would I look for a note?”

AJ sighed. The man excelled at his job, but sometimes he was a little too focused on being organized rather than being sensible.

“A note from the girl,” AJ explained, holding up the shoe. “I’d actually like to see her again.”

“With those feet?” George asked, and AJ resisted the urge to throw the shoe back at him. “That’s not you’re usual M.O.”

“Yes, even with these feet. Possibly because of them,” AJ replied. “So, any notes? Lipstick on the mirror? Anything?”

George shuffled his feet. “There might have been one.”

“Might have been?” AJ sat up in the bed, gripping the shoe. “Where is it?”

George shrunk slightly. “Your usual policy is to not respond to one night stands... especially those from a wedding...”

“Where is it, George?”

George licked his lips nervously. “It’s already in the trash. With your usual policy...”

AJ looked over at the waste bin near the bathroom door. It was suspiciously empty. George followed his gaze.

“I gave the trash to the maid so she wouldn’t disturb you,” George said slowly, refusing to look up at AJ.

“George, I want that note.” AJ glared at his assistant. He wasn’t angry at the other man so much as at himself. He should have gotten the woman’s information the moment she smiled at him. “She was amazing.”

“Amazing?” George’s eyes widened. AJ knew he’d never said that about any of the other woman George had found him with.

“Yes. Amazing,” AJ reiterated. “All I have of the girl of my dreams is her shoe. Her very large shoe. I want that note.”

George swallowed audibly. “I’ll go hunt down the trash, sir. I just hope the maid hasn’t put it in the dumpster yet...”

AJ raised his brows at George. The dumpster was not about to stop him now.

“I’ll find it, I swear,” George promised. “But you have to get dressed.”

“Dressed? I canceled all my meetings.” AJ crossed his arms.

“Yes, you did.” George handed him a suit. “Except the board doesn’t accept your cancellation of their meeting.”