“Yeah.” He shifted in his seat and looked back at me. “I think so too, but I have to admit that I thought she might quit for a while there when you were riding her so hard. She was good about it, though.”
“Yeah, she handled it well,” I agreed. The newbies usually didn’t. More than one of them had run out of my office crying or brooding.
Lilac hadn’t done any of those things. She really had handled the pressure well, especially if she thought I was a dick but stopped herself from saying it until afterward. I could work with that. In fact, I was looking forward to working with that.
Chapter 14
Lilac
After grabbing lunch downstairs, I went back to my office and sat down at my desk. I was finally going to take some time to think about furniture for my office.
Shock and disbelief over getting the job had prevented me from even thinking about it at first, and then things had just gotten too busy. It was starting to sink in that the job really was mine and that I was here to stay, which meant I had to start thinking about getting comfortable here in the long term.
It was a nice offer that Joseph had made to let me choose my own furniture, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I wanted to do it. I wanted to walk into this space in the mornings and feel at home.
At the moment, all I felt like when I walked in was that I was invading someone else’s space. I still didn’t quite know how I had gotten the job. I’d heard all of Joseph’s arguments about why he had hired me, but it still felt surreal sometimes.
I looked around my office and tried to picture what I wanted to do with it, what might make it feel more like mine. Having access to a decorator could help with that, but I kind of wanted to do it myself—or at least try to do it myself. If what I chose ended up being “offensive” to Joseph, then I would contact the decorator to help me dial it down.
Turning to face my laptop, I opened a website I had seen advertising reasonably priced office furniture and started browsing through it. I was about halfway down the home page when I saw a tab labeled “kiddie corner” on the left-hand side.
Without even thinking about it, I clicked into it. My heartbeat sped up and my spine straightened as I scrolled through the page. That’s a great idea.
I wondered if Joseph would let me make a space in my office for Lincoln, though. It would certainly make things easier on the nights when I only had to stay for an hour or two later.
Hope warmed my chest. Nothing would make me feel more at home here than if I could have a special space dedicated to Lincoln, and I knew he would love it too. While I understood that he had to stay at the daycare center during working hours, it would be great if he knew I had made a space for him up here too.
Rolling my head back, I stared at the ceiling for a beat before I made my decision. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Right?
Just as I was about to call Joseph to ask him if it would be okay, already preparing an argument in my head over how much easier it would make things when I had to stay late, my door banged open and the man himself walked in.
Damn, he beat me to it. There was a grim expression on his face, which prompted me to hear him out first before I brought up the Lincoln thing. It was good I didn’t try to say anything, because he just started talking without giving me the chance to anyway.
“What are you doing tomorrow night? If your answer is anything other than ‘going with you to a gala,’ you’re wrong.”
My eyes widened as I stared at him, my mouth just about hanging open. “What?”
He crossed his arms over his broad chest and frowned so hard I was afraid his face might stay like that. “There’s a gala tomorrow night that I have to go to. I totally forgot about it. I might just fucking fire Ollie for forgetting to remind me before five fucking minutes ago. It’s too late to find a date now and it will look very bad for me to go alone.”
Joseph Matthews was not the kind of man who rambled. Even though his words came out in one stream, each one was still said with absolute purpose. I didn’t know whether it was sexy or if his seemingly unshakable control over all things added to the growing list under “terrifying” in my head.
“I can get you a dress if you need one,” he continued, “and shoes and whatever else you might need.”
I hadn’t seen or heard him take a breath yet, but he didn’t seem to be short of oxygen at all. It was kind of fascinating, but I decided it definitely went under “terrifying.” Yup, pretty sure he’s not actually human.
All the while, he still hadn’t given me time to respond. I was just gaping at him when he finally stopped talking, unsure about what to say.
“I don’t have anyone to watch Lincoln.” I hadn’t planned to blurt that out, but that was the first thing that came out anyway.
Alisha was going away for the weekend. She had checked with me, which was unnecessary but very considerate of her. I had told her without any reservation or hesitation whatsoever to go. I had thought, apparently incorrectly, that I’d have the weekend off.
I also couldn’t quite get over the fact that he was telling me I had to go, instead of asking me to accompany him. I was about to point out how nothing in my work contract said I had to do this, but then I remembered the giant bonus he’d just given me.
And, well, I’d never been to a gala. Getting all dressed up and pretty didn’t sound altogether horrible. “Maybe I can look up local babysitters.”
Joseph spoke at the same time that I made my suggestion. “One of the daycare ladies. He knows them, right? I’ll just pay them a ridiculous amount of money and one of them will do it. I’ll set that up.”
“Right,” I said, blinking and totally dumbstruck. Joseph marched out of my office and when he popped back in a few minutes later, I was still just sitting there.
“I’ll call someone about a dress.” He ran a hand through his raven-colored hair and narrowed his eyes on me for half a second. “They’ll be in touch.”
He was gone again before I could say a word. I shook my head, staring at the spot he’d disappeared from before going back to the furniture website. This job was shaping up to be interesting, that was for sure.
Obsessing about it wasn’t going to get me anywhere, though. If Joseph wanted me at a gala, apparently, I was going to a gala. Yay me.
I supposed I could have said no. It might not have ended with him firing me for refusing to be his date, but well, between the bonus and the fact that it was a gala, I didn’t really want to say no. Next time I would insist on at least being given the choice, though. Not just being told that I’d be going.
After shaking my head at the man again, I started selecting the furniture I wanted and added it to my cart. Before I could put in the order, Ollie knocked on my door on his way into my office.
“Lilac, I believe you know Jodie and this little man with her.”
I looked up, feeling confused until my gaze landed on Lincoln. My lips spread into a wide smile and I opened my arms. He ran right into them and I scooped him up, holding him tight. “What are you doing here?”
“Joseph called down to the daycare to arrange for someone to watch Lincoln tomorrow night,” Ollie said. His voice was neutral, but when I lifted my gaze away from Lincoln to look at Ollie, I didn’t miss the mischief shining in his. “He insisted that someone Lincoln is familiar with be sent up immediately.”
I sighed, decidedly ignoring the amusement in Ollie’s tone. Clearly, he thought this was all hilarious. Jodie stepped forward, drawing my attention away from our obviously wicked assistant. “My son is the same age as Lincoln. The two of them play together at the center all the time. I’ll be happy to watch Lincoln for you for a few hours on Saturday night. The boys will have so much fun together.”
“Right. Um.” I took a breath through my nose, blowing it out through my mouth. I couldn’t believe how fast all of this was happening. It was insane, but I couldn’t slow any of it down if I wanted to.
Doing my best to smile at Jodie desp
ite how fast my mind was racing, I nodded. “Thank you. I’d really appreciate that. Sorry, this is all just a little unexpected. I didn’t even know you had a son Lincoln’s age.”
How did I know so little about the woman who spent her days looking after my son? It suddenly dawned on me that getting better acquainted with her was more important than choosing furniture. “Please, have a seat. Ollie will get us something to drink.”
He rolled his eyes when I looked up at him, but nodded anyway. “Sure. Coffee?”
“That sounds wonderful, thank you,” Jodie said. I didn’t bother saying the word; he knew I would always have coffee if anyone offered it to me.
Flicking his gaze to mine, he lifted an eyebrow as he flashed me a winning smile. I didn’t miss how his shoulders were shaking with silent laughter. Right, because all this is hilarious to him.
I suppressed the urge to flip him off, narrowing my eyes on his in a glare I thought was prize-worthy and then focused on Jodie. She’s probably the only sane person in this office anyway, and that includes me. I’m going to a gala with my fucking boss.
Ollie brought in our drinks a few minutes later, winking at me as he closed the door behind him. I shot him another look, but his back was already turned and I doubted he’d even seen it.
Later on, as I went to leave for the night, Joseph called me into his office. “Show up here around four tomorrow after you drop Lincoln off. I’ll have people here to help you get ready.”
I arched an eyebrow, but didn’t bother saying anything about it. I could get myself ready, I did it every damn morning of my life, but at this point, I knew that arguing with him wouldn’t get me anywhere. It would only steal precious minutes away from my plans with Lincoln tonight.
“Sure. See you tomorrow, Joseph.” I didn’t wait for him to come up with any more ludicrous proposals before I turned and left. I’d seriously had it for the day.
Chapter 15
Joseph
At around three on Saturday afternoon I left my house with my tux in a black bag hanging from the hand I had draped over my shoulder. Annoyance still crept up in me when I thought about the gala, but there was nothing I could do about it now.
The RSVP date had been months ago. Many of my clients would be there and many of the other guests were potential clients. I couldn’t not go. Didn’t mean I wanted to go, though.
The office was quiet when I arrived, but instead of locking the doors behind me and reveling in the peace like I usually did on Saturdays, I made sure to leave everything open. I’d arranged for a crew to come out to get Lilac ready. They were also bringing several dress options for her.
Sighing as I made my way into my office, I hung the tux on the hook of my private bathroom door and went back downstairs to wait for the beautifying crew to arrive. I had no idea what kind of professions the people in this crew belonged to.
Ollie had assured me that they were the best and had mentioned something about a hairdresser and a makeup artist, but I hadn’t really been paying attention. My dates for these kinds of events usually had their own ‘people’ for this shit and were ready when I arrived to pick them up.
Since it had been too late of notice to rope in one of my regular dates, I’d had to make Lilac go with me. I was well aware that I hadn’t exactly been a gentleman about it, but I refused to go to the gala alone.
Going to those things stag was like hanging a flashing neon sign around my neck begging the gold-digging socialite attendees to zero in on me. I was under no illusions about why they came on to me so hard, practically clawing at me with those perfectly manicured fingernails.
They were after my money and status. It was no secret that many of the frequent flyers at these things were looking to find themselves a rich, influential spouse. Since I wasn’t interested in being anyone’s spouse, I’d only made the mistake of going alone once or twice back when I was still a rookie.
It wasn’t a mistake I planned on repeating, even if that meant having to tell my soon-to-be CFO to suit up and accompany me. I wouldn’t make a habit of it, though. I’d torn Ollie a new one about not giving me enough notice to call in one of my usual dates and watched as he set reminders on the tablet for every event I had scheduled for the next year.
The women who usually accompanied me weren’t friends, exactly. They were acquaintances who knew not to expect anything from me and who came with me because they liked to see and be seen. I had no doubt that a few of them would have managed to wrangle invites for this evening from other eligible bachelors in town.
It was nothing personal. It was simply the way the social scene worked. Sure as shit wasn’t going to break my heart to see them there with other guys.
My thoughts were interrupted by the loud and boisterous chattering of six people who burst into the lobby. They were carrying garment bags, what looked like sleeker versions of toolboxes and other odds and ends I couldn’t quite identify.
Forcing my lips to curl into a welcoming, gracious smile, I stepped forward from where I’d been leaning against one of the marble columns. “You must be from the Glam Guru. Joseph Matthews, nice to meet you.”
The woman in the lead nodded and motioned for the others to stay put as she approached me. She was dressed head to toe in black, her brunette hair pulled back into a severe bun. “Emily Rose at your service, sir. If you’ll just show us where we can set up, we’ll be ready for the lucky lady when she arrives.”
“Right this way.” I didn’t know why she’d refer to Lilac as the lucky lady, but I didn’t question it. These people were here because they had a job to do. Whatever their opinions of it, us, or the situation might be, didn’t concern me.
The only thing they had to do that did concern me was to get Lilac red-carpet ready. While I thought she was pretty and definitely sexy, she needed to look like money this evening. It was what the occasion called for. She had to look like she belonged to that world of diamond-encrusted fools, the very same reason I had to wear my tux when I’d rather have gone in soft sweatpants.
Emily and her people followed me into the elevator and we rode up to my floor. They tried to draw me into their conversation a few times, but eventually gave up and just kept talking among themselves.
It was a tight squeeze in the elevator with all of us and all their gear, but we managed to make it work. When we got to the top, I showed them to a conference room at the other end of the floor.
It was the biggest one on the executive floor and was set up as both a conference room and an internal training facility. There was a bar off to one side, a private bathroom, a large mirror on one wall and more than enough space for an army of people.
“If you need anything, just let me know,” I said as I led them into the room. “There’s water and refreshments in the bar.”
“Thank you,” Emily said, immediately starting to bark orders at her team when she turned her back on me. Satisfied that they could get settled in, I went back to my office for the wait.
Lilac showed up not too much later, appearing in the door of my office fresh-faced and in yoga clothes. “Hey.”
“Hi.” Seeing her looking so casual and relaxed made me smile. I was afraid she was going to be out to prove a point to me tonight, considering that I hadn’t given her much of a choice about being here. “Is Lincoln okay at that daycare lady’s house?”
She rolled her eyes, the corners of her mouth tilting up. “That daycare lady is named Jodie, and yes. He is. Thanks for asking.”
Take that, tunnel-vision. “I’m glad. We might get out of the gala late. Is that a problem?”
Pursing her lips, she took a deep breath and shrugged. “It’s a bit late to worry about that now, isn’t it?”
“True. Okay, well, your people are in the conference room at the end of the hall on the other side.”
Two of those people appeared like magic behind Lilac. She grinned as she went with them, immediately warming up to them as they led her away.
Emily stood at the door to my office
. It seemed they had actually come here to double-check the dress code and to find out if there were any special requests in terms of color, but when she saw Lilac had arrived, she’d quietly ordered them to take her away.
We had a short conversation about the formal dress code and I confirmed that guests had not been requested to wear any color in particular, and then Emily was gone.
When she shut my door behind her and I was alone again, I got comfortable on my couch. It was best if I stayed off my leg as much as possible before the evening started. I was going to get ready here in my office and we only had to be there at six, so I had plenty of time.
Resting my head against the leather armrest, I pulled out my phone and cued up my favorite playlist on YouTube to listen to until it was time for me to get dressed. The hours passed quickly as I lay there with my eyes closed and I lost myself to the memories brought back by the music.
Before I knew it, the alarm I had set went off. I kept the music on and my earphones in, but sat up and stretched out my leg before going to get the tux.
The bathroom annexed to my office was small, but functional. It had a shower too, and I kept some essentials on hand for occasions when it was necessary to grab a shower at the office. It had happened more than once that I’d pulled all-nighters and needed to be ready for meetings in the morning.
After my shower, I got into my tux and took a few minutes to artfully muss my hair. Even I knew I had to pull out at least some of the stops for this gala if I was going to be smart about it.
Once I was ready, I checked my watch and saw that we only had about ten more minutes before we had to leave. After locking my office, I went in search of Lilac and hoped to the gods of beautification—whoever they were—that those people had gotten her ready in time.
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