by Erika Lynn
“You did well today,” I admitted. Not a small feat. I expected the best from the people I worked with and who worked for me. Praise wasn’t something I doled out on a regular basis, especially with the men on a construction site.
Working with women, particularly this woman, was a whole new ball game for me.
Rather than accept the praise, like I expected her to, Kate crossed her arms and sat back in her chair.
“I know.” She smirked. “Glad you are able to admit it.” She waited, expecting me to continue.
I could admit when I was wrong, which was clearly what she expected me to do. I suppressed a smile. “Clearly, I underestimated just how helpful you could be.”
Her lips lifted in victory. “And,” she motioned for me to continue.
Confused, I quirked my head. “And?”
“And you are sorry for trying to reassign me.”
I closed my eyes for a long second. I forgot about that. When I opened them, she looked at me, as if scanning for sincerity. “I’m sorry for trying to get you reassigned,” I admitted. “In fact, I’d like to renegotiate our arrangement.”
Kate perked up. “Our arrangement?”
Just then our wine arrived. I poured us each a glass, then raised mine to meet hers.
Reluctantly, she mirrored my movements, muttering cheers as our glasses clinked.
I nearly downed the whole glass in one go, needing to fortify myself against the woman across from me.
Kate smacked her lips. “That’s delicious.”
I watched, entranced as her tongue darted out to her lip, catching a rogue drop of wine. Cautious, she set down her glass.
“So, what exactly do you mean by arrangement?”
I slowly set my glass down as well, taking my time as I mulled the words over in my head, trying to find the right ones. “I don’t want you to just give me the morning briefing,” I started. “I want you to be my right hand.”
Surprise lit her face. Then it turned self-satisfied. “You can’t do this without me,” she smiled.
I shook my head. “I could, but I think I’ll be much more effective at preserving my father’s company with you helping me.”
KATE
A light blush crept into my cheeks. I could feel the heat of it, my porcelain skin once again giving everything away.
Dante cocked his head, getting a better look at me.
I took another sip of the delicious wine. I’d have to write down the name of it so I could get it again in the future.
It made me ridiculously happy that Dante could see the value of my work. That’s all I ever wanted in my job. To do it well and have it be noticed by others.
To make myself indispensable.
I’d grown up in a household where neither of my parents could hold down a job. It only got worse when I lost my mom as a teenager. It devastated my dad, making it nearly impossible for him to stay in a job for longer than a couple of months.
I never wanted to feel that out of control with my life.
So, I worked hard, went to the local state school and did my damnedest to earn a living and build a safety net.
Sometimes I felt like a child seeking praise, but eventually I just accepted that it was part of what made me who I am.
But then I remembered why Dante took over for his father in the first place and an overwhelming sadness crept in. I knew what it was like to lose a parent and I didn’t wish it on anyone. I reached across the table, covering his hand with mine, or trying to at least.
Dante had big hands.
I held back a sigh, wondering what those hands could do.
“I’m sorry about your dad, he told me what’s going on.” I squeezed his hand before releasing it. I flexed my fingers in my lap, the touch like a flame dragged across my skin.
Dante just looked at me, a cold expression on his face before softening slightly. He ran his hand through his hair.
I tracked the motion.
“I forgot he told you,” he explained, his voice more distant than it had been.
I swallowed hard. “He did, but we don’t have to talk about it,” I promised the man sitting across from me. “But we can if you want to,” I amended.
Our food arrived at the perfect time, distracting us both. Just this morning I’d been avoiding the man. Now I found myself sitting across from him, offering him my sympathy.
What a weird day. I needed to text Quinn to tell her about it,
“The mall project.” Dante changed the subject before digging into a slice of his meat lover’s deep-dish pizza.
Slowly, I unfolded my napkin, trying to wrap my head around today and the change in subject.
“What do you want to know?” I bit into a piece of tortellini, groaning at the pesto as the basil and pine nutty goodness hit my taste buds.
Dante paused with his piece of pizza just an inch from his lips. He cleared his throat. “I thought you could start from the beginning. The proposal you worked on with my father, highlights from the client meetings and the office politics around the project.”
“Oh, just that?” I quipped. “No pressure.”
A semblance of a smile ghosted over his face. “If you think you can handle it.”
A laugh burst from my chest. “I can handle it.” It was a promise.
I can handle you, I wanted to say.
Luckily, I kept my lips sealed.
We sat there together for another hour or two, polishing off one bottle of wine and working on the second.
I shared all the information I had on the mall project while Dante listened intently, asking questions here and there. Jotting down notes on occasion.
By the time we finally asked for the check, the restaurant had cleared out.
Dante stood abruptly. “Looks like it’s time to go.”
Glancing at my watch, I learned we were circling in on midnight. I jumped up, pulling my purse strap over my shoulder, starting for the door.
Dante strode behind me, his arm jetting out to get the door for us. He held it for me, as I scurried past him. “Your leftovers,” he said, handing over the to-go box I forgot at the table.
I sucked in a breath, shocked I forgot something so important as leftovers.
Figuring Dante would pay, I opted for two entrées, knowing I could take one of them and save it for later.
I held it protectively against my body as we made our way back to our apartment building.
Now that our work-related talk had come to an end, I didn’t know what to say. So, I said nothing at all.
And neither did he.
We walked in shockingly companionable silence. A silence that was only broken once we arrived at our door steps.
Holding up my food, I thanked him for dinner.
A curt bob of his head. “You’re welcome.” We stood there, unsure quite how to end the evening.
This wasn’t a date, I reminded myself. And just because we can talk about work without him chopping off my head didn’t make him a nice guy.
Besides, he’s my boss. I shouldn’t be thinking about what it would be like to have him lower his full lips and kiss mine, pushing me back against the door and grinding into me with his hard length.
Wow, where did that come from?
Digging deep into the bowels of my purse, I searched for my keys, focusing intently on them in an effort to distract myself from the imposing man at my side.
When I unlocked my door, I looked back over my shoulder to find him standing there, staring at me with a look on his face I couldn’t decipher.
“Good night, Dante.”
“Good night, Kate.”
With that, I entered my apartment, a little dazed and confused.
Did I actually like Dante Inferno?
I tried pushing thoughts of him out of my head as I brushed my teeth, preparing for bed.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work.
Cocooned in my sheets, I laid there for hours before finally falling asleep.
***
“On a sca
le from one to ten, how hot is he?”
I sat across from my best friend Quinn at The Coffee Library, our go-to coffee shop for catch up sessions.
Okay, they were more like gossip sessions, but still.
The best and worst thing about Quinn? She had absolutely no filter.
And with her love life finally on track, our conversations recently focused a hell of a lot more on me and my lack of regular sexual intercourse.
Something Quinn was on a one-woman mission to rectify.
“He’s my boss,” I protested.
She shrugged. “Hasn’t stopped the millions of people before you who have slept with their superior.”
I choked on the bite of scone, hacking away as Quinn laughed at me.
“You’re a terrible friend, you know?”
She waved me away. “No, I’m not,” she laughed again. “You know you need to get some and trust me, the whole neighbor thing makes it VERY convenient to get some.”
I covered my ears. “Please don’t tell me again how big Ben’s dick is. It makes it hard for me to go to dinner with you guys. I just sit there thinking about the size of my friend’s boyfriend’s member. It’s not okay.”
Quinn cackled. “Why be embarrassed when I’m proud of him?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Which ‘him’ are you referring to?”
Mirth-filled eyes met mine. Just then Lacey, the owner of The Coffee Library stopped in to check on us, a massive smile on her face.
“Do I even want to know what you all were talking about?”
I tried to hide, covering my face with my hands. “This is so embarrassing. Quinn, you need to stop talking about sex in public.”
Fortunately, Lacey was cool. Her “no bullshit” vibe made her insanely likeable. She threw her head back and laughed. “I should have guessed. You ladies good?” she asked. When we both nodded, she knocked twice on the table in goodbye, a tiny smile still on her face.
“Moving on...” I changed the subject. “Are we still going to that book festival next weekend?”
Quinn nodded energetically. “Absolutely. Why don’t we pick you up? We can hit the book festival and then grab some food right afterwards. There’s a massive park right outside the venue and they plan to have food trucks lining the square.”
My stomach growled even though I was eating. “Sweet! I’ll bring a couple blankets for us to sit on.”
A mischievous look passed over Quinn’s face. “You know, I was just thinking that you should invite a certain someone to join us.” She absently stirred her latte.
“Quinn, give it a rest. He’s my boss, not my boyfriend. End of discussion.” My face felt heated, my pulse racing as I thought about what it would be like to attend the festival with Dante.
Would he casually place his hand on my lower back as we zig-zagged through the airplane hangar full of new and used books?
Would he stand in line with me as I waited to get a book signed by one of my favorite authors?
Would he converse with my friends and open up about his life?
Hardly.
The idea was laughable at best. Especially the part about him chatting it up with my friends. He clearly had a hard time conversing with me. In what world did I think he’d be comfortable opening up to my friends?
The answer? Not this one.
***
Caffeinated, I walked into work with a little extra pep in my step.
I peeked in to find Dante already behind his desk, rifling through the many documents that covered the space.
“Good morning,” I said, popping my head in the door.
He looked up, no sign of the somewhat friendly man I’d seen last night.
“Morning,” he said in a brusque manner before getting back to his pile of papers.
Okay... not how I thought that was going to go.
I turned away from him, heading towards my desk, taking a seat and checking my voicemails as the computer loaded my emails. A few meetings were moved around, so I made note of it for the morning briefing. Once I had everything in good shape, I printed two copies of Dante’s calendar, one for him and one for me, then marched into his office at 9 a.m. on the dot.
“You ready for me?” I knocked, as I walked into the room.
He motioned for me to come in. Assuming he was on speaker phone I kept quiet.
I settled into the chair across from him, reviewing the calendar until he finished up.
But the phone wasn’t lit up.
“You can start,” he told me, not bothering to give me his full attention.
I think I had whiplash with how quickly he’d turned from warm to cold.
Trying not to take it personally, I jumped right into the briefing.
Work, just focus on the work, Kate.
So that’s exactly what I did.
“You have a busy day ahead of you Mr. Inferno.” His last name felt like dust on my tongue.
That made him look up in confusion. “It’s Dante.”
I pursed my lips. “Anyways, as I was saying you have a busy day ahead of you. We have another meeting about the mall project, but this is internal. We are getting an update on the procurement of materials.”
I handed over the itinerary for the day. Dante set it down in front of him, crossed his arms and sat back.
Laser focused on the calendar in front of me, I continued. “Then you have lunch with Joel.” I looked up at him to explain. “Your father made me schedule it.”
“That’s fine, Kate.”
“Once you are back from lunch, you have back-to-back meetings. One about the Jefferson project. That’s the high-rise office building,” I explained. “Then a meeting about the quarterly reports with the CFO.”
“Darrell,” said Dante. “That’s good.”
I nodded in understanding. Darrell had worked for Inferno Construction for decades. A kind, generous man, Darrell was universally loved among the staff.
I rattled off his agenda for the rest of the day then aligned the papers in my hand. “That’s it. Any questions? Is there anything you’d like me to do to prep for your meetings?”
Bright green eyes bore into mine. “I think we are good.”
Taking my cue, I left the room, not bothering to look back.
I tried to shake off the interaction, my brain seeking to reconcile it with the man who took me to Leonardo's the night before.
I came up empty.
I continued to keep my head down and work until an alert popped up on my screen, letting me know of a meeting change.
“What is it now?” I muttered, clicking on the corresponding email indicating a change in start time for the mall project meeting. I grimaced. “Not again.”
Just like last time, the meeting moved from 11 a.m. to 10 a.m., giving me only a few minutes notice.
I ran to the bathroom, taking care of business before trying to track down Dante. He must have stepped out of his office for something.
“Shoot,” I cursed, gathering my notepad and my files, glad I already prepped for the meeting.
Without any other choice, I headed towards the conference room on my own, hoping Dante had already beat me to it.
No Dante. But Joel and Darrell were there, as were a few members of the project team.
After saying hello, I furtively pulled out my cell and texted Dante from under the table.
Kate: Where are you? Meeting moved to NOW. In conf room 4122.
My leg bounced, waiting for him to reply.
I stalled the meeting by a few minutes, as I made small talk with everyone. I just needed to get Darrell talking about his granddaughter, his favorite subject.
Eventually, when Darrell suggested we get started, I couldn’t argue against it. Instead I vowed to take copious notes and fill Dante in later.
It didn’t stop me from staring at the door, wishing Dante would come through it.
“Where are we with getting the materials we need for the mall site?” Joel kicked things off and the team went to wor
k, briefing Joel and Darrell about the costs and quantity needed for the project.
Darrell interjected with questions about costs, wanting to make sure we were getting good enough deals with the manufacturers given the size of our orders.
Joel chimed in wanting to make sure the team calculated exactly how much of each product was needed.
After much discussion, the meeting wound down.
Just then, the door opened. Dante stormed in. “I see you met without me,” he said, his voice laced with authority, making me sit a little further back in my chair.
Joel gestured to him. “Sorry you didn’t get the memo in time,” he said, insincerely.
“I wonder why that is,” Dante countered pointedly. “Luckily,” his attention diverted to me, “I’m sure Kate can fill me in.”
I gulped, then chimed in. “Of course, sir.”
His eyes narrowed ever so slightly at me calling him sir before his attention went back to Joel and the others.
Dante introduced himself to the procurement team as they ushered out of the room. I took my time collecting my things, chatting briefly with Darrell about his granddaughter’s upcoming birthday. Soon, only Dante and I were left in the room. Closest to the door, he closed it before stalking his way over to me.
“Sit,” he commanded.
My ass hit the chair almost immediately.
Tension thick, I kept quiet, waiting for him to say something. Anything.
Then he took the seat next to mine.
He placed an elbow on the conference table, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I got your message.”
I held my breath as he waved his phone with his other hand. Then he sat up, hands steepled under his chin, his chair, the one right next to mine, so close that our knees were touching.
I pretended not to be completely aware of every place our skin met. Tried to ignore the tingle.
“Kate?” Dante said, drawing me back to him.
With a half shake of my head, I said, “I searched for you.”
He sighed. “I wanted an update on the Jefferson project, so I went downstairs to meet with Jorge, assuming I had the time.” He shook his head. “What’s the likelihood of two meetings on the mall project being moved at the last minute like this?”