Easy Love

by Kristen Proby

“You own that one too?”

  “I do. That’s my house.”

  “You live there?”

  I nod and watch her carefully.

  “So, we’re neighbors.”

  “We are.”

  “Well, thanks for taking me,” she says, and doesn’t meet my eyes as she climbs the stairs. “You don’t have to walk me to the door.”

  “It’s not a problem,” I reply, but she stops me with a hand to my chest.

  “I don’t want you to walk me to the door, Eli. Have a good night.”

  And with that, she climbs the last of the stairs and lets herself inside without a backwards glance.

  I stand on the sidewalk and watch her turn the lights on in her loft, then walk to my place and pour myself another glass of wine before I change into basketball shorts. It’s hot enough outside to forgo a shirt. I sit on the balcony, listening to the music coming from Jackson Square, and settle in for a long sleepless night.

  An hour later, Kate’s lights go out, putting an end to a very long day. I picture her with her hair loose, climbing into bed, slipping between the sheets wearing nothing at all, and swear under my breath as I walk inside and close the doors.

  Tomorrow will be business as usual. Forget her. I have no room in my life for a woman, least of all a woman who has forever and white picket fences written all over her.

  I gave all of that up long ago.

  Chapter Four

  Kate

  “Good mornin’,” Savannah says with a smile and hugs me after leading me into her office. “Thanks for coming in so early.”

  “I figured we could go over the details before I head down to HR and meet my new boss.” I set my purse on the floor next to the chair and take in Van’s office. “Nice place you have here.”

  “Thanks.” Van grins. “Quite a step up from that apartment we all shared at college.”

  “It wasn’t so bad,” I reply. “But, yes, this is great. I’m proud of you.”

  “Okay, so tell me what happens now.”

  “Well, not much for the next few weeks. I need my coworkers to believe that I’m just another assistant. Then, as things settle and I’m not being watched as much, I’ll start investigating. You know I’m good with the computer, I can hack and sneak around and no one will ever know I’ve been there.”

  “Do we lie and say we don’t know each other?” Van asks with a frown.

  “No.” I shake my head and smile ruefully. “This is new for me, in that I’ve never worked in a place where I know the owners, but I think that if anyone asks, I’ll just say that I went to college with you. Leave it at that.”

  “Why do I think we won’t be having lunches together?”

  “Because we won’t. I need people to feel comfortable talking to me, and they won’t if they think that I’m best friends with the boss.”

  “You are best friends with the boss.”

  I shrug. “They don’t have to know that.”

  “This whole thing pisses me off,” Van says with a sigh. “I love having you here, but I hate that someone is stealing from us.”

  “We’ll find them. It’s just going to take a little time.” I reach across the desk and grip Van’s arm reassuringly. “I promise.”

  She nods and then frowns. “Okay, change of subject. I’m sorry I wasn’t available to meet you yesterday.”

  I sit back in my seat and school my features. “I told you, it was fine.”

  “Was Eli okay?”

  “What do you mean?” I ask with a raised brow.

  “I’m sure he was perfectly nice, but was he…too nice?”

  “What are you asking me, Van?”

  “Look, I told him to leave you alone, and then I practically dumped you at his feet yesterday.”

  “Wait.” I hold my hand up and glare at my friend. “You told him to leave me alone?”

  “Of course I did.”

  I blink at her and then stand and pace across the room. So, was he just hanging out with me, kissing me, yesterday as a rebellious act against his bossy sister?

  “Why?” I turn and face her, hands propped on my hips. She looks down at her desk, suddenly looking flummoxed.

  “Well, because, you know Eli—”

  “Actually, I don’t.” I cross my arms. “I’d never met him before yesterday. But I’ll tell you this,” I lean on her desk, towering over her, suddenly so angry on both my and Eli’s behalf that I’d be baffled if I stopped and gave it too much thought. “Eli was nothing but polite yesterday. He escorted me to my loft and to Declan’s show last night.”

  “Look, Kate, I didn’t mean—”

  “I don’t know why you think you had to warn your brother off me. I’m a grown woman, a professional woman, who certainly doesn’t flop down on her back for any man who smiles at her and crooks his finger, which your brother did not. So, I think you’ve misjudged both of us.”

  “Wow, you’re pissed.”

  “I am so bloody mad at you right now.”

  “When you get mad, your Irish shows through.” Her lips twitch, but I’m not done being mad at her yet.

  “I’m here to do a job, not start an affair. I won’t be here that long.”

  “You like him,” Van murmurs with narrowed eyes.

  “I don’t know him!” I repeat in exasperation. Yes, I like him! He kisses like a dream, and I want to climb his hot body and have my wicked way with him!

  Not that I’m going to tell her that.

  “I just didn’t want him to set his sights on you and have you eventually hurt. I know you’re still—”

  “I’m fine.” I shake my head, not wanting to go down this road with Van, not today. I have a long day ahead of a new job, and bringing my own baggage into it won’t be productive. “I promise, I’m fine. Now, I need to get down to HR. I don’t want to be late on my first day.”

  “I’ll walk you down.” She stands, but I shake my head.

  “No thanks. No favoritism, remember?” I shoot her a grin and walk toward her door.

  “Kate, if you want to talk about—”

  “Do you want to talk about Lance?” I ask without turning around, and the room is suddenly filled with a heavy silence as I shake my head and open her door. “I didn’t think so. Love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  ***

  “This is Hilary,” Linda Beals, the head of HR informs me as she leads me to my new office. “She’s been promoted to another position here in the company, but is going to stay with you today to show you the ropes.”

  Hilary, a woman who looks to be a few years older than me smiles and stands, offering her hand to shake. “Pleasure,” she says.

  “Hello,” I reply and smile at Linda, as she assures me that I’m in good hands, and leaves me with Hilary.

  “So, you’re taking over as Mr. Rudolph’s assistant,” Hilary says, stating the obvious.

  “It seems so,” I reply and sit in the desk chair next to hers behind my new desk. “How long have you been with him?”

  “Oh, gosh, about twelve years now, I guess.” Hilary leans in as if she’s about to tell me a big secret. “He’s really very easy to work with, as long as you make his coffee just so.”

  “You make his coffee?” I ask with a raised brow. “That’s a little old school.”

  She shrugs and starts pulling files out of her drawer. “I don’t mind. Now, let’s get started. You only have me for today, but I’ll just be one floor up, so if you ever have questions, don’t hesitate to call me.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Did Linda show you around?”

  “No, she just brought me down here after she went over my paperwork.” I glance around my small, simple office, and see exactly why Van put me here. It’s a corner space, and I’m able to see down two corridors of offices, and into the windows of said offices.

  “Sounds about right,” Hilary replies with a roll of the eyes. “After we go over these things, we’ll take a break, and I’ll give you a grand tour.”<
br />
  “Sounds good.”

  “Are you new to town?”

  “Yes, very new.”

  “Well, I think you and I will be good friends.” She smiles and then stands when a man walks in, looking harried and busy. “Mr. Rudolph, this is your new assistant, Kate.”

  “Hello,” he says with a distracted smile and shakes my hand, his grip firm. He’s probably in his early forties, with thinning hair over a handsome face, with a nose just a couple sizes too big, and he wears thick-rimmed glasses on his face. He’s not terribly tall, but he’s wiry thin. “Hilary will show you the ropes, but let me know if you have any questions.” And with that, he disappears into his office just off of mine and shuts the door firmly behind him.

  “He’s a man of few words,” I remark with a smile.

  “Yeah, he’s not terribly chatty,” Hilary confirms.

  “Miss O’Shaughnessy?” A man asks as he walks into my office, carrying a large bouquet of happy sunflowers.

  “Yes,” I reply with surprise.

  “These are for you.”

  I gape in surprise as he sets the flowers on my desk, waits for my signature, and then leaves.

  “Wow, sugar, those are impressive.”

  I nod and pull the small envelope out of the plastic holder in the center of the bouquet and open it, facing away from Hilary, so she can’t read over my shoulder.

  Kate-

  Welcome. Have a good first day.

  Best Wishes,

  Eli

  “Who are they from?” Hilary asks.

  The sexiest man I’ve ever seen in my life, but I have no idea why he sent them because nothing good can come of it.

  “My parents,” I lie easily, and shove the card in my pocket. Eli said he doesn’t play games, yet he kisses me like he’d like to devour me, says it’s a bad idea, and then sends me flowers?

  “Oh, how lovely.” Hilary begins to chat about her own family while she sets me up with new passwords on the several software programs we use and shows me her routine, and all the while my mind wanders exactly where it shouldn’t: to Eli.

  Does he think he can sweet talk me with a few pretty blooms?

  Okay, maybe the flowers are sweet, but I don’t get it. I was up long after I turned off the lights and climbed into bed last night. I could still feel him against me, hear his low, rumbly voice. My body was on fire, and the man had really barely touched me. Sure, that kiss was combustible, and just the casual way he laid his hand on my back, or linked our fingers, sent my body into a tailspin unlike any I’ve ever felt.

  Even with my ex-husband, and I don’t know for sure what that says about me.

  By lunch time, I’ve been shown Hilary’s complete routine from start to finish, I’ve been given a tour of the building and introduced to everyone in the department, and Hilary was kind enough to show me exactly how Mr. Rudolph likes to have his coffee made.

  Oh, and it must be on his desk by 8:05 every morning. Sharp.

  Because, apparently, this is 1956, and it’s important to bring the boss man his coffee.

  Hilary and two other assistants from our department, Suzanne and Taylor, invite me to join them for lunch, and I eagerly accept, hoping against hope that one of them lets something slip and I can wrap this case up early.

  Of course, I’m not that lucky.

  “So, where are you from, Kate?” Taylor asks, as she munches on her sandwich, careful not to get her perfectly manicured hands dirty. She’s short and lusciously curvy with dark hair that is styled in a short bob and has big brown eyes.

  “Yes, tell us about you,” Suzanne, Taylor’s exact opposite with blonde hair, tall, statuesque figure, and bright blue eyes agrees, while Hilary nods expectantly and pops a chip in her mouth.

  “Well, I grew up in the Denver area,” I reply, easily keeping the details vague. “Are you all from here?”

  “Hilary and I are,” Suzanne replies, “but Taylor just moved here from Florida last year.”

  “What part of Florida?” I ask.

  “Orlando,” she replies with a wrinkle of the nose. “I left one hot, humid city for another.”

  “What were you thinkin’?” Suzanne asks with a laugh. “I think we’re going to try to take the kids to Disney World next year.”

  And just like that, the subject is redirected from me, and I sit in silence and listen while I nibble my sandwich and chips and sip my diet soda.

  ***

  My phone is vibrating in my handbag as I push my way into my loft after a long day in the office. I drop my keys and briefcase on the kitchen table and dig out the phone, grinning when I see Van’s name on the caller ID.

  “Hey, boss lady.”

  “How was your first day, dear?” I can hear the smile in her voice.

  “Pretty much the usual. Choose forty-five different passwords, each with a different number, symbol, and the blood of a virgin, then gossip about the boss, not my boss, mind you, and the two assistants having an affair three offices over, learn how to make the boss his coffee, and walk home in the sweltering heat in a suit jacket.”

  “So, it wasn’t boring then,” she replies dryly, as I eye the boxes that were delivered this afternoon and are now stacked in my living room.

  “Nope, not boring.” Tedious, long, and I wanted to poke my own eye out with something hot and sharp, but not boring. “I just got home.”

  “Do you like the loft?” I can hear Lance’s voice in the background, asking Van something about where his golf glove is, to which she says no.

  “It’s really beautiful. I love the balcony off the bedroom. I think I’ll have some wine out there before bed tonight. My stuff arrived today.”

  “Good. Settle in and make yourself at home. Do you want to have breakfast in my office in the morning? You could come the same time as today and I’ll have everything ready.”

  “Sneaky breakfast, I like it.” I grin and sigh happily. I missed her. “You don’t mind going in that early?”

  “Pshaw, no. I usually show up that early every day. This will be a much better start to my day.”

  I bite my lip to keep from asking her why she shows up to work before seven in the morning every day, because I already know.

  Lance.

  I wish she’d talk about it, but I know she won’t. Maybe one night I’ll ply her with a bottle of wine and get her to unload on me.

  “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow morning then.”

  “It’s a date. ‘Night.”

  “’Night,” I reply and end the call, then order in pizza and put the bottle of wine I bought on my way home from work into the fridge on my way to the bathroom for a long, cool shower.

  It’s bloody hot outside.

  I need to start dressing in layers for work, with something light under my jackets, so I’m not so damn hot by the time I get home.

  The shower is cool and rejuvenates me. Just when I’m pulling on my shorts and a tank top, the doorbell rings.

  Thank God, I’m starving.

  I carry the pizza to the kitchen, grabbing my iPad on the way, pour myself a glass of wine, then decide screw it and tuck the whole bottle under my arm and walk through my bedroom to the balcony. There is a small wrought iron table with two comfortable, plush chairs out here, and I settle in to watch the sun set and the people wander through the Quarter on their way home from work or walking their dogs, tourists wandering.

  It’s like a moving painting, never the same, but familiar. The person who owns the herb shop below me must have got some fresh lavender in today, because the smell is brighter and lovelier than yesterday.

  I prop my feet up on the unused chair and nibble on a slice of pizza and sip my wine, perfectly content to stay right here until bedtime.

  “Did you get my flowers?”

  I turn my head to the left, and there is my neighbor, Eli, sitting in a similar chair, only about ten feet away. And, instantly, I’m pulled toward him in the most elemental way possible.

  Which is ridiculous. He’
s only a man.

  “I didn’t hear you come outside,” I reply.

  “You were too busy munching on that pizza and looked about a million miles away.” He props his feet up, laces his fingers behind his head, and flashes me a smile that I feel all the way to my core.

  Does he have to be this handsome? Seriously?

  I take a sip of my wine, finishing the glass, and refill it.

  “Have you had dinner?” I ask.

  “No, ma’am.”

  “Here.” I pass the pizza box over the ornate railing that separates our balconies. “I have lots of food.” Then I fill my glass and pass him the bottle of wine as well. “But only one glass.”

  He stands and disappears into his house, then quickly returns with his own glass and flashes me that heart-stopping smile as he reclaims his seat and takes a big bite of pizza.

  “This is good.”

  “Hilary said they were the best in the neighborhood,” I inform him.

  “Who’s Hilary?” He frowns in confusion, making me grin.

  “The woman whose position I took. She trained me today.”

  “So, it went well then?” His gaze is sober, and if I’m not mistaken, concerned, making me soften toward him even more.

  “It did. No problems.”

  “Good.” He chews on his crust and tilts his head at me. “Did you get my flowers?”

  I nod slowly. “Why did you send them?”

  He opens his mouth to answer, and then chuckles and shakes his head. “I’m not sure. It just felt like the right thing to do.”

  “Because you kissed me?”

  His smile fades as he watches me over the railing, and I know that the replay of yesterday is running through his head just like it is mine. “No.”

  “Did you kiss me because Van told you not to?”

  He narrows his eyes in temper, his jaw ticking, and then simply says, “No.”

  “Why?”

  “The kiss or the flowers?”

  “The flowers.” I can figure out the kiss on my own. It’s called chemistry, and we’ve got it in spades.

  He frowns and looks into his wine glass. “I don’t know.”

  “That’s…not helpful.” I chuckle and offer him another slice of pizza, which he declines with a shake of the head.