“Thanks.”
“This girl is going to change your life if you let her. She has a lot of great ideas. I know you’re not one for change, but you need to embrace it. Don’t be a dick.”
“Don’t be a dick. Got it.” He wasn’t the only person in the world who didn’t embrace change. Not many people actually liked change. Only the freaks.
“I love you, and I’m going to miss talking to you every day.”
“I’m going to miss you too. I’ll stop by to check in next week when I’m in town.”
“I’m eating your piece of cake.”
“Enjoy.”
When he got off the phone he sent a text to Kenley at the number she had used to call him.
“Great job,” he wrote, adding a smiley emoji. Her response was a winky face, which made him twitch again. Surely it wasn’t a good sign to be turned on by a winky face.
* * *
Kenley had plenty to do. It was Wednesday, her third day on her own, and Zane would be coming into the office the next day. She wanted to make a good impression so he wouldn’t regret hiring her.
She stayed a little later than necessary, not looking forward to going home to unpack. Her new apartment was bigger than her old apartment, which meant there were huge voids of space her wallet was yet unable to fill.
Being only twenty-three minutes from her friends and family was nice, except it made her very aware that they all had lives. Even her newly retired parents had classes and trips scheduled. Vanessa was always on her way to ballet for Hannah or helping with some fund-raising event.
Despite the physical closeness, she found herself just as alone as she had been when she lived in the city.
She planned to go out and meet new people. Maybe even find that special guy, but so far she hadn’t explored any farther than the restaurant across the street.
She wanted to blame her lack of social interaction on the weather. But with April just around the corner, she would be out of excuses.
Despite having set her alarm clock early and picking out her outfit the night before, Kenley was running late the next morning. The morning Zane—her sexy boss—would be coming into the office. March had decided to go out like a lion. A rabid, angry lion.
Not wanting to go to work with pink, wind-chilled cheeks, she drove. The sleet covering the roads made the short trip difficult and she stopped mere inches from the building as she slid into the parking lot.
She arrived only six minutes before she heard Zane coming in the back door. The coffeepot was filling as Kenley cheered it on, wishing it to brew faster.
He paused as he passed the door to the lunchroom.
“Good morning,” she called. “Coffee will be ready in a minute.”
“Thanks.”
When the uncooperative appliance finally burbled out its last drop she filled the cup that said World’s Greatest Uncle—a gift from Sidney in anticipation of his new role—and then froze.
She didn’t know how he took his coffee. She should have asked Sidney. Now she was going to need to ask him, and she would seem incompetent.
Zane walked in and looked surprised to see her holding his mug.
“Sorry. I don’t know how you take it.”
“I take it myself, thanks. It’s not nineteen seventy, where I expect you to bring me coffee.” He smiled.
“Fair enough.” She smiled back. Her stomach fluttered with nervous energy. “So what do you want to do first?” she asked.
“I’m guessing we have quite a list.”
“A bit.”
“Sidney always just told me what I was doing.”
“Do you want me to do that? Maybe we could have multiple choice?” she suggested. “Would you like to start with incoming bids, payables, or marketing?”
“I would like to do payables first, because I hate them. Then incoming bids. I’ll let you deal with the marketing because I hate that even more than payables.”
“Good call. I actually like the marketing. I’ll need a budget.”
“I can do that. After I see how much money I have left when we’re done paying everyone.”
She smiled and gestured toward his office.
He picked up the pile and flipped through it. Then he pulled a file folder from his drawer to double check the copy was where it should be.
It was time for her to shine.
“What is this number?” He held up the bill for lumber and pointed to the number on the corner.
“Yes. I wanted to go over that with you. I made a change I think might streamline customer billing.”
“I handle customer billing,” he said immediately.
“I know. But this is a step that can make it easier for you. May I?” She pointed to his laptop.
He moved away so she could sit at his desk.
“So let’s say you were ready to bill out the Murray job. You would pull it up in the system, and enter the line items manually. But your software already has the ability to integrate the two. When I enter the invoice to be paid, I simply code it to the corresponding job and it enters the line for you there.” She pointed, feeling a little like Vanna.
“It enters the actual cost on the line. Then when you adjust it, it calculates the markup directly to the side. So you can easily see your profit on the job.” She tapped the keys, showing him what happened if he made it lower or higher. “Also, once you’ve finished, all you need to do is click this button that says post, and it will be sent to my computer where I can print it out and mail it. This means you would be able to do it from another location, not to mention the time you’ll save not having to keep track of copies in a folder.” If she had a tail it would have been wagging.
“Don’t you think you should be here a little longer before you start changing everything?”
The harsh tone in his voice caught her off guard. She expected him to be excited, maybe even pick her up and carry her around the room, cheering her name. But he was clearly not happy about the new efficiencies.
“I’m sorry. I was trying to make things easier.”
“Meaning my sister was too stupid to find ways to make things easier?”
“God no. Of course not.” How had he come up with that?
“But yet, here you are only a couple of weeks in, and you’re already improving on everything.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t intend—forget it.” She was flustered and upset, almost to the point of tears. She’d wanted to impress him, instead she’d offended him.
Rather than break down in front of him, she squared her shoulders and pointed to the stack of invoices. “If you just want to okay those and give them back to me, I’ll enter them for payment using the old method.”
When he didn’t say anything she turned to escape.
“What is this?” he asked, stopping her in her tracks. She turned to see the invoice for the new freight company she’d hired. She thought going with a less expensive company was a no-brainer, and had made the change on her own. No doubt he wouldn’t be happy about this either.
“Um. I found a smaller independent freight company that specializes in boats. They’re actually cheaper, and don’t need as much lead time.”
“Don’t you think you should have discussed this with me?”
“I should have. I’m sorry.” Her cellphone rang from her pocket. She tried to ignore it, but he narrowed his eyes on her. So much for her thinking he was sweet under the tough exterior.
“If you could keep personal calls to a minimum while you’re at work that would be great.”
“Yes. Sorry.” She fled to the front office and answered the call.
“How’s it going with the big guy there?” Sidney asked.
“Um. Well. I think I messed up.” Her voice cracked, and she bit her lip to keep from crying.
“That son of a bitch,” Sidney said. “I knew he wasn’t going to be able to handle this. What did he do?”
“Nothing. I made some changes without discussing them with him, and he was perf
ectly within his right to call me out on it.”
“It is your job to make decisions that make the company more efficient, Kenley. If it were up to Zane, he’d still have a pager instead of a tablet and a smartphone.”
“Still, it’s his company.”
“What changes did you make?” she asked. For the next few minutes she briefly explained. Sidney seemed impressed, not that it helped her situation at all.
“Chin up. He’s not great with change or admitting when he’s wrong.”
“Who is?” Kenley joked.
“He’ll come around. I’m sure of it.” Something in Sidney’s voice sounded a bit ominous.
She hoped Sidney was right though. Having just spent the last six years dealing with a horrible boss, she hated to think of how awful this job would be if she couldn’t get along with Zane even for the first day he was in the office.
She’d have to find a way to win him over. It was the only option.
Chapter 5
Putting Kenley in her place wasn’t nearly as much fun as he thought it would be. She didn’t understand the hostility he had bottled up for the last ten plus years. The resentment. How could she understand? She hadn’t been the one who’d broken his heart.
As much as he tried to remember that, seeing her made him bitter.
He’d hurt her feelings, and for what reason? Because she was attempting to make his business more profitable? Christ. That was her job.
“Damn it,” he muttered as his cell phone rang. Sidney. Just great.
“What the hell is your problem?” she yelled as soon as he said hello.
“So she goes crying to you because I didn’t like her idea?” It was a weak defense at best.
“I called her to check in, and I could tell she was upset. She didn’t cry, but it sounded like she was probably pretty close to it.”
The personal call he’d scolded her about would have been Sidney. Shit. He’d really made a mess.
“I didn’t mean to upset her.” He tried to defuse the situation.
“The hell you didn’t. You didn’t want to hire her, even though she was the best candidate. She’s obviously proving that to be true, and you don’t want to hear it.”
He deserved this and more. He had acted like a child. A bratty, selfish child.
“I’ll apologize,” he offered. He’d pretty much come to this conclusion before his sister had yelled at him.
“Why didn’t you like her idea? She told me about it and I thought it sounded great. You could work on things on the road so you wouldn’t be bogged down with paperwork when you came to the office. Who likes to have a mound of paperwork waiting for them?”
“I just—”
“You just didn’t want to like her idea so you came up with a lame reason to reject it. Simple-minded idiots do that, Zane. Are you a simple-minded idiot?”
“Not normally. I think I’m more a run-of-the-mill asshole right now.”
“You know what I think?”
“I can’t wait to find out,” he muttered, away from the phone so she couldn’t hear.
“I think you are being mean to this girl on purpose to make yourself feel big and bad because she intimidates you. That’s not fair. You were a shy kid in high school. I remember how much you struggled to fit in. But go look the hell in the mirror. You’re an adult now. A successful one. Your lack of confidence is not Kenley’s fault. Don’t punish her for something she didn’t do. Besides, it was a long-ass time ago, so get over it already. I don’t think your new niece would be very proud of you right now, Uncle Zane.”
“Ah, hell.” He hung his head. His sister knew just where to hit him. The kid wasn’t even born yet, and she was already being used as leverage against him. “Fine, I said I would apologize.”
“You should take her out for lunch.”
“I—okay. I will.”
“The next time I call this girl to check in she’d better tell me it’s the greatest damn place to work or I’m coming in there.”
“Yes. Got it. Bye.” He hung up and looked over the changes Kenley had made to their system with an open mind. It was pretty nice. With a big sigh, he went out to Kenley’s desk.
She glanced up, but didn’t make eye contact.
“Why don’t we go get some lunch?” he suggested, hoping it sounded casual.
“Should I take my things?” God, she was killing him.
“No. You’ll be coming back. Or at least I hope you will.”
She looked a little more relieved as she got in her drawer to retrieve her purse. She still wouldn’t look at him, but that was fine. He needed a few moments to prepare himself for the big serving of crow he was going to have to choke down.
He held the door to Porter’s Wharf and could have sworn he saw her cringe as she passed him to go into the restaurant. He’d done that. He’d yelled at her and made her skittish. He hated himself even more and he hadn’t thought that possible.
She didn’t know him at all, and so far her impression was that he was a nasty ogre.
It was still early for lunch as they were seated at an empty booth.
“Their burgers are the best. I swear my niece is going to come out a giant burger after all the ones Sidney has eaten since she’s been pregnant.” He tried to make a joke, but Kenley didn’t laugh.
“I’m not very hungry.” And he’d ruined her appetite too. Could he possibly feel any worse?
He set the menu aside and leaned down, trying to catch her gaze.
“I’m sorry about this morning. I’m not much of a morning person, and I was a jerk.”
She glanced up and shook her head quickly.
“You weren’t. I shouldn’t have tried to change things—”
“Kenley, I was a jerk. There’s no way around that. Let me apologize and take responsibility, okay?”
She nodded. “At least you didn’t fire me for sleeping with someone,” she said with a hint of a smile.
He jumped on the opportunity to continue the feeble connection.
“I’d have to be pretty stupid to fire you after seeing all the work you put into saving my company money. Fortunately, I’m only mildly stupid.”
The waitress came and took their drink orders and left.
“So did Sidney call and yell at you?” She tilted her head to the side as she watched him.
“She did, but I had already decided I was going to apologize before she called.”
“I’m sorry she yelled at you.” He looked at her and saw how much she meant it. His gut twisted yet again with guilt.
“You don’t have anything to be sorry about. I’m the one who messed up. I’m going to give your new system a try. After I got my head out of my ass, it seems like it might be a good move.”
Kenley was trying to keep from smiling. Her warm brown eyes sparkled as she pressed her lips together. Full kissable lips. He was staring at them. He could feel himself staring and couldn’t look away.
“What can I get you?” the waitress saved him as she put their drinks on the table and pulled out her green pad.
“Oh…uh. Did you decide what you’d like?” he asked, waiting for Kenley to go first. He was raised with some manners after all.
“I’ll have the chef salad without onions, please.” No onions? Was she going to be kissing someone later? He knew she wasn’t married. He assumed she wasn’t engaged because her left ring finger was bare. Surely she had a boyfriend. Maybe she lived with someone. Someone who didn’t want to commit to her. What kind of rat bastard wouldn’t commit to—
“For you sir?” The waitress was waiting.
“Oh. Cheeseburger and French fries.” He needed to hold it together.
The waitress nodded and walked away, leaving them to their awkward silence.
“So are we good?” He went ahead and asked.
“Of course. No problem.”
“If you have any other ideas, please don’t be afraid to share them. I promise I’ll react better the next time.”
“I
was thinking a parrot might liven up the place,” she said.
He swallowed while he tried to come up with a diplomatic way to say, “Hell no.” A parrot?
Just then she burst out laughing.
“You should see your face right now,” she said, still laughing.
She was joking. With him. Like they were friends.
He laughed along, but inside his chest, his heart was waking up from a decade of slumber. Her laughter amazed him, her dimpled smile called him home. He was suddenly that stupid teenage boy wishing he had enough courage to ask out the pretty girl.
He was helpless all over again.
Exactly what he had been trying to avoid. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t lose himself in this woman.
“Aw, shit. I just remembered, I have a conference call,” he said as an excuse as he stood to escape. He was a coward, but he already knew that about himself. Now he also knew he was a liar.
“Oh. I didn’t know.”
“No, it’s not your fault. It’s something I set up myself. I should go.” He tossed money on the table to cover their bill. “Finish your lunch and come back whenever. No rush.”
“Okay. I’ll have her pack up your food so I can bring it back with me.”
“That would be great. Thanks,” he called over his shoulder, already halfway to the door.
He couldn’t do this. He needed to find a way to keep their relationship professional, but every time he saw her or spoke to her he was both turned on and flustered.
She had to be his employee. Nothing more.
* * *
Kenley watched Zane walk across the street. With his shoulders hunched over from the chill, he looked smaller.
His rejection still stung a little, but he’d apologized. He’d even called himself a jerk. She would let it go and start over. She needed to find a way to win him over.
It would have been nice to finish their lunch together. Not that it would have qualified as a date, but sitting across from a big, sexy guy in flannel was as close to a date as she’d been in a very long time.
Instead he’d run out of there like he was going to get caught by his wife. She knew there was no wife or girlfriend. Sidney had graciously supplied that information during her first day of training.
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