by Tamie Dearen
Anne had invited Tanner to join her and Sam at Papa’s Place after she was forced to admit Mr. Gherring was not going to be Sam’s match-made-in-heaven. Tanner was definitely a treasure, with his quick smile, beautiful eyes, and respectful disposition. Extremely shy, he hadn’t agreed to join the lunch pair immediately. Obviously, he’d gained courage over the weekend.
“Actually, Tanner, I’m going to be working through lunch every day this week.”
Tanner looked disappointed, but nodded and turned to go. Anne stopped him.
“Wait. I was going to ask if you could go with Sam and bring something for me when you come back?”
“Um, sure… if you think she would want to go with me… without you… I mean, I don’t know if she’ll want to go.”
“I’ll ask her and let you know. I really appreciate it. You’ll be doing me a great favor.”
“I’ll bring you lunch even if she doesn’t want to go with me.”
“You’re so sweet, Tanner! I’ll call you later in the morning.” She hoped Sam would agree to go to lunch with him. She’d hate to dash his ego now he’d gotten the courage to meet Sam.
Anne returned to her work, so absorbed she didn’t notice anyone approaching her desk.
“Bon jour, Mademoiselle. Vous êtes très jolie!”
She looked up in surprise at the tall man in the well-tailored suit that emphasized his broad shoulders. Handsome was not an adequate word. He was mouth-watering, smokin’-hot! And he was French. How exotic was that?
“Merci beaucoup!” She couldn’t help being flattered by the attention.
He flashed a warm smile with even white teeth. “Parlez-vous francais?”
“Non! No! I’ve just exhausted my memory of college French. Please don’t test me anymore.”
He leaned closer and declared, “Charmante!” He continued in slightly accented English. “Yes, you are charming. I love your accent.”
“Wait.” Anne laughed. “Isn’t that my line?”
“I am Henri,” he said, pronouncing it ahn-ree, and reaching out to catch her hand. He pressed his lips lightly on her fingers. “You are new, oui? Katie is not here?”
“Katie’s out for three days doing wedding planning, but she’ll be back on Thursday.”
“Wedding! My Katie is with another man?” At Anne’s shocked look, Henri laughed aloud, his green eyes sparkling. “No, I am teasing you. She was never mine. But you… maybe you could be mine. Oui?”
“Monsieur, I have a feeling I’d just be one of many. I bet you have plenty of women to keep you company.”
“Non! No! There have been others before, but they are all gone.” His mouth turned down, but there was a twinkle in his eyes. “I am all alone.”
“I doubt that, seriously. No woman could resist that face, I think.”
“And you? Can you resist me?” He lifted her hand again and turned it over to kiss her wrist gently.
Anne pulled her hand away slowly.
“Yes, I can resist you. At least I hope I can. You seem pretty dangerous to me.”
“I am not dangerous. I am a pussy cat.”
“I’ve always been a dog-person,” Anne replied. “You can trust your dog. But a cat can be purring in your lap one minute and digging his claws into your leg the next.”
“Do not worry,” he countered. “This cat has no claws. Very safe.”
Anne laughed. “I don’t think I believe you!”
“I can show you how safe I am. You will like this cat. Will you give me a chance?”
“I don’t know.”
“Earlier I was thinking that this week would be boring. A boring week of business, a long boring time. But now I am thinking that a week is too short. I am thinking a week is not enough time to spend with such a beautiful woman.”
“Beautiful woman… Now I know I’m getting a line.”
Henri’s eyes widened. “You do not know? You do not know you are beautiful? Your eyes are so dark that I could get lost in them. I’ve never seen such eyes.”
“Henri, you’re a smooth-talker. But I’ve been warned about French men. You’ll lead me on and break my heart.”
Henri put his hand over his heart. “Never! For you I would give up my wandering ways. For you—”
“Henri!” a stern voice spoke from across the room. Steven Gherring was glaring from his office doorway. “I see you’ve met my PA. Now if you’re ready to get to work…”
Henri turned toward Gherring’s office, then leaned back and whispered urgently. “I do not know your name.”
“It’s Anne,” she whispered back, despite her boss’ glower.
“Perhaps we could have lunch together,” Henri said over his shoulder as he walked away.
Gherring’s voice was scolding. “We’ll be meeting through lunch today, Henri. If you worked as hard on your business negotiations as you do on your flirtations, you’d probably have a much better report for me.” They disappeared behind the heavy wooden doors.
Anne realized her face was warm. She’d enjoyed the playful exchange with the handsome French stranger. He wasn’t really her type. Did she even have a type anymore? Anyway, it was a harmless exchange. Like he’d said, he was only in the country for a week. Nothing serious would ever come of it. But hadn’t she come to New York for a bit of adventure?
The morning flew by as Anne wrestled with all the travel plans. Three more men and two women had arrived to join with Gherring in the conference room adjacent to his office. When Anne entered the conference room to set up the PowerPoint, she noticed Henri trying to catch her eye. But Gherring blocked her view as he asked her to review the location of various presentations on the laptop. She repeated the instructions, thinking they’d just discussed those details on Friday.
“And can I get anything else for you? Would you like for me to bring everyone a bottle of water?” she asked Gherring.
“No, they can get their own waters.”
“What about lunch? Do you want me to order in for the entire group?”
“Yes, yes… That’ll be fine.” He attempted to shoo her from the room.
“I’ll just ask everyone what they want to order,” she started to skirt around Gherring, heading toward the smiling Henri.
Gherring stepped in front of her, effectively blocking her way. “That won’t be necessary, Ms. Best. Just order some of the specials from Papa’s.”
Anne returned to her desk to order lunch from Papa’s. May answered the phone and took the lunch orders, arranging delivery at twelve thirty. “So you aren’t coming down for lunch today?” May asked with a bit of a pout in her voice.
“No, I’ll be working through lunch every day this week, May. Tell Papa I’ll stop by on my way home, if the door’s open.” she knew Papa’s was only open for breakfast and lunch, except on Fridays and Saturdays.
“But you need to eat,” May protested with motherly concern.
“Don’t worry. I won’t miss my daily Papa’s special lunch. My friends are bringing lunch up to me after they eat. You remember my friend, Sam?” She lowered her voice. “Today, she’s eating lunch with a sweet young man from the office, named Tanner. Be sure you seat them at a romantic table.”
“But I thought you told me you were trying to set Sam up with your boss?”
“I don’t think that’s going to work out. I have high hopes for this new match, but I need to keep working on my boss.” Anne stopped, remembering what Katie had said about gossiping. “Listen, that has to be our secret. You can’t tell anyone I’m trying to find a match for Mr. Gherring.”
“No worries, honey. My lips are sealed. They couldn’t drag that information outta me even if they tortured me. I won’t tell a soul… unless someone offers to give me a good neck massage. Then my lips will go all loosey-goosey.” May started laughing.
“I’m serious. Katie says I’m never supposed to get involved in Mr. Gherring’s private life. I could lose my job.”
“Really dear, I won’t tell anybody.”
Lunch arrived at precisely twelve thirty. Anne attempted to help serve the food in the conference room to speed things up, but Gherring took the food bags from the delivery boy and shut the door before she could even peek inside. The smell of the food was mouth-watering, and Anne waited impatiently for her lunch to arrive, drinking water to quiet her growling stomach. Sam appeared at one fifteen with her lunch—chicken smothered in some kind of wonderful mushroom cream sauce.
Anne attacked her food with a vengeance while interrogating Sam about her lunch date. “Did you like him? Did y’all have anything to talk about? He’s so shy, but you’ve got to admit he’s really cute.”
Sam chuckled. “Yes, yes and yes. He is so shy I thought we weren’t going to be able to carry on a conversation. That is, he was so shy, until he found out I like the Beatles. Turns out he’s a nut for the Beatles just like me, and he has a great collection of vinyls. He pulled out my chair for me, waited for me to go through every door first, and insisted on buying lunch. So, yes, he’s really sweet and we’re going Wednesday night to hear a Beatles cover band.”
“I knew it!”
“Don’t look so smug. We’re not engaged. We’re just listening to music together. And anyway, last week you were trying to set me up with—”
“Shhhh!” warned Anne, glancing toward the conference room. “I admit I messed up on that one, but don’t tell anyone. I don’t want to get in trouble.”
“Okay, I won’t tell anyone.” Sam rolled her eyes. “They wouldn’t believe it anyway.”
“But if things work out with Tanner, I want full credit.”
Anne waited until five forty-five for the meeting to end, hoping to have a chance to see Henri. The door opened and Gherring peered out. When he spotted Anne at her desk, he looked decidedly irritated. “You’re still here?”
“I thought you might need me for something before you go home.”
“No, I don’t. Wait, I do need something.” He closed the conference room door and stepped toward his office. “I need for you to check something on my calendar.” She followed him into his office, and he motioned for her to sit behind his desk. “Would you mind pulling up my calendar for the week? I’ll be right back.”
He stepped out, shutting the door behind him. Anne pulled up his calendar, puzzling over what his problem might be. They’d been working on the week’s schedule, squeezing in meetings at every possible moment with little wasted time. Gherring didn’t believe in frivolity and only engaged in social functions when absolutely necessary. Hence, the single formal gala at the end of an exhausting week of meeting, planning, and negotiating. Gherring returned, looking happier and relaxed.
“What did you want me to check on your calendar? Do you need to change something? I hope you don’t need to add another appointment. I’ll have to schedule it at midnight.”
“No, I just want to make sure our calendars match.”
Anne stared at him in confusion. “Of course they match—they’re synced automatically.”
“Oh yes, that’s right.” Gherring straightened a few items on his desk, not even looking at his computer. “That’s great, Ms. Best. You can go now.”
Anne walked out of Gherring’s office, giving him a wide berth. She noticed the conference room door was open, but as she approached she saw the room was dark and empty. Realizing he’d purposely hidden her until Henri was gone, she fumed inwardly.
She turned to find Gherring smiling from his office door. “Goodnight, Ms. Best. I’ll see you in the morning. It’s getting rather late. Would you like a lift home?”
“No, but thank you. Sir.” She retrieved her comfy shoes from under her desk and changed into them.
“I think sir is a bit much.” Tall and imposing, Gherring stood in front of her desk. But Anne refused to be intimidated. “I’m not that much older than you.”
“Yet you’re treating me like a child. I know you hid me in here to keep Henri away from me.”
“That man’s not safe. You can’t trust him.”
“You think he would hurt me?”
“Physically, no. Emotionally, yes. He flits from one woman to another. He’s a… he’s a…”
“Player?” Anne offered the term the media often used to describe Gherring. Did he not see the irony?
“Yes, he’s a player.” Gherring followed her to the elevator.
“I think that a player is simply a man who hasn’t found the right woman.” She turned and stepped into the elevator without looking back.
Tuesday morning found Anne at her desk by seven fifteen. Gherring arrived at nine thirty with fifteen international account executives, fresh from a breakfast meeting. Anne scanned the crew as they filed into the conference room, but Henri wasn’t among the crowd. Gherring stopped by Anne’s desk
“How was your evening, Ms. Best?”
“It was fine, sir. And yours?”
Though she kept her tone even, Gherring winced. “You’re still angry with me?”
“Did you do something I should be angry about?” She blinked her eyes in innocence.
“No, I didn’t do anything you should be angry about. All I did was prevent Henri from hurting you. You’re too naïve to realize, but I did the right thing.”
“I’ll admit I’m naive. I haven’t been on a date since… I don’t know… prehistoric times, probably. But how can you ask me to stay out of your personal life if you’re going to meddle in mine?”
Not that she was actually planning to stay out of his personal life. She had every intention of finding a mate for him. But he didn’t know that.
“Henri would only use you. Like he’s done before.”
“I’m sure you’re right—he probably just wanted to use me. Why else would he talk to someone like me?” Her throat got a huge lump that made it hard to swallow.
“For what it’s worth,” Gherring said quietly, “I’m sorry I hurt your feelings. But, I did the right thing.”
Anne still refused to make eye contact. “Did you need help with anything else? Perhaps you’ve forgotten how to log in to your computer or make a phone call,” she suggested with a hint of sarcasm.
“Actually, I do need your help today.” He hesitated. “We have an important client from Germany, and he brought his wife on the trip. We have a lunch meeting planned, and I thought you might come along so his wife would feel more comfortable. It would really be a great help, and it might help us land a big account.”
Anne didn’t look up from her computer. “Of course, Mr. Gherring. I’ll be glad to help in any way.” Gherring was still standing at her desk. “Is there anything else, sir?”
From the corner of her eye she saw his hand come up and push through his hair. “No, Ms. Best. That’s all for now. Thank you.” He disappeared into the conference room.
All night, she’d nursed her fury at his interference, but already her anger was slipping away. And a tiny voice in the back of her head whispered it was kind of sweet that he wanted to protect her.
Don’t be stupid, Anne. You don’t want protection from a caveman.
Anne had never been in a limousine before. She tried to act nonchalant, but she couldn’t hide her excitement and curiosity. There was even a bar inside. The others were obviously accustomed to the fancy ride. The four men, including the client, Alexander Klein, were already intently discussing business. Johanna Klein was an attractive blonde in her fifties with an engaging smile. She chatted comfortably with Anne, apparently fascinated by her life in Texas.
“I can’t believe how well you both speak English. I’ve always wished I was fluent in another language,” Anne confessed to Johanna. “How many languages can you speak?”
“I can speak German, English and French fluently. I can speak enough Italian and Spanish to communicate. We start language training at an early age in Germany, and I have traveled extensively.” Johanna glanced at her husband. “Alexander is a wonderful and unusual man—he has always invited me on all his travels. Most businessmen would think having
their wives along was a bother.”
“I’m so jealous. I haven’t really been anywhere. I’ve never even been out of the country, except one time across the border to Mexico for an hour. Even New York City is a big adventure for me, although I haven’t really done anything but work since I’ve been here. But I’ve got my passport. I got one fifteen years ago, just in case I ever got a chance to go somewhere. I even had it renewed.” She peered wistfully out the window. “You never know. Maybe someday…”
Johanna glanced at Gherring who was casually eavesdropping. “So Mr. Gherring, however did you find your assistant? She is delightful!” She turned to her husband. “Alexander, can’t you get an extra ticket to the musical tonight? Anne needs to experience New York.”
“Yes, of course you can bring her along. I acquired two extra tickets in case we needed them. And Mr. Gherring could come also. I’m sure we will still have business to discuss.”
“Oh no—I couldn’t impose.” Anne stole a terrified look at Gherring. She knew he wouldn’t want to be seen in public with her. He was only seen in the company of beautiful young women. He’d be mortified to be seen with his PA, especially an unsophisticated forty-five-year-old woman from Texas.
“I’m sure Mr. Gherring and Mr. Alexander know an account executive who’d be much more helpful.” She glanced at Gherring again, but his expression gave nothing away.
“Nonsense,” Johanna smiled. “I would love to have some female company. It’s settled.”
“Gherring, will you be joining us?” asked Alexander.
Anne jumped in to help him save face. “Actually, Mr. Gherring, don’t you have an engagement tonight? I can check the calendar when we get back to the office.”
He seemed to look relieved. “Yes, I think you’re right, Ms. Best. I may have a prior commitment.”
Alexander seemed disappointed, but Johanna said, “That’s fine, Anne. If Mr. Gherring can’t use the ticket, you can bring a date along.”