“Doubtful.” I watch as the cursor blinks, letting me know Tasha is typing more. “Going to text you. Don’t want my dad to see this…”
My phone pings quietly from the top drawer of my desk, and I grab it to read Tasha’s message. A picture of Tasha with Chris fills the screen. Like I had told Tasha in the garage, he is cute, and the way he is looking at her gives me hope for them. She is the light of his world; it shows in his eyes and the easy way he grins at her.
With Beck leaving for a work trip, Tasha is having Chris over for the weekend and wants my help in setting up the house for a romantic rendezvous. She is so excited about their time together that it is hard to feel jealous over their relationship, and I’m genuinely happy for her. I text back that I would love to help, but only if I get to meet him before they lock the door and forget about the world.
The hot tub under the gazebo would be beautiful with lights strung for a bit of ambiance, and I know I can figure out something to decorate the path from the patio to there as well. “Budget and colors?” I type before tossing my phone back into the drawer. I don’t want to chance Beck coming out and seeing the plans. Even though Tasha is an adult, she is still his daughter. I know my dad would not want to hear about me planning to spend a weekend in bed with a guy.
Of course, the only guy I’m interested in is Beck. A weekend away with him, or even a weekend in but offline and completely unplugged from everything except each other, would be heavenly. Waking up in his arms, making love in the afternoon, and spending early dawn hours swimming laps together in his heated pool… I know he is a morning person, or at least he always was. I’ve had boyfriends—lovers—but none have affected me like this. Working for Beck has the benefit of forcing me to focus on my job so that I can impress him. I can’t imagine what I could accomplish at home today or even in his garage.
The phone in his office rings, and I jump from how loud it is. Tomorrow, when I start taking most of his calls and forwarding messages as needed, I will have a new concept of cacophony. Without Beck here, though, I think the call volume should be manageable. Mostly, I’ll be redirecting calls where they need to go or typing up messages that Beck will grab online when he can deal with them. The most urgent ones will be forwarded to his cell.
I jot down a note to make sure I get his personal number just in case. I pull off the sticky note from its pad and affix it to my monitor. “Ask Beck for his number” sounds much more personal than I mean it to. Thoughts of calling him, maybe even having phone sex to prevent him from being lonely, infect my brain.
“It’s already in your electronic directory,” Beck whispers from beside me, making me jump. “But if you give me your phone, I’ll program it in for you.” I hadn’t heard him come out of his office, and I try not to look at the muscled forearms flexing where he’s gripping my desk.
“B-Beck, hi. I didn’t hear you.” I fish around in the desk drawer for my phone, and I close out of my messages before handing over the device.
“You looked pretty focused on the screen.” He leans over me, and the scent of his cologne is as inviting as the body heat emitting from him. “The history of solar power, huh?” Beck gives me a wink. “Fascinating stuff if I didn’t know you already are pretty up to date on engineering, Lia.” He inputs his number and then crouches down, holding my phone out in front of us. “Smile for the camera.”
Beck’s cheek is inches from mine, and we are looking at each other—not my phone—when the camera app clicks. “That’ll have to do, I guess,” he teases. He hands back my phone but not before his own vibrates. “There. Now I have your number and a contact photo for you.”
He stands up straight, stretching his arms overhead and cracking his neck and back in turn. “What have you thought about your first day so far?”
“So far?” I question. I’m supposed to be on my way to Jean’s office for a ride home. If I’m not there when she leaves, I’ll have to wait for the bus.
He steps back and shrugs, burying his hands in his pants pockets. “So far as in I really need you to stay late, if you’re available. The call that just came in was one of our distributors. I thought I had everything wrapped up for the trip, but apparently I don’t.” Beck runs down a list of copies he needs, emails sent, travel plans adjusted. It’s overwhelming, and I’m only given the tasks he is delegating to me. “Do you have a hot date or something that you need to escape for? I know this is short notice for overtime, and on your first day at that…” He trails off and gives me a hopeful smile.
More time with Beck and getting paid for it? Sign me the fuck up right now.
“No hot dates tonight.” When he visibly relaxes, I wonder if he was trying to find out more about me, not just give me an out for the work. “I was planning on having an exciting dinner of grilled cheese or whatever Jean and my dad are making. It would have been epic.”
Beck reaches for my phone and taps out an extension before I can try to remember who it goes to. “This is Beck. Hey, Jess, what are the dinner options in the cafeteria tonight?” He taps a finger on my desk a few times before asking me if sushi is okay. When I agree, Beck orders two plates of assorted sushi, some fried rice, and whatever dessert the evening chef on duty wants to send up. “Charge it to my office tab, Jess. Thanks!”
We work side by side in his office, me running across the hall to our printer and copier to grab what he needs, and then proofreading documents before he sends them off to be notarized. There’s so much that goes into his job, and Beck’s ability to do it all with such ease amazes me.
“Lia?” Beck is in the bathroom washing ink off his hands when he calls to me. “Do you remember the office at the opposite end of the hall I showed you? The one with the roses on the glass pattern?” It belonged to their accountant, or something like that. I would have to go through the security checkpoint to go out. “There is a yellow file folder on the bookcase against the window. It has all my printouts of today’s financial documents. It needs to get dropped off in the mail slot there before we eat. Can you do that for me?”
I bite back the response that I want to say. “I’ll do anything for you.” Instead, I say that I know where it is, and after finding the yellow folder he described, I head for the door. “I’ll be right back.”
A young man, perhaps a year or two older than me, exits the elevator by the security desk and heads toward me. “You must be Lia; I’m Jess.” He shakes my hand in greeting. “It’s nice to see we have someone not old enough to be my mom working here at last!” The guard uses a handheld scanner to capture the barcode on the guy’s badge and buzzes Jess in, and the door to my office area opens on automatic hinges. I wish they could have done that for Jean instead of making me look like an idiot earlier.
I peer at the guard’s name badge. In the dim light of the overhead it’s hard to make out until my eyes adjust. “Michael, can I ask what’s probably a silly question? I see that Jess swiped his badge, and you were able to let him in from here. Why couldn’t that happen for Jean from Research when she came up earlier today?”
The guard coughs, disguising a bark of a laugh. “Umm… You mean Scientist Barbie? She does not have proper clearance for the offices on this floor. Jess has clearance for almost every room in the complex. I cannot disclose additional information, but if you ask Mr. Huntsworth, he may tell you.”
Knowing that would likely be a futile effort, I smile and thank Michael for his help. It can’t be fun to sit at the desk for a twelve-hour shift with nothing to do but press buttons and watch security monitors. It will be even less interesting with Beck gone starting tomorrow. The office will be lonely; that much I know already.
I scurry along the hallway, my footfalls loud in the empty corridor. It’s nearing seven, and even the assistants have gone home. It’s just Beck, the guard, and me. As busy as Beck is, I know dinner will be eaten either rushed, standing shoulder to shoulder while we work, or alone in the dark at my desk. I’m unsure which one I want.
No. Being with him, even if we’re eating sushi like it’s popcorn between tasks, would be better tha
n not having this time with him.
I return to our office, but there’s no food and no Beck. The entire office suite is empty. “Beck?” I call his name and go from my desk in the lobby to his office. Louder this time, I call his name. A door, one I thought was a coat closet, has a light shining from beneath it. “Maybe it’s a meeting room,” I say to myself as I open the door. The food service cart is at the bottom of a set of stairs leading up, and at the top of the stairs is a door, propped open, revealing the night sky.
Beck comes to the top of the stairs, a blanket over his arm, and calls down, “Yay! You’re back! The food’s here, Lia. I thought we could use a break from the office. Come on up.” He disappears from my view, but I soon see him as I crest the landing after the final stair.
The space is huge; the roof of our building is connected to the others by slim walkways that make up the ceilings to the skywalks between the three towers. Our roof is mostly open with a garden diagonal from where I stand at the stairwell. To my right, Beck has a personal restaurant, or a close facsimile.
Four patio heaters are beginning to warm the night air, shimmering with heat. Adding to the comfort, Beck drapes a blanket over the top of a wicker couch and pulls back a bit of mosquito netting to invite me beneath the spacious gazebo style tent. “Welcome to Chez Huntsworth. Tonight’s main course is a sushi sampler. May I interest the lady in the finest vintage of hot tea or chilled spring water? Sorry I don’t have sake or wine. I don’t drink on the job. Please sit, Lia.”
I take the spot he points to and reach for a bottle of water. “This is amazing; thank you.” The moonlight and glow from the electric braziers illuminate his hair, giving Beck an otherworldly appearance. With Beck in his suit and me in a skirt and blouse, I can almost imagine this as a date. Hell, this is already nicer than most dates I’ve gone on.