I go to the door. When I put my hand on the knob, she calls out.
“Wait.”
“Yes?”
“You’ve got to lighten up, Ward. Just the tiniest bit, or you’ll give yourself a heart attack,” she tells me.
“You should probably talk to your other grandson about that,” I growl. “He needs the lecture more than I do.”
“Oh, what now?” she asks.
“Nick was asleep at his desk when I came in. Dressed like he just got off the plane from Maui.”
Her chair creaks and she falls backward with a wild laugh. “You know Nick doesn’t have a serious bone in his body, and you’re one hundred percent bear. If I could ever get either one of you boys to find some balance, we’d be set. And Ward?”
“Yes, Grandma?”
“I’ll only say this once—you noticed an awful lot about that young woman.” She pauses, giving me just enough time to cringe. “Obviously, it’s against office policy and good ethics to pursue Miss Holly as a love interest, but I like you noticing lovely young women again. It’s good for your soul.”
Wonderful, because I don’t.
I turn to look at her, stone-faced as a bulldog. “She tumbled across the Art Institute and would’ve cracked her head open if I wasn’t there to catch her and chase off Prince Charming. Ignoring her wasn’t an option then, but you’d better believe I will the instant she sets foot in this office.”
3
A Familiar Handsome Face (Paige)
My first day is the best kind of day—exhausting but awesome.
My ankle is still wrapped up, but I make it through the day without hobbling. Mostly.
I’m not sure what I expected from a new gig paying this much. Orientation consists of Here’s your desk, your computer, and your ID. Now get to work.
I dive in with little instruction and aim to impress.
Between Beatrice and her grandsons, my new bosses, there are thousands of emails to sort and organize. I start up a cloud-based storage system for each person and route their messages and attachments accordingly. But it doesn’t take long to realize they still won’t be able to find anything this way, so inside each individual folder, I set up subfolders upon subfolders.
I tag. I crunch. I prioritize like a boss.
After that, I get busy reorganizing a pretty Byzantine physical filing system.
Judging by the disorganized state it’s in, I’d say it’s been a while since they’ve had a decent assistant.
Good news: I think I’m over my gorgeous curmudgeon of a stranger who rescued me Friday night and left without leaving his number.
So maybe I’m a little sad he ghosted me with no chance for a second date—a real one—but who could blame him?
Friday was definitely not a life highlight. A man like Crankyface probably has a hundred better things to do than risk another evening white knighting me around.
Honestly, I spent way too much time thinking about it this weekend, but with a job like this, I won’t have time for that. Thank God.
At five thirty sharp, Beatrice Brandt stops by my desk with her lips pursed. She’s tall, imposing, and scares me with the faint hint I’ve done something wrong.
“Why are you still here, young lady? I haven’t assigned any special projects yet, and my grandsons aren’t around to keep you running either.” She tilts her head. “Don’t tell me Ward’s blowing up your Inbox already with a thousand demands?”
“No, ma’am, Mrs. Brandt! I’m just trying to get the email system sorted and all your filing caught up. Never liked leaving a job half done,” I say with an enthusiastic wink.
She waves a hand. “Filing. Pish posh. Shackling yourself to this desk over our filing system isn’t any cause to work past five in the evening. Get out of here. You’ll have reasons to be here half the night soon enough.”
She’s warm and brilliant and I adore her already.
Can she tell how starstruck I am? Are my eyeballs still in my head?
“Will do,” I say with a salute that makes her smile.
“Come on. Get your desk cleaned up and I’ll walk out with you.”
Wow. I close the new travel binders I’ve set up for the senior team and stick them in the largest of the three drawers under my desk. I’ll finish them off and pass them out tomorrow. I stack my notepads and Post-it notes and grab my purse.
“I hear you’re impressed with my Arboretum Office,” she says.
No clue how she knows that, but it’s not exactly a secret. I think I only gushed about it to eight new coworkers this morning.
I nod. “It’s breathtaking, almost like working in a rainforest hideout. Is it true there’s even a waterfall?”
“You’ll find out in due time,” she answers with a wink.
“I love the way you were able to combine such high-end finishes with an amazing indoor green concept. A lot of times, green projects come out looking kind of clumsy or way too rustic. The Arboretum Office is upscale, modern, and lavish. Oh, and not to mention the solar power and oxygen cells!”