“I hope we’re friends too, Charlie,” she said.
“Hi,” I said. Cutting into her clumsy and embarrassing flirtation. “I’m Brenna. I work for Charlie.” She seemed a little confused. Charlie choked on his wine.
“Quite familiar for a secretary, aren’t you?” she said about me without directly addressing me. “You work too much if the best dinner partner you can get on short notice is your secretary,” she said to him. “You have to come to the party this weekend. You need the time off. I’m sure I can find a way to help you relax.”
Relaxation? I rolled my eyes. “So that’s what they call it these days,” I said under my breath.” She heard me and shot me a dirty look. Charlie laughed and she transferred her disdain from me to him.
“Thanks for the invitation, Elizabeth but I can't. You’re right about work. In fact, that’s where we’re headed right now.”
“Seriously?” she asked. What was more unbelievable? That some people worked for a living or that Charlie would rather spend time with me than her and their wealthy friends, relaxing?
“Maybe next time,” he said. She said that she would hold him to that and finally slunk away when she had no more excuses to stand there anymore.
“The famous Elizabeth Thomas, I can't believe I got to meet her,” I said when she was out of earshot.
“That’s her,” he said, clearing his wine glass.
“She’s beautiful.”
“Mm.”
“What? Not your type?” I asked. “Not into her brand of relaxation?”
He grinned. “I have no interest in her or any of my mother’s picks for me.”
“Too bad. She was throwing herself at you.”
“Was she? I was a little distracted by my secretary.” I laughed, covering my mouth and hoping it covered my blush too. That look in his eyes was unmistakable. We were going to be hard at work tonight. Probably the whole night.
21
Charles
“Come in,” I said. The door opened. I looked up, not hearing the person walk in. Niall poked his head around the door and grinned at me. I blinked a couple times.
“Niall?”
He walked into the office, looking around. He whistled. “So, this is where you work,” he said.
“It is. What are you doing here? I know you’re allergic to hard work in all forms,” I said.
“Very funny,” he said, coming up to the desk and running his finger over the wood like he was checking it for dust. I laughed.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?” I asked.
“You banned me from the house, remember?”
Not exactly. I just told him he couldn’t drop by the way he liked to anymore. To his credit, I said it not really expecting him to listen.
“You’re quite persistent.”
“You gave me no choice. I suppose I understand.”
“Understand what?”
“You don’t want me around your woman. You realize that given the choice she would pick the better looking, funnier, cousin with the better personality who could actually pay attention to her because he wasn’t working all the time.”
“Brenna likes a man with drive,” I said.