“You are never going to believe what Owen said to me Liv.” I hold the phone tight to my ear grinding my teeth together. “What are the two of you fighting about now?” Liv asks, her sigh letting me know that she is also rolling her eyes.
“This is not a normal ‘Owen is irritating’ rant Liv this is a big deal.” I tell her, pacing the living room of my suite. One of the best reasons for working for Slade Outdoors is they never skimp on accommodation.
“Okay this sounds serious. It isn’t just the usual the two of you sniping at each other?”
“No it is not. We had our first meeting this morning with Antonio. It went really well, I think I may be able to get us an exclusive deal for the canvas.”
“Really, that would be amazing, Ryker will be over the moon about it.”
“Don’t tell him yet, let me get the deal in the bag, I don’t want you jinxing it for me. Back to the story. Antonio asked if I would like to take a tour of Rome with him. I was like heck ya I do. He looks like an Italian god and there is nothing better than seeing a city with a native. Not to mention it would give me more time to pitch.”
“Okay I’m not seeing how Owen fits in here,” Liv says, and I hear her shuffling around in her office.
“I’m getting there. So then on the way home from the villa I tell Owen all of this, and do you know what he says to me?”
She laughs, “No what did he say Harper?”
“He told me to make sure I have my priorities straight! As if I’m going out with the Italian stallion to bag him and become some kind of trophy wife. Don’t get me wrong, he is hot, and if he wasn’t a major account I might think about a roll in the sheets, but I’m not about to become some man’s trophy wife.”
“That was out of line and out of character, even for Owen. Did he at least try to apologize?”
“First, thank you for validating me and second, he did but I cut him off cold. I don’t want his stupid apology. What would it matter if I decided to date Antonio, or if I wanted to become an Italian trophy wife and live in a villa while my brains rot out? Isn’t that my decision? Does that man ever think about anything but profit margins and the company?”
“You know how the brothers are Harper, they live and breathe this company,” Liv says as she murmurs at someone in the background.
“Ryker says hi and wants to know if you have thrown Owen into a water cistern yet.”
I laugh, “Tell him it has been hard not to give in to the urge a few times but I’m resisting,” I call out and hear Ryker chuckle.
He was one of the brothers that owned the company. Liv had been his assistant for years, and when their father said they must marry to stay in their positions, he and Liv became fake fiancés that led to real fiancés and now they are a happily married couple.
If Owen had asked me to be his fake fiancé, I would have turned him down flat. Besides no one would have believed it. Everyone in the office knows we are like oil and water.
“How is married life?” I ask her.
“It is really good Harper, better than even I expected.” She giggles as Ryker says something in the background.
“Gross. Don’t be cooing at each other like that. Like I don’t already know as soon as this call ends the two of you are going to jump each other like a couple of horny goats.”
“You are just jealous. It’s been a while Harper, you might not want to be an Italian trophy wife but a roll in the hay with a sexy Italian sounds like a good time to me.”
“Yeah, I guess,” I say looking out the window at the people walking by down in the street.
“You are not jumping at the idea of getting between the sheets with a real Italian stallion?” Liv’s voice changes a little.
“Did something happen between you and Owen?” she whispers, and my eyes go wide.
“No, are you kidding me? You think I’m secretly carrying a torch for my arch nemesis?”
“I’ve always wondered why you stay as his assistant. You guys bicker like crazy and don’t seem to get a long at all. Yet he doesn’t fire you or ask that you be moved, and you don’t pack up and leave, giving him the one finger salute on the way out.”
I snort a little at this image and the thought of Owen’s reaction makes me smile.
“When it comes to the actual work we are in sync. I can tell you what he is thinking just by the way he looks at me across the table or the way that we are able to find solutions to sticky financial issues together. The work stuff is never a problem, it is when we have to be around each other when we are not actively discussing something work related that things get dicey.”
“What if it is like some weird mating dance between the two of you?” Liv asks, and all I hear is Ryker’s deep laugh.
Down below, a sleek black town car pulls to the curb.