Darcy let herself in. The subtle scent of her shampoo washed over me as she came and sat across from my desk, eyes intent on me.
“Yes?” I asked.
There was a mischievous glint in her eyes I didn’t like one bit. “I wanted to ask if you were coming to Marcus’ thing..”
“Why?”
“Because if you’ll be there, I don’t need to invite you out for drinks tonight to get more for our interview.”
“You’ve been busting your ass on that piece for our next issue. Do you really expect me to believe you’re still working on the interview in your spare time?’
“Healthy people take breaks from work.” She let her gaze linger on mine a little too long after that. “I’m just gathering information on you right now.Slowly,” she added.
I considered calling off the little game right then and there. I could just tell her she was obviously talented enough that I would be an idiot to fire her. Ishouldtell her. But I found myself nodding slowly. If I said those words, our awkward but entertaining clashes would almost surely come to an end. “Yes, I’ll be there.”
“Great. So I’ll see you tonight? Why don’t I give you a ride?”
“What? Absolutely not. That’s a terrible idea.” Part of my reaction was driven by the sudden and vivid image of Darcy sitting on top of me, hands on my chest and eyes closed as she rode me straight into fucking oblivion.
Her voice snapped me back to reality. “You said I could have you whenever I needed for interviews, didn’t you? Well, I request to have you in my car on the way to the party, so that’s settled.”
I felt the temptation to smile.Here we go again.All I had to do was shut this down. Call off the interviews. I could call off the silly little game we were playing, but I knew I wasn’t about to do that. Not yet, at least. “If you insist on driving together, I’ll drive.”
“No. If we get in a fight again, I can leave you at the party if I drive.” She smiled sweetly. “I’d rather not be the one stuck calling for a cab or a favor.”
“If you’re so worried we’ll get in a fight, then we should just make our own way to the party.”
“Mr. Lockwood, are you afraid of being alone with me?”
My jaw tensed and I met her eyes. “No. If you really want to be so stubborn, fine. You can drive me to the party.”
“Great. The interview starts in my car. I think there’s a chance you might loosen up on the road. I’ve got to take every advantage I can get since somebody likes to be so tight-lipped.” She got up, raised her eyebrows, and shrugged. “I’m assuming you’ll be here till seven, right?”
“Correct,” I grated.
“Great. I’ll text you when I get here. Put your number in my phone.” She set her phone on my desk and pushed it toward me with her index finger. Her nail had once been teal but the paint was mostly chipped off and the nail was bit down to the quick. Her phone screen wasn’t in much better shape. It was cracked from what looked like multiple accidents.
I should’ve been appalled by the whole package from the fingernails to the screen. They were dead giveaways that she was a nervous wreck and clumsy. Instead, it just reminded me how temptingly real she was. She didn’t hide behind plastic and filters. Darcy was just Darcy, and there was an unapologetic kind of charm to that.
“You didn’t enter the code,” I said.
“Oh, there’s no code. Just swipe on the screen somewhere.”
I lifted my eyes. “Aren’t you worried the wrong person will get their hands on your phone?”
“Why? Do you think I have nudes on there or something?”
My throat went suddenly dry at the thought of nude images of Darcy just a few taps away. She seemed to know exactly what she was doing, because her eyes flitted to my fingertip and then to my face. She bit her lip, eyebrows wiggling. “Feel free to check,boss.”
I summoned all the willpower I had and tapped my way to her contacts list. I added myself as “Mr. Lockwood” and handed the phone back to her.
“You know, I really thought you were going to look at my photos.”
“You sound disappointed.”
“I am,” she said. “There’s nothing inappropriate in there except the first image. It’s me giving the middle finger to the camera. I was going to say you can’t discipline me for giving you the finger since you shouldn’t have been snooping in the first place. But youkindaruined that.”
“Are you done?” I asked.