Part of the problem that he’d realized with the delivery of those damn flowers was that if she left, he might not see her again. For nearly five years, she was usually the first person he saw in the morning and often the last face he saw in the evening. And since it wasn’t unusual for him to phone her about business after hours, she was often the last voice he heard before retiring for the night.
He watched her as she wrote something on a legal pad. Probably notes about the ball that she wanted to discuss at their dinner meeting tonight. Or maybe she was mapping out her résumé.
The light coming in from the windows picked out the honey highlights in her hair. She was wearing a black tank and a black pencil skirt that hugged her curves. He’d noticed that this morning. She was wearing that pink lipstick again and she’d styled her hair in the new way she’d been wearing it.
He raked his hands through his hair, fisting them at the nape of his neck.
He needed to give her a reason to stay, even if she would be working in a different department and he’d have to hire a new assistant. That’s the only thing that quelled the near panic he felt at the thought of never seeing her again.
The first order of business would be to get his father excited about creating an advertising position for her. He’d left a message for his dad yesterday, asking if they could meet to talk about something important. When Miles’s assistant called back, she had informed Austin that his father was out of town this week. She offered to schedule a phone meeting, but knowing Miles the way he did, this was a conversation best done in person.
Felicity just needed to hang on a bit longer. He’d tell her as much at dinner tonight.
In the meantime, it would do him good to be a little less gruff toward her. He knew he wasn’t always the easiest person to deal with. Nobody liked working with a bear. But she had always been so good about pulling him out of his dark moods.
It suddenly dawned on him how badly he’d taken her for granted.
It would behoove him to slow his roll and soften his approach.
* * *
“How was your day?” Austin stopped when he reached Felicity. He leaned a hip against the corner of her desk and looked at her expectantly. Like he was interested.
This is weird.
When was the last time he’d asked her about her day? Um, never. For that matter, when was the last time he stopped to talk about something personal? Well, other than to harangue her about Kevin. And the flowers.
When they talked, they talked about him. Or about work. He usually didn’t get into her business. Not that she minded.
She could see the bouquet in her peripheral vision. Austin was on her left side. The flowers sat on the right side of her desk, as if standing in proxy for Kevin.
“It’s going well,” she said cautiously, her hands poised on her computer keyboard, her heart thumping in her chest.
Please don’t hassle me about Kevin and ruin it.
“Good.” He nodded enthusiastically. “Good.”
There was an awkward pause as she waited for him to get to the point.
Oh! Maybe he’d talked to Miles. He would’ve called her into his office if it was bad news or maybe he would’ve waited to broach it tonight at dinner. He was smiling at her. Maybe this was his way of delivering good news.
She pushed in her computer keyboard drawer and put her hands in her lap. “Did you talk to your dad?”
Austin’s smile faltered. “No. But I did call him yesterday to set up a meeting. He’s out of town. I figured it would be best if I talked to him about this in person. Peggy is not sure how long he’ll be gone. It could be a week. It could be less. I’ll get something on the books as soon as he gets back. I’ve been meaning to ask you...how is school going?”
Felicity blinked at the non sequitur.
“Fine. I’m all set for graduation. All I have to do is pass the finals.”
He was nodding again, maintaining eye contact.
Those eyes. She could get lost in those eyes and happily never find her way back to reality.
“Felicity?”
Oh, God, had he asked her a question?
“I’m sorry, what?”
“I asked if your family was coming in for your graduation?”
“Well, my mom lives in New Orleans. So, she’ll be there.”