“Good,” Shannon said and put her back on speakerphone. “I’ll talk to you later. Send me an email with your mock-up. I’d like to see what you come up with, and I’ll give you any pointers that I can. I know how Elijah works, and I can let you know if he’ll like it.”
“Sure. I’ll send that in the morning. Bye, Shannon.”
Without another word, Aubrey was left in the silence of the staff room. The leather beneath her squeaked as she let herself go limp. She’d just have to learn to live with Elijah Johnson. Shouldn’t be that difficult.
Chapter Five
Elijah
It should’ve been easy, but Elijah couldn’t bring himself to not think about her. He found his heart racing as he made his way into his office. Why did it feel like this? It had been two hours since she’d presented her mock-up in the conference room, and he still couldn’t settle himself.
He watched as she took a sip from her coffee cup and stared at the monitor in front of her. Her delicate features were formed into a serious look as she continued typing. He could see that she was working on an email, likely sending a report back to Shannon. He’d already sent her what things she could fix on her mock-up, though there wasn’t much she had done wrong. He’d been impressed by the work she’d done in only a day. He hadn’t expected her to finish it completely and present it.
Her long red hair waved around her face, and she brushed a lock behind her ear. Her hand wrapped around her coffee as she leaned back in her chair and squinted at the document on her monitor. Seeing her so concentrated only intensified her sex appeal. He’d met too many women that didn’t work or strive for anything.
He rubbed his finger along his bottom lip as he gazed at her. It was unfortunate that she wasn’t wearing a skirt, but the dress shirt that she wore kept falling slightly. Elijah found his gaze taking in her cleavage every time she adjusted it.
Damn it. He needed to get it together.
Elijah grabbed his phone, which was vibrating on his desk. Great. He’d forgotten that he had yet another meeting. There were days that felt as though they wouldn’t ever end. There was nothing he wanted more than to leave, head home, have a beer, and forget that she existed at all. Her disdain of him was both obvious and infuriating.
He placed the phone in the pocket of his dark dress pants and adjusted his dress shirt. Onto the next one.
In yet another meeting, Elijah leaned his head again his hand and grazed at the stubble on his face. He stared at the PowerPoint presentation projected in front of him. The intern went over the typical advertising points: family-friendly, cookie-cutter, and inclusive of everyone. To be expected, of course, and he’d heard this kind of presentation time and time again. This advertisement model had become even more popular since people on Twitter spoke out against companies who made the smallest mistakes. Most companies now wanted to play it safe, and that meant making everyone happy.
He met eyes with the young intern who was clearly waiting for his encouragement. Not like it mattered. He’d barely paid attention because it was an idea he’d heard so often. His mind just wasn’t in his work. He had other things running around in his head, mostly Aubrey in the tight skirt from the day before.
“Sounds fine. Get started and email me your proposal.”
The girl brought her tablet to her chest and smiled. “Thanks! I’ll do that,” she paused, her cheeks flushing. “Are there any pointers you’d offer? We can talk about it later if you’re busy.”
Typical. He shrugged his shoulders. “Send the proposal first. I’ll suggest edits afterward. I need more information here before we send it to the client, but it’s a decent start so far. Family-friendly is always recommended for this type of home products. Change the tag line, though. It’s too predictable.”
“Will do. Thank you.”
He watched as she gathered her things. Elijah rose from his chair and took his phone with him. Once again, his thoughts were narrowing in on Aubrey. He’d never had such intrusive thoughts like that before. Maybe it was anxiety? Elijah spun the phone in the palm of his hand as he made his way to the elevator. No, that couldn’t be it. He’d never suffered from anxiety in his life, but he couldn’t think of any other reason as to why she’d have such a hold on his thoughts.
He thought again about her shirt and how it would slide down as she typed.
He gripped his phone tighter. Damn it. She wasn’t going anywhere, and his sudden onset of thoughts was only getting worse. She’d only been in his office for two days. How could he be so hung up on her in such a short amount of time? Sure, she was gorgeous in a demure way, but she wasn’t anything exceptionally remarkable like a Victoria’s Secret model. She was just an employee that had waltzed in with a doe-eyed look and a petite, feminine body. Even the way she dressed wasn’t overtly sexy, so it wasn’t as though she was trying that hard. Maybe that was why. She didn’t try hard like other women had in his past.
Elijah hit the elevator button a little too hard and waited for it to arrive. He released his grip on the phone and stepped into the elevator once it dinged. There was only one way to get her out of his system—make a move. When the elevator door slid open at the floor of the office, she immediately captured his attention. She was exactly where she needed to be once he stepped out.
Elijah inhaled deeply and made his way towards her. Regardless of everything, she’d have to say yes. There was no way she could turn down a collaborative partner. From what he remembered Shannon saying, Aubrey took her work seriously. He knew that something might transpire, but chances were he’d be able to get her outside of the office and get to know her. It was the only way for his curiosity to disappear.
She raised her eyes to meet his when he came upon her at her desk. She was leaned forward with her phone in her hand, clearly texting someone. Now wasn’t the time to penalize her for indiscretions at work.
“Hi, Aubrey. I need to ask you something.”
She slouched deeper, as though she expected the worst. This was the type of behavior he wasn’t used to. She was either in his face or actingas though he was going to reprimand her at any moment. He wasn’t sure exactly what she thought of him. “What can I help you with?”
“I’m wondering if you’ll join me for dinner tonight. I want to go over some things with you.”
She shifted in her chair and crossed her arms. Their initial meeting the other day had gone horribly. If they were going to collaborate, it was best to do it professionally and without animosity. “Was there something wrong with my mock-up?”
“No,” he told her and stepped closer to her. “Just want to start off on the right foot. I feel as though I may have made the wrong impression when we first met. I’d like to fix that so we can collaborate better as a team.”
“Is Martina going?”
“No. She just fetches our coffee.”
She grimaced at his words. “She does more than fetch my coffee.”
“While she’s here, I don’t expect her to help with ideas and pitches. She may have been doing those types of things over at Glamour Girl, but here she’ll be doing assistant-type work associated with that job title,” he said, his tone a little harsher than he intended. “I’m sorry. I just try to make sure no one feels as though their job is in question by having others take over where they shouldn’t.”