“Hey, it’s good to see you. You look terrific,” he said with an easy smile.
My bun suddenly felt too tight as the nerves, jitters, and pressure in my bladder came roaring back to life.
“Thank you,” I said, looking longingly at the bathroom door. “You look great, too. Are you here on business?”
“Yes,” Luca said absently, his gaze snagging on my heel, which was tapping erratically. “Are you okay?”
You don’t have to pee ... You’re fine … Don’t think of the water feature by the front desk.
“Of course, but, if you’ll excuse me, I have an appointment in a few minutes, so I really should get going,” I said, hoping he’d get the hint and turn to leave.
“I have to get going as well, but I’d love it if you would join me for lunch. Say, noon?”
“Oh, uh, that’s very sweet, but I’m actually not sure what my plans are yet. Rain check?” I replied, even though I had no intention of going to lunch with him.
Not only is he too young, but he’s also waaay too good looking.
Luca nodded, lifted his phone, and looked at me expectantly.
Shoot.
I knew I could give him a fake number, but that seemed rude, so I told him my actual number.
“Thank you. I’ll text you with mine,” Luca said, his eyes seeming to twinkle with victory. Or maybe it was my imagination. Maybe I was hallucinating due to lack of brain activity. “I’m so glad I ran into you. Have a great day.”
“You too,” I called as he turned to leave. Thank God! I waited a few seconds until he was a few feet away and then hurried into the bathroom.
As I washed my hands, I vowed to stick to one cup before work in the morning and checked the watch my grandmother had given me before she passed away. Seeing I was two minutes away from being late on my first day, I moved as fast as possible without breaking into a run and made it to Human Resources with seconds to spare.
“Good morning, Mr. Michaelson,” I called as I entered.
“Morning,” he said distractedly, not looking up from his computer. “The intake papers are on the table over there.”
I moved to the table he’d gestured toward and sat down in front of the stack of papers. Two hours later, everything was filled out and I was handing them to Mr. Michaelson.
“Your immediate supervisor, Paula Dixon, is on leave this week, so I will have you working with one of her colleagues until her return. In the meantime, I’ll briefly show you around and then take you to your workstation.”
I nodded enthusiastically and followed him out of his office.
He showed me the breakroom, conference room, cubicles, and my boss’s office. I was introduced to a few people, and everyone seemed nice, except this one guy, Steve, who seemed to be giving me the stink eye.
“This is where the partners’ offices are and at the end of the hall there is the owner and CEO’s office. Mr. Russo is in meetings, so you’ll have to meet him at a later time, but I can introduce you to his son who is a partner here, and Mrs. Dixon’s boss,” he said as we turned down a long corridor toward the back of the building.
I smoothed my hands down my jacket, hoping I hadn’t gotten rumpled from sitting for so long, and pasted a smile on my face as Mr. Michaelson knocked on the door, which said, Mr. Luca Russo, partner.
Oh shit … was running on a loop in my brain as I followed Michaelson inside and looked toward the desk, knowing who I’d see sitting behind it.
Luca glanced up before leaning back in his chair and grinning widely.
“What have we here, Mick?” he asked innocently.
“Luca, this is Mrs. Spaulding, the new hire we spoke about last week.”
“Actually, it’s Ms.,” I corrected, moving forward with my arm outstretched, unsure if I should let it be known that we already knew each other, or if I was supposed to keep that to myself, now that I knew he was my boss.
“It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Spaulding,” Luca said, standing to shake my hand, before turning his attention to Michaelson. “Mick, you free for lunch?”
“I’m completely swamped, unfortunately. Wednesday?” he asked.
“Sounds good,” Luca replied, before returning that smile to me. “Guess it’s just you and me then, Ms. Spaulding.”
“Oh, I don’t know…” I stammered, looking to Michaelson for help.
“Perfect,” he said, not helping me at all. “I’ll leave you to it.”
Before I could protest Michaelson was already walking out the door, obviously happy to have passed me off to someone else.
I turned back toward Luca, my mouth hanging open in shock.
“Looks like your lunch plans have been set,” Luca said happily.
And all I could think was … I’m totally screwed.
Eight
Luca
This was turning out to be an excellent day.
I’d bit the inside of my cheek to keep from grinning while Whitney had fidgeted nervously with her purse strap in the elevator, when she’d shot me a wary look after I held the door of our building for her, and as she’d walked quietly beside me down the busy street toward the deli.
Should I feel bad that after two rejections I’m using the fact that she works for me to get her to share a meal? Possibly. But do I? Absolutely not.
I wanted the opportunity to get to know her better, and this would let me do that. It would also tell me if there was anything between us worth pursuing, like I’d initially thought, or if I’d back off and allow our relationship to be purely professional.
Now that I knew she was working at Russo Accounting, it was something I needed to determine sooner rather than later.
“Is this okay for you?” I asked when we were in front of the deli. If she wasn’t in the mood for this, there were no less than ten other options within a one-block radius, since our office was nestled in the middle of downtown. “They have fast service and the Rueben’s are fantastic.”
I saw her eyes light at the mention of fast service and chuckled when she said, “This is perfect.”
“I thought you’d say that,” I joked as I held the door open for her.
She hurried in past me and walked straight up to the counter.
“I’ll have the Rueben, barbecue chips, and a diet Coke,” I heard Whitney say as I caught up to her.
Before she could pull out her wallet, I reached around her and tapped my phone to the card reader and paid.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she said, stepping to the side as if she didn’t want to be too close to me.
“It’s a working lunch. I’ll write it off.”
That seemed to appease her. I put in my order and then grabbed both of our numbers and indicated she should walk ahead of me.
Whitney chose a booth in the middle of the room, even though there were more secluded spots that weren’t surrounded by people. We sat opposite each other and I placed our numbers at the end of the table.
“So, Ms. Spaulding,” I began, leaning back against the wood. “What made you decide to get back into accounting after such a long break?”
She blinked and I could tell she was surprised when I launched into a business topic rather than a personal one.