“But I can’t find anything now.”
“Could you seriously find anything before?”
He paused, not wanting to answer the question. Then, because he couldn’t stop himself, he said, “You swore again. Do we need a swear jar, Ms. Stileano?”
A tiny smirk appeared on her gorgeous face. “Maybe.”
He forced himself not to return a smile, smirk, or even a tiny grin, but damn, he wanted to.
“I need the Marcelli file. Where is it?”
“It’s simple. I promise. It’s under M.”
She smiled brightly, making him want to shake her silly and remove that damn smile. Then it hit him. He knew the perfect way to remove it. What would she do if he suddenly kissed her? That’d wipe her smile off with ease. That sounded like a much better plan than shaking her.
Damn it. He couldn’t kiss his secretary, no matter how enticing it sounded. But, oh, it sounded very enticing.
He pressed his lips together to hold back another smile that wanted to let loose. “Do you enjoy being a smartass?”
She tilted her head, tapping a finger on her temple. “On occasion. But I didn’t mean it sarcastically. I meant it literally. It’s really simple. I organized it by sorting everything alphabetically. It’ll be much easier for you.” Then another beautiful smile appeared. “Perhaps I should make a swear jar. You can’t seem to control your impulses to swear either.”
He averted his attention back to the cabinet. She was right on one account. He couldn’t control his impulse to swear, and he was almost having a hard time controlling the impulse to cross the distance and kiss her senseless. Ignoring what he knew would be a terrible idea, he pulled open another drawer where he found the Ms. He saw the file he needed immediately, grabbed it, shoving the drawer closed.
“Ms. Stileano, I need a cup of coffee.” He walked back over to his desk.
“You can get your own coffee.”
“Excuse me?” And he thought she had already managed to surprise him enough for the day. Apparently, he was wrong.
“I’m your secretary. Nowhere in the job description did it mention fetching you a cup of coffee. I’m not your personal servant. Although, you’ve felt the need to almost act like I’ve been just that all day. I have a lot of things to do, thanks to you. I don’t have time to get your coffee. If you want one, you’ll have to get it yourself.”
“Do you like testing me?”
“No. It’s simple manners. You didn’t even add ‘please.’”
“Do you want to be fired already?”
“Are you firing me?”
2
Gabby pulled her feet onto the couch, rubbing her toes with a rough hand. She needed a good massage. A deep massage. She hadn’t worn heels in a long time. Not some cheap heels with little height. But no, tall, make-me-break-my-neck heels. Only because Mia suggested she wear the damn hazardous shoes. While one would think a secretary sat at a desk all day, she didn’t. That damn aggravating man had her running back and forth between her desk, his office, and the file room down the long, long hallway.
Way too long of a hallway.
She glanced at her hallway when she heard her apartment door swing open, and the sound of tiny clicks come her way. She reached for her wine glass, raising it to Mia as she plopped down next to her.
“Cheers.”
Mia leaned closer. “So? What are we cheering? Is he cheating on me? You found out already. The scumbag!”
Gabby smiled behind the rim of her glass. “No. I didn’t find out much other than the fact he works too damn much. And don’t you dare tell me to add anything to the swear jar. I’ll add five bucks later. My feet hurt. Rub them?” Gabby tried to lay her leg over Mia’s lap, but she pushed her away.
“I’m not touching your feet. I told you that you needed to wear heels more often. This is what happens when you don’t.” Mia cocked a brow. “Five bucks? You’re anticipating swearing a lot tonight.”
“You do realize I can’t wear heels at my real job. I hate wearing the damn things. That right there incites me to swear heavily because they made my feet hurt.”
Mia grabbed the glass out of her hands, taking a huge gulp. “Hmm, this is the stuff from that wine festival we went to last year. I love this stuff. So, dish? How’d the day go?”
“It went. He worked me dry. He was still at the office when I left. I don’t even know how he has time for you. He doesn’t even have time to appreciate the gorgeous view from his office. He needs a serious wake-up call.” She scrunched up her nose in distaste.
“So, that’s why he bailed on me tonight. He said he had to work late. He wasn’t lying.” Mia smiled, taking another sip of wine.
Gabby grabbed her glass back, almost spilling the contents. “Get your own glass, girl. This one is mine. I’m tired. He wasn’t lying. He was working when I left. It didn’t look like he was going anywhere anytime soon.”
“This is good news. Maybe I’m creating it all in my head. Something always goes wrong, I guess I’m making nothing into something.” Mia blew out a sigh of relief. “Wanna watch a movie? I don’t have a hot date anymore tonight.”
“Sure.”
Gabby kept the happiness plastered on her face and in her tone of voice, even though she wanted to crumble into a tiny ball and cry her eyes out. Hot date. Yeah, Mia’s boyfriend was hot, alright. That’s all she had been thinking about since she came home—that, and how aggravating the man was. He could use a manners 101 course. Despite how he worked her to the bone with barely offering a please or thank you, she felt bad for him when she knocked on his door.
He had looked up from his desk, his face full of shadows and tired lines. He nodded once and waved a hand for her to close the door. She didn’t think he even processed who was at the door, he had been so engrossed in the paperwork on his desk. He needed to let loose once in a while. Smell the fresh air.
She almost let those sad eyes of his suggest she stay and help him with whatever he needed. Which was crazy—she didn’t even like the man. He was abrupt, arrogant, and most of the time, rude. Ha! Try all the time. And he was Mia’s boyfriend, and potentially cheating on her.
Although she got the vibe he wasn’t that type of man. He was focused on his work, his mind only on the project in his hand. She imagined he would be the same when it came to a woman. He would focus his attention on that one woman. Her gut told her he wasn’t a cheater or a liar. She liked to follow her gut.
She was lucky he didn’t fire her for her loose lips. She always had a hard time keeping her mouth shut. That saying, “think before you speak,” applied to her. She never mastered that once in her life. It put her in some tight jams, mostly at work, but her fast-thinking always managed to get her right back out of the trouble. She also knew that’s why she had a hard time keeping a man around. Most men she dated didn’t like a strong-minded woman. Well, good for them. She wasn’t about to change for anyone. A person either liked her or they didn’t.
She should, at least for now, be a little less abrasive with him. He could’ve fired her today.
“Are you firing me?”