I might not have delighted in the older actor’s attention earlier in the downstairs waiting area, but Tripp’s easy praise stoked that need in me to be the best. I couldn’t hold back my grin, and his gray eyes dropped to my mouth as an odd expression crossed his face.
Shit, do I have fruit stuck in my teeth?
I fought the urge to run my tongue along them as I pressed my lips together.
Dragging his gaze up to mine, he said, “I’m taking you to lunch.”
“It’s after three,” I pointed out as the elevator doors slid open and we got in.
“Which is technically breakfast time for someone who doesn’t usually wake up until two.”
“Two?”
“Or later. But I was up earlier today, so it’s lunchtime.” We stepped off the elevator and paused as he tapped the portfolio I held to my chest. “We’ll go over that list of questions you have.”
I untucked my hair before tucking it back behind my ear as I wondered how shitty of an assistant I would be to say no. I had hovering assignments that were stressing me out, and the meeting starting late hadn’t helped.
Flaking out on my first day of work stressed me out more, though, and I was about to agree to the very,verylate lunch when he read me eerily well. “You have plans.”
“Schoolwork. But it can wait.”
True to his word, he didn’t push back about school coming first. He took the decision and the pressure off me. “No, it can’t. Next time.”
“You’re sure?” At his nod, my shoulders loosened. “Speaking of next time, I kind of need to know when that will be.”
He gave a shrug. “Whenever works for you.”
“Iwork for you. That means I need to know when you need me. If I have scheduling conflicts, we’ll work around them.”
He stared down at me for a long, silent moment, and the intensity of his gaze had me wonder if I’d said something wrong. It also had me locking my weak knees like someone from a cheesy movie.
It was that or melt onto the dingy concrete.
My reaction didn’t make any sense, especially since he was only pausing to think about his schedule before saying, “With the table read starting next week, I left this one free as a break.”
Disappointment swirled in my stomach. My generous salary wasn’t hourly, but that almost made it worse. I didn’t want to be paid for nothing.
I also didn’t want to be lurking around for no reason.
“Let’s get together Sunday,” I said since that was my totally free day—other than brunch, of course. But since he didn’t wake up until the afternoon, it would work out perfectly. I gave my notes a little shake. “We’ll go over all this so I’m ready to hit the ground running when you’re back to work.”
He didn’t look as gleeful at that plan as I was. If anything, he seemed disgruntled by the idea of wasting his day with calendars and lists. But he eventually lifted his chin in agreement anyway. “Where are you parked?”
I distractedly pointed to my little Land Rover, and he started walking that way, leaving my shorter legs scrambling to keep up.
“As your assistant, I think I’m supposed to walk you to your car,” I said.
He shot me an incredulous look but otherwise kept going.
Once we were at my car, I looked up at him. “Text me if you need to cancel.”
His voice was a low rumble. “I’ll see you Sunday, Greer.”
If Tripp was just a pretty face hiding an ugly personality, I would be impervious to his easy smiles, the way he said my name, and his hands on me.
But he wasn’t the spoiled, entitled man I’d been expecting.
Not yet, at least.
