Page 7 of Tell Me Something

His observation made my face burn even further. I was sure that I was going to faint from sheer hunger or the madness of the day. “Well, if I’m being perfectly honest, Mr. Singer, I was blushing at the fact that you’ve seen me pretty much at my most insecure today. Not exactly the impression I wanted to make with my boss’s boss.”

Watching his eyes, I could tell he was surprised at my admission.

“I hope that you can always be honest with me, and please call me Josh.”

“Okay. What was it that you wanted to speak with me about?”

After the doors of the elevator opened, he walked beside me toward my desk, which was in front of Warren’s corner office. Looking around, I was surprised that I didn’t see my boss. Shouldn’t he have returned to the office if Josh was here?

“Not here. Have you eaten?”

The question was innocent, and yet I felt completely flustered. “Uh, no, I haven’t.”

“I’m being presumptuous. You probably have plans on a Friday night?” He went around my desk and picked up the small photograph of my parents. For a moment, he studied it and I found his prying eyes unnerving.

“I was going to hit In-N-Out Burger, but no plans after.”

His brow arched, and I knew that I’d probably come across like a teenager to him. “Are these your parents?” His voice was low and intimate again.

“Yes.”

“Do you have a car parked in the garage?”

“No, I take the bus in.”

“Good, we can take my rental car. Lead the way to In-N-Out Burger.”

The way he said it made me giggle. He was like an Ivy Leaguer trying out another language, enunciating every syllable.

His brows shot up.

And because I didn’t want him to think I was laughing at him, I confessed. “Sorry, it was just the way you said In-N-Out Burger. It made it sound fancy. We can go somewhere else if you’d prefer. I mean, it’s fast food.” I couldn’t picture this gorgeous man in his impeccable suit hitting up a fast food restaurant.

After we made our way to the garage, I was even more convinced of this when I took in the Mercedes waiting for him. Feeling his hand on the small of my back, I tried not to let my nerves get the best of me.

“I think a burger and fries sound really good about now.” He opened my door.

Once seated, I felt the cool leather on my bare legs and inhaled the scent of the car. It was hard not to do so when in a vehicle this rich.

“Are you, uh, smelling the car?”

Embarrassed for a moment, I shrugged. “The leather of a new car smells amazing. I can’t help it.”

He looked amused as he navigated out onto the streets of Los Angeles right smack into rush hour. “Do you like LA?”

Wondering what it was he wanted to speak with me about, I remained patient. He was a man who seemed to be in control at all times, and at this moment he wanted small talk. “It’s okay. The weather is nice, but traffic not so much.” It had taken five minutes to go a half mile, and we had four more to go to the nearest In-N-Out Burger.

“Where are you from originally?”

It would have been nice if there’d been less traffic so he’d have to keep his eyes on the road. Every time he glanced over I got flustered. “I grew up north of San Francisco and did my undergrad at Stanford.” I was trying not to babble. This wasn’t a date and a get-to-know-you. He was my boss’s boss and the owner of the company.

“Do your parents still live there?”

“No. They’re both deceased.”

He murmured, “I’m sorry.”

The awkward silence weighed on me while he appeared to absorb my answers. “Where are you from?” I asked, curious to learn something about him.