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Gabrielle wanted to blurt that she didn’t have time to chit-chat. Her job was on the line here, and she was close to being rude to this very distracting – and very good looking – co-worker.
“I work for Mr. Bronson,” she finally said reluctantly, and his eyes widened.
“Ah. The new P.A.,” he said, with a nod of understanding and maybe even sympathy. “Look, I don’t think you figured it out yet, but he has a special filing system. It’ll take you days to figure out the pattern, but I’ll explain it to you so it’s easier.”
He took the folders from her before she could protest, and Gabrielle took a split second to notice he wore a watch just like Adam’s – which meant this guy was probably rich. Whatever. She was getting frantic now and could do nothing but scurry after him as he walked purposely ahead.
“I’m Scott,” he threw over his shoulder. “And you are?”
“Gabrielle. I really don’t want to be a bother…”
“No bother,” he said, and went straight into the copy room and started portioning the files back into the right folders, while pointing it all out to Gabrielle. Each file had numbers at the top, and the ones with even numbers went into folder A, while the odd-numbered files went into folder B. The numbers that ended in zero were sent into folder C. The D files were the ones that had asterisks at the top. Picking it up fast, Gabrielle set the file with number 100 into the C folder. It was the last one, and she heaved a big sigh of relief to see it all took just minutes.
She looked up at Scott with a grateful smile. “You were a great help. Thanks.”
He broke into an answering grin, which made Gabrielle note how fine he was. Not that she had time for any of that. After that night’s episode with Adam, she didn’t really trust her instincts or her hormones. Somehow though, while she thought Scott looked hot, it didn’t really do anything for her, not the way Adam set her pulses clashing just with his presence.
A presence he soon bestowed them with unexpectedly. Gabrielle was sending the last of the faxes, with Scott standing by making sure she got them done properly. He could probably tell she was new at this, but she was good with machines and was already accustomed to the workings. She liked Scott’s friendliness and really thought nothing of it, so she was shocked when Adam showed up with a cold glare as he took in the scene.
“Well, this is cozy,” he said from behind them, making Gabrielle jump slightly as if she’d been caught doing something wrong. The look on Adam’s face sent chills down her back.
“You were taking so long I ran out of patience, thinking you were lost. I didn’t expect to find you flirting,” Adam stated in a caustic tone. Gabrielle opened her mouth but he was already turning to her companion. “You know the rules, Scott. You might be my best worker, but I don’t take kindly to employees fooling around.”
“The copy machine had a little glitch and since it was my fault, I had to fix it. It took longer than expected, causing the undue delay,” said Scott, lying smoothly in what Gabrielle knew was her defense. She’d rather have just told Adam the truth, but she was grateful to Scott for trying. Even though Adam looked less than impressed.
“If you’re done wasting time, then you should get back to completing your tasks,” he said to Gabrielle. “You really need to pick up the pace – that is if you’re serious about keeping your job here.”
He spun round and stalked off without another word, again not giving Gabrielle a chance to even speak. She glanced at Scott, who gave a smile mixed with both encouragement and perplexity. “Looks like Adam’s a lot harder on you than he normally is. But hey, don’t take it to heart.”
Gabrielle just sighed, then cocked her head to the side. “You guys are on a first name basis?”
“What? No,” Scott joked. “Well, only when he’s out of earshot. But then I could possibly get away with anything, since I’m virtually indispensable around here.”
“Modesty isn’t your strong point, is it?” Gabrielle said while shaking her head with a smile.
“So I’ve been told.” They’d been walking to the section where the filing cabinets were. Once there, he turned to her with that same humorous expression and looked about to say something, then seemed to change his mind.
Instead, he gave her a charming wink and left her there with a smile on her face as she viewed his retreating back. A smile she quickly wiped off as she thought of Adam and imagined him catching her with that silly smile thanks to Scott.
