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Before I even turn to look at Delora, I know she’s smiling. I can hear it in her voice. We haven’t worked together for very long, but her moods are telling.
She spent most of yesterday in her office with the door closed. The scowl on her face was evident through the glass wall that gives her unfettered visual access to my co-workers and me.
I spin in my office chair to see her approaching my cubicle. “What’s the news?”
I’m about to glide to my feet, but her hand movement indicates that she wants me to stay put. She backs that up with the next words out of her mouth. “Don’t get up on my account. I want you at your desk, working, so you’re exactly where you need to be.”
I huff out a laugh. “I’ve been sprucing up our socials. I’m not sure if you’ve had a chance to take a peek at those yet.”
She sighs. “I will. I’ve been preoccupied. Larry and I hit a speed bump yesterday, but we’re back on track today. Right now, I want to talk about your idea for the winter marketing campaign.”
I tossed a few ideas out for that. She didn’t seem particularly receptive to any of them.
“The subscription idea caught Sean’s attention,” she says. “He wants us to pull together a presentation for him. I know him well enough to know that he’s looking for more than mock-up marketing materials. He expects projections including customer acquisition costs and potential sales numbers.”
“Wow.” That one word leaves my lips because I’m stunned.
“I’ve been working on this myself to develop a roadmap for us to move forward with.” She offers me a half-smile. “I’ll admit that I had reservations about it, but I’ve done some research, and I see that it’s a model that has proven profitable for other companies.”
I take pride in knowing that she and Sean see the merit in my idea.
“I’ll get to work on this right away,” I say with butterflies in my stomach.
This is my first real chance to prove myself to not only Delora but Declan and Sean too.
“Let’s grab lunch in an hour to hatch a plan.” She glances to where my co-workers are sitting in their cubicles. “Justin and Rory will join us. It’s all hands on deck for this.”
Justin and Rory have been wonderful to me since I started working here. They’ve answered every question I’ve had and have shown me nothing but patience and respect.
I’m excited to dive into this with them by my side.
“Does that sound good to you?” Delora asks, her gaze dropping to the black blouse and pants I’m wearing. “I’ll call ahead to make sure the restaurant has room to seat the four of us. How does Italian food sound?”
“Delicious.” I smile.
“Perfect.” She gestures toward her office. “We’ll eat while we hammer out a strategy to conquer this project. We’re going to blow Sean away with this.”
That’s exactly what I plan on doing.
* * *
I glanceto where Sean is sitting on the seat next to me.
There’s something alluring about every part of him, including his hands. Both are resting on his thighs as Jurgen steers the car through the early evening Manhattan traffic as we make the trek home.
“What’s on your mind, Champ?”
My gaze jumps from his hands to his face. “What? Nothing. Why would you think there’s something on my mind?”
A low chuckle falls from his lips. “That right there cemented it. It was a simple question, not an inquisition.”
Smiling, I look down at my lap. “I need to thank you.”
“For smelling this good?” He cocks a brow. “I’m still wearing that Matiz cologne you like. I may never switch brands.”
He does smell good. I know it can’t all be attributed to the cologne. I imagine he smells sinful even when he steps out of the shower.
My mind conjures up an image of what that must look like. I already can envision it from the waist up since I got a glimpse of him shirtless that night the blonde woman knocked on his door.
