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“What I want is to properly date you and keep being with you. No sneaking around, although that’s hot as hell, but I know you don’t like it, and I want more than that anyway. Nothing to gossip about, no broken rules. Just you and me. We could do that if you worked in another department.”
“You wouldn’t intervene in any way?” she asked, moving closer, with her hands clasped in front of her.
“You’re talented, and she loved the presentation. I have no doubt you’d get the job without a single word from me.”
“Okay, you have to promise because I want to know I did it on my own.”
I rolled my eyes, but promised. “If you don’t get hired, you can keep working for me as long as you need to find another job, but I’m going to be in hell the whole time so will probably act like a jerk.”
She laughed and took another step closer. “You mean more of a jerk?”
I took her hands and pulled her the rest of the way to me. Her arms slid around my waist and she rested her cheek against my chest. It felt like home. She tipped her chin up, and I moved to kiss her, but remembered her little note on my pillow this morning and pushed her away. Her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open. God, I loved her, but it was satisfying to get a little bit of revenge.
“Sorry, but they’re your rules.” I wagged my eyebrows. “Unless you want to put in your resignation right now?”
I nodded toward the couch and it looked like she thought about it for a second, making my pants get tight at the idea of having her in my office again. The day she got hired in the art department couldn’t come soon enough.
“No, I better not,” she said, sorrowfully looking at the couch.
“Well, then, get out of here before I get ornery. I’ll set up the interview with Paige.”
She made an adorable squeak and with a quick glance at my door, hurriedly kissed my cheek and scampered out.
Not even the thought of having to interview a new assistant could erase my smile.
Chapter 24 - Violet
I finished up answering emails and checked with the writers if there was anything I could do for them. It had been a quiet few days with Eli out of town visiting his brother Ben in Montana, and I was doing busy work for anyone who needed something while he was gone. He said they had been begging him for a visit for a while, but I suspected it was because, once we made the decision to be together as soon as we could, he didn’t think he could keep his hands off me.
I knew I wouldn’t have been able to keep my hands off him and, even though it had only been a short time without him around, I missed him and wondered at least a dozen times if I should have just resigned. I could have easily gotten another job with his reference, but I loved it here. Most of all I wanted to always know I was independent, and I had achieved everything I worked for on my own, not because I was sleeping with the boss.
Nobody had anything for me in the writer’s room, so I wandered to proofreading since they always had extra jobs. My interview with Paige had been two days ago and I wasn’t sure if I should be worrying yet that I hadn’t heard anything. I made Eli swear up and down that he wouldn’t say a word to her either way, and I couldn’t help but wonder what I’d do if I didn’t get the job. Stay on as Eli’s assistant and suffer every time he smiled at me?
My phone rang when I was in the elevator and I jumped, hoping it was Eli. Technically, we probably shouldn’t have been talking to each other, if we were going to stay strictly professional until I had a new position, but when he called me before he left for Montana to tell me how much he couldn’t wait to be with me, I had to cave. He said so many sweet things, and finally admitted he wasn’t a great flier ever since his dad and sister-in-law’s accident. I told him to pay for Wi-Fi on the plane so I could send him encouraging messages during the flight and he laughed. I later found out he flew on his family’s private plane and didn’t need to pay extra for an internet connection. Because, of course he didn’t.
“Violet, it’s Paige, can you come down and see me?”
“Yes, of course. I’m on my way.”
I ended the call, then changed direction in the elevator, my heart in my throat the entire ride to that floor. Why wouldn’t she just tell me on the phone? I had a bad feeling she was trying to let me down easily. Outside her office door I paused, taking stock of my feelings. After a moment of turmoil, a sense of calm settled over me. If I didn’t get the job I was heading straight to HR to put in my resignation, then straight to the airport to get the next flight to Montana. Eli was always on my mind. I had to be with him, no matter what might come of it.
One of the art department team gave me the thumbs-up sign. “Good luck,” she said.
Paige sat behind her desk, half hidden behind two massive computer monitors. The walls of her office were painted robin’s egg blue and almost every inch was covered in pictures of former campaigns for the magazine. She nodded for me to take a seat in one of the gold velvet chairs, and I perched on the edge, too scared to even greet her.
“We loved your work on the Brighton campaign,” she said. I waited for the but. “And we’d love to offer you a position as a junior director. It’s a lot of errands and grunt work, but everyone on my team welcomes input from everyone so you’ll get the chance to do creative work as well. If you accept, you can speak to HR about your new salary and we can get the ball rolling as soon as Eli releases you as his assistant.”
“I do accept,” I said. “Thank you. I’m so excited to get started.”
She nodded briskly and turned back to her screens. “I’ll send the info down to HR right now.”
I stood up and thanked her again, then hurried back to my office to share the good news with anyone who happened to be around. I messaged Eli, telling him I got the job and that I couldn’t wait to see him when he got back the next week. A few minutes later, my phone rang and my heart soared to see it was Eli.
“I knew it,” he said. “Can I be your boyfriend now?”
Oh, why wasn’t he here? I needed to throw my arms around him. The rich sound of his deep voice made me quiver.
“Yes,” I laughed. “I can’t wait.”
