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He gripped my knee as I tried to get up and leaned in close, giving me yet another cheesy line about why we ended up in this club together on the same night. Yeah, this book was exactly what the cover advertised. It was time to go. But he was so close. Close enough to lick if I wanted. Which I did.
“I think it means you were meant to come home with me tonight,” he said.
I closed my eyes against his hypnotism. He was a gorgeous man used to getting what he wanted, and he wouldn’t remember my name tomorrow. This wouldn’t be a fun story we’d tell our grandkids one day. I had other things to concentrate on, no matter if my panties were soaked from his proximity, his touch, his feigned interest.
“I think it means I let my friends talk me into trying something new, and it turned out to be a flop,” I said, finally jumping off the barstool and out of his lust radius.
My friends passed us, and I linked arms with Ella as we stalked toward the exit. I couldn’t help myself and glanced back as we rounded the dance floor. He looked at me with his chin about touching his chest, a confused look in those mesmerizing eyes. I almost laughed at how shocked he clearly was to be rejected.
“Are you certain you don’t want to go back?” Norah asked as she saw me looking back.
I waved at Eli and turned away a final time. This wasn’t fate, it was me dodging a bullet. “Absolutely sure.”
Chapter 3 - Eli
I got in late to the office, my head pounding from the extra shots I had to down to get Marti out of my mind. Getting rejected sucked, and not just because of how badly I wanted her, but because she was intelligent and feisty. When was the last time I enjoyed having a conversation with a woman? Sadly, I couldn’t remember.
Even after finding an eager redhead to go home with me instead, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I ended up kicking the redhead out before things got too sticky, but she still had plenty of things to snipe at me about as I escorted her down my private elevator and made sure she got into a taxi.
Then, just like I knew would happen if I had to be alone, I tossed and turned, wondering what went wrong with Marti and cursing myself for getting rid of Red. She just wasn’t that interesting, had no spark like Marti had.
I could hear my oldest brother Will’s voice telling me I had to stop with the one-nighters and actually date. I needed a woman who challenged me, not just giggled at every inane thing I said because I might take her to a premiere or might get her face on the cover of my magazine. I think they all knew by now not to hope for much more than that. It had been a long time since someone tried to tie me down. At first, it had been freeing, having it out there that I was unavailable, but then it was just lonely. And Will was one to talk. He was lucky enough to find the best girl in the world and snap her up in high school. He and Callie had been the definition of relationship goals and would still be going strong if she hadn’t died in that damn accident, along with my father. I often heard my dad’s voice in my head as well, when the alcohol and the women stopped working.
Work-life balance, son. I want you to be as proud of your achievements as I am, but always remember that work isn’t everything.
He’d found that, even after my mom left us. He dated a series of nice women, had his charities and Will’s kids to keep him busy when he semi-retired from the magazines in our publishing empire. He was truly someone everyone admired and looked up to, and I could never be like him. Especially not now that he was no longer around to give me advice and pep talks. I knew he wouldn’t want me to be so miserable, and neither would Callie. I thought time would heal my grief if I could just keep hanging on, but a year and a half after the plane crash, it seemed to be worse instead of better. But all I could do is what I’m good at, and that’s running the magazines my dad left me. I’d been working at New York Style and Life since I graduated college, now editor-in-chief, and it’s my baby. The other two are smaller regional lifestyle magazines that I check in on once in a while, but mostly run themselves. The only time I feel halfway normal is when I’m trying to improve what my dad worked so hard for all his life. My older brother Ben checked out for a year, unable to work at all, but I just went harder.
“Do you need another coffee before we start the interviews?” Alfred’s stern but calm voice dragged me out of my hungover stupor.
I cleared my throat and shoved aside all thoughts of my utterly failed evening. Try as I might, the infuriatingly beautiful and elusive Marti wouldn’t leave my mind. My ego took a real hit, and worse, I felt actual disappointment, like she might have been the one Will had been trying to get me to find.
“Yeah, I better,” I croaked. He was back with a steaming cup of black coffee in seconds and I felt my childish bad mood about striking out with Marti turn onto him. “You’re way too young to retire. You’re going to hate it.”
He chuckled and held up his phone, scrolling through pictures of his grandchildren, his smiling wife, and the Florida beachside home he was about to move to. “I’d wager I’m going to like it just fine.”
As soon as I had a little more caffeine in my system, I took the sheaf of resumés from him. “Who do you think will be the best candidate?” I asked. Not for the first time, I wondered how I was going to get along without him.
He shook his head. “They’re all qualified and experienced and have already been vetted by Lisa in HR, so I advise you to just pick the one you think you’ll get along with the best.”
I grumbled. “We hardly get along at all,” I said. “And you’re the best assistant I could ever ask for.” Damn it. Now I was getting maudlin.
“That’s kind of you to say, but it won’t work. Shall I call in the first one? His name is Ivan, he’s got twelve years of experience and has also worked in publishing. Recently moved from California.”
I barely listened, and unfortunately for Ivan, I knew right away we’d never be a fit. He was far too polite for one thing, which led me to believe he wouldn’t always give me honest answers if he thought I wouldn’t like them. The next was a woman straight out of college who’d assisted her uncle at their family business since she was a teen. The only reason I could think of that she might have made it to interview with me is that she was utterly sweet and charming. She’d end up breaking one of the windows and chucking herself out of it after a week with me. I couldn’t destroy her spirit, so she was also a no.
After two more, I could tell Alfred was a little concerned. “Do you think any of them were really suitable?” I challenged. “Not just qualified, but suitable?”
He slowly shook his head, but nodded hopefully toward his copies of the resumés. “Next we have Violet Shandy. She worked as an executive assistant for the CEO of Meteoric Marketing for the last three years. Her references are glowing.”
If they were so glowing, why wasn’t she still working there? I was already writing her off in my head, frustrated by the bad candidates and lack of sleep. Plain frustrated that I still kept thinking about Marti.
“Bring her in, let’s get it over with,” I sighed.
I did a double take when she walked in, her dark hair pinned back instead of sweeping her graceful neck. Her curves weren’t on display in a clingy club dress but still noticeable in office attire. The dark purple skirt accentuated her lush hips and her fitted white blouse hugged her full breasts.
What the hell? Marti?
I did another double take at her resumé, but it said Violet Shandy. I had to be mistaken, addled from my hangover. But it was her, all right. She had been emblazoned on my mind since she blew me off last night, and her look of shocked horror told me she recognized me instantly as well.
