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“Murray street,” I repeated in a clipped tone. If I wanted her life to be easy, I would have sent her down a speedy elevator ride to the cafeteria.
She swallowed and lowered her phone. “Okay.” Her voice lost a little bit of its chipperness, but she soldiered on. “What would you like?”
I rattled off an insane amount of ingredients I wasn’t even sure were possible since I only ever drink my coffee black. Then I added a croissant, knowing this place didn’t make them. Let her work that one out on her own. Her face stiffened a little but didn’t fall.
“I’ll be back as soon as I can,” she said. Jed tried to talk to her again as she passed his desk, but she was in too much of a hurry to fill my demands.
I waited until I was certain she had already gotten the coffee and would be looking for the nearest bakery for my croissant when I called her. Alfred had already been kind enough to add her into my phone, and she was starred as the first contact.
“Ms. Shandy, I’m sorry, but I forgot to tell you about my meeting this morning.”
“Okay?” she asked. I could hear street noise and I smiled to myself. “I’ll be back in about ten minutes, on my way with your order right now.”
“I meant that you’ll need to get them drinks as well.”
“I’m about five blocks from the Roastery already,” she said. “Could their coffee come from the cafeteria in the building?”
If she had been sniffling or had the slightest trace of tears in her voice, I might have caved, but she sounded irritated.
“I’ll need another of the same order,” I said firmly. God knew I couldn’t remember what I told her to get. “And another croissant. Actually, better get two more croissants, she might bring her assistant.”
After a very brief silence, “Are you certain the assistant won’t want a coffee as well?”
“Good thinking,” I said. More for her to carry. “I already don’t know what I’d do without you.”
I ended the call and then called down to the head lifestyle editor and told her I wouldn’t be at the morning meeting, but I was sending my new assistant to take notes.
“There’s a lot for this one, Eli,” she said. “Fall issue? I think you should try to make it.”
I knew what my magazine was doing from the bottom up and was already aware of most of the pitches for the fall issue, our biggest and best selling.
“Sorry, can’t. Just make sure Ms. Shandy gets me all the notes. She should be on her way down to you now.” I quickly updated my online calendar and smirked.
After that bit of sabotage, I moved her desk so a glare from the bank of windows would fall across her computer screen and hid her stapler in the bottom drawer, making a mental note to have her make a bunch of copies of something and be sure to staple them together for me.
Did I feel like an asshole? A little. A childish jerk? A lot. However, I was almost certain my need for revenge would work its way out of my system soon.
Violet hobbled in on her stiletto heels about twenty minutes later, her hair tousled and her camisole slightly pulled out of the waist of her tight skirt. I’d sent her on a twenty block wild goose chase and she still had a determined smile on her face. She actually looked prettier when she was a little mussed up. If only I’d done the mussing. Her smile grew more sincere when Jed jumped up to take the coffee and bakery box from her. My own smile at her success melted clean off my own face.
She shook off Jed’s chivalrous offer and brought everything into her office where she set it up on the sideboard which was behind her desk before I moved it. She blinked at the new set up, then shook her head as if she was misremembering. I felt a stab of guilt, not wanting her to think she was actually going insane.
“I thought you might get better light over there,” I said, waving toward her desk. “Alfred always complained this corner of the room was dark.”
“That’s nice of you,” she said a bit breathlessly. After she handed me my cup and set everything down, she lowered herself into her chair. Once behind her desk, she surreptitiously eased one of her shoes off and rubbed her heel.
“You might want to wear more sensible shoes in the future,” I said, taking my disgusting milkshake in a coffee cup into my office. It would be a cold day in hell before I drank such sugary sludge.
“That’s a good idea,” she said with a grimace. “When will your first meeting arrive?”
“They actually canceled. You can go ahead and drink the other coffee if you like. Maybe someone in the writer’s area will want the other one.”
It looked like her spirit might have left her body, and she eagerly tore into the bakery box and took a lusty bite of croissant. I couldn’t watch her enjoy it, especially when she licked away a stray crumb and sighed happily, and stalked to my office, slamming myself into my chair. Work. I actually had work to do.
She brought a croissant in to me, leaning over to place it on my side of the desk. I felt my eyes about to pop out when it looked like her delicious breasts would fall completely out and the hint of black lace bra made me have to adjust myself in my chair. God, she was gorgeous. She flattened the edges of the napkin and smiled at me, blinking those lashes once again. There was no way she wasn’t doing this on purpose. If she stayed leaning over like that, I was going to bend down and nibble on that creamy flesh, croissants be damned.
Saved by the bell, my office phone pinged. I leaned back and raised my eyebrow at her. She should have intercepted the call if she’d been at her own desk and not in here trying to see if she could make me bust through my pants. In a panic, she reached over and answered my phone.
“Mr. Crenshaw’s office.” She then handed it to me, her face red. “Serena, lifestyle editor.”
