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“And you’ve been so good at it,” Evan said, walking into security. “Hey, man,” he said to Luke, shaking his hand. “How’s it going?”
“Good,” Luke said, “how's things with you and Carrie?”
“She’s going to have the baby any day now, and she’s more than ready. She’s been working half days, trying to take some time for herself before the baby gets here, but it’s driving her crazy. She’s the type who likes to go full speed, every day. I’m just hoping that the little guy or girl gets here before Carrie goes completely crazy and takes me with her.”
Luke and Eli both laughed. He knew how excited his brother was about the baby. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t his by blood. Once he married Carrie, he became that baby’s father. Eli had to admit, he was pretty damn excited about being an uncle for the first time. He planned on being the coolest uncle on the planet—as long as he didn’t have to change any dirty diapers.
A soft knock at the door had the three of them turning to find Mina standing in the doorway. “Um, hi,” she squeaked. “I’m Mina Flores. I’m here to start my first day,” she said to one of the security guards at the door.
“Hey, Mina,” Evan said, pulling her in for a quick hug. “It’s good to see you.”
“You too,” Mina said.
“You remember Eli,” he said. She nodded and held out her hand to him.
“I’m looking forward to working for you, Mr. Kingston.”
“Please don’t call me that, Mina. I’m fine with Eli.”
“Okay, Eli,” she said, releasing his hand.
“And this is Luke Tracy,” Evan introduced. “He’s one of the heads of security here at McTavish.”
“Nice to meet you, Mina,” Luke said. “I’ve heard good things about you from Evan here.”
She giggled, “He has to say nice things about me. I’m his wife’s best friend.”
“She’s not wrong,” Evan said, shrugging. “My pregnant wife will beat the crap out of me if I say anything bad about Mina.”
“Well, I’m very excited to start today,” she said. “I’m looking forward to working for McTavish Industries,” Eli noted that she seemed a bit nervous, but he understood the first-day jitters. He had them too.
“Great,” Luke said, “HR is expecting you both,” he said.
“I’ll take them up,” Evan offered, “I’m going that way.”
“Thanks, man,” Luke said, “good luck you two. If you need anything, just holler.” Eli followed Mina and Evan out of security after thanking Luke and noted the way that she clutched her bag. She was holding onto it as though it was her lifeline. They filed into the elevator and Evan pushed the button for the third floor.
“You okay?” Eli asked her.
“Um, yeah, why?” she asked.
“Because you seem a little bit nervous,” he said, nodding to the way that she was white knuckling her handbag.
“Oh, well, I am a bit nervous,” she admitted.
“I am too if it makes you feel any better. Don’t worry,” he said, “we’ll get through the first-day jitters together.”
“Thanks, Eli,” she whispered. His brother shot him a look and he wondered what that was all about. Honestly, it was the way that Evan usually looked at him—as though he was disappointed in everything that Eli did. He wanted to ask him what was going on, but he knew that now wasn’t the time or place. He was going to get through his first day on the job, and then he’d worry about not disappointing his brother later.
Mina
Mina Flores was sure that taking the job at McTavish Industries was a huge mistake. Sure, her best friend, and former neighbor, Carrie McTavish—well, now Carrie Kingston, was crazy to even offer her the chance, but she had. When she first met Carrie, she was fresh off the plane from Scotland, pregnant, and scared out of her mind. It didn’t help that she had her crazy ex-boyfriend hunting her down, all the way from Scotland, once he found out that she was carrying his baby. Meeting Evan Kingston was the best thing to ever happen to her friend, and now, Mina was going to work for his younger brother, Eli, as his assistant. She had zero experience at being anyone’s assistant and the thought of fetching the boss’s coffee made her want to gag. She had gone to college and foolishly dropped out after three years, not sure if she was on the right path or not. But now, all she wanted was to finish her degree in business management and hopefully aspire to be more than someone’s assistant. It was a good start for her, and it paid well, but she still wanted more.
As soon as she walked into McTavish Industries, the butterflies in her tummy started. She was nervous about seeing Eli again if she was being honest. They were paired together at Evan and Carrie’s wedding, and she had to admit that dancing with him was no hardship. They spent the day together, as best man and maid of honor and she found herself smiling a whole lot more than she usually did, and that had everything to do with the groom’s very charming brother. She liked Eli and when the wedding was over, and he still hadn’t asked her for her number, she started to worry. Maybe he didn’t feel the same way about her. Hell, maybe he had a girlfriend or wife even, who couldn’t make it to the wedding. She just assumed that he was single, and now, she was getting herself all worked up over the same man again. But this time, he was going to be her boss and not just some guy that she was supposed to dance with at her best friend’s wedding. This time, she shouldn’t be wondering what he looked like naked or if he was a good kisser because she was pretty sure that HR would have some rules about that.
After the polite introductions were made, she tried to will herself to calm the hell down, but nothing seemed to be working. And God, when Eli dipped his head in the elevator to ask her if she was okay, she knew that she was a goner. He smelled as good as he had the day of the wedding. Of course, Mina lied and told him that she was just nervous and hearing him admit that he was too melted her defenses a little bit. She needed to get herself under control if she was going to get through the rest of the day. The very last thing she needed was for HR to pick up on some vibe she was giving off about Eli. She had liked guys before and had to be around them as just friends. She’d find a way to do that again because she needed this job if she was going to save up the money necessary to go back to college and complete her degree.
She and Eli spent most of the morning in HR, filling out paperwork and watching some boring videos about company policies and rules, and regulations that she was already thinking about breaking by asking Eli out for drinks tonight. She was even coming up with some stupid speech about needing to celebrate their first day at McTavish—but the problem still remained of her not knowing if he was single, and the only way that she’d be able to know was if she called and bothered her very pregnant best friend. Carrie would tell her for sure if she was about to make a fool of herself.
