AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Detrick rises to his full height, clicking his tongue at me as he shifts in his navy suit to gesture towards my office. He adjusts the baby pink tie at his throat and folds his arms across his chest. “The gorgeous Italian who told me he didn’t need an appointment to see you. He said you were expecting him.” Detrick furrows his brow. “And I thought, ‘No, no. Bexley Hastings doesn’t make appointments,I do.’ Yet I do not know this man. Did you go to a bar and have hot sex with a stranger and forget to mention it?”
My mouth gapes open in shock. “Are you serious right now?” I glance back towards my office but I can’t see inside of it. “Is there really some Italian man in my office or are you messing with me?”
“Serious as a heart attack,” he informs me.
I blink several times trying to come up with a list of anyone I know who could possibly fit Detrick’s description but keep coming up blank. I don’t know any Italian men. “Maybe we should call security?”
“Absolutely not!” Detrick admonishes. “That man is far too gorgeous to be ushered out of the building by mall cops.”
Oh jeez, I can already tell he has a crush. Detrick is a whole level ofextrawhen he spies someone attractive. “How about you ask him out and escort him out of my office?” I offer.
He gives me a pitying look. “Bex, that man does not walk the same way I do in life, trust me.”
Sighing, I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Alright. How about I see who this mystery man is and send him off to whoever he’s actually looking for, because it’s certainly not me.”
“He asked for you by name.”
I give him a bland look. “You’re really not helping the situation.”
Detrick smiles, brushes off his suit jacket and turns to walk me to my office. It feels more like a jailer leading me to the gallows. Once we’re close enough for me to spot the stranger, my heels dig into the floor.
Absolutely not. This can’t be happening to me right now. “Do I have a meeting right now? I think I have a meeting,” I blurt out, trying to backpedal away from my office.
Detrick stares at me like I’ve lost my mind. “You don’t have a meeting until three this afternoon. Pull yourself together, woman.”
Do I want to be a rational adult right now? No. No, I do not. “How about you tell him I’m swamped and you’ll take a message.”
Detrick raises a black eyebrow. “Did you actually go out and have mind blowing sex and catch a guy with your magical vagina?”
“I don’t have a magical vagina!” I sputter.
“If I knew this was the type of commentary that goes on in an office, I would put my desk closer to my employees.” The smooth, rich burn of his voice lights up every nerve ending in my body.
Shutting my eyes out of morbidity, I pray that when I open them, the vague glimpse of the man I saw will disappear. After several seconds, I reopen my eyes to see my world fall at my feet.
“What are you doing here?” The words are choked out. The indigent tone I’m going for falls flat.
Thorin offers a polite smile to Detrick. “I see she still closes her eyes when she wants people to disappear.”
My lovely assistant smirks at me. “It rarely works for her. I didn’t catch your name before.”
“Thorin Ravenscroft.”
Detrick’s eyes light up. “The hotelier?”
Thorin smiles tightly. His jaw is sharper, lined with scruff from not shaving his beard. His dark, almost jet black hair is stylish and short. Mocha eyes stare back at me with a mixture of curiosity and resignation. “The very one.”
“And you know Bex?” Detrick prompts before turning to me. “Are you writing a speech for him? Do I need to schedule more appointments?”
“No,” I say at the same time Thorin says, “She’s helping me with charity work.”
Detrick nods slowly like our mixed answers make perfect sense. “Bex is wonderful with charities. You won’t be disappointed in her.”
“You don’t have to talk him up about me.” My annoyance rings clear as I speak to Detrick. “Trust me, Mr. Ravenscroft doesn’t particularly care.”
“That’s a lie and you know it,” Thorin interrupts before Detrick can say anything. “I was hoping we could be cordial about this.”
I shrug and move around him to go to my desk. “That wasn’t part of my agreement.”
