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Except her boyfriend, Weston, occupied the penthouse, and she spent a considerable amount of time up there. But Elise was Elise, and she made sure we shared at least one meal a day together so I wouldn’t feel abandoned, which I never did.
I was a West-and-Elise fangirl. I didn’t begrudge even a minute they spent together. It didn’t hurt that when he sent Elise flowers, he also sent a small bouquet for me because Elise had once told him how much I liked them.
“Didn’t I tell you?” I shoved an earring through my lobe. “I’m in the marketing department of Rossi Motors. Maybe I’ll finally get to meet the elusive Luca.”
Her hands shot to her hips. “Um, no. I think I’d remember if you told me you were going to be working at Rossi.”
I shoved the second earring through my other lobe, wincing at how painful it was.Note to self: wear earrings more often so I don’t have to draw blood to get them in.
“I only got the call last week, and I was finishing up my last job. One of their marketing assistants had her baby early, so they needed me to start right away.” I twisted back to my reflection. “You never told me if leather is okay. I thought yes since they make motorcycles, but now I’m worried this is a little too on the nose.”
She stood next to me, eyeing the mirror. “You look hot, yet professional. I’m a big fan of the skirt. You know how I feel about your legs.”
I grinned. “The same way I feel about your tits. Too bad we can’t donate a couple inches to each other.”
We’d had this conversation many,manytimes, and I loved that about us. My life was a constant whirlwind of changes, but my friendship with Elise had remained constant for nearly a decade.
“I’ll have to text Luca to look out for you.” Her mouth twisted. “You probably won’t see him, though. He’s pretty much buried with taking over his new position.”
“I didn’t figure I’d be chilling with the CEO, but maybe I’ll spot him exiting his limo.”
Elise laughed. “Luca doesn’t ride in a limo.” Then she grabbed her phone. “I’ll text him anyway, just to let him know you’ll be in the building. If he has time, maybe he’ll introduce himself so you both can finally put a face to the name.”
Luca Rossi was good friends with Weston and Elliot, Elise’s older brother. Stars had never aligned for us, and our paths had yet to cross. Mostly, I was curious about the third member of the “Hot Boss Musketeers.” I’d heard Luca’s name in passing for several years, and I’d always wondered if he lived up to his charm-the-pants-off-anyone reputation.
“Sure. If it happens, it happens. I’ll be there at least a month.” I smoothed my skirt again and nodded, decision made. “This will do.”
My first week at Rossi was everything I wanted in a temp job. Loads of interesting work, good snacks in the break room, friendly coworkers. Since my positions were always temporary, sometimes I found no one could be bothered to get to know me, but that wasn’t the case at this job.
I’d even been invited out for happy hour on Friday.
There were ten of us crammed around a small table on the patio of a bar near the office, seven women, three guys. Someone had shoved me toward Charlie, the single guy of the group.
Not very subtle.
Charlie leaned closer to me, his beer resting on his knee. “Where did you work before this?”
Charlie smelled good, even after a long day. He had a full head of thick, floppy hair and tattooed forearms I imagined stretched into full sleeves beneath his clothes. Thin and rangy, he was perhaps an inch or two shorter than me, which wasn’t a deal breaker in terms of attraction. Charlie was good-looking, for sure, but I didn’t feel any kind of spark of interest. These days, I listened to my initial gut feeling. Charlie was a coworker and a potential friend, but no more.
“A marketing firm, actually.” I sipped my cocktail. “That’s what I went to college for.”
“And you haven’t been able to find a permanent job?”
“No, I have. I’ve found I’m more of a temporary girl.”
He raised a brow. “In all things?”
“So far.”
“Are you looking for something?”
“That’s a good question, Charlie. I don’t really know, but moving on almost always feels right. For instance, I enjoyed my last job, but I like this one more. If I’d settled there, I wouldn’t have gotten to work at Rossi.”
“So, you’re a rolling stone?”
I winked at him, feeling loose from half a drink and a long, happy week. “I gather no moss.”
From my other side, Amelia, one of the leads of the department, asked, “Is that the same with boyfriends? Never settling?”
