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He checked himself in the mirror and then snatched the agenda where he’d written a few notes. Then he left his office and snagged coffee in the small break room.
In the main office area, Thomas walked right up to Lorena’s desk. He set his notes on the corner, took a deep breath, and noisily let out an exhale. He was waiting for her to pull her eyes away from the screen and give him her attention.
Apparently, he was not important enough anymore because she was taking her sweet-ass time to look up from the computer screen and address him.
“I guess having the boss walk up to your desk with an agenda isn’t as important as staring at whatever it is you are ogling on your computer screen,” he said to her.
“Actors do that, you know?” she replied.
“Actors ignore their bosses?”
“No, silly. Actors get a pump going.”
“Here we go again,” he told her, rolling his eyes. “I thought we were past all this.”
“Actors, especially in B-movies, do pushups or something similar right before a performance. It gives them a pump, and it hopefully makes them look better.”
“You are funny,” he told her. “We have a lot to cover. First, I want to dictate the agenda. You can record it and store it in our shared cloud. Then I will highlight the specifics I need you to cover.”
Lorena didn’t answer. She did exactly as he asked. Her fingers moved fluidly over the keyboard. She was efficient.
He felt so wild being next to her. She was an untamed summer wind. She smelled like jasmine, cinnamon, and hints of vanilla. Her scent drove him crazy as he sat next to her. He sensed elegant power in her body. The smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks was really hard not to stare at.
“You are kind of staring,” she told him after a few minutes of him dictating and her typing.
“I beg your pardon,” he fired back.
“You were. You were kind of staring just a minute ago,” she confirmed.
“No, I wasn’t.”
“Uh, yes, you were.”
He didn’t answer right away. He looked at his watch in a way that would flex his chest, which was still broad. He could feel her watching him. This confirmed his theory that she stared at him plenty every chance she got. She was better at not getting caught than he was. That was the deal.
“I am going to dictate one last letter. Then I have some conference calls. I will come back out when it’s time for lunch. It’ll be on me if you are hungry.”
“Lunch?” she cracked.
“Yes. You know, the noon meal that happens between breakfast and dinner for most people.”
“I know what lunch is,” she huffed. “I am a bit surprised, that’s all.”
“Are you surprised that I eat lunch?”
“What I mean is, you showed up late. Then you did pushups, then you hit me up out here with some flirty game that may have worked on women back in the seventies. And now you are talking about your lunch break. I am surprised you get any work done at all.”
“I’ll be back out in about an hour to see if I can bring you anything whenIgo to lunch.” It had been a bit of a struggle not to smile or laugh at her sassiness. “I also want to make sure that you eat properly.”
“What?” she asked, her eyebrows raised. He could tell she was playing up the shocked and appalled vibe. “Do you know how chauvinistic that sounds? You better clarify what you mean by that so I don’t get more offended than I already am.”
“It’s trendy these days, especially among women, to not eat enough. A way to keep the figure. Instead of eating real, good food.”
“Oh, really?” she answered back. She turned in her seat halfway through saying this and then put her hands on her hips in a reading-him-the-riot-act posture, purposely misunderstanding his comment. “See, I didn’t know that about women. I bet you know a lot of helpful tips that help women keep their, as you say, ‘figure.’ In fact, I have always worn a bikini. The kind that ties at the hips. Quite frankly, I was getting a little worried, but I can relax now. You set me straight. I should stop eating real, good food and get my bikini body back.”
Thomas couldn’t suppress a smile at Lorena’s feistiness. He could hear the rumble of his inner lion snarling with excitement, longing, and approval.
“I love how we have a lot in common,” he replied. He purposely stayed obscure about what he meant.
