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Chapter One
Livia
“What about Saturday night?”
I know I should pretend I need to check my schedule, but who am I kidding? For Cole Shepherd, I’ll make myself available. Not that I’ve got anything planned. But if I did, I’d cancel. Who wouldn’t for the most handsome man in the building… possibly in the entire city?
He’s just over six feet tall, with dark blond hair, cute dimples and the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. I should know. At this precise moment, they’re gazing right at me, and a smile is twitching at his lips as he tilts his head, waiting for my reply.
“Saturday is great for me.”
I don’t mention the fact that it’s only Monday morning, and it seems a little early in the week to be making plans for the weekend. Maybe he likes to be organized. Who knows? Who cares?
It can’t be that he’s keen. We’ve both been working here for over six months, and this is the first time he’s made a move. It’s actually the first time he’s spoken more than ten words to me.
Cole’s one of the product designers who works on the third floor, while I’m the personal assistant to the CFO, two floors above. We met on my first day here, which also happened to be his, and which was probably the last time he spoke to me at any great length, when he did his best to put me at ease, sensing how nervous I was as we rode up together in the elevator. Little did he realize it wasn’t the prospect of starting my new job that was making me anxious. It wasn’t even that I’d moved to Boston from a small town in Maine, and was terrified of being on my own in a big city. Both of those things made me uneasy, but what was really getting to me was being in the presence of perfection.
It’s been the same ever since. Whenever he wanders past my desk, I find myself staring, wishing he’d do more than nod in my direction, or drop me a smile.
That’s why it was such a surprise today, when he walked by, then stopped, and doubled back, coming around to my side of the desk to ask if I’d like to have dinner with him… as though I’d be the one doing him a favor.
“You’ll need to give me your address,” he says, pulling his phone from the back pocket of his pants.
“My address?”
“Yes. How else will I know where to collect you from?”
He’s going to call for me? I’d assumed he’d expect me to meet him somewhere, and I wonder how I’m going to get out of this…
“The thing is, I don’t live locally.”
He frowns. “Where do you live then?”
“Allston?”
His frown changes to a grin. “So… a ten-minute drive. It’s hardly the moon.”
I guess he has a point, and I smile back, feeling a little foolish.
He tilts his head, waiting again, and I remember I need to give him my address, hoping the next five evenings will give me enough time to tidy my tiny apartment. Saturday itself will be spent entirely on preparing myself for an evening with Mr. Perfect, so I’ve only got until then to get the apartment ready. Of course, that’s assuming he’ll want to come up, rather than wait outside for me, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.
He finishes typing my address into his phone and looks up at me again. “And your number?”
“My number?”
“In case I get held up. A gentleman should never keep a lady waiting.”
I smile, nodding my head and recite my cell number, while thinking about the fact that he’s a gentleman. Of course he is. How could he be anything else?
With any luck, that means he’ll be tolerant of my inexperience… my innocence… my total lack of knowledge, when it comes to men.
Hopefully, his expectations for our first date won’t be too high, either. I’m envisaging drinks, dinner, lots of talking and gazing into each other’s eyes, holding hands, and maybe a kiss at the end of the evening. Anything more than that would be beyond me. I might daydream about Cole all the time. I might even dream about him occasionally, but I want to get to know him properly before we…
“I’ll pick you up at seven.” His voice breaks into my thoughts and I blush as I realize how presumptuous I’ve been in assuming that he’ll even want to kiss me on our first date, let alone do anything else.
“O—Okay.”
He smiles down at me and steps away from my desk, winking as he moves back around it and disappears down the hall, and I almost slide off of my chair to the floor. I grip the arms, holding myself steady, and let my head rock back, unable to control the grin that forms on my lips.
