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“What?” she says.
“You know why you’re here?” I’m conscious she’s probably embarrassed about the poem.
She nods and looks at her feet. Christ, she’s actually shaking.
I walk forward so we’re only a couple of feet apart, and duck my head to try to catch her eye. “Honestly, it wasn’t that bad. I found it funny more than anything.”
“Funny…” She looks up at me then. Her eyes are the color of the summer sky outside—a vivid blue. “I… don’t understand.”
“It was just a poem. Okay, it was a bit risqué, but even so…”
“A poem?” She looks completely bewildered.
I reach into my top pocket and hand it to her. “It was stuck between two shelves behind my desk. Gus nearly ate it.”
She takes it from me and opens it up. Her expression is so comical it would have made me laugh in any other situation—her jaw drops, and her eyes widen as if I’ve just told her the King’s coming to visit.
She lifts her gaze to mine then, and her face turns the color of the baby tomatoes on the platter. “Holy fuck.”
That makes me laugh. “You look surprised. Why did you think I called you here?”
“I thought…” She swallows hard and glances around. “I wasn’t sure. I thought maybe I’d broken something last night.”
“Please, come and sit down before you fall down.” I put a hand under her elbow to guide her to the table by the window, mainly because I want to touch her.
Reluctantly, she walks forward to one of the chairs and perches on the edge. She nods when I gesture at a water bottle, and I open it and pour it into one of the glasses before doing the same for myself. “Help yourself,” I say, taking one of the sandwiches and eating it in one go.
She doesn’t. Instead, she glances at the piece of paper in her hand, then stuffs it into the pocket of her trousers. “I must have dropped it when I took my phone out,” she mumbles. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.” I eat another sandwich. “It made my day.”
Her lips twitch, but she puts a hand up to her face, covering her eyes for a moment. “I can’t believe I did that… What must you have thought?”
“I was just worried the janitor wrote it. He’s sixty-four, bald as a coot, and missing his two front teeth.”
She laughs at that and lowers her hand. “I think I owe you an explanation.”
“You don’t have to explain anything. But I have to say I’m very interested to hear what you have to say.”
Her eyes meet mine again, and she gives a mischievous, shy smile. Wow, she really is something.
Chapter Three
Sidnie
My terror is just starting to die down.
I nearly didn’t come to the office. I was on the verge of buying a ticket to Alaska and leaving on the first plane.
Even though Dodie reassured me that apparently the CEO wanted to return something I’d dropped last night, I checked my pockets and couldn’t think of anything that was missing—I’d completely forgotten about the poem. I was convinced he was going to say he’d checked the security cameras and caught me snooping. I half expected to find the police waiting for me, ready to whisk me down to the station.
Instead, I find myself having lunch alone with this young billionaire.
We’re sitting at the glass table by the sliding doors, which are open, letting in the summer sunshine. Gus comes over to me, and I bend to fuss him for a moment as I gather my wits. He’s a beautiful-looking dog with his soft strawberry-blond hair, and his big brown eyes are to die for. As I stroke his ears, he lays down, then rolls over onto his back and puts his feet in the air.
“I’m guessing you have that effect on a lot of men,” Mack says, leaning back in his chair with a smile.
“Not quite,” I reply honestly. I have a hopeless track record where guys are concerned. But I’m not about to admit that to him.
