06

I probably shouldn’t have gone so far and called my boss a shameless skirt-chaser without brakes but instead of getting offended, he just let out a long-drawn sigh and shook his head.

“I’m never going to rise above your current estimation of me, am I ?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Does it matter if you do ? You’re the one who makes the big decisions around here. You don’t have to please anyone.”

The look on his face was brief but surprisingly honest in its frustration. “That wouldn’t be an accurate statement at all. I’ve got more people to please than you might think.”

I studied him for a moment, gauging the sincerity of his words, and somehow understood. Not a lot, probably just the tip of the iceberg, but I gleaned a little bit of the surprising depths to Luke Hedenby.

It rattled me a little because I had no business knowing that about him. It felt too intimate, that glimpse into him, even far more intimate than seeing him naked.

It was time to take a back up a step into a safe distance again.

“Fair enough,” I said. “But I strongly suspect I’m not one of those people so you don’t have to reassure me that you’re not all that bad.”

A corner of his mouth pulled up, the clouds in his eyes clearing quickly. “I do want to reassure you. I’m really not that bad.”

“More like detrimental,” I retorted, giving up my fight against his stubborn insistence. “Detrimental to my perfect attendance record and my reputation for always meeting the dress code and my finely-tuned skill at not standing out in a crowd.”

That sobered him up. “Did you get into trouble this morning ?”

My first instinct was to snort and tell him what a hellish morning I had—being late for the first time in my life and getting chewed up into pieces by Theodora about it and then getting put on the spot in front of a few hundred employees. But at the concerned frown on his face, the words couldn’t make it past my mouth.

“Nothing I can’t handle,” I told him after too long a moment, shrugging lightly.

He studied me with sudden intensity I wouldn’t have counted on about Luke before he lowered his eyes at my deplorably wrinkled outfit, a smile softening his face. “I don’t think your clothes survived getting drenched though.”

I glanced down at my blouse with a sigh. “Well, they never did come advertised for water-related activities so I can’t say I’ve been misled.”

“Join me for lunch,” Luke blurted out as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him to say next. “We can step out, get something to eat and replace your clothes.”

My eyes widened. “Is that what you called me up here for ?”

“Yeah. That and to apologize,” he said, looking slightly puzzled. “What did you think I called you up here for ?”

I bit my lip. “Um, well… I thought… I thought you were, um—that you’re firing me.”

His brows shot up in surprise. “Fire you ? And why the hell would I do that ?”

“Because I tore a strip off you this morning,” I explained in exasperation. How could he not figure this out ?

“You were perfectly justified in doing so,” he answered with a roll of his eyes. “I wasn’t particularly proud of myself this morning—much less so to one of my employees.

His frustrated expression seemed genuine. The way he was pulling at his hair again seemed like an unscripted gesture of his confusion. And he looked adorable doing it.

Stop it right there, Max. You are so not going in this direction.

“You know that you can do pretty much anything you want and my opinion of it won’t matter much, right ?” I asked, lifting the cup of coffee again to take a sip so that I didn’t have to look at him. “This is the real world. Us, employees could like or dislike what you do all we want but it’s your personal business at the end of the day.”

His mouth curled up into an almost ironic smile. “I may be cavalier, Max, but I would like some respect. I do’t bandy around my personal affairs but they always seem to make it to the press and that’s bad enough. I don’t have to throw it in people’s faces.”

At his statement, I felt even more begrudging respect for the man. I sighed. “Your secret is safe with me, don’t worry. Although with the number of people who saw you this morning, I may not be your only problem.”

“To hell with everyone else,” he muttered before squaring his shoulders, his face lighting up. It was perturbing how adept he was at boxing everything in so neatly you would think they were never there. “So, are we going or what ? I’m free until twelve-fifteen. If we’re going, we’ve got to get moving.”

“I don’t need new clothes,” I protested even as I consciously fingered the crinkly edge of my blouse. “These just need to be thrown into the laundry and properly dried. All I need is my coat back. It was a gift from my grandpa.”

“Really ?” he asked with a teasing grin. “I didn’t realize it had sentimental value. I’ll have it cleaned and returned to you asap.”

“Thank you.” I picked up the white mailing envelope I’d tucked under my arm and handed it to him. “Here’s your money. I can’t accept it so please, take it back.”

He stared at the envelope for a long time, his forehead scrunching up.

“I’ll only take it back if you allow me to replace your clothes,” he said, glancing back up at me with a stubborn glint in his eyes. “Come on, Max. It’s lunch and shopping. You’ll be perfectly safe with me.”

I felt a thrill at the casual way he said my name, and yes, it’s usually a bad sign when a woman starts thinking that. But I couldn’t help it. I didn’t really notice it earlier when he said it somewhere in our banter but the hint of teasing in his voice just now brought out a sense of playfulness to my name’s shortcut.

“Why do I get the feeling you mean the exact opposite of that statement ?” I said dryly, ignoring the sudden dryness of my throat which a big, final gulp of my coffee didn’t help.

His grin was boyish. “Can’t say why you’d ever think that. Now, come on. Grab your purse or whatever and I’ll meet you out front, okay ?”

My lips pursed. “I really don’t think it’s a good idea. Imagine the things people will think.”

He matched my frown with one of his own. “I don’t waste time wondering what people will think when I know perfectly well what really happened.”

“Convenient if you don’t have anybody daring to ask you,” I shot back, stashing the now empty cup into a small dishwasher under the snack bar. “I can’t go to lunch with you, Mr. Hedenby. It courts all sorts of trouble.”

He groaned a little. “Please call me Luke, and if anybody asks, tell them I’m doing informal interviews of some employees about engagement—see what everyone thinks of the new direction. I’ll even go spend five minutes each talking to a handful of employees to make it credible. That’ll provide you with a cover story and that might actually help me learn something useful.”

I was about to point out that his plan was set to fail but he looked so adamant I couldn’t shoot him down. I smiled. “You’ll have to count Theodora in that handful. Unless she goes through the interview herself, she won’t buy it.”

He grimaced. “If I must.”

I laughed and pressed the envelope into his hand. “Okay, fine. I just need five minutes to grab my purse.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you out front,” he called after me as I made my way to the door. “I’ll be waiting in the car. You’ll know it when you see it.”

Probably has Hot CEO painted on the sides of it.

Just as I was about to reach for the handle, I paused and glanced over my shoulder at Luke who was leaning against the snack bar, his arms crossed over his chest, watching me with a smile.

“By the way, would Peggy like anything ?” I asked. “Maybe we can bring her something. She’s a sweetie.”

Luke’s face lit up. “Eclairs from Pepe’s. She loves them although she hates them for constantly ruining her figure.”

My heart tugged at his animated expression. “You seem to get along with her really well.”

He chuckled. “I better. She was my nanny. She can still set me straight.”

My mouth opened in surprise but he quickly walked over to me and gently placed his hands on my shoulders, steering me out through the door. “I’ll tell you later during lunch. Now, go. I’m starving, Max.”

If I knew exactly what I was doing at the moment, I probably would’ve gone a completely different direct but since the moment Luke Hedenby collided into me this morning, I wasn’t sure of very much anymore.