Arrogant Boss

“Come on, he’s a techie! What else would he name his hypothetical dogs?”

“You have a point. I bet she named her dogs things like Velvet and Sunset.”

“There you go,” Denise smiled. “And if he turns out to be a two-timing scumbag? Well, then you were smart to put up boundaries in the first place and you keep doing what you do best-kick ass at work.”

“You’re the best friend a girl can have, you know that right?”

“I know. It’s on the card you send me every Galantine’s day.”

“Only because it never stops being true.”

Her eyes shifted to something behind me, widening in surprise. “Oh Michael’s coming! Must be quiter in the kitchen now.”

I smiled at her flushed cheeks and glanced over my shoulder. A tall, slim man in a chef’s outfit was making his way around the tables, nodding occasionally to guests as he passed.

He just grinned at Denise when he arrived, and she at him.

“Hi.””Hi there.” Denise cleared her throat. “Um, this is Emily. I’ve told you about her.”

I extended my hand. “Hopefully all good. Are you the one we should thank for all this delicious food?”

He grinned. “Yes. I’m Michael. I’m sorry I couldn’t come out earlier, but it was really busy. We almost had a full house tonight.”

“That’s great!” Denise said. “I’m just glad you could slip away for a moment to say hi.”

“Did you enjoy the lasagna?”

“Absolutely.”

“It was divine,” I added. “Sublime. Perfect. I might actually need to get a thesaurus, that’s how good it was.”

He laughed again and put a hand on Denise’s shoulder. They looked good together, like two matching pieces of a puzzle. He was all calm competence in comparison to her lively exuberance.

“I’ll come have a seat with you as soon as service is over and we can chat for a bit. It should be after you’ve had dessert.”

“We’ll see you soon!” Denise smiled soppily after him as he left.

I grinned at her and waited for her to finally turn back to me. When she did, there was clear warning in her eyes.

“Don’t say it.”

“What?””I know I turn into a lovesick fool around him.”

“You do, but I’m very happy that you do.”

“Thank you.” She reached over and put her hand on mine for what had to be the third time that night. And here I thought I was doing well! “You’ll be that happy too one day, Emily, I know it.”

I didn’t let my smile falter as I looked at her.

Oh yes, I would be happy soon indeed-as soon as I could give Julian a piece of my mind.

My former step-mother’s announcement had made an already terrible day about ten times worse.

She just had to meet. She had vital information about Ryan.

The truth was that she was just impossible. Why my father had chosen to marry her after divorcing my mother had always been somewhat of a mystery to me, despite the fact that I could see that she had some obviously attractive qualities. She was an excellent cook and she’d always doted on my younger brother.

But you don’t indulge a son who was twenty-one years old and regularly ended up all kinds of trouble. If it wasn’t with law enforcement, it was broken bones and crashed cars. I’d tried to talk to her about Ryan for nearly two years and everything I’d said had fallen on deaf ears.

As long as he knew he could always run to her for more money and a free beach house to party in, nothing was going to change.

Father had left her more than enough in his will to sustain her for the rest of her life, without the need to ask me for money. This, too, was something I had made clear to her on more than one occasion. It wasn’t that I couldn’t, it was more the principle of the thing. Like how we couldn’t talk without a three-hundred-dollar bottle of champagne at one of Palo Alto’s fanciest restaurants.

Yeah. Like I said-impossible.

Worst of all was that I’d been forced to cancel my hard-earned dinner with Emily to handle the step-momzilla. Emily had responded pleasantly to the rain check, but I hoped she wouldn’t use this as some sort of excuse to spook.

I’d understand it if she did.

This job was a major step for her, which was something I respected. Getting involved with me must look like a surefire way to complicate things. I knew I had to make it clear that it wasn’t-I’d never hold anything personal against her professionally.

It helped that I was 99% sure she was attracted to me. Hell, she even admitted that she threw the game of pool to ensure I’d win the weekly out-of-office meetings. I’d suspected it at the time, but It still made me feel ten feet tall when she confirmed it.

The problem? I just wanted her. The more time we spent together, the more I had a suspicion that Emily Giordano might be just what I’d always been looking for.

She was clever and kind, and more real than anyone I’d met in a long time. If I had to wait until she realized that I could be the same for her, I would do just that.

Meanwhile I’d take every opportunity to talk to her. She was only two floors down, a short elevator ride away. On my way in to work the next day I was thinking it would be so easy to go there just to draw out one of her wide smiles. But I knew she wouldn’t appreciate that, not at work. I could respect that.

So I settled on texting her from my office.

Julian: Sorry again about yesterday. Hope you didn’t miss me too terribly.

But the response was a long time coming, which was weird compared to how rapid-fire she’d been the past week. I found myself glancing at my phone far more often than I would have wanted that morning until she finally answered me.

Emily: I guess you had more important things to do.

I frowned. So she was annoyed that I had to cancel.

Julian: Family emergency, unfortunately.

Emily: Sorry to hear that. Hope nobody was terribly hurt?

God, how easily her mind drifted to the morbid.

Julian: No, nothing so drastic. Are you free tonight? I’d like to make it up to you.

Emily: I can’t tonight.