Chapter Nineteen
After a spectacular weekend spent mostly naked with Landen Weber, I walked into work Monday morning with a spring in my step. I was definitely feeling good. A session in Landen’s sauna followed by a swim in his amazing pool had relaxed me tremendously. Not to mention more orgasms than I could count.
I had never enjoyed a weekend like that with a man in my life. Sure, I’d gone on short trips with past boyfriends, but by Sunday night, I was usually more than ready to get home because I wasn’t used to having someone in my space twenty-four hours a day. I usually found it exhausting.
That wasn’t the case with Landen. Yes, he exhausted my body, but he didn’t annoy me. Not truly. I wasn’t counting the bickering we did because it felt fun, a light verbal sparring that made me feel alive rather than mean-spirited. We talked and laughed. A lot. We also sat around and did our own thing, even though we were in the same room. He had some work to finish up on Saturday morning, so he sat on one end of the couch with his laptop while I stretched out on the other side and alternated between watching television and reading a book with an app on my phone.
It rained until around noon then the sky cleared. It was humid and hot, the perfect day for a swim. So after Landen’s work was finished, we went skinny-dipping in his pool, which ended with me sitting on the edge of the pool while he went down on me. Though he had neighbors, the neighborhood he lived in had huge lots and none of the houses were close enough to have a clear view of the backyard.
Though I did have to work at muffling the sounds I made when he brought me to orgasm.
Then Landen had carried me into the house because the condoms were all upstairs in his bedroom.
Lunch consisted of fruit, cheese, and slices of roasted chicken. We consumed all of this while lounging naked in his bed. It felt decadent.
Sunday had gone along the same lines, only Landen didn’t touch his computer or phone all day. I had his undivided attention and I found that I loved it. We argued and debated about a variety of topics. This bickering invariably ended with us back in his bed.
When I’d gone to bed alone in my apartment on Sunday night, I felt oddly bereft. In just two days I’d become accustomed to having Landen next to me, his arm wrapped around me or my body draped over his back.
But even sleeping alone didn’t dim my good mood on Monday morning. I unlocked the office, disarmed the alarm, and went about turning on the lights and making a cup of coffee. I was twenty minutes earlier than usual, having woken up before my alarm, feeling refreshed and energized.
I carried my mug to my desk and settled in my chair. As I turned on the computer and waited for it to boot up, my cell phone rang. When I saw Landen’s name on the screen, I couldn’t suppress my smile.
I lifted it to my ear. “Good morning.”
“Good morning to you too,” he replied. “You sound…perky today.”
I made a face even though he couldn’t see me. I was in a good mood, but perky had never been an adjective I’d associated with myself. “Well, I had an awesome weekend.”
He chuckled in my ear. “I’m feeling perky today myself.”
I rolled my eyes but didn’t reply. I discovered this weekend that while Landen could be intense, sexy, and serious, he also had a bit of a dorky side. I doubted he would agree, but I thought it was cute. I liked seeing glimpses of it.
“Unfortunately, I got a call this morning that dampened that a bit,” he continued. “I have to go back to Oregon this week, this afternoon in fact. I’ll be there until Saturday or Sunday, maybe even longer.”
I frowned. “I know things aren’t okay so I won’t ask that, but is the situation getting worse?”
He sighed. “Yes and no. With law enforcement involved, it’s likely I’ll be going out there regularly until this is resolved. They need more information and my cooperation.”
“Are they still considering you a…” I trailed off, unsure of how to word my question.
“A suspect?” Landen supplied. He chuckled, but it was dry and held little humor. “No, definitely not. But they need my compliance to complete their investigation. And I want to be there so my employees know that I am doing everything I can to fix this. Any kind of criminal investigation is bad for company morale.”
I choked back a laugh at his words because I shouldn’t find them funny. Unfortunately, that was me. I found humor in the most inappropriate things. So much so that Yancy once sent me a meme that explained it perfectly. It was a Venn diagram with two circles. One was labeled Things I Find Funny, the other Reasons I’m Going to Hell. They were very nearly superimposed over one another, meaning that most of the things I found humorous would likely result in a one-way ticket to Hell. I’d laughed uproariously at the graph and nearly printed it out to hang up in the kitchenette in the office, but I figured Chris would draw the line there.
I heard the smile in his voice when he said, “I want to see you when I get back.” Clearly, Landen didn’t mind my tendency to laugh at things that weren’t funny to anyone else.
For a moment, I flashed back to a few weeks ago when he disappeared without a word. Since we talked it out, he’d texted me a few times a day and called regularly. Not daily, but often enough that I knew he was thinking about me.
“Okay,” I murmured.
“And I’ll keep in touch,” he stated.
I smiled and knew he would be able to hear it as well. “That would be nice.”
“Well, I don’t like to make the same mistake twice.”
My smile widened. “Good to know.”
“I have to go.”
“Okay. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Bye, Chelsea,” he murmured in my ear, his voice warm and deep.
I liked the sound of him saying my name. Maybe too much. “Bye, Landen. Have a safe trip.”
A few moments after we disconnected, the door to the office opened and Chris came in. I noticed that he too had a lightness in his step and knew that the honeymoon phase still wasn’t over for my newlywed boss and my best friend. He wasn’t smiling but he definitely looked relaxed.
Though I didn’t want to think about the details, it was still nice to know that Lucy was happy and made her new husband happy as well.
Chris glanced over at me as he walked in. “Good morning, Chelsea.”
“Morning, boss,” I replied. “Did you have a good weekend?”
“Definitely.” His response was firm and I had to bite back a grin. Then he stopped and looked at me. Really looked at me. “You look relaxed for first thing on a Monday morning. I take it your weekend was good.”
I couldn’t suppress my smile then and nodded. “Very good. Thank you.”
Before he and Lucy became engaged, Chris never would have asked me that question. He would have entered with a grumbled good morning and gone straight back to his office rather than stopping in front of my desk for a quick chat.
That was the effect that Lucy had on him and I had to admit it was a good one. Chris would never be open or charming, but he was no longer as stoic or harsh as he once had been.
“I’m free until ten, yes?” he asked, jerking me out of my thoughts.
I nodded.
“Good. Grab your coffee and tablet and meet me in my office. We have some things to discuss.”
Curious, I did as he asked, stopping briefly in the kitchenette to make another cup of coffee.
When I entered, he was already seated at his desk, his laptop open in front of him. I set my mug on his desk and opened the note app on my tablet so I could take notes of our conversation to refer to later.
I looked up and found Chris studying me, his body leaned back in his chair and his hands folded over his abdomen.
“I need you to put out an ad for an executive assistant,” he stated quietly.
My stomach dipped, hard and fast, and I swallowed reflexively. Oh shit, was he about to fire me? “I’m sorry?” I squeaked.
He shook his head. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have led with that.” He straightened. “Look, we’re swamped and I’m sick of working ten and twelve-hour days all the time. I need someone else to handle some of my consultancy work and, honestly, I think you’d be a good fit for it. You’ve been a tremendous help over the last year and you’re more than qualified. Too qualified to be my assistant. Therefore, I’m hiring another assistant and promoting you to Vice President with the option to buy in as a partner at a later date.”
My fear vanished as I gaped at him. A promotion? “I’m sorry?” I repeated, my voice still little more than a squawk.
Chris grinned and it freaked me out a little. The man never ever smiled like that. Well, at least not at me. He smiled at Lucy regularly, but she was one of the only ones who could elicit such a response from him. Sometimes I’d get a lip twitch, maybe even a small grin, but that was about it.
He leaned forward, resting his clasped hands on the desk. “Chelsea, you and I both know that you are overqualified for your position. I know that being my assistant isn’t a cakewalk, but it’s something that anyone with a few years of corporate experience could do. You have good instincts, you have a degree that you haven’t utilized, and I know from the year that you’ve worked here that you’re reliable. You could easily share my workload and we would both work less in the long run.” He relaxed once again as he continued, “Plus you’re one of the few people that don’t annoy the shit out of me.”
I smirked then because I would have believed him in the beginning if he led with that statement. I took a deep breath and studied him, my thoughts whirling. He was offering me my dream. I loved working with him. It was a challenge and he always appreciated my contributions. He might be taciturn, but he was never unreasonable. He never yelled or threw tantrums as my old boss had and he never took credit for my ideas, even in front of clients.
Though Lucy would probably disagree, I thought he was a good boss. I imagined that he would be an even better business partner. Well, when I had the money to buy in, that was.
“Okay, what’s the first step?” I asked. My grip tightened on the stylus in my hand to keep my fingers from visibly trembling.
“Well, you need to put out an ad for an assistant. We’ll interview them together. Though I’m tempted to let you deal with that alone, I want to be sure that they can handle dealing with me.”
“Dealing with you?” I asked.
“Did Lucy ever tell you about the day she came in to interview?”
A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. “A little.”
Chris shook his head, the lines around his mouth softening just a bit. “The candidate before her ran out of here in tears. When she came into my office, she immediately stated that she didn’t think she would be a good fit, for that very reason.” His gaze lowered to the platinum band on his finger, the one Lucy had placed there when she recited her wedding vows. “I think I fell in love with her then and there. She was the first applicant who actually had a spine and a brain in her head.”
I drew in a soft, deep breath, not wanting to interrupt his reverie. After a moment, he blinked and lifted his gaze to me.
“You’re damn good at your job, Chelsea, even better than Lucy.” He shot me a sharp look. “And if you tell her that, I’ll deny it until my last breath.”
I grinned and nodded. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Good.” He tapped the top of his desk with the tips of his fingers. “Now, go put the ad together and get it up this afternoon. I’ll speak with my attorney and we’ll get the ball rolling on the contracts and other paperwork. We’ll also talk salary and other benefits in the next couple of days.”
Since I couldn’t string a sentence together, I nodded again. I probably looked like a damn bobblehead, but my brain was racing a hundred miles per hour and I couldn’t latch on to a single word amongst my teeming thoughts.
After so many years of remaining unacknowledged and underappreciated, I finally had an opportunity to not only prove myself but to accomplish something worthwhile.
I wanted this, fiercely and deeply, but it also terrified me. If I failed, then it wouldn’t affect only me. It would affect Chris, and by association Lucy, and the enormity of that responsibility was intimidating.
As I left Chris’ office, I took a deep breath and released it slowly, imagining all my doubts and worries escaping with the air in my lungs. If I envisioned failure before I’d even begun, then failure would be the result. I had to remain calm, confident, and focused because success was my only option.
“You look…relaxed,” Tanya commented.
I glanced at her briefly before returning my gaze to the menu in my hands.
After my talk with Chris that morning, I’d spent some time drafting the job listing and downloading it to several sites. Then I’d struggled to concentrate on the accounts Chris was currently handling until lunchtime. I paid extra attention to the information in the files since it was likely I would take over a few of these clients once I’d hired and trained my replacement.
I’d completely forgotten about lunch with Tanya and Grier until she called me at noon and asked, “Where are you?”
It was just the three of us today. Yancy was working from home since her daughter, Carolena, was ill with a cold. Carolena had cystic fibrosis and even a “simple cold” was never simple. It could easily result in a hospital stay for the little girl.
“You aren’t the first person to tell me that today,” I murmured.
“So why exactly are you so relaxed?” Tanya probed. Her expression was knowing and her tone sly. She understood exactly why I appeared so loose.
“I had a nice, quiet weekend.”
She blinked at me. “I thought you had a date with Landen on Friday.”
“I did.”
Her expression fell. “Oh.”
She looked so disappointed that I relented. “But I didn’t say I spent the weekend at my apartment.”
Tanya’s eyes lit up before shifting to Grier’s phone as it buzzed frantically against the table again. With a sharp sigh, Grier snatched the device up and shoved it in her purse. I could tell that Tanya wanted to ask her if there was a problem, but she wisely kept her mouth shut and looked at me once again.
“You spent the weekend with Landen?” she asked.
“Yep.”
Her eyes narrowed when I didn’t expand on my answer. “Well, how was it?”
“How was what?” I asked innocently as I glanced over the menu. It was all for show because I knew exactly what I wanted to eat. We came here so often I had the lunch items memorized.
Tanya tapped the top of the menu with her finger. “Hey, now. Spill.”
I groaned quietly and laid down the plastic page. “It was great.”
“What was?” she prodded.
Damn, this was the reason she was a good lawyer. She could dig information out of your very soul if she wanted.
“The weekend.”
“The sex or everything else?” Her eyes narrowed further until they were barely slits. Normally it would have been an intimidating look but now that her baby bump was getting big enough that she waddled, she no longer scared me. Much.
“All of it,” I replied softly. “It was one of the best weekends I’ve had with a man. Ever.”
Her squinty look vanished and her eyes widened at my response. “Ever?”
I nodded. “It was…” I trailed off. I wasn’t sure how to express my thoughts in verbal form. I sighed before I continued. “It was nice. We talked, he cooked for me, we spent time together outside of the bedroom and I don’t mean having sex on the couch. For a few hours he worked and I read a book and we barely spoke. And it wasn’t awkward or weird in any way. Usually, by Sunday night, I’m ready to have my own space back but I was sad when he dropped me off at my apartment. Well, not sad, but—” I stopped speaking because I wasn’t sure what I truly wanted to say.
“You missed him,” Tanya stated.
“Yeah, I missed him. After just two nights together, I had trouble falling asleep when he wasn’t next to me.”
She smiled wistfully. “I think that’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said.”
I scowled at her. “It is not. I’m sweet all the time.”
I looked to Grier for help, but she just shook her head. “No, you’re spicy,” she argued. “It’s fun and I like your candor, but you’re not overly sentimental.”
I had to shrug then because I knew she was right and it would be useless to argue.
In the brief silence that followed, we could hear Grier’s phone buzzing again.
“Who is that?” Tanya asked in exasperation. “And why won’t you answer it?”
Grier’s expression darkened in a way I’d never witnessed before. She didn’t look pissed exactly. It was more a mixture of irritation and frustration, but she was so laid back that I rarely saw her looking anything other than serene or amused. It was a bit disconcerting.
“Nothing. Nobody,” she muttered.
I had my suspicions about who it might be but it was up to Grier to share with us if she wanted. I wasn’t going to push. Pushing her too hard to share would only make her clam up even tighter.
Tanya studied Grier for a prolonged moment and I could practically see the gears turning in her mind. Then she seemed to come to the same conclusion I had because she turned toward me once again.
“So when are you going to see Landen again?” she asked.
I could feel the corners of my mouth turn down automatically. “I don’t know. He had to go out of town this week.”
“Hmm,” Tanya hummed.
I knew what she was thinking. The last time Landen had gone out of town, I hadn’t heard from him for over a week. Considering how often he called or texted me since then, I doubted this trip would be the same. Still, I didn’t say anything because there was always a chance I was wrong.
Once again, Grier’s phone buzzed in her purse, interrupting the silence. I watched in surprise as my usually placid friend grew visibly frazzled and annoyed. Pink tinged her cheeks and her eyes narrowed.
“Excuse me,” Grier said, her voice tight. “I have to take this.”
Tanya and I both watched as she withdrew the phone from her purse and got to her feet.
As she stalked away, her long, wavy brown hair swaying behind her, I saw her lift the phone to her ear and say, “I told you that I needed time to think.”
The rest of her words were lost because she was too far away and the buzz of conversation at the tables around us was nearly a dull roar.
Tanya and I looked at each other and I knew my expression likely mirrored her speculative one.
“Man trouble?” she asked.
I shrugged. I wasn’t sure, but I also wasn’t going to discuss Grier’s love life behind her back.
Tanya leaned forward. “Look, I’m not going to pry, with either of you.” I snorted and she glared at me. “Okay, well, I’ll pry with you because I know you don’t mind, but I won’t do that to Grier. I just want to know if she’s talked to you about whatever’s going on. Everyone needs at least one person to confide in when they have problems.”
“We’ve talked about it a little,” I replied.
“Okay, that’s good. That’s all I wanted to know.” Again, I gave her a look and Tanya laughed quietly. “Yes, I would love to know more, but I know Grier isn’t like you or Lucy. She’s introverted and private. I think she finds it difficult to share personal stuff.”
“I think she’ll be okay,” I assured Tanya.
“Are you doing okay?” she asked instead of responding to my statement. “Beyond the new boyfriend, I mean? Though that is strange enough. You and Landen used to butt heads more than anyone I’ve ever seen and now you’re getting along so well.”
She was right. It was odd how well Landen and I got along now that our interactions had become romantic rather than strictly professional.
“Chris is giving me a promotion,” I stated. “Or he will be after I hire and train my replacement.”
“What?” Tanya cried. “That’s great! What will your new job title be?”
Grier returned to the table at that moment. “New job?” she queried, looking a little less stressed than she had a few minutes ago.
“Chris is giving Chelsea a promotion!” Tanya stated, her voice carrying across the restaurant.
As people turned to look at us, I leaned forward and hissed, “Tanya, please don’t yell. People are staring.”
“But this is a big deal!” She clapped her hands, looking nothing like the sophisticated, intimidating woman she usually appeared to be. “This calls for champagne!”
“You can’t have champagne,” I deadpanned. “You’re pregnant.”
“It doesn’t matter. You and Grier can have some. I’ll have a virgin Bellini or something. This calls for a celebration.”
“You don’t even know what my new position will be,” I drawled, unable to resist giving her a hard time. “He might have created an glorified office manager position for me.”
Tanya raised her brows. “Is that your new position?”
Unable to contain my smirk, I shook my head.
“Well?” she prompted.
“He’s making me Vice President of…something. He didn’t give me the exact title, just that I would be taking part of his workload. With a significant raise and more benefits.”
A smile spread over Tanya’s face. “That’s fantastic news!”
“Congratulations, Chelsea,” Grier chimed in, though much quieter. The darkness had vanished from her features. “You deserve it.”
I sighed. “I just hope I can do a good job.”
Tanya reached out and grabbed my hand. “I’ve known you for three years now. I have no doubt that you’ll do an excellent job. You are too intelligent and capable to be an assistant. This is the type of job you need to be doing. Something that challenges you on a daily basis.”
Some of the nerves jangling in my stomach eased at her words and the sincere expression on her face. Tanya was a straight shooter. There was no way she would tell me something like this if she didn’t absolutely believe it was true.
“I guess we’ll see.”
Our server arrived at the table at that moment, responding to the little wave Tanya had given him a few moments ago. As Tanya ordered the champagne and a virgin Bellini for herself, I smiled.
I had great friends.