Chapter 10

Oliver

This last month had been one of the most productive I’d ever pulled off in the history of my career. I had my nose so close to the grindstone it was in danger of getting scraped. I practically had to be wrestled from my office at the end of each day so the cleaning service could get in and get their job done.

I knew it wasn’t good for me to work as hard as this, but the sweet smell of success was an intoxicating reason to go on. I’d forgotten how it felt to be challenged like this, to have to plan carefully and strategize every move I made to ensure that it was drawing me closer to landing the Masterson account once and for all.

They were a British company and, as such, they were somewhat old-fashioned. This was unusual for a tech firm, but I could work with it. I only had to tweak my attitude to make sure I wasn’t coming off too hard or “American” for their liking.

I would do anything to get them on board. I’d be looking at an expansion for the company that would take us from a solid, national brand into a dominating, international one.

Neil was right though when he said we didn’t need it right this second, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to try to chase it down if I could. Landing something like this now would be a big win any way you sliced it.

I also knew, with absolute certainty, that I couldn’t have come as far as I was now without Mona’s constant support both professionally and as a friend. I had never had an assistant even half as good as her, one who seemed to anticipate my every move and work around it to make sure I was getting the most I possibly could out of every single work day.

This was a woman who knew how to strategize, one who knew how to work hard, fast, and efficiently, and she was applying all that knowledge with great effect and with a confident and calming disposition.

She didn’t seem to mind coming in before the crack of dawn to cover the dozens of emails I’d have from my overseas correspondents. She didn’t bat an eye when I requested she stay late as I finished up calls from people across the world so she could organize my schedule for the next day. She had done an incredible job of making sure that no one got too ticked off at me for putting the rest of my life on hold to chase down this account.

I often heard her on the phone, talking calmly but firmly to whomever was on the other end of the line and laying out the facts for them in that professional but aggressive tone that let them know that she understood their concerns but wasn’t going to give in to them, not for anyone.

In fact, sometimes I found myself sitting there listening to her, glancing up at the ceiling and letting the smooth sound of her words wash over me like an incoming tide. It was so refreshing. Almost soothing.

She would accompany me to meetings now, too. Not all of them, but it was useful to have someone there with me who was a little less sleep-deprived, someone who could fill me in on details I might have missed in my overworked state. She was there to offer me the information I needed in a competent, confident tone. I could have listened to it all day.

Her contributions to the company were definitely not going unnoticed.

“How long has she worked here now?” Neil asked, jerking his head toward Mona’s office, which was currently empty as I’d long-since sent her home.

It was a Friday night, and though she’d offered to stay in as long as it took to get everything done, I’d practically chased her out with orders to get some rest and forget about office-related stuff for a few days. She had reluctantly left, making me promise to go home at a reasonable time that evening and not to spend the rest of the night refreshing my email to see if anything new had come in.

“I think a couple of months or so?” I said, doing the math in my head. “Why?”

“She’s…” Neil looked over at the office, as though she might walk out of it at any second. “She’s good, that’s all. Really good. I think she’s a major asset to the company.”

“Yeah, she’s a pro,” I agreed, fondly, feeling a small swell of pride, even though her being hired here had nothing to do with me. “I’m glad to have her around. Keeps me on track when I feel like I’m getting buried under it all.”

It had taken Neil a while to come around to the concept that I was going after the Masterson account, but in the last week, he finally agreed it seemed like the best course of action, especially when he saw how damned close I was to landing it for good.

I could see that glow in his eyes. He had started coming down to my office more regularly for updates on how things were progressing. He was as excited as I was, and I couldn’t say I blamed him. This could be huge for us if we pulled it off. Enormous.

“Yeah, you might need to slow down a little,” he remarked, but he he knew it was falling on deaf ears.

I didn’t play those kinds of games. I was either all in or all out, and right now, there was nothing he could have done to yank me from the roll I had found myself on.

“Good luck with that,” I said, grinning.

Neil paused for a moment before he spoke again. I could see the cogs turning in his brain as he thought about the best way to phrase whatever it was he needed to get out.

“What is it?” I demanded.

“You’re spending a lot of time with her,” he replied. “Nothing’s happening, is it?”

“No!” I exclaimed, a little too defensively.

He raised his eyebrows at me, and I rolled my eyes.

“Seriously, Neil,” I said again, this time making sure to keep my attitude in check, so he didn’t have any reason to doubt me. “I know how it looks to you, but nothing like that is happening with us. You really think she’d look twice at someone like me?”

“Yes,” he responded, bluntly, catching me off guard.

I took a deep breath and continued.

“I’m too busy right now to think about pursuing anything with anyone, let alone Mona,” I assured him. “Nothing’s happening, nothing’s going to, either. Is that good enough for you? She’s worked here for weeks now, and there hasn’t been a hint of anything. I don’t know what else I can do to convince you.”

“Okay.” Neil eyed me again, suspicious. “Whatever you say.”

“You want a drink?” I asked, changing the subject and turning to the small drinks table behind me. “I could sure use one.”

“Hell, yes,” he agreed, and soon enough, the two of us were shooting the shit about our time in college, all talk of Mona forgotten.

He left after one drink and a good hour of conversation, and I returned my attention to the screen in front of me, and paying no attention to the nagging, little voice at the back of my head that was telling me I should have left for home hours ago.

The conversation Neil and I had shared about Mona was still thrumming around my head, and I couldn’t shake the thought of her once again. That was why I had picked up this fucking account in the first place, to get my mind off her. I hadn’t accounted for the fact she was going to turn out to be one of the most painfully efficient assistants in the history of the company, and that meant spending even more time around her than usual.

How on Earth was I meant to keep my attraction to her on the down-low when I spent what felt like every minute of every day in her company?

I wanted her more than ever. The more she showed herself to be competent and controlled when it came to business, the bigger and stronger my attraction grew. We still exchanged those looks, those moments, those little dashes of desire that neither of us could verbalize. I was telling the truth when I said nothing had happened, but I wasn’t sure if I could honestly say that nothing ever would.

I made my way into her office, almost without realizing I was doing it. The place smelled lightly of her, and I felt a little creepy for even recognizing what her scent was. I couldn’t help it, though. It felt that, despite my best efforts, I’d absorbed this intimate knowledge of Mona – how she smelled, the way her eyes scrunched up when she smiled, and how she yawned while tilting backward so she could stretch her back that got sore working in that chair all day.

I brushed my hand across the back of that chair, imagining what if would be like if she were here. She would turn to look up at me and give me that bright, beautiful smile, maybe ask if there was something I needed or something she could do.

And maybe this time, instead of asking her to shift around a meeting or switch up a schedule, I would tell her the truth – that she was the only thing I needed, that all of this was only an attempt to distract myself from her and how utterly and completely perfect I was sure we’d be for each other if we just gave things a chance.

But I needed to hold myself back from this as best I could. Even if it hurt, even if every fiber of my being told me it was wrong for me to fight these feelings.

I walked out of her office, and without missing a beat, scooped up my coat and headed straight for the stairs. I didn’t want to be here anymore, not without her.

Jesus. I hoped she had a better grasp on her self-control than I did because things were bubbling over inside of me and I didn’t know how much longer I could hold off.