Chapter Six
Artimus
The lunch hour had arrived, and I found myself asking Julia to join me for lunch. She didn’t know anyone but me yet, and I thought it wouldn’t be nice to leave her on her own just yet.
She’d sifted through my entire office, finding out where everything was. She’d been crouching, looking under a cabinet in the back of the office. She got up, blowing her bangs as she did. “Whew, okay, I’ve got this room figured out.”
“And now it’s time for a lunch break.” I got up and put the jacket of my suit back on. “There’s a café just down the block. Lunch is on WOLF today, Julia.”
She put her jacket on too, and then we headed out. “This is a nice surprise, sir. Thank you.”
Though I liked that she was being respectful, the sir and Mr. Wolfe thing weren’t sitting well with me. So, I decided to change that up. “Julia, you don’t have to call me by my last name or sir. Call me Artimus. Everyone else does.”
She nodded. “Okay, as long as everyone else does then I won’t feel odd calling you that. Thank you, Artimus.”
Somehow, the way she said my name sent chills through me. I supposed it was that sultry way that she spoke—which she didn’t seem to realize was sexy as hell—that made it sound better coming out of her mouth. “Sure, Julia.”
We made light chitchat as we walked to the café. When we got inside, I spotted Ashton and Nina, another of our employees, sitting together. I leaned in close to Julia to whisper, “Now that relationships will be allowed at work, I have a feeling that these two will come clean about having one. I see them together more often than not.”
A smile lit up her pretty face. “Then it should be fun telling them about the changes, shouldn’t it?”
“It should.” I led her to the table to join them, as they sat at a table for four. “Hey, you two. Care if we join you?”
“Have a seat,” Ashton replied, gesturing to the empty chairs.
“First, let me introduce the two of you to my new assistant, Julia Bengal. Today’s her first day.” I nodded in Nina’s direction. “Julia, these are Nina Kramer and Ashton Lange. She’s in charge of the cue cards, and he produces the news shows.”
Julia shook their hands, telling them how nice it was to meet them both before taking her seat across from me. “I have to say that, so far, everyone I’ve met has been so nice. I’m excited to be working with all of you guys.”
I couldn’t help myself. The words spilled out of my mouth, “And I’m excited to be working with you, Julia. I know this is your first day, but we’ll have to work a bit late this evening to get those changes made and emailed to each one of our employees before the workday starts tomorrow.”
Ashton looked puzzled. “Changes?”
“Some pretty big changes,” I told him, grinning like a maniac.
Ashton and I were pretty close, and he’d never let on that he might think of Nina as anything more than a friend. Sure, he’d had some experiences in his past that might’ve been stopping him from pursuing the woman, but he’d be free of the station’s rules, if that’s the path he wanted to take.
The guy was a hard man to read. In the beginning, he’d told me that he’d had a bad breakup with a woman who had only been after money. For a long time he’d left out that there had been another relationship after that horrendous one. He’d only let me and Duke in on that information last week. And it was that more recent relationship that had really affected him in a bad way.
“How big?” Nina asked me as she sat up, getting very interested in the topic of our conversation.
“Pretty big,” I admitted. “You see, it came to my attention today that the dating rules may be a little too extreme.”
Nina was quick to react. “It’s not that extreme, Artimus. Lots of businesses have that same policy. It is hard to work with someone once you’ve broken up, you know.”
Maybe she wouldn’t be as happy about my news as I thought she’d be. I went on anyway. “It will still be up to each individual whether they think a workplace romance is a good idea or not, but I’m changing the wording of the policy to allow dating between WOLF employees.” I waited for Ashton’s reaction, and when I got none, I began to wonder if the relationship between he and Nina really was only platonic after all.
Ashton nodded. “Did this come about because of Duke and Lila?”
Julia gasped. “You knew about them?”
He chuckled. “Duke and I are pretty close. As a matter of fact, Artimus, Duke and I have become very good friends.” He turned to look at me. “Frankly, Artimus, I’m kind of surprised you didn’t see that coming from him.”
With a shrug, I had to admit, “I just didn’t see it. I suppose I’m not great at reading what’s going on behind the scenes. Anyway, by tomorrow morning, you’ll all have that information in writing in your inbox, and that means Julia and I have a lot of work to do.”
Nina looked at Julia with wide eyes. “Your first day and you’re already working late. Is there a significant other who’ll be waiting for you at home, Julia?”
She shook her head. “My roommate is the only one who’ll be wondering where I am. I’ll shoot her a text to let her know, so she doesn’t worry about me. She’s a bit of a worrier.”
Without giving it a second thought, I told Julia, “Let her know I’ll be taking you home when we’re done. No subways, buses, or cabs for you when you work late. I don’t want anything to happen to you. You’re quickly becoming my right hand, Julia.”
“That’s nice of you, but not necessary. I’d hate for you to have to go out of your way,” Julia tried to insist.
But this was something I wasn’t going to budge on. “Nonsense. I’ve got a driver and a town car, and it won’t be any problem at all. Your safety means more to me than having to go out of my way, anyway. This will be the rule from now on. If I keep you late at work or any one of my homes, then I will see to getting you back home safe and sound.”
She nodded and smiled slightly at me. “That’s very nice of you, Artimus. I won’t balk about it anymore. I can see it’s important to you.”
It was. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I felt like she needed to be protected. As if some instinct was letting me know that there was an unknown force was out there, waiting to grab her and hurt her in some way.
I almost laughed at my absurd thought. I’d never thought of myself as psychic in any way. But there was just something about her that spoke to me, telling me to be good to this person and watch out for her.
Having three younger sisters, I wondered if it was her status as the baby of her family that made me feel so protective. She’d said she had grown up being protected by her brothers, so maybe some older-brother instinct in me was rearing its head to take over that role. Whatever it was, I couldn’t seem to help it.
The waitress came to take our orders, and I let Julia go first. “A salad, Russian dressing on the side, and a water, please.”
That wouldn’t be enough to feed a bird. “And what else, Julia? You’ve got to eat more than just a salad. How about some pasta or pizza? Maybe a cheeseburger?” I couldn’t stand the thought of her being hungry, and I didn’t know how else to try to get her to eat more, because this was yet another feeling I’d never experienced with anyone else.
“I don’t eat many carbs,” she told me. “I wasn’t always this thin. I’ve got to work at it,” she said with a little smile, letting me know she wasn’t bothered by my ham-fisted attempts at trying to get her to eat more. She looked at the waitress. “Can you add a roasted chicken breast to the salad?”
Well, it was better than nothing.
I ordered a burger and fries and began to wonder why Julia seemed to have some body esteem issues. She was perfectly proportioned. Size D breasts, if I was correct, and a thin waist that looked perfect for holding while dancing. A healthy ass, round and perky. I knew I shouldn’t be thinking about her like that, especially with all of my thoughts and rules on workplace harassment, but I just couldn’t help it.
“We’ve got a gym at work,” Nina was quick to point out. “I’ve needed a workout partner. If you exercise, you can eat more of the good stuff. That’s what I do. Not that I’m in prime shape, but my clothes fit.”
“You’re in great shape, Nina,” Ashton was quick to say.
She blushed as she shook her head. “I’m not, but that’s nice of you to say.”
“I mean it.” He leaned forward to look at her and make her look back at him. “Hey, look at me.” She raised her head and looked him in the eyes. “Don’t ever knock yourself. You’re a beautiful woman, and you’re better off if you accept that fact, Nina.”
As I watched their exchange, it was hard for me to determine their real feelings about one another. On the one hand, Nina’s blushing told me that she was attracted to Ashton. On the other, Ashton was acting as any good male friend would, and not anything more than that.
What was even harder was remembering that I wouldn’t have to be so vigilant about watching out for certain things, like my employees getting too personal with each other—as long as it was consensual and above board. With the rule change, I wouldn’t have to monitor them nearly as much as I had been.
And as I looked across the table at Julia, watching her on her phone, I knew it was all because of her that I’d had a change of heart.
While Duke was pleading his case to me, Julia kept drawing my attention. Making me think about not being able to talk to her the way I might want to someday. Touch her the way I knew I wanted to even then. Make her mine in every way there was.
Make her mine?
Since when had I wanted to make anyone mine?
I’d dated plenty of women and never found one of them that I wanted to be around for any length of time. My mother had been on me to find someone and settle down and follow in the steps of two of my sisters. Mom had gone on about how Mandy and Macy had already given them four lovely grandchildren, and she’d always assumed it would be me who would have the first grandchild, and I hadn’t given her even one.
Angela, at twenty-two, was still young enough when they’d passed away to have avoided our mother’s well-meaning nagging about getting more grandkids. But Angela and I were very similar.
We were fun-loving, carefree, happy-go-lucky individuals who were always looking for what was around the corner, instead of checking out what was right in front of us. But now, all of a sudden, I was looking at what was right in front of me. And it made me forget completely about anything that might be around the corner.
The girls were talking amongst themselves, and Ashton leaned over to whisper, “And how’s this new assistant thing going? Is she anywhere near the league of Mrs. Baker?” he asked, referring to my old assistant, who had quit after a health scare.
“Not at all, Ashton.” I caught Julia smiling, and it stirred something deep inside of me. I wanted to see her smile all the time. I’d make sure to try to keep a smile on her beautiful face. “Julia is in a league of her own, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. She’s really the most perfect person to be my assistant. I do believe I’ll achieve great things with that woman by my side.”
He laughed quietly. “You’re talking about her as if she’s your wife, Artimus.”
Was I?