The office I occupied was one of them, and I’d decorated it in dark tones to match. Besides my desk, there was a seating area and a conference table as well as a coffee station with a state-of-the-art machine sitting on it.
I hadn’t really stopped to think about it for a long time, but it was a large space for one person. “I spend a lot of time here and I needed it to be big enough to cater to versatile needs. I can do some business behind a desk. Other times, it needs to be done around a table and sometimes in a more informal setting over a cup of coffee.”
“Which one of those options does our meeting call for?”
“It’s before seven on a Monday morning. We need coffee. Have a seat on the couch and I’ll make some.”
“Thank you.” She moved over as directed and ran a hand across the brown leather surface of the seat after sitting down. “This is incredibly soft. Is it designer?”
I nodded. “My interior decorator will know which one if you want me to find out for you.”
She snorted. The sound was so soft that I barely heard it over the hum of the coffee machine doing its thing, but it was loud enough that I heard it.
I turned to her. “Something funny?”
“Yes.” The corners of her eyes crinkled on a sardonic smile. “The fact that you think I can afford an interior decorator or even one of the cushions of this couch. The tips I made on Friday weren’t that good.”
“It must have been your objection to groping,” I said with a grin. “If it hadn’t been for that, I’m sure you’d have had enough money for at least the cushion.”
She shrugged one shoulder. “If it means having to be groped, I’m okay without the cushion.”
“I hear you.” A shudder ran down my spine as I imagined what she must have gone through. It wasn’t something I’d given much thought to before meeting her, but I’d had some time over the weekend. “I feel like I need to apologize on behalf of my gender.”
“Don’t. There are plenty of women who act the same way. It’s not the gender’s fault. It’s just because they’re assholes.”
“You’re refreshingly open and straightforward,” I said as I picked up our mugs and offered one to her. “Is it because you’re American?”
She rolled those navy-blue eyes at me, but there was laughter in them when they met mine again. “Yes, it’s got to be that. On the other hand, it could just be my personality.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I took a seat across from her, then almost instantly regretted it when I realized it meant facing her bare, toned legs for as long as this meeting lasted.
Her dress came down almost to her knees, and she was sitting with her legs together, but there was still that enticing gap between the fabric and her skin. Knowing where that gap ended and how easy it would be to lift the material up to get there would be a problem if I kept letting myself think about it.
Now who’s being an asshole? Grow the fuck up, idiot.
“Speaking of what you had in mind,” she said. “What exactly do you think you could use me for around here? I appreciate that you’re giving me a chance, but it seems like a big risk for you to give out your card to random waitresses and tell them you have a job for them.”
I felt my eyes grow wide in surprise, but then a chuckle ripped itself free from my chest. “I don’t give my card to random waitresses. Only to you, and the longer you’re here, the more I realized I was right to have done it.”
“Why?”
“Let’s just talk a little, shall we?” I sat back in my chair and blew steam across the surface of my mug. “To be honest, I don’t know in exactly what capacity I can hire you. I’ll need to know a little bit more about you to make that call. What skillset do you have?”
“I can pick up most things pretty easily. It depends on what you need. I’m good at languages, math, admin…” She trailed off. “Lots of things really. What might you need?”
“I don’t know yet, but I’m thinking in the direction of client relations. I think you’d be good at dealing with people. People who don’t grope you anyway. I need someone at my side who is a liaison of sorts.”
“Liaison?” She frowned. “What for?”
“To talk to my clients. I think you could help me the most by just talking. I like the way you are, and I think you will be an asset to the team. People aren’t always comfortable with me, and they often don’t trust what I’m saying. They think I’ll say anything to get what I want and they’re not always wrong.”
“If I work for you, wouldn’t they think the same about me?”
“Maybe, but I think you would call me out if I needed it, and I also think people will pick up on that quite fast. You’re approachable, direct, and you don’t take any shit. That’s an attitude that’s hard to hide. Clients will learn that about you and that’s why I think they will grow to trust you.”
“You know all that about me from less than an hour of conversation in total?” She didn’t look like she believed me at all.
I’d gotten that reaction a lot. “I’m good at reading people and situations. It’s served me well in the past. Just like the clients will learn to trust you, I’ve learned to trust my gut.”
“And that’s what your gut is saying about me?”
I nodded. “The bigger the company gets, the more I’ve felt like there’s a gap between what I say and what people hear. It’s like I embody the company sometimes,
