There wasn’t a sound between us as Alicia quietly refilled our cups and then left.
For a moment, I thought I was going to be reprimanded for talking back. But then Thomas suddenly gave me a taste of his first, genuine smile.
“Viacom it is.”
The rest of the evening passed quickly. He was visibly impressed by my tenacity, and I was flat-out blown away by his brilliance. What would have taken a team of people the better part of a month to do, we had halfway finished by nightfall. Not only were we amazing work partners, but we’d already developed a bit of a shorthand that had both of us hiding secret smiles.
“Did you already go over—”
“Done, it’s in the pile.”
“What about—”
“I was debating between the second Wednesday or Thursday of every month.”
“Make it Thursday.”
I typed at the speed of light. “Why Thursday?”
“Wednesday is national karaoke day in Hong Kong.”
I nodded along and kept typing before I suddenly paused. “Wait...what?” I looked up to see him grinning widely over the rim of his mug. “Very funny,” I breathed, deleting the last line.
“Stay sharp, Miss Harks.”
I shot him a sarcastic grin and gulped down half my mug of caffeine before returning to the computer. “I’m actually surprised you’re not grilling me on the price of Chinese milk. You asked me about every other question.”
The air between us chilled a bit as we both remembered his behavior at the presentation the previous morning. For a moment, he looked at me speculatively, then he set down his mug.
“Do you know why I was so hard on you at the meeting?”
Because, like his brother, he got a sadistic thrill out of messing with people?
I kept this opinion to myself and silently shook my head, still looking fixedly at the computer screen.
“Minutes of those meetings get sent to my father. I was impressed, Miss Harks. I knew he would be too.”
My fingers froze mid-word, and I stared at him from across the table. “Is that true?”
“Which part?”
I shook my head quickly and looked down, a bit overwhelmed with the profound compliment I’d received. “Well, I’m...I’m glad that...” After a few seconds, I finally looked up and said plainly, “Thank you for doing that.”
He nodded graciously, fixing me curiously in his gaze. “This job means a lot to you, doesn’t it?”
I sighed softly and returned to my typing. “I’m risking everything to be here. But that’s what you do, isn’t it? When you want something? You risk it all.”
A very strange look passed over his face and he nodded slowly. “Yes. You do.”
Alicia came back up about an hour later to tell us that the shop was closing down. We packed up the table, and Thomas graciously helped me back into my coat as we headed out into the freezing New York air.
“So what are your plans for the rest of the evening?” he said politely.
“Are you kidding?” I smiled, holding up the briefcase. “I’ll be working on this the rest of the weekend.” A cab pulled around the corner at the far end of the street, and I took a step away from the curb, lifting my hand pre-emptively.
“All by yourself?” Thomas asked with a frown. “They assigned you the whole thing?”
“Well, Jamie and Patti are working on different parts—and of course, legal and PR has their say as well—but yeah...I’ll be writing the rest of it.”
And on that note... I turned back to him as the cab pulled up to the sidewalk.
“Thank you very much for helping me out today,” I said sincerely. “I might actually get a little sleep tonight.”
“Any time,” he replied, as I threw my things into the cab. “I only wish I could help you with the rest. I know how much more there is to do.”
“Hey,” I laughed as I climbed into the car, “if you want to come to my apartment, be my guest. I could always use an extra set of hands to help me finish.”
Oh my gosh.
I could always use an extra set of hands to help me finish?!
Was there a way that could have sounded more sexual?!
A little smile froze on his face as he lifted his eyebrows. Even the cab driver glanced back in the mirror and gave me a low whistle.