Too late. I’m here already.
With a great deal of hesitation, I lifted my hand to knock.
After a brief pause, a deep voice echoed from inside, “Yes? Come in!”
I smoothed the borrowed dress one final time, said a silent prayer, then did as I was told.
Robert was behind his desk, the poster child of professional posture as he sat rigid in his chair. In that moment, he was a far cry from the man I remembered, the wild child lounging carelessly on a blanket and gazing up at the stars.
His eyes widened slightly when he saw me, but then he quickly ambled to his feet, trying his very best to keep his gaze from straying anywhere beneath my chin. “Miss Jones?” he greeted politely. “What can I do for you this morning?”
So his memory’s not totally screwed, I see, if he still remembers my name when we met at the office.
Even his voice was different, his vowels stiff and his consonants clipped, without even a hint of that playful sparkle I remembered from our interlude.
“Actually, Mr. Cross, I’m here about someth
ing I hope to do for you.” I then reached into the bag, smiling, and pulled out a pastry with a dainty hand. “Since it’s only my second morning, I decided to transparently bribe all the higher-ups with a little breakfast. Would you care for one?”
His eyes locked on the sweet thing as I held it out in the air between us. “What is it?”
My smile faltered for a moment as I glanced down as well. Is he serious? Not only was it the exact dessert he’d fed me, but Madison had even gone to the trouble of making sure Susan went all the way across town to the same French restaurant. My gosh, the same damn logo is on the damn bag! I silently fumed.
“It’s...a crème puff,” I said with a bit of forced cheer, trying to rein in my frustration with the complete disconnect. “I have a feeling you have a bit of a sweet tooth.”
His face blanked as he stared first at me, then at the bag in my hand. “Oh. Well, uh...thank you for that.” He strode forward with a brisk smile on his face and took it from my palm, making sure to wrap it in a napkin as he did so. “Consider me bribed.”
My smile seemed to soften him, because this time, when his eyes swept over me, they lingered for a moment on certain parts before returning to my face, carrying the hint of an actual smile. “I didn’t get a chance to eat breakfast, so thank you.”
“I hope you like Crème puffs.” My blush intensified as a little grin crept up the side of my face.
He grinned.
It’s working! He’s finally starting to come around. Madison is a freaking genius.
I reached into the bag to pull out a puff for myself, then leaned back on the desk beside him, shooting him a look from the corner of my eye. “Thanks. I hoped you’d like it...the dress, I mean.”
His smile froze, and his eyebrows lifted in surprise. “You hoped I’d like it?” With a little frown, he scooted a few inches away. “And why is that, exactly?”
A cold chill swept over me as my hand froze halfway to my mouth. What the hell kind of game is he playing? There’s no one else around for miles. Enough already!
Before I could answer, he rushed out, “Listen, I know I signed up for one of those undercover sexual harassment sting operations. You were obviously hired to test that sort of thing out on my employees, not on me. And they were supposed to put you in as a secretary, not a partner.”
“I wasn’t hired for that, sir.”
“Is this an undercover show?”
Sexual harassment sting? He thinks I’m trying to trap him? Do I look like Chris Hansen’s protégé, like some actress on To Catch a Predator? Does this idiot really think I’m some kind of HR spy on a mission for women’s rights in the workplace?
“What the hell are you talking about?” I demanded, finally losing my temper as the wall between us fell away. “Look, Robert, I’m all for playing games, but honestly, you’re starting to make me feel like I’m going crazy or something. Here you are in your big, fancy office, your million-dollar suit, acting like you don’t remember—”
“Acting like I don’t remember what?” he countered, just as exasperated as me. “Della, you seem like a nice girl, and I’m can’t lie about the fact that I find you...incredibly attractive. Nonetheless, I have no earthly idea what you’re talking about.” He set the pastry on his desk and quickly closed the space between us. “The business about our names, that necklace you keep toying with, and now this odd, unexpected breakfast... You seem to think we’ve met before, that something happened between us, but I don’t—”
Just like that, a dollop of crème decorated his perfect face.
There! Maybe that will help you remember.
Chapter 12