Page 35 of The Fix Up

She seemed to hesitate, then sat down on the opposite side of the desk and folded her hands in her lap. “So have you had a chance to look over the rebranding plan I sent over yesterday?”

“I did. You really think we can cover all those bases in time for the presentation?”

“I think so. It might mean a few late nights here and there, but—” She bit her lip, and Ben watched the tips of her ears turn pink. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Like what?”

“Late nights and—never mind.” She sighed. “Look, I have to level with you, Ben. This feels awkward.”

“How do you mean?”

“You’re a smart guy. Is that a real question?”

“Not really,” he admitted, grinning. “I just wanted to hear you say it.”

“Fine. I’ll say it. Having you make me come my brains out was mind-blowing, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it. But that’s the problem.”

“How is that a problem?” he asked, trying not to gloat.

“Because I need to be focusing on how to make you a better CEO. You hired me to do a job, and it behooves us both to stay focused on the task.”

“What about the point you made about unleashing my inner ‘strategic-thinking, alpha male businessman?’” he asked, and watched her flush again. “I think what happened between us was very helpful toward that goal.”

“Right. I can’t argue with that. You definitely showed some—initiative.”

Ben rested his palms on the desk and watched Holly’s blush deepen as her gaze dropped to his hands. “Initiative,” he said. “Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”

“Ben, seriously?—”

“Hey, I’m just reminding you what you said about me needing to become a take-charge sort of guy.” He grinned, reveling in the chance to banter like this. It wasn’t often he voiced his thoughts so clearly. Holly was a good influence in more ways than one. “The bedroom’s a pretty good place to practice. Or the living room floor. Or up against a kitchen counter. Or?—”

“I don’t disagree, Ben,” she said, clearing her throat. “And yeah, I enjoyed it.A lot.But I’m here to do a job.” She held up a hand. “And before you say it, I’m not talking about hand jobs or blowjobs.”

He laughed. “I wasn’t going to go there, but now that you have?—”

“My career is important to me,” she said. “Handling this rebranding process effectively and professionally is important to me. You can understand that, can’t you?”

“I can,” he admitted, trying not to be too disappointed at the prospect of being thrown over for her job. He had to respect her position, even if he wished he could explore a lot of other positions with her.

Crap, he had to stop thinking like that. Maybe he was going a little too far with this alpha male thing.

“I understand,” he said at last. “This is important to me, too. I know we both need to focus our full attention on it.”

“I’m glad we cleared that up.”

“Me, too,” Ben said, not feeling so glad. “So do you want to review the plan?”

She smiled, then nodded. “Let’s get to work.”

CHAPTER8

“Ben, my boy!”

He tried not to grit his teeth as his dad marched into his office without knocking, interrupting him for what had to be the hundredth time that day.

Ben pasted on his most cheerful grin, remembering Holly’s suggestion that he make eye contact and think about something that made him happy so his smile reached his eyes even when the rest of him felt like yawning or screaming in frustration.

His brain locked onto an image of Holly spread naked and warm on his living room floor, and he found himself smiling a lot wider than he wanted to. He forced himself to dial it back a notch, pretty sure that wasn’t the image he needed in his brain while he was dealing with his dad.

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