He leaned against my desk. “Believe it or not, I took my lunch break today, unlike someone who shall remain nameless.”
I sipped my coffee and groaned. “It makes for very long days when you want to plan all of your business trips for the year at the drop of a hat.”
He smiled. “And that’s why I pay you the big bucks, Leslie.”
I giggled. “Well, Mr. Cataline, remind me to get some food before this coffee goes right to my head.”
And without another word spoken, he dropped a sandwich as well as a cinnamon bun directly in front of me. “You’re welcome,” he said as he made his way for his office.”
My jaw dropped open. “But—why—how—where were you keeping this when we were talking?”
As my stomach rumbled with a need to be fed, I leaned back in my office chair. I had been with the PR firm for a month now, and things were going splendidly. Trey had finally warmed up to my presence. I had finally memorized all of the transfer numbers, so answering phone calls while I was typing away on my keyboard was no longer an issue. And as much as I knew people were talking, Trey and I made it a frequent habit to share lunch in his office. Not to mention, he smiled more, which accented his breathtaking brown eyes.
Get back to work, beautiful. Can’t daydream during work hours.
I pinched off a small sliver of my sandwich and tossed it into my mouth. I refreshed my computer screen, ready to go over my schedule as well as Trey’s before I started making any necessary changes. I quickly figured out that he was terrible at double-booking his time, which left me with messes to clean up and cursing to field whenever I called on his behalf to change something.
However, when the screen popped up, I noticed a change in the schedule. A change that was highlighted in pink for my viewing pleasure.
“Another business dinner,” I whispered to myself.
The fourth one in as many weeks.
I pulled out my phone and quickly texted Suri, making sure she could stay late to babysit. I hoped and I prayed as I watched her typing back that she could watch Rori for me. But, when her text message rolled through, it harbored the one word that destroyed my hopes for the evening.
So, I declined the invitation to dinner on our calendar before quickly shooting an email to Trey.
Hey,
Suri can’t babysit late tonight. I have to head home right after work and take care of Aurora. Maybe we can make something happen Friday evening?
Leslie
I wasn’t sure what I expected after I sent that email. A bit of kickback, possibly. Trey attempting to hire me a last-minute babysitter, most definitely. But, whatactuallyhappened still leaves me shocked every time I think about it.
Mostly because I knew deep down that it was a turning point for him and me.
“Why don’t you just bring her?” he asked.
I looked up slowly from my desk and found Trey standing in the doorway of his office. “What?” I blinked. “You want me to bring my daughter to dinner.”
He shrugged. “Sure. Is that a problem?”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “It’s just—our dinners usually aren’t simply… well, you know.”
He grinned. “Leslie, are you insinuating something debaucherous and uncouth of me?”
My face fell. “Possibly.”
He slid his hands into his pockets. “Look, we need this dinner to hash things out for our upcoming Hawaii extravaganza. It’s only two weeks away, and we don’t have time to do it in the office.”
Disappointment filled my gut. “This is a growing truth.”
“So, bring Aurora. She won’t be an issue, and we can get the talking out of the way over appetizers if you feel she’s going to be a distraction.”
I was hoping we’d have more time to do things other than talk, but it also sounded like we needed this time to be strictly professional anyway. So, after taking in some deep breaths, I nodded.
“Yeah, yeah. Sure, I’ll bring Aurora. Just let me know where we’re going for dinner and what time to be there.”