Page 3 of Perfect Proposal
He slides the ankle off his knee and leans forward. Bracing his elbows on his legs, he stares up at me silently for a few moments. “You can trust me.”
“Can I?” Derision slips into my voice.
“Yes. And you know why?”
“Why?” I have to force the breathlessness out of my voice as I stare down into his depthless brown eyes.
“Because, Burke, I’m going to become invaluable to you. You won’t know how you worked without having me at your side.” Slowly, David pushes to his feet.
I don’t say anything until he makes it to the door. Then I call out. “Mr. Lennan?”
He twists his head around to face me. “We’re pretty informal around here, Burke. Make it David.”
I nod. “David. Let me tellyousomething.”
He faces me fully. “What’s that?”
“You think you’re going to become invaluable? Well, I have a secret for you. So am I.” I sink back into my office chair after that audacious proposition and spin around to look at the view of Rockefeller Center out my window. “Now get out of my office before I change my mind on whether or not to have your badge revoked from being able to access this office.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Behind me, I hear the opening and closing of the door.
I don’t take a full breath for five minutes.
It’s ten before I move.
And fifteen before I exit the office. Much to my chagrin, David’s cubicle is right outside my door. As soon as I exit, he stands. “Are you ready to leave now, Burke?” His voice is completely polite even if there’s still fire in his eyes.
I nod. Without a word between us, we head in the direction of the elevators. I’m not immune to the eyes that bore into us as we weave our way past my employees who don’t know quite who I am yet.
“Thank you,” I tell David politely once we reach the elevator bank.
“My pleasure.” I want to call him out on his social lie, but I can’t. Instead I sigh as I press the Down button.
“Burke?”
“Yes?”
He opens his mouth but shakes his head. “Nothing. It’s nothing. Welcome to Wildcard.” He holds out a hand.
I want to smack it, but I’ve spent too many years being perfect in order to reduce disruption in the lives around me. “Thank you. I look forward to working with you. With all of you,” I amend.
The doors open behind me, and I slip in with a few other individuals, all who nod when I enter. Spinning around, I expect to find empty space where David was. Only it’s not.
He’s still there, staring right at me.
Energy arcs between us until the doors close, and I’m whisked down to the first floor where Kristoffer is impatiently waiting. With a sigh, I remove my visitor badge, knowing Monday it will be replaced with one signaling my employment.
And the perfect man I just met will be permanently out of reach.
One
David
New York City pulses with an energy unlike anyplace else I’ve ever experienced. Since I moved here, I’ve fed off it. It’s a thrum of electricity that hums through my system from the moment I step outside the door of the Upper West Side condo I’m fortunate enough to live in until the moment I finally close my eyes with the one person I can’t live without in this world cradled at my side. Swinging my leather satchel-like briefcase over my shoulder, I begin enjoying the fourteen-minute walk from our condo on Seventy-Fourth Street to the New York offices of LLF LLC, despite the cold that’s descended on the city like an arctic blanket in the last several days.
And I don’t just mean the weather. Frowning, I tuck my head down and plod amid other commuters to get to work on time.
Three years ago, when working for Wildcard Music, I never would have thought my career would have taken such a drastic turn when the lawyer I worked for resigned from the music giant. I mean, this is the label that signed groups like Small Town Nights and Brendan Blake. Tightening my cashmere scarf to ward off the cold, I remember asking, “Why leave?”
