Page 4 of The Date
“So, I’m curious,” I say as I cut into my steak. “What made your day so terrible you needed a bucket-sized glass of wine?”
Rose blows out a puff of air as she pushes the salad around her plate with her fork. “I love my new job, but my boss is a bit much at times.”
“What do you do for work?”
“Geez, did Melody tell you anything about me? I’m a personal assistant to a CEO.”
Am I looking at Janet’s replacement as I speak? “And why is he too much? Is he bossy? Demanding?” All the things my assistant tells me I am.
“No, he’s …” She glances at me for a split second before focusing back on her plate of food. Her lips thin as she shakes her head. “… umm, handsy.”
I narrow my eyes as the anger I was feeling before she arrived returns tenfold. “He touches you inappropriately?” I contain the venom in my voice.
She shrugs as her bubbly persona disappears. “At times. I stopped wearing skirts to work because he was always making comments about my legs. Hence the pants I’m wearing today. But as I was leaving to come here, he slapped me on the backside and told me, as nice as my arse looks in slacks, my body’s too hot to hide under all that fabric.”
What a cunt. “Have you reported him to HR?”
“He owns the company, so I’ll probably lose my job if I do.”
I glance over Rose’s shoulder, towards the bar, at the guy who entered twenty minutes ago, wearing dark denim jeans that look painted on and a white button-up shirt that fits so tight if he flexes too hard, it’ll split down the seams.
He’s drinking a glass of ice water with a wedge of lemon floating in it, constantly glancing towards the door. The forlorn look on his face and the way he’s dressed tell me he’s, in fact, Brendan. The man who should be enjoying this breath of fresh air sitting in front of me.
Sucks to be him.
“What company do you work for?” I ask.
Rose frowns, screwing up that cute nose of hers. “Why?”
“I’m curious.”
“If I tell you, are you going to use your buffness to beat him up?”
I bark out a laugh. “No.” I don’t need to resort to violence to ruin someone’s life.
“I work for a corporate acquisitions firm. We look for struggling or underperforming businesses that our clients can acquire, turn around, and make profitable again.”
Right up my alley, except my company doesn’t swoop in and snap up failing companies at bargain-basement prices. We work with the owners, helping them turn things around and find their feet again.
I make a mental note to dig deeper and see if I can find out who this prick is. “Have you thought about leaving?” I ask.
“Yes. I’ve been searching SEEK and LinkedIn every day for another corporate position. I only moved to Sydney a few months ago, and the last thing I want to do is go back to Melbourne with my tail between my legs.”
“You have a tail?”
That makes her laugh. “It’s a figure of speech, silly.”
“I know. I wanted to see you smile again. It’s too pretty not to be seen.”
That comment has her beaming, and there goes my damn breath again. “That’s a sweet thing to say.”
“I’m just stating the obvious, sweetheart.”
“Melody told me you were a nice guy … I can see that now.”
I clear my throat because we’re heading into dangerous territory. I have no idea who Melody is, and obviously I’m not Brendan, so one false move and this night will be over before it’s even started.
“So, you’re from Melbourne,” I say, trying to change the subject. “The fateful tram demise makes more sense now.”
