Page 11 of The Package
Desire streaks through me like I’ve never experienced before but with it is an anxious edge. A sharp awareness of who he is and who I am and why in the world I’m sitting here with him.
My eyes flicker to his lips and then back up to his striking blue eyes.
“Reasons?” I ask when I finally find my voice.
“Mm hmm. Reasons.” His tongue darts out to lick his lips while his arm rests on the back of my chair, his thumb now running up and down the line of my spine much like it just was on his highball glass.
“And?” My voice breaks over the simple word as he turns toward me so that his knees bump mine.
“First of all, I lied to you. I’m on the twentieth floor, not the fifteenth.”
“So says the label on your package.”
“And I still think Red Vines are better than Twizzlers.”
“Then you won’t like your package. It’s full of Twizzlers,” I lie but melt when that soft smile slides up one corner of his mouth.
“Two can play that game.” He winks.
“Noted.”
“You were right.”
“Naturally,” I murmur and garner a laugh from him that pulls my own smile up.
“I want you to come work for me in my design department.”
“What?” My voice rises in shocked pitch because that is the last thing I ever expected to fall from his mouth.
“You heard me. You were right. I went through all our products. Curves are sexy. They deserve to be celebrated—admired and adorned properly—and I know you have no problem speaking up to those on the fifteenth floor.”
“Hardy-har-har.”
He laughs with a shake of his head as he looks out the window where the snow is falling a little harder now.
“Equal opportunity lingerie is a thing. A really smart woman told me that.“
Warmth floods through me at his comment, at the pride I feel and the disbelief still rifling through me.
“I’m serious. It’s a brilliant idea and I hate that I never thought of it. There are a lot of changes I need to make at the company . . . and I’m hoping you’ll be there with me to help me make them.“
“Why?“
“Because you’re the only one who seems to tell me the truth. Subtlety isn’t your strong suit and I need that.“
“I don’t even know what to say,“ I mutter because as much as his words have left me speechless, his fingers on the back of my neck distract me.
“Say yes, and accept this too,“ he says while sliding an envelope across the table toward me.
I look at him with an inquisitive smirk before grasping the envelope and opening the flap. What’s inside makes me gasp aloud. It’s a check payable to me for $20,000. Before I can say a word or even process what I’m looking at, Archer interjects, “You can’t cash that until you say yes.“
When he realizes I’m still in shock, he adds, “Jules, that’s a signing bonus for the new position. One that’s well deserved. And it takes care of the rent due problem the prick left you holding. There’s another perk to working on the twentieth floor—corporate car service. Use it while yours is being repaired from your run in with the asshole.“
I can only stare at the unexpected man sitting across from me—still trying to digest what is happening.
“Hey, Jules? One more thing.”
“Hmm?”
