Page 104 of Crash Course
"Oh, I was."
At least until one Cruz Blackwell fulfilled his promise and gave her all sorts of life-altering orgasms. "I’m better today. Ready to get back at it. I’m locking myself in my office. Unless it’s Rick Bandy, would you please hold any calls?"
"You got it. How’d the Asheville office tour go?"
"Great. They accepted my offer."
"Whoa! That was fast."
That brought her up short, and she realized that in all the drama of the day, she'd neglected to let Layla know about the offer on a new office. She’d cleared the move with Layla months ago, posing it as a hypothetical, and when Layla had mentioned the easier reverse commute to Asheville, Cilla’s worry over losing her melted away.
But now, her assistant's big brown eyes were on her and Cilla needed to make sure everything was fine between them. "The move is okay, right? We talked about it."
"No." Layla bopped herself on the head. "I mean, yes. It’s all right. It’ll be easier for me. I just didn’t expect it so quick."
Cilla let out a laugh. "Phew. You scared me. I’m sorry, Layla. I should have kept you in the loop. Yesterday was . . . a day and I was full steam ahead."
"Please," she said. "You’ve got so much going on. No apology necessary. Tell me what you need."
Layla. Godsend. "Truly," Cilla said. "I’m lost without you. Would you please call moving companies for quotes? Find three and we’ll go from there. My goal is to be in the new place within a month."
"Yes, ma’am." She picked up a stack of messages along with a few folders. "Your mom called."
"This early?"
And on a Saturday?
Layla shrugged. "She said she tried your cell, but it went straight to voice mail."
After living overseas until Cilla graduated from law school, Mom had finally moved back to the States. She’d invested in a small winery in Napa, wound up falling in love with the owner, Daniel, whose wife had died eight years earlier, and he and Mom were now living and running the winery together.
Mom also still worked as a sommelier part time and since she worked a lot of late-night events, she slept later in the day. Calling this early meant Mom had something on her mind.
"I’ll call her before I go into lockdown. Anything else?"
"Nope."
"Good. If my father calls, tell him I’m not here." She turned, peered at the office entry door. "In fact, if Ed isn’t coming in today, lock the door."
"Really?"
"Yep. No interruptions."
She hopped up from her desk. "I like it!"
"And I’m leaving at two-thirty." She smiled brightly. "I’ve been invited to a barbecue in Steele Ridge."
"Steele Ridge?" After a second, Layla’s jaw flopped open. "The hottie? Cruz Blackwell? See, I remembered his name. That’s how hot he is."
"So hot!" Cilla laughed and gave her assistant a backward wave as she walked to her office, taking in all the artwork lining the walls that would need to be packed. She’d have to get organized. Set aside time each day to box things. Or splurge and let the movers do it.
A plan, and the excitement that went with it, took shape. Confidential files and the contents of their desks, she and Layla would handle. Everything else? The movers.
Between Layla’s regular workload and the move, she’d be inundated. Cilla swung into her office, set her tote and purse on the couch before grabbing her cell and moving to the desk. Still standing, she jotted notes in her planner about a spa day for Layla at that fancy place in Asheville she’d discovered a few months back. The whole works. Facial, massage, whatever she wanted. Maybe they had a full-day package and Layla could pick what services she wanted.
She tapped the screen of her cell and found the missed call from her mom. How did she not get that on the drive? Must have been a dead zone somewhere.
She tapped Mom’s name and seconds later, her mother picked up. "Darling, good morning."
