brown eyes watching and no doubt assessing the situation and my response to it—or lack of response, rather.
Once the elevator doors close, I shift my attention back to my work. “You were great,” Julie announces.
Turning my head, I look over to her. “I was?”
She nods her head once, then she looks at her desk before she shifts her gaze back to meet mine. “You were. Lucinda is much like her mother, but deep down she has her father’s heart, they all do. You can win her over, eventually.”
“But why?” I ask.
The question just escapes, it just comes out of my mouth. Julie’s eyes widen and she opens her mouth, but I start to talk first. “I’m just Landry’s assistant. It doesn’t really matter how any of them feel about me. I do my job, I go home. That is the extent of our relationship.”
Julie clears her throat, then she surprises me by standing to her feet. She makes her way over to me, bending slightly as she sets her palms on my desk. She levels me with her gaze and I press my lips together as I wait for what she’s about to say.
“If you think that you’re just some assistant and he’s just your boss, I don’t know what to tell you, sweetie, but a lowly assistant you are not.”
“What are you trying to say?” I ask on a breath.
Her lips slowly curve up into a grin. “I don’t think that I need to say anything. I’m going to enjoy watching this unfold. Personally, I was against it initially and I know that it has only been a few weeks, but I’m old. I’ve been around the block and I can sense when something that is meant to be is about to happen and this is just that, Tennessee.”
I open my mouth to ask her another question, but I don’t get the opportunity. Instead, Landry’s office door flies open and there he is. He’s standing in his doorway, his head turned to the side and his warm gaze focused right on me.
I stare at him, hoping, almost praying, that he’ll call me into his office and kiss me again like he did a couple of weeks ago. I haven’t been able to get that kiss out of my mind. Then, not to mention the way he was with Holden over the weekend.
It’s too much. He’s too much, and it made me think that a future could be possible. I do not need to think that. Not at all. I need to focus on my job and my son, nothing else.
I don’t need to think about Landry in his perfect fit jeans and suits. I don’t need to think about his strong forearms, the way his polo shirt hugged his biceps. I don’t need to think about his thick beard or his neatly combed and styled hair.
I don’t need to think about him at all. Except… he’s all I can think about. Every minute of every day, Landry is the only thing on my mind and I want more. I want so much more from him. I want it all, and that scares the absolute hell out of me.
Landry clears his throat, his eyes focused on mine, and then just as abruptly as he opened the door and appeared, he turns and slams it closed behind him. I clear my throat, then do it again, feeling a bit of a tickle.
“Tennessee?” Julie asks.
“Just a tickle in my throat,” I say.
She hums, not believing me, but then I feel it again and am forced to clear my throat for a third time. I feel it and I know what’s coming. Allergies and every single time I get them, I get a cold too. Fan-freaking-tastic. I’m going to be sick this weekend. All weekend too, probably.
Turning back to my work, I decide to go into the break room and make some tea. Making my way toward the back room, I shove my mug beneath the individual coffee maker and start it, watching the hot water fill the mug.
I smell him before I turn around and see him. Then I feel him. His hand touches my waist, then he lifts it and his fingertips skim my arm.
“Landry,” I rasp.
He hums. Inhaling a deep breath, he clears his throat. “Tennessee.”
Turning my head, I look over to him just as my water finishes filling the mug. His amber eyes search mine, almost dancing as he watches me for just a moment.