They went to the restaurant on the main floor of the building, and were shown to a table out on the patio right next to the Chicago River. Pots of bright flowers decorated the railing, and colorful umbrellas shaded tables from the brilliant midday sun.
As they took their seats, Sloane glanced around and spotted Levi sitting at a table with Phoebe, Bailey and Carly. Her eyebrows flew up but she quickly schooled her features into a neutral smile, acknowledging them with a lift of her hand and a smile.
“Geezus,” she muttered, menu up in front of her face. “Second day on the job and he’s having lunch with three women?”
“Um, Sloane, honey…is there something else you want to tell me?”
She lowered her laminated menu and frowned at Mason. “What do you mean?”
He leaned closer across the table and lowered his voice. “You seem to have a hate on for Levi Wolcott. Yeah, he was the victim of a bit of hazing, but…he hasn’t actually done anything wrong.”
She blinked and lowered her gaze back to the menu. Damn. She swallowed.
“Give the guy a break,” Mason continued.
“For one thing, he’s engaged to be married,” she muttered.
Mason just shrugged. “He’s having lunch. Probably safer with three girls than one.”
“And I don’t like his attitude,” she continued. “All cocky and confident and…” Charming. Sexy. “Strutting like he’s Prince Levi of Wolcott.”
Mason choked on a laugh. “Uh. Okay. Again, though, you know if he walks into Huxworth Packard without that kind of attitude, he’s gonna get crapped on. Those pranks the guys did would’ve been way worse. He handled them like a champ. You know he’s gotta have a little attitude or they’ll steamroll right over him.”
She pursed her lips. “I think I’ll have the Southwest blackened chicken salad.”
Mason grinned. “Way to change the subject. You know you’re only piquing my curiosity.”
“There’s nothing to tell. Like I said, he just rubbed me the wrong way, the way he strutted in here.”
Rubbed me the wrong way. That made her think of Levi’s hands on her, rubbing, petting, stroking… She blinked rapidly and turned to look at a tour boat cruising along the river. She could not be thinking things like that about Levi Wolcott. That was just…eeeeew.
Well, not exactly. It was actually disturbingly erotic.
It wasn’t her fault. How could she not associate him with sex after listening to him and his friends and that…that hooker, or whatever, Friday night, doing sexy things? Since she’d met him, the images her mind conjured up were even more vivid and erotic. Him naked.
She made a sound in her throat and then turned at Mason’s chuckle.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine. So. How are things going with the new campaigns?”
“They’re working on them. All four teams. Levi and Scott seem to be hitting it off.”
“That’s good,” she said crisply.
The waitress appeared to take their orders, and they spent the rest of their lunch talking shop. Sloane tried not to be aware of Levi lunching with the three girls, but every time she heard his low laugh or one of the ladies’ higher pitched laughs, her muscles tightened. When she and Mason left the patio, the four of them were still there.
She paused by their table. “Hey all,” she said with a smile. “Heading back to work now?”
“Yes, just waiting for Levi’s credit card,” Bailey said quickly.
She caught the way Levi’s mouth tightened at her question.
“He bought us lunch,” Carly said. “Isn’t that nice?”
“Lovely.” She gave Levi a smile that was just a crinkling of her eyes. “See you back in the office.”
In the elevator, Mason rubbed his forehead. “Jesus. I’m not sure if I want to work here anymore.”
She stared at him. “What?”
“It’s lunch, Sloane.”
She frowned. “Yeah, says you, famous for four-hour lunches.”
“Working lunches. And don’t tell me you’ve never had a long lunch with a client. Because I’ve been right there with you.”
She was being a bitch. She knew it. Dammit.
The Verhoeven account was important. They were a huge client with tight delivery dates and big expectations. Verhoeven had made it clear that if this ad campaign didn’t meet their expectations they would be putting the account up for review, meaning they could potentially lose it. So not only did they have to deliver, they had to do it quickly and they had to do it spectacularly. She was dealing with communications people and management from several different brands of beer now under the Verhoeven umbrella, which had been a pretty damn big umbrella to start with. She