fingers done. Hopefully the contractor was correct and she’d be able to move back in. Being out of her home for over a week was a pain in the ass. It wasn’t supposed to take this long, but her building was old and every time they did one thing they ran into another unforeseen problem that added time to the reno. She’d been harassing Lando every day about it and he was probably as eager to have this job done as she was, so he wouldn’t have to put up with her anymore.
Monday morning, Levi inspected his appearance in his bedroom mirror. He brushed a hand over the lapel of his perfectly fitted Armani jacket, adjusted the collar of the golf shirt beneath it, turned his head to check the hair and his shave job. Sideburns perfect, hair back off his face. All good. First day on the new job. Hopefully he’d nailed the casual but professional vibe he’d gotten when he’d been at the office for his interview. He needed to make a good impression.
He wasn’t really worried. They wanted him at Huxworth Packard. They wanted him so fucking bad they’d recruited him from AdMix after they’d won that Cannes Lion and One Show pencil for their Mercedes commercials. He grinned. He was a star copywriter and Huxworth Packard was goddamn lucky to get him.
He checked the time on his cell phone as he unplugged it from the charger on his dresser. The distance from his Streeterville condo to the Lachman Building on South Wacker wasn’t that far, but he wanted to be sure to have time to locate his new parking spot, one of the perks of the new job, along with a substantial increase in pay.
Not that he’d ever outwardly show it, but he was damn excited about this new job. Huxworth Packard had the coveted Verhoeven Brewery account. Beer! Everyone wanted to work on a beer account. And he was going to be working on that account. Fucking yeah!
“Okay, Chuck.” He looked at his King Charles Spaniel lying on the rug near the door, chin on his paws. Big brown eyes gazed up him. “Gotta go to work, dude. Come on now, don’t look at me like that. You know I have to go to work. Happens every day.” He’d already taken Chuck out to the dog run across the street. He reached down and gave the silky head a rub, then left his condo still with a smile on his face.
He negotiated traffic along East Illinois in his beloved Mercedes SL Roadster, onto Michigan and across the river. In the Lachman Building he rode the elevator to the thirty-fifth floor where the offices of Huxworth Packard occupied the entire floor. Gorgeous building, gorgeous views in every direction. Levi loved Chicago. Born and raised there, he’d even gone to college there. He’d traveled, sure, he loved traveling, but he never wanted to live anywhere else.
He was greeted by the receptionist, a smokin’ hot blonde with a nice rack, sitting behind a curved white desk. On the black wall behind her in white script was a quote from Dr. Seuss—Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!
What was her name again? He’d met her when he’d been there for his interview with Mason Ward. That had been so fucking cool. Mason Ward, executive creative director at Huxworth Packard, was approaching the status of advertising legend at the ripe old age of thirty-six.
“Good morning, Mr. Wolcott.” The receptionist’s smile held feminine appreciation and just a hint of flirtation. Clearly she was expecting him. The nameplate on the desk said Carly. Yeah, that was it.
“Good morning, Carly.” He smiled in return. “Good to see you again. And please, call me Levi.”
“Of course. Come this way, Mr. Ward is waiting for you in his office.”
“Great, thanks.”
He followed her past a big potted palm and through glass doors, admiring the fit of her pale pink pencil skirt on her nicely rounded ass. She tapped in her high heels across the big open area with shiny hardwood floors, past desks, chairs, couches, benches and plants, and down a carpeted hall to the office he remembered from the last interview nearly three weeks ago. Mason Ward sat behind his desk frowning at a computer, but the frown vanished as Carly knocked on his open door to announce their presence and he looked up at them.