Arrogant Boss

Emily’s smile was blinding. “I’d love to join you. I’d be doing more or less the same work as here, but being on the ground would give me hands-on experience. I’d be happy to go.”

“It’s settled then,” I said. “Call down to administration and have them book her onto our flight and add another room to the hotel booking.”

Trent frowned. “Last I heard, it was full. Administration made reservations for Hunt months back to make sure we got the right number of rooms in the hotel right next to the conference.”

“We could share my room,” Rachel offered. “If you don’t mind?”

Emily shook her head. “Not at all.”

“Great. It’s settled then. I’ll send all of you updated agendas and material, and we’ll talk again later.”

I caught the look of excitement on Emily’s face, nearly identical to the one she’d worn when she realized we were going racing, and my heart did an odd little twist. I didn’t know what we were doing, or where we were heading, but I knew I wanted to make her smile like that many, many more times.

I was in an airplane, in a first-class seat, on my way to LA on a business trip.

Each of those four things on its own-airplane, first-class, LA, business-trip-would have been enough to give me the happiness equivalent of a sugar rush.

All four at the same time?

Pinch me.

Traveling like this had never happened when I was in college, and never in my childhood. Our family holidays had been amazing, but they’d mainly been road trips, except for the time we visited my grandma in New Orleans.

When I worked for Pet and Co, I had gone on a business trip to an exhibition on cat litter in Sacramento that included an overnight stay at a motel. If I would never have to analyze another ad for cat litter or dog food in my life I’d die a happy woman.

They greet you by name in first class. Welcome on board, Ms. Giordano. Would you like something to drink?

If it hadn’t been eight o’clock in the morning, I would have asked for champagne.

Okay, fine, if my co-workers hadn’t been around I would have asked for champagne, despite the early hour.

Rachel and Josef were working across the aisle from me, their fingers flying over keyboards. It was only an hour-long flight but apparently, things were already getting hot and heavy down at the conference.

I took a steadying breath. I’d done all that I could do. I’d practically worked until midnight every day for the past week to ensure I knew everything I might need for these events. If someone asked me to describe the SEO plan for the new healthcare system, I could recite it forwards, backwards and sideways.

HTML, CSS, UX, UI, API, and SDK.

It was like practicing for the SATs all over again, but I felt shakily confident in my newfound computing knowledge. If everything else failed, I’d hold up my press badge as a weapon, shouting I create ads, not apps!

It would have to do.

I’d packed my suitcase with three of my best business-casual outfits, perfect for the kind of expensive-but-slouchy look that seemed so popular in the tech world. Josef always wore button-downs and chinos, for example, and Rachel regularly sported silk blouses in neon colors and casual prints.

My stomach was a mess of excited nerves. My first real work trip. I was going to kick ass. I was going to get a solid hour of work done on the plane and then skip along to the first-class bathroom to spritz on perfume and run a brush through my hair. I’d arrive in full control and smelling of florals.

At least I’d planned to-but then a certain someone chose the seat next to me and ensured I couldn’t think of anything but him. Either it was a cosmic joke, or it was the maneuvering of a very influential, very charming, very insistent CEO.

Julian propped up a small laptop on the tray table but didn’t open it. There were a million things I felt like saying to him, but none in front of our co-workers across the aisle-who might or might not be listening.

Julian’s hand tapped against the chrome of his closed laptop. “Are you excited, Emily?”

“Yes. Thank you again for suggesting that I should go on this trip.”

His eyes flitted to where Josef and Rachel worked across the aisle before they returned to me. “Don’t mention it. It’ll be a good learning experience.”

“I think so, too.”

This was the first proper conversation we’d had since the phone call on Sunday, apart from the necessary work talk. I needed to make up for what happened over the weekend-make sure he knew I wasn’t just a young employee who couldn’t handle her alcohol.

I wanted to be as cool as the women he usually dated.

But my mind refused to come up with witty things to say. It had gone silent, unable to focus on anything apart from the way our legs touched and how close his hand was.

Julian glanced across the aisle again and his jaw clenched in frustration. With a meaningful glance at me, he pulled out his phone. My confusion was short; he offered it to me after a few seconds of typing. He’d opened a new page on Notes.

I should have requested seats far away from them.

I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my features. My fingers brushed against his as I took the phone from him.

Why? What would you have done if we were alone?

Julian’s smile was sly as he typed his reply. Ordered us both something to drink and challenged you to another game of Never Have I Ever. I’ve never played it airborne before.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

This time, his fingers lingered slightly over mine as he handed me his phone.

I grinned and typed my response. Please don’t mention anything pertaining to alcohol around me ever again, please and thank you. Also, it’s not even nine o’clock in the morning.

He was openly smiling now. Don’t start. You were cute.

You’re an enabler, I typed back. Shame on you.

If by ‘enabling’ you mean complimenting a beautiful woman I’m interested in, then sure, I’ll take it. I can enable you all night.

The blush spread across my cheeks like wildfire and I pulled my hair forward to cover my expression. Our co-workers had only to look across the aisle to see us. Beside me, Julian coughed to hide his laughter. Damn man with his damn words.

I should say no out of principle, I wrote back. Anything complimentary on my part and your head might explode.

Good call. We are on an airplane, after all.

We weren’t even talking about anything real at this point, but the smile that hovered on my lips refused to disappear. I take my civic duty very seriously.

Julian snorted. Dropping you off around the block from your house, passing notes in class… why do I feel like a high schooler around you again?

My heart beat erratically in my chest as I read his words. That made two of us. I’m still waiting for you to ask me to prom. You can’t just assume, you know.

Julian didn’t share my hard-won restraint-his mega-watt smile was wide. Perhaps I want to make it special. When you least expect it, Ace. Consider yourself warned.

I rolled my eyes at him and settled back in my seat. Our legs were touching from the thigh all the way down to the calf, now. As I watched, Julian deleted our whole conversation and jotted down a much longer message.