Bargaining with the Boss (Honeybrook Love, Inc. 2)

"I understand. Thank you." He nodded, then opened the wide glass doors and strode into the office, careful not to glance toward Natalie's desk.

Not that it would matter if he did.

Ever since they'd first been together two weeks ago, she hardly ever spoke to him in the office, and when she did it was always clipped and short. She was convinced the other secretaries would talk about them. As if they weren't already.

He sighed, fighting his better instinct and catching a glimpse of her desk. She wasn't there, but the huge plume of red roses were.

The same damn flowers that still showed up every single day.

The same ones she refused to tell him about, no matter how many angles he tried.

It was underhanded to try to check the card, he knew that, but didn't he have a right to know? They'd been seeing each other for weeks now, and even if there wasn't anything official about it...

He shook his head. There was no use. It wasn't his business. And if they were from another man? Well, the more time he spent with Natalie, the more he could understand why someone would work so hard to get her.

She was gorgeous and fun. Intelligent. Quick. She was the most intoxicating woman he'd ever been around and half the time he spent in his office, he found himself imagining ways to call her in surreptitiously.

So much for settling his curiosity.

Instead, the more time he spent with her, the more he wanted to know. She was just as snippy and rambunctious now as she ever had been, but that only fueled the fire of his interest. Their jabs at each other only made her laugh.

And when she laughed…

He closed his eyes, trying hard to play the sound in his mind.

That was it. He had to see her today. Find a way to trick her into joining him in a supply closet or a meeting room.

Not that that would ever work. She was too smart to fall into that trap. Too--

"Mr. Adams." Eliza stood from her tiny desk outside of his office. Her blouse was askew, though he wondered if she'd done it on purpose to match her hair. Every day since she'd started, she looked like she'd been through some kind of war.

Still, he had to give the kid credit. She was trying.

"Good morning, Eliza." He took off his coat and handed it to her.

"Good morning. Let's see." She hummed, rolling her eyes while apparently lost in thought. "Oh, you missed the partner's meeting with your brother."

"Okay."

"He said he'd like to speak with you at your earliest convenience. Um, he said he wanted to talk to you about the Charity gala this weekend. And some of the other things you've um... You know what, I don't think he meant me to repeat it."

"Probably not." He tilted his mouth to the side.

There'd be no use in visiting with Garret. He

already knew what his brother would say. Brooks'd been shirking his responsibilities, that his main goal in the business was to be seen and make a name for them.

Well, he had no intention of listening to that speech today, nor did he have any intention of setting foot in that Charity gala. It was the stuff nightmares were made of.

The biggest, glitziest event of the year—filled with aristocrats and grannies and snobs the world over. No, thank you. He was done with that now. He and Natalie would be spending that time blissfully tucked away in the back row of a movie theater, laughing at some stupid comedy. Like normal people.

From now on, He'd just have to advertise for the company the old fashioned way.

"Mr. Brooks?" Eliza cleared her throat and he blinked back into reality.

"Hmm?"

"Did you hear me?"