Sophie leaned on the doorjamb. “You know how I said our favorite sexiest man was on location looking all ripped and lickable.” She fanned herself and Teela almost laughed. Sophie had been an angel keeping the whole my boss had a dirty weekend with Haydn Delany thing on the lowdown and not making it a hot gossip item in the office.
Until now.
Teela closed her eyes and waved her hand to indicate the door. She didn’t need anyone overhearing this.
Sophie closed the office door and blocked it with her body. “I was wrong.”
“Gossip magazines. Who can you trust?”
“Oh, that’s. Yes. Maybe, but the thing is. He’s here.”
Teela looked down at her desk where the job candidate’s résumé was lurking. She’d thought she was interviewing a Peta, not a Peter. “Why are you doing that spread-eagle thing on the door?”
“I don’t want you to rush out there unprepared.”
“Okay.” She shifted a folder and there it was. “I’m prepared. Do I have a food stain somewhere?”
“You don’t understand.”
“I most certainly don’t. You’ve barricaded me in my own office because,” she looked at the résumé, definitely Peta, “there’s something unusual about the job candidate you want me to know.”
Sophie shook her head. “Oh, forget that. I’m rescheduling. They’re going home in a ride share.” She stepped away from the door. “He’s here,” she said in a hushed tone.
The blood drained from Teela’s face. Her throat closed up and her lungs seized. She scrunched the résumé in her fist. “That’s not possible.”
“I know,” Sophie said. “It’s unreal.”
“Haydn is in the office?”
“Haydn is in the office,” Sophie repeated. “He wants to see you.” She laughed and rolled her eyes up. “Obviously.”
Oh God. “He doesn’t have an appointment and Peta does.”
Sophie threw her hands up. “Are you kidding me?”
Teela tried to smooth out the résumé, pressing it down on her desk. “He can’t just show up, again, and expect me to drop everything and make time for him.”
“Get over yourself. He so can.”
She looked up. “Sophie.”
“Sorry,” Sophie shrugged, “but this is a big moment and I’m not letting you blow it because you’re terrified.”
“I’m not terri
fied.”
Sophie’s brows shot up under her fringe. “You look like you might faint.”
“Nothing good can come of this.” Really, the best thing to do would be to have Sophie send him away. She could write a note. Sorry, busy. Don’t come back because I’ll never get over you.
“Maybe he just wants to say hi,” Sophie said.
What was the flying time from Hawaii? Ten, eleven hours. “Do you think he just wants to say hi?”
“I think he wants to throw up. He’s kind of pale under his tan, and sweaty like he’s eaten a bad oyster.”
“Okay.” Teela swallowed a lump of nervous terror. She hadn’t been this worried about signing the loan for the building that could bankrupt her if things went wrong. She stood and yanked her dress into place. “He’s just dropped in to say hi, even when he’s supposed to be in the Kalalau Valley shooting a movie, and it’s fine, totally fine. I can’t feel my feet.”