XOXO

I nodded. I was tempted to say good morning, but I turned and walked away. I’ve learned to read the subtle nuances in my boss’s body language. Today, his jaw was tight, and his shoulders tensed under the tailored navy blue suit he’s wearing. Something or someone pissed him off. I don’t think it’s me. At least, I hope it’s not.

“I can’t take credit for any of this.” I give him a soft smile. “I can cook, but I’m not a very good baker.”

“My Eudora was a great baker.” He looks at the tarnished silver band on the ring finger of his left hand. “Her pineapple upside-down cake never failed to make a bad day brighter.”

I’ve heard countless stories of Mr. Fetzer’s late wife. I listen to each one with wonder because their love story spanned sixty-five years. It’s a real life fairytale with a tragic ending. She died from a heart attack one day before his eighty-eighth birthday.

“Why don’t you take a seat?” Dominick pockets his phone as he gestures toward a chair at the table. “Miss Voss has work to do, so let’s get down to business.”

It’s Mr. Calvetti’s not-so-subtle way of telling me to get lost.

Mr. Fetzer sighs. “I’ll stop by your desk on my way out, Arietta. Remind me to tell you about the blueberry banana muffins Eudora always made on our anniversary.”

Shooting my boss a glance, I smile. “I can’t wait to hear about that.”

Dominick lifts a brow. I get it. I know when I’m not wanted.

I turn on my heel and march out of the conference room, closing the door quietly behind me.

***

“Let me guess,” Bronwyn says as she crosses the break room to where I’m standing. “All of this was for Dominick’s meeting with Mr. Fetzer?”

Nodding, I smile. “All of it. They didn’t touch any of the food.”

Their meeting took less than an hour, and when I went into the conference room to clear it, I immediately saw that the expensive trays of food were exactly as I’d left them.

I hummed a happy made-up tune as I carried the trays one at a time to the break room. The smiles on my co-workers’ faces as I passed their desks told me everything I needed to know. I chose correctly when I asked Leta to handle this. She’s my go-to now whenever Mr. Calvetti wants to impress a client with an array of breakfast treats.

“I want one of everything.” Bronwyn grabs a small plate from the stack I placed next to the trays. “I’m so hungry lately. It must be that yoga class I’m taking. The more energy I exert, the more calories I need to consume.”

She punctuates that by popping a mini lemon tart into her mouth.

Judging by the look of bliss on her face as she chews and then swallows, I’d guess it’s even more delicious than the chocolate she gave me yesterday.

“Speaking of yoga.” She wiggles both her dark, perfectly arched brows at me. “Tag along with me tonight. We had a lot of fun last time, remember?”

The last time I went to yoga with Bronwyn, she sat to the side texting on her phone while I worked my ass off. I twisted my body into poses I’d never done before.

The next morning, Sinclair had to help me tug my dress over my head.

I’ve limbered up since. All the yoga I do now is in my living room. Finding a yoga course online for free has always worked best for me.

“I can’t. I have plans tonight.”

Bronwyn’s gaze drifts to my face. “You do? With who?”

She’s as determined as Sinclair is to find me a boyfriend. After I had a disastrous blind date with her cousin, Bronwyn agreed to stop setting me up. She kept that promise for less than a month.

Every time she starts a conversation by telling me she found the perfect guy for me, I stop her mid-sentence with a shake of my head and a hand in the air.

I won’t have to do that this time. “No one tonight, but I am going to buy lingerie for when I go to dinner with a guy I’ve been talking to on a dating app.”

Her brown eyes widen. “Arietta! Why am I only hearing about this guy now?”

“I haven’t even met him in person yet,” I admit. “It’s new. We’re still getting to know each other.”

She reaches for another lemon tart. “That’s the way to do it. I’ve known the guy I’m seeing now for a couple of years. When things heated up a few months ago, we knew it was the right time.”

I don’t bother questioning her about who the guy is because I know she’ll shut me down. She’s keeping the details of her new romance quiet because she’s worried she’ll jinx it.

Bronwyn has convinced herself that’s why her marriage ended. She boasted about her ex-husband to everyone who would listen until the day she went home from work early and found him in bed with one of her closest friends.