"Good," he replies over his shoulder as he turns to leave. "My baby sister deserves the surprise birthday party of her dreams. I don't want a soul to fuck it up."
***
"Christmas Day?" I repeat back to my assistant. "Lark Benton was born on Christmas Day?"
"She's a Christmas angel." He gives me a sly smirk. "She's beautiful. I wouldn't say she's as beautiful as Crew, but he's more my type."
I don't need him to elaborate on that. I've caught him checking me out on more than one occasion. John does his job like a champ. He proved that just now when he pulled up Lark's personnel file for me just as Crew was stepping onto the elevator to go back up to his office. This is one time I'm grateful that he overheard my conversation with Crew.
"Did you know about this surprise birthday party, John?"
"I'm out of the loop." He circles his fingers in the air. "Everyone who is anyone here at Matiz knows I swore off mixing business with pleasure years ago. I don't socialize with the folks here. No one in this office can party as hard as I can, present company excluded, of course."
I nod. "You need to find out where this birthday party is."
"You're not going, Ryker."
What the fuck is that? I go where I want when I want. I'm going to that damn birthday party because I'm her boss and I should be there. It's the right thing to do. It has nothing to do with wanting to see her outside the office. There's no reason I can't look at her. I'm beginning to wonder if my reasons for not touching her are worth it.
"I'm going," I insist as I lean both hands on his desk. "You're going to poke around until you find out where that party is and then you'll chat up her friends in marketing to find out what flowers are her favorite so I can arrive at this party with those in my hand."
"You'll never pass for Prince Charming." He types something on his laptop keyboard. "Are you taking Gem with you?"
"I dumped her."
"Again?" He stops typing long enough to clap his hands together before his fingers move swiftly over the keys again. "Can I wager a bet on how long it will be before you're back together?"
"We're done for good this time." I pinch the bridge of my nose. "I need you to focus on Lark's party. You'll get me that information now, John. I need it within the hour."
"Will do, boss." He reaches down to open one of the drawers of his desk. He pulls out a gift bag that's decorated with a festive design and tied shut with red ribbon. "I got you this as an early Christmas gift."
"Your gift from me will be delivered to your apartment on Christmas morning," I tell him, not giving anything away with my expression. The gift is his mom. I'm flying her to New York from Tallahassee. She'll deliver a message to him from me. He has two weeks to spend with her before she flies back home. I'm giving him an extra week of paid vacation that he's not expecting.
"What's this?" I reach for the bag, contemplating its weight in my hand. "It's not another book about how to forge meaningful human connections, is it?"
"That was obviously a waste of money." He scoffs. "It's a bottle of Matiz's best suntan lotion. Slap some of that on your ass the next time you let everything hang loose on the beach, boss."
"I should fire you on the spot." I chuckle.
"You can't," he volleys back as I head into my office. "No one else would put up with all your bullshit, Ryker."
Chapter 5
Lark
"Everyone at work was acting off today." I toss my purse on the marbled gray granite countertop. "It's been a shitty two days, Isla."
My best friend, Isla Foster, scoops my purse into her hands. "Where is this from? I've never seen this before."
"Way to console me after the two bad days I've had." I wiggle two of my fingers in the air. "Where's my 'everything is going to be fine, Lark,' speech and hug."
"That's coming." She twirls the red tote in her hands. "This isn't a designer bag. Tell me where you got it. I want one."
"Dexie made it." I tug it from her hands and dump the contents on her kitchen counter. "You can have it, Isla. Dex gave me a new one as an early birthday present the other day. It's a cute purple satchel."
"Dexie? That girl you work with made this bag?"
"Yup." I nod my head as I push my wallet into my coat pocket. "Her designs are beautiful. She sells them online. I can send you the link to her website."