“Oh, darn,” I deadpanned.
“Lucky you. I saved you some ice cream cake. Mint chip and chocolate. You’re welcome.”
“Thanks.”
“No problem. The new intern is here. Harry gave him the grand tour and introduced him around. They’re either in Harry’s office or at your desk. And can I just say…holy smokes!” Meg batted her eyelashes and giggled like a schoolgirl.
It was kind of funny to see someone my mom’s age go gaga over a guy. But I understood. And somehow, I had to play it cool and get through the next three hours without doing anything weird. Like staring at him or getting hard if Sky sat too close.
“Good to know,” I huffed, rolling my eyes before parting the curtain of streamers and moving through the maze of cubicles on the other side.
I paused to give a fist bump or two on my way to my desk, located in a blessedly quiet section next to the copy room. It was the office space no one wanted because it was like an island…nowhere near the kitchen, conference rooms, or the restrooms. And there were no windows. Not an issue for a part-time employee who generally got pulled into partners’ offices to help on various projects. I set my computer bag on my desk and was about to pull out my chair when I heard Harry’s booming voice nearby.
“Has anyone seen Colby?”
I groaned inwardly, then squared my shoulders and skirted the partition to greet my stepdad and the new hire. I spotted Sky’s head above the cubicles before Harry and he came into view. “Hey, Harry. I’m here.”
Harry flashed a bright smile and motioned for Sky to follow him.
Harry Cohen was a roly-poly oddball who loved to laugh. Physically, there was nothing extraordinary about him. He was short, round, and bald. His trademark hairy dark eyebrows looked vaguely like caterpillars resting on his brow. They took on a life of their own, waggling expressively whenever he got excited.
And everything excited Harry. His eyes twinkled as he went into a spiel about how happy he was to have Sky join the BBC team that was so damn sincere, anyone would think Sky was an accounting guru with years of experience instead of a lowly part-time intern.
I nodded in Harry’s general direction, but Sky had my complete attention. He looked…good. Really good. He wore a pair of fitted khakis and a blue button-down shirt. Nothing exciting, but I noticed this summer when he wore shorts and plain T-shirts that everyday clothes looked better on him than normal people.
“How’s it going, Sky?” I asked, extending my hand.
The instant zing of awareness shot through my fingertips, up my arms, and through my chest. And when Sky squeezed my hand more firmly than necessary, I knew he felt it too.
“Good. Nice to see you again,” he replied politely. “I was just telling Harry about our lunch the other day.”
I arched my brow. “Oh, really?”
“Glad to hear you two have become good friends,” Harry chortled, patting me on the back. “We’ll have you over for dinner sometime, Sky.”
“Uh…sure. That would be nice,” he said, shooting a sideways glance at me.
“Great, great! We’ll pick a night Colby’s free too. In the meantime, I’ll let you two get to work. First order of business…help Sky get acquainted with the system, Colb. You can ease him in with the McGregor files. Poor guy has been busy with HR paperwork all morning. I’m sure he’s more than ready to get to the good stuff.”
Not rolling my eyes was freaking killing me. I gave myself a gold star and nodded.
“Cool. Follow me. We’ll have more space to work in the conference room.” I pointed at the glass fishbowl on the far side of the space.
“Why not use Bailey’s office?” Harry suggested. “He’s in Europe with his family for the next two weeks. It’s big enough to stretch out, and it’s quieter on that side of the building.”
“Um…sure. We can do that.” I smiled at Harry, then grabbed my BBC laptop before motioning for Sky to follow me. “This way.”
Ron Bailey and Chester Barnes’s offices were separated by a long corridor and a quaint atrium-slash-lobby that employees used to have a cup of coffee or read. It was a designated quiet space. The kitchen and outdoor seating area were social spaces, I explained as I steered him toward the large corner office.
Sky made a beeline for the window and gazed at the view of the Pacific Ocean while I rattled off a few lame office rules that HR had probably already gone over.
“This is nice. Accountants must do well in this neighborhood,” Sky commented, sliding a chair behind the enormous wood desk and sitting next to me.
“Bailey and Barnes do wealth management, and Cohen is the accountant. Doesn’t sound as fancy, but Harry manages everyone. I’ve seen the books. He makes more money than B and B combined, but he keeps it on the DL and smiles all the way to the bank.” I opened my laptop and typed my password, then gestured toward the cup of pens and the pad of paper beside it. “You’re gonna wanna take notes. We can probably get through most of the basics in a couple of hours, so you can handle a few reports on your own. If you have any questions, save them for me. I wouldn’t ask Harry even though he’ll offer. Trust me, it’ll add an hour to your day. All right. You ready?”