Against the Rules

“Thanks.” I fidget with my hair, not sure how to handle that compliment.

“Lucia, right?” He holds his hand out.

“Yeah, you’re Kevin, right?”

“Yep. I work in accounting. What is it that you do?” I look to Finn’s door. He did say no one was fired so I guess I still have a job. For now at least. Maybe it was all a misunderstanding and he realizes that he was wrong. That he’d gone a little too far the other night in assuming that I would throw myself at him. The thought of doing exactly that has me squeezing my legs together. I shake my head, reminding myself that he’s my boss and a wealthy man who thinks he can take whatever he wants. He’s a jerk. But one that is really easy on the eyes. Too easy.

“I’m supposed to be one of his assistants.”

Kevin lifts his eyebrows. “I’ve heard he’s a nice guy. Maybe he has-”

“Don’t say it.” I laugh, shaking my head.

“What?”

“A case of the Mondays?” I finish for him.

“Lame, I know. It’s not every day I get to talk to a pretty girl.” He winks at me. “Come on, I think your area is over here.”

I start to follow after him until someone calls my name.

“Ms. Sanchez.” I turn to see a tall man with better fashion sense than I’ll ever have. “You’re with me. I’m assistant number two but you can call me Cesar.” He holds his hand out.

“I’m Lucia.”

“Oh, that’s different. I like it.” He nods his head. “We’re over here.” He leads us over to two beautiful desks that face each other. “We work together a lot so we share space.” He motions toward one of the desks, the one that’s fairly empty. His is filled with pictures and other knick knacks. Cesar has a liking for pandas and a handsome man with a beard.

“It’s nice.” I look around as I take a seat. All the other offices are off to the sides. Some doors are open and some closed. A little way down from us are a few giant tables. I’m guessing they are for the meetings.

“Yeah, we work out here so we have access to everyone. We’re Mr. O’Hare’s left hand. We do odds and ends. Monica is his right.”

“She’s nice.” She did my interview. She also didn’t want Mr. O’Hare firing me. I like her even more now. Unless he tells her about the slap. Then she might change her mind.

“She is. You can learn a lot from her and she is always willing to teach. She’s great to work with.” Caesar places a folder on my desk. “I need you to fill these out.” He flips the folder open. “Then you’ll need to read over this. It will give you an idea of what you’ll be doing for the most part, though we often get curve balls thrown our way and we have to be quick on our feet. Mr. O’Hare doesn’t like to wait when he asks for something. He expects it to get done.”

“Okay.” I fish out a pen from my purse and start filling out more paperwork. I glance over it, quickly realizing it’s more of the same office policies and procedures that I did previously. I thought I was done with all that. I guess these bigger companies need to make sure everything is exactly right when it comes to legal things. It doesn’t take me long. Honestly, I can barely concentrate on what it says because my mind keeps drifting back to Finn. Cesar snags them from my desk as I start to read over the other stuff. My eyes keep flicking over towards Finn’s door, wondering what is happening.

When I saw him coming down the hallway earlier, he looked to be in a good mood. I’d go so far as to say that he looked almost cheerful. And of course he looked beyond handsome. He smelled good too. Damn it. He’s a jerk, I remind myself for the hundredth time since I laid eyes on him today.

Do not be that girl who crushes on the asshole. You need to focus on crushing on nice people like Kevin. The type that won’t barge up to you and assume that you will bow down to their every demand. One that is a gentleman. Not someone who acts the way Finn had the other night.

“Yes, Mr. O’Hare.” I look up to see Cesar talking on his phone. “Everything is signed and I’m sending it to HR now.” Crap, I must have zoned out while thinking about Finn. It strikes me odd that Mr. O’Hare would care about the menial paperwork for HR but I don’t ask about it because I’m already on thin ice around here. “I will, sir.” I watch as Cesar disconnects the call.

“Everything okay?” Worry settles in my stomach.