Page 14 of Baby Bombshell for the Boss

Elliot was a bit taken aback. It was strange to have someone understand so quickly this thing that he so rarely spoke of aloud. He felt suddenly and unexpectedly grateful for the fact that they were going to remain in each other’s lives for a while longer. Elliot wasn’t without friends, but he had never spoken this candidly to any of them. How bizarre that it had happened with a near-stranger.

They had reached the brunch cafe. He turned toward the door. Ivy looked up at it dubiously, and Elliot knew why — the place was a bit run down on the outside.

“Have I led you wrong so far?” he asked her.

She grinned. “Touché,” she said. “I guess you haven’t.”

He opened the door and steered her inside, enjoying the moment when her jaw dropped, because he knew exactly the experience she was having. Anyone would feel this way the first time they stepped inside this place. Because of their financial issues, the owners hadn’t been able to take care of some of the exterior repairs they needed to do — and though Elliot had offered to help them out with a bit more money, they had flat refused, telling him that he’d done more than enough. They had, however, poured as much of their funding as they could into making the interior beautiful. The inside of the place didn’t match the outside at all.

They sat down at a two-seater table in the window. It was laid over with a pristine white cloth and had a centerpiece of low candles. “This is brunch?” Ivy murmured, looking at it. “This seems like a nice dinner.”

“Want to start with mimosas?”

“I’d love to.”

The waiter came over and Elliot ordered two mimosa flights. “Brunch is on me, of course,” he added as the waiter walked away.

“I can’t let you do that.”

“Of course you can. Consider it a professional expense,” he said, smiling. “I just hired a new contractor, and I’d like to buy her a meal. I’d do it with any new hire I made.”

“Well, all right,” she said. “If it’s like that, I suppose it’s all right.”

“Good.”

“But there’s something else I think we should discuss, as long as we’re talking about keeping things professional,” she said. “I don’t want to make things awkward between the two of us, but I think it’s important that we do treat each other as employer and employee now that we’ve entered into a working relationship.”

“I’d agree with that,” he said.

“And that means — I’m so sorry if it’s awkward to say this bluntly, but it means there can’t be any more physical interactions between the two of us.”

“We can’t sleep together again, you’re saying.”

She blushed. He found it sort of charming. “Yes, that’s what I mean,” she agreed. “I don’t think it would be a good idea to let that happen.”

“I think you’re right,” he said. He was glad she’d said it first, actually. He didn’t have the inclination from her that she was looking to prolong the affair, but it was still good to have it out in the open. He didn’t want to face the awkwardness that would certainly arise if there was any miscommunication on that issue.

The waiter returned with the mimosa flights and set them down. Elliot picked up one of the several glasses and held it in the air. “Shall we drink to our new partnership, then?” he asked with a smile.

Ivy raised a glass of her own and clinked it against his. “To our new partnership,” she said. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“So am I,” Elliot agreed.

He was surprised, in fact, by just how much he was looking forward to it. He had never had an affair with a woman that had lasted longer than a couple of nights. And though this one wasn’t lasting either, exactly, the fact that they were going to get to know one another in the aftermath of their romantic time together was unique enough to excite him.

Besides, he wanted to know her better. He wasn’t sure he had ever met anyone quite like her before in his life.

CHAPTER 7

IVY

“Who the hell is this guy?” Janelle asked on the phone later that afternoon.

Ivy leaned back against the arm of her sofa and kicked her legs up. “I’m telling you who he is,” she said. “He’s the CEO of SmartSilver.”

“No he isn’t,” Janelle laughed. “He just said that to get you into bed. There’s no way you bumped into the CEO of SmartSilver walking down the street a block from your apartment. That’s too random.”

“I’d think so too if it hadn’t happened,” Ivy agreed. “But I’m telling you, it was really him. And I know he didn’t say it to get me to sleep with him, because he didn’t even tell me who he was until this morning. If he was trying to play me, he probably would have led with that, wouldn’t he?”

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