Page 19 of Baby Bombshell for the Boss

“I have to hand it to you,” he said. “This is amazing. The place is really coming together.”

“Well, we aren’t finished yet,” she said. “There’s more furniture to choose, and I’m really stuck on window treatments — I’m sure we can do better than those industrial blinds. But I do think it’s off to a good start!”

“What about the break room?” Elliot asked.

“Did we talk about the break room?”

They hadn’t, but he found himself wanting to do anything he could to prolong their time together. “I feel like it could really benefit from your touch,” he said. “What do you think? Do you have any ideas?”

“Well, let me spend some time with it,” she said. “I’ll take a look and see if I can come up with anything. But yeah, I’d love to give it a try. Working in this space has been such a great opportunity for me — not just because I’m between jobs, but because I feel really inspired by this project.”

He smiled at her. She wasn’t the only one who was feeling inspired and he wanted to say so. But he wasn’t sure where the boundaries were on this professional relationship. Maybe it would have been crossing the line.

So, as he so often did lately, he decided to say nothing at all.

CHAPTER 9

ELLIOT

“We’re all going out tonight, and you’re coming with us,” Elliot’s best friend, Tucker, informed him. “It’s been ages.”

Elliot looked out through the window of his office at the bustling floor. The new desks had arrived, and his employees were every bit as happy about them as Ivy had predicted they would be. Everyone was laughing and enjoying themselves, and even from here, he could see that the work was still getting done. It had been the right move.

As for Ivy herself, she wasn’t in today. The project wasn’t done, but she had told him last night there was nothing more to do until the new pieces of furniture had been ordered, and Elliot had agreed that it made sense for her not to come in for the rest of the week. Still, he had sensed a bit of regret on both of their parts — or had he been imagining it? Had she secretly wanted to come in? Had he secretly wanted her to?

He wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he hadn’t seen her all day, and that the day had ended up feeling incomplete, somehow. And even though he would ordinarily have liked nothing better than a night out with his friends, tonight he really wanted to go home, have a drink, and think about what it was about Ivy that had gotten stuck in his mind and left him so unable to focus on anything else.

“Tonight’s no good for me,” he said flatly.

“Oh, come on,” Tucker said. “It’s Friday night. You’re not doing anything tomorrow, and if you are, you can cancel. I know your job is important, Elliot, but I also know you haven’t been out with us in over three months. People are starting to wonder about you.”

“Wonder what?”

“If you died. If you’re dating some woman who’s got you on a leash.”

Elliot laughed. “Don’t be stupid.”

“So what is it, then?”

“It really is just the job. And… well, I’ve been redecorating the office for the past few weeks, and that’s eaten up what little free time I’ve had.”

“Redecorating your office?” Tucker repeated skeptically. “Who are you? I didn’t think you were into that sort of feminine crap.”

“It’s not like I’m picking out flower arrangements,” Elliot said. “I’m talking new furniture, new paint job, making it a better environment to work in all the way around. I think the staff will really appreciate what we’re doing here when it’s finished.”

“It still sounds pretty girly to me,” Tucker said.

“Well, my designer is a woman.”

“Ohhh,” Tucker said. “I get it now.”

“You get what now?”

“She’s hot, isn’t she? That’s why you’re so into this.”

“Oh, don’t be so ridiculous,” Elliot said, but he was uncomfortably aware of how close to the truth Tucker was. Elliot did care about the redesign for genuine reasons, but Tucker wasn’t wrong to call out his attraction to Ivy. That was obviously a factor, and Elliot knew that he wouldn’t have been nearly so involved in the project if it hadn’t been for that aspect of things.

“Well, now you really have to come out,” Tucker said. “You can tell us all about her. We’re meeting at Hannigan’s in half an hour, and if you’re not there, we’re coming by your apartment and dragging you out.”

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