Page 22 of Without Regret

That brought up a curious point. “True. But we’re a team.” And now that we’d addressed the elephant in the room, hopefully we could behave as such.

“Agreed, but I’m not good with knowing what I should or shouldn’t be asking of you.”

“Surely you’ve had an assistant before.”

He blushed. “I made the mistake once when I was nineteen and interning for my father of asking his assistant for something. Pearl is all of eighty pounds soaking wet and reminds me of my grandmother, but she set me straight.”

“And how did Pearl set you straight?”

“She informed me she did enough of one man’s shit; she certainly wasn’t about to do another’s.”

His amusement was contagious. I could picture it all too well. “And what did you say to that?” I knew many a man who would’ve pitched a fit about such an attitude coming from someone they deemed beneath them.

“I told her, ‘Yes, ma’am. Sorry, ma’am.’ Nobody messes with Pearl.”

I loved the idea of a little old lady ruling the suits in the office with an iron fist. And I found myself unthawing a bit. “That’s classic. So no more assistants for you?”

“Nope. I’d say I’m proficient, except I can’t seem to print this thing.”

“Let me take care of that. Send it to me.”

He went back to his mouse, clicking a few times. “Done. Thank you.”

A few minutes later, I’d printed from his email and returned with his pages. “Here you go.”

He took the papers from my hand. “Thank you. I’m curious. How did you and Simon start working together?”

That was one story I didn’t mind sharing. “I was nineteen and had started working as the receptionist in the New York office for the Stone Group. Simon needed an assistant temporarily, so they asked me to fill in. After a full day, he requested I stay with him for the week. And from there, he brought me on as a full-time team member for acquisitions.”

“He speaks very highly of you.”

“Yes, well, he makes it easy to do good work considering I feel the same way about him. Anyhow, I should get back to it. Email me your changes once you need them printed again.”

“Thank you. Not only for that, but for lunch, too. I appreciate it.”

I knew he meant it. I turned to go, but he stopped me.

“Oh, and Emma?”

My heart raced at the way he spoke my name, to the point I had to grip the door jamb. Definitely not thinking of him as a ‘friend.’ “Yes?”

“The verdict is I’m suggesting we buy the company. Work to grow its app and platform.”

I grinned. “I know. I skipped to the end of your presentation before I handed it to you.”

He threw his head back with laughter.

I went back out to my desk thinking it was too bad I didn’t go for nice guys; otherwise, Trevor would be a tough one to resist.

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