Page 11 of (Un)Planned

I looked around the room, taking in their designer suits and powerful auras. They must have been the other agents he told me about. I had the date marked on my calendar, making sure their offices were assigned and stocked before they arrived, but I forgot that they were getting in late last night.

As I stood in the doorway, none of them seemed to notice me. They were too focused on the documents, charts, and spreadsheets sprawled all over the coffee table. One of the other men, a younger guy with slicked-back blond hair, glanced up first, giving me a sideways smirk before standing. “And who do we have here?”

Theo rolled his eyes at him. “Jack Fischer, this is my assistant, Calla.”

“Ah,” the man—Jack—said as he walked over to me, extending his hand. “The new Marie.”

“That’s yet to be determined,” Theo muttered, not even bothering to take his eyes off the paper he was studying.

Well, so much for him warming up to me. The words struck a nerve for a moment, but I quickly brushed it off. I straightened my shoulders, refusing to let Theo rattle me. It would take a lot more than that. My mother and stepfather had practically made it a blood sport. Theo would have to work harder if he wanted to get under my skin.

I placed my hand in Jack’s, noticing the strength in his grip. “Don’t mind Mr. Ayad,” I winked. “He’s not used to having someone call him out on his surly attitude.”

Jack and the other men barked a loud laugh, and he smiled down at me. “I like this one, Theo.” He lowered his voice, “When you get sick of his shit, come find me. I could use an assistant with some spark.”

“Don’t even think about it,” Theo warned, finally looking up at us.Please. I rolled my eyes. With his constantly shifting moods and attitude problem, I should jump at the chance to work for someone else, but I felt a sick sense of loyalty to Theo. He was willing to give me a chance when no one else would even let me in the door.

But it was nice to have options.

I coyly smiled up at Jack, “Tempting offer, but I’m good right now.” I winked at Theo, secretly loving how annoyed his expression had turned. “I can handle him.”

Theo stood, placing his hand on my arm to steer me out of his office. He let the door close behind him, bringing me to my desk and depositing me into my chair. “Do I need you to reread the employee contract?”

I arched my brow. “What for?”

“There’s a strict no-fraternization rule.” He narrowed his eyes. “Jack is a shameless flirt, but he’s also one of the best sports agents in the country. If you try?—”

“I’m going to stop you there.” I held up my hand. “First of all, this is the first and last time we will discuss my dating life. It’s none of your business.”

“It is if it affects this office.”

“And second,” I continued, matching his irritated glare, “that policy only applies to supervisors and their subordinates. And last: I have zero interest in dating Jack. That was aconversation,in case you haven’t heard of those before. It’s something two people do when they work together. Maybe you should go back to your makers and see if they can install a better social chip. Yours seems to be defective.”

He paused, leaning away from me. “Because I’m a robot?”

“Now he’s getting it,” I teased, placing my hands down on my desk. “To make it clear, yes, I read the contract and know that interoffice dating is not allowed. Trust me, it won’t be an issue.”

Theo nodded slowly, apparently appeased by my words. He looked down at the calendar on my desk, studying the notes I’d left for the day. I’d already been planning on working late, trying to get a jump start for next week. Knowing Theo, he’d be working all weekend and have an endless list of tasks waiting for me on Monday morning.

He tapped his finger against the surface. “I need you to set up a dinner.”

I nodded, grabbing my ever-present notepad. “For when?”

“Tonight.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. “Unless you want fast-food, it’s going to be hard to get a reservation with only a few hours’ notice. How many people?”

“Six,” Theo said with a disinterested tone, as if he hadn’t just thrown me an impossible task with an even more ridiculous deadline. “Most of the department heads flew in last night, and I want to start this team off on the right foot.”

“Sounds like a blast,” I drawled, scribbling down ideas.

“Hardly. More like most of them will get hammered and stick me with the tab. But that’s how things are done.”

“Then maybe you should bring me along,” I jokingly suggested. “That sounds like my idea of a good time.” I stood, tapping him on the shoulder with my notepad.

His brow furrowed. “Assistants don’t usually attend these events.”

“I know.” I smirked. “I was teasing, Mr. Ayad.”

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