Page 36 of Friend Me

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“Um, Cooper?”I leaned on the doorframe of his office at eight thirty on Monday morning.

He kept his eyes on his screen and tapped a key on his computer. “Yes, Marlee?”

“I have good news and bad news.”

He snapped his head up, eyes wide in his pale face. “Jackson’s all right? And Alicia?”

“Oh.” I grimaced. “Of course they are. It’s nothingthatdramatic.” He eased back in his chair. “The good news is that Kim, the temp you hated last week, called to say she’s not coming back. The bad news is that means you don’t have an assistant today.” I fought the giddy laugh that tried to bubble out of me. Step two of my plan had fallen into place almost too easily.

He rested his elbows on the glass-covered cherrywood desktop, bowed his head, and tugged at the dark-blond roots of his hair. Seeing him so vulnerable made me want to go over, pull his head back, and give him a long, slow kiss. I wondered if his lips would taste of citrus like Tyler’s did. I shook off both thoughts—especially the memory of Tyler’s kiss—and took a few steps into his office, my heels sinking into the plush antique rug. “Why are you so hard on them, anyway?”

“Who? The temps?” When I nodded, he rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s your fault, really.”

I drew a breath to argue. I’d been nothing but kind to each of his temps, taking time away from my own work to train them and to help them with Cooper’s outrageous demands. The man demanded perfection from everyone—well, everyone but Jackson, who was a lost cause at anything except coding; for everything else, he had me—and it was too much to ask of a temp who was making eighteen bucks an hour and going to night school.

“How dare—”

He stopped me by raising his hands, palms out. “All I meant was that the bar you set is too high. They all seem incompetent compared to you.”

I almost,almostfelt guilty about setting them up for failure. “It’s hard starting something new. You have to give people a chance.”Give me a chance.

He shook his head. “You’ve been great since day one. On your first day”—Cooper ticked off the items on his fingers—“you tracked down Jay at his apartment where he was sleeping off a hangover, made him shower and dress, and had him here, on time, with coffee in hand, for a board presentation.Icouldn’t have done that, and I’ve known him for over ten years.”

I couldn’t believe he remembered. “I figured I had to. If he was fired, I was out of a job.”

“If I could just clone you…”

“Well, you can’t. Don’t even ask me for a cheek swab. But I have an idea.” Having accomplished step one, the success of our dance still to be determined, it was time to leap into step two: forced proximity, one of my favorite romance tropes. “Since Jackson’s away for three weeks, I’ll be completely bored. So while he’s gone, I’ll be your acting assistant. I’ll get you organized. I’ll even screen some candidates for you. Maybe we can finally find the right one for you. Permanently.”

“I don’t have to do anything? You’ll take care of it?”

“You don’t want to interview the candidates?”

He glanced at his screen. I was sure twenty emails had popped in during the five minutes we’d been talking. “Not if I don’t have to.”

“You trust me to hire a permanent assistant for you?” Now I really did feel bad about his misplaced trust in me.

“Absolutely.”

“Okay then. I’ll find you someone great. I promise.” I’d make up for the sabotage.

His face brightened. “And in the meantime, I get you for three weeks?”

You could have me forever if you’d just ask.I fingered my pendant and nodded, thinking of ice cubes and winter breezes to keep the blush from my cheeks.

“Deal,” he said.

He looked back at his monitor and then up at me, a wry smile on his lips. “Coincidentally, I have a meeting in the northwest conference room in ten minutes. Can you load the presentation and videoconference in the Austin team? Please?”

I held in a sigh. “Sure thing.” I turned to leave.

He called after me, “Lunch is on me.”

I peeked at him over my shoulder. “While I’m your assistant, lunch is on youeveryday.Withdessert.”

He chuckled. “You drive a hard bargain, Miss Rice.”

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