Page 17 of The German's Guilty Pleasure
“You could come with me. We have no secrets.”
He gave me a smile that said he was amused. “I would, but I have about thirty other things I would rather be doing. Number one on my list is something not suitable for work.” His gaze swept from my heels to the hem of my skirt and stopped.
I jumped up and hot-footed it to the door. “Right, okay, no problem. See you soon.”
When I shut the door behind me, I swear to God I could hear him laughing.
“Serenity? Earth to Serenity,” Seth said, waving his hand in front of my face.
I snapped to attention and smiled. “Sorry, I got distracted for a second there.”
“For a second? You’ve been distracted since you got here. Does it have anything to do with the German CEO in the penthouse?”
“He’s not in the penthouse. He’s in his office.” I rolled my eyes until I realized what I had said. I slapped my hand over my mouth. “Crap. I didn’t mean it like that.”
It was his turn to roll his eyes. “Sure, and my chihuahua wasn’t eaten by a gator.”
My head snapped in his direction. “It was?”
He grimaced and nodded. “Never saw it coming. Anyway, what has the ol’ boss man done to distract you this time?”
I wasn’t about to tell him he stuck his tongue down my throat … again. I brushed my hand at him nonchalantly as we entered the café. “No big deal. He forgot to tell me his mother was coming in tonight, but that’s fine. It’s time we meet her, don’t you think?”
He nodded while he flipped on the lights. “I think so. Everyone has made her out to be Brunhilda. I think we all need a reset on who she is and what she expects out of this side of the company. Now, that’s easy for me to say, all I have to do is keep the building running. You, on the other hand, have to sell those expensive vibrators and keep it classy.”
I was taking a drink of coffee and snorted it right up my sinus cavities and back out again. I bent over, coffee dripping down my face, and laughter choking out my voice. Seth handed me a napkin, and I cleaned myself up, the whole time unsure if I should be laughing or grumping about his comments.
“Thanks, Seth. I appreciate the dry-cleaning bill.”
“Anytime.” He smiled slyly. “I’m sure you could run upstairs and change in the boss’s office. He might turn his back.”
I put my hand on my hip and stared him down. “Are you trying to say something here, Seth?”
He pointed at his chest while mouthing,me?
I shoved him in the shoulder and tossed my bag down on a table. “Yes, you. Clearly, you think you know something you don’t know.”
He held up his hands. “I don’t know anything, we all know that. I’m joking around … mostly. We’d all have to be blind not to notice the way he looks at you when he thinks no one else is, though.”
“And how does he look at me when no one else is looking? Disappointed? Unsure? Like prey?” I threw the last one in to test the waters.
“Revered. Everyone is in agreement on that word, too, so stop turning up your lip in disbelief,” he said, swirling his finger around my face.
“Good Lord, who else are you discussing this with?”
He hooked his arm in mine and led me toward the café kitchen. “Let’s see … um … oh, everyone,” he teased, shoulder bumping me. “If he thinks he’s hiding his emotions, he’s wrong. If you think we can’t see you’re scared to death of his prowess, you’re wrong. I know you don’t like being wrong, so my guess is you have this all locked down.”
If only he knew how not locked down I had this.
“Sure, yeah, it’s locked down tight.”
He laughed until he had to drop my arm and wipe his eyes. “That was convincing. Never hesitate and never show weakness, Serenity. Especially not to a guy like Lars.”
I laughed hysterically, but dryly, to tell him I wasn’t playing this game any longer. “Clearly, you think there is something there that isn’t. We work together, end of story. Speaking of, we have to do something with this place. We signed the caterers for ninety days. That time has passed, but we still need an open and successful café.
“Smooth change of subject, boss,” he said, laughing.
“I’m not your boss, not by a long shot. We are equals in this business, Seth. I can’t do my job if you aren’t doing yours and vice versa.” The little lesson Lars schooled me on in his office came back to me. I sighed when it struck me that he’d managed to make his point without even being present. “Let’s work together to get the job done. We already know the café is a popular place for our colleagues. Do you think we could draw in business from the other office buildings to make it self-sufficient? We have to take wages and product into consideration, too.”
