Page 2 of Wrapped Up in You
“Hi, Miss Serena. He’s in the office and has a few minutes before he meets with Mr. Dawson.”
“Hello, Ms. Mary. I won’t take long, promise.” True to her word, Uncle Todd is sitting behind his desk, looking down, studying a plan, and doesn’t realize I’ve entered his space.
I stand just inside his office for a moment, and when he doesn’t look up, I make my presence known. “Uncle Todd, I’m sorry to bother you, but Aunt Val mentioned I could use a sweater of hers or your jacket. I’ve, um, kind of had an accident with my skirt.” I wince while giving him an awkward smile.
“Whatever you need, Serena. The closet is right there. Choose whatever. And the bathroom is to the left.” I drop my purse on the chair in front of his desk.
“Thanks. You and Aunt Val are life savers once again.” I blow him a kiss and abandon any worry about the stain, because if you can’t be yourself in front of family, who can you?
“Yeah, yeah. You know we love you.” He waves me off in that direction. There’s one thing about my uncle: when he’s at work, he’s at work. Interrupting him is nearly impossible, unless Aunt Val comes gliding in, takes the pencil out of his hand, closes the laptop shut, and inserts herself between him and the desk.
“I love you, too.” I shuffle through the hangers. The cardigan my aunt suggested won’t work, sadly. It’s cropped, and eventying it around my waist won’t work. The rest are button-down shirts. Good to know if I happen to make a mess of my top, I can at least swap that out easier. “Jackpot. Do you mind if I take this?” I take the hanger out of the closet to show Uncle Todd what I have chosen.
“You don’t have to ask. Your Aunt Val already offered. Plus, it’s not like I don’t know where you live or work to get it back.” I put the black blazer on, pull the sleeves up, and use a trick my aunt taught me. It takes me going back to my purse and digging around for a couple of hair ties, then wrapping them around the cuff on my forearms.
“Voilà. How do I look?” I ask. “And you know I’ll bring it back, dry cleaned.”
“I know you will, it’s never a worry. You know that, and you look perfect. Now you'd better hurry, or Sandra will be standing with her foot out, tapping. Lunch today?”
“Can’t this week. I’m in training all week. Plus, I want to earn my position here, not make noise.” Uncle Todd nods in response. I give him a quick kiss on the cheek, grab my bag, and whirl around.
“We really have got to stop meeting this way,” the same voice from downstairs utters in my ear. He’s hard to ignore, especially when he steadies me. This time, my foot gets caught around the leg of the chair.
“Crap. Shit. Sorry, I’m so sorry.” His gaze holds me hostage. The warmth from his palm does nothing to stop the tingles I’m feeling inside. At first, I thought maybe it was in my head. Now, well, it’s clearly not.
“No apology necessary.” He helps resettle the strap on my shoulder, his touch lingering through the heavy fabric.
“Oh, good, you two have met.” Uncle Todd abandons going back to his desk and comes around.
“Sort of. It was nice to kind of meet you. I have to get back downstairs. Getting fired for being late on my first day might not look good.” I look from my uncle to the mystery man and say, “Thanks again,” before scurrying out of the door like the flames of hell are nipping at my heels.
“Who was that?” I hear his voice ask while I’m waiting for what seems like the slowest elevator of all time to finally open its doors.
“That’s Serena. She’ll be training with you next week.”
“Todd.” There’s a hesitation to the other guy’s tone.
“Crew, I know this isn’t your usual deal, and while I’d normally handle this, it’d be a conflict of interest,” Uncle Todd replies.
“You owe me, big time.” I don’t get to hear the rest, since the dinging of the bell alerts me that it’s time to refocus on starting my job. Tell that to the swirling butterflies in the pit of my stomach. My mind is riddled with the thought of working next to the handsome stranger while simultaneously making a fool out of myself. What a way to start a new job.
1
CREW
Present Day
Iwanted to throttle Todd, grab him, and wring his neck until I shook some common sense into him. Then I kept my eyes peeled for the blonde bombshell who’s a hazard to herself. The more I saw of her, the more I wanted to be around her. I’ve also learned that she’s somehow close to Todd, and while he didn’t say to keep my hands off Serena, if looks could kill, I’d have been dead on the spot.
It figures the one time a woman catches my attention, she’s a no-go zone, plus the no fraternization policy C & T Engineering has in place only solidifies the matter. A thought I didn’t think about until I made it back to my office after seeing Serena for a second time that day.
The script flipped. Instead of putting her out of my head, all I did was keep her at the forefront of my brain. I became addicted to the thought of catching a glimpse of her. I even made excuses to get away from my desk. Never before did I get up in the middle of the day to walk around in order to catch a glimpse of a woman. I usually stay in my office, have my assistant orderlunch for me, coffee is always on near her desk, and my fridge stays well stocked with other essentials. There’s absolutely no reason for me to take a stroll nearly three times a fucking day, yet here I am, about to do the same damn thing again.
I push away from my desk, concentration gone to shit anyway. Today has been a wash, and the plans I’ve been drawing for Jagged Edge aren’t getting done any time soon.
“Mr. Garrison, Mr. Fletcher is here to see you,” my assistant, Mary, hits the intercom system to tell me Todd is standing on the other side of the door.
“Thanks, Mary, you can send him in,” I reply, my plans of leaving and hunting down Serena dashed completely. It’s for the better. Mentally, I know that, but physically, I can’t get my cock to catch up with my fucking head.
