Page 8 of Rewrite the Rules

“I could just look it up in the personnel files.”

“You could.” The corners of my mouth pull downwards as I nod in condescension. “But, seeing as I’m the only one with the administrator password to the personnel files, I fear Mr. Lewis, I may have you between a rock and a hard place.”

“You’re going to be too much fun to work with, aren’t you?” Joel throws me a teasing smile which I’m sure is onlyaccidentallyseductive. He really needs to get that sexy curl at the corner of his lips under control. He’s casting out a dangerous net and who knows what he’s going to catch in Denver.

“I have never once in my twenty-five years been accused of being too much fun. Too little? Absolutely.” I wink right back as if I could have the same effect.

If only.I’ll practice.

“Ah, so twenty-five?”

I tap my nose then point to him like he’s the winner in a game of charades. “Is Steve aware that you’re here? I can go grab him from the meeting room.”

“He is indeed. He showed me around just this morning. He’s dotting some I’s and crossing some T’s before he takes an extended leave.”

“Wow.”Four years of being the Robin to Steve’s chubby version of Batman and he didn’t even have the courtesy to tell me he’s leaving. I may be but a lowly servant, but that’s supposed to mean I get the good gossip firsthand.

“What’s wrong?” Joel’s brow furrows as he notices the change in my expression.

“I’m just surprised Steve didn’t tell me. Normally, he tells me everything. Too much in fact. The man couldn’t keep a secret if his life depended on it.”

“Well, that’s not something I wanted to learn about my new business partner.” Joel chuckles but his face pulls in worried lines. “He’s dealing with some personal things.”

Um, who are you telling? I know.I cater to Steve every day. He and Alice will work it out. I know they will. On more than one occasion I’ve used the company card to send Alice flowers from Steve with notes like ‘Just thinking of you’and ‘Beautiful flowers that pale in comparison to my beautiful wife’.Keeping their marriage together is about ten percent of my job. Their anniversary? September twenty-fifth. Alice’s birthday? March fourteenth. Her favorite flower? Pink orchids. Her favorite restaurant? Luna’s Steakhouse. Heractualfavorite restaurant? In-N-Out Burger.

I’ve been pulling the puppet strings for years. Now it’s time for Steve to step up and give his marriage the attention it deserves.

“Steve is going to take a step back and let me run things here. He sings your praises by the way. I think his exact words to me were—and I quote—‘lucky son of a bitch to have Haley here’.”

I nod awkwardly. I am uncomfortable receiving praise, even from Steve. I dodge compliments like Neo dodging slow-motion bullets inThe Matrix. “Ah, yep. There goes Steve just adding to my name confusion.”

“How about I call you by the name you prefer?” Joel’s eyes rake over my lips, forcing the heat to rise again in my cheeks. “Which is Adler, right?”

My heart flutters annoyingly fast and I attempt to sidestep with humor once more. “Adler, Addie, A-Dizzle, Addie-Bear, Chatty Patty, the original A-D, or if you want to get really personal, Baby Spice. Any are acceptable.”

Joel’s expression briefly blanks before twisting in confusion.

“As inSpice Girls,” I clarify while mirroring his puzzled expression.Oh great.Another stuffy suit, just wrapped in a sexy-as-all-hell package. “They were a singing girls’ group in the—”

“Oh, no, no,” Joel interrupts. “I’m a human being on planet earth, so I know who the Spice Girls are. I’m just trying to piece this together. You don’t scream Baby Spice to me. You’re not blonde and I can’t picture you in pigtails and leather Gogo boots strolling around with a lollipop.” A wrinkle of amusement crosses his face.

Oh my God, he’s trying to picture it.Baby Spice turns your crank, huh?That’s my name…feel free to wear it out.

“You know a surprising amount about Baby Spice. For your benefit, I’m going to pretend that isn’t super creepy.”

His laugh escapes as a parched-sounding huff. “It’s not like that. I have a little sister who is obsessed with nineties pop. Unfortunately, thanks to her, I can name every Backstreet Boy, NSYNC member, and I’m not proud of this, but I know exactly why New Kids on the Block disbanded. Also yes, I know all the Spice Girls.”

A soft endearing smile spreads across Joel’s face when he mentions his little sister and I have to tell my ovaries to calm thehelldown, because this is my new boss.

Joel’s sudden amusement catches me off guard.

“What?” I ask.

He squints his eyes and smirks. “You have a redheaded friend you call Ginger Spice, don’t you?”

Whaaat? Nooo.“Oh, come on. Do you really think I’m juvenile enough to assign all my friends a Spice Girls nickname? I’m a little bit more mature than that.” And now Joel Lewis is never allowed to meet Mani.

“Right. Well then, I’m more than happy to call you Adler on the day-to-day, but how about I put Baby Spice on your annual performance reviews?” His shoulders rise and fall from his breathy chuckle but his asking eyes lock seriously on mine. All we’ve done in this introduction so far is laugh and leer. His smile, those eyes…it’s infectious.

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