Page 8 of Royal Bosshole

JAMES

I tried my best not to look too smug, but I knew I would win. I was always good at convincing people to do things, and now that Lily was looking at me like, well, I couldn’t really explain it, but almost like she was embarrassed, I knew things would be a bit easier. But I still had to do a little damage control after yesterday. Yelling at people wasn’t the way to get them to do what you wanted.

“Here you go, guys,” Jen said, as she handed both me and Lily our lattes.

“Thanks.” I gave Jen a brief smile and then returned my gaze to Lily. Her face seemed to be slightly less red now. She also sounded a bit sick, but I brushed off any concerns. She was going to be my employee. I took a sip and paused. “Shit, this is good,” I said, looking down into the mug.

Lily laughed. “You sound surprised,” she said, and then her smile faded. “I know that Coffee on the Go thinks they know everything, but I do know a thing or two about coffee.”

I flashed her one of my winning smiles, hoping today was the day that it worked. “And that’s exactly why I want to hire you. I’m glad you’re in. I want to give you a tour of our headquarters down the street, but I swear I’m not leaving until I finish this.”

I thought I saw her smirk again, and it made something shift inside me. I never considered myself a funny, loveable guy. I was usually serious, and it came with the territory of being a prince. One had to always be logical and put other people first in the sort of take-a-bullet-for-them kind of way. But seeing someone smile at something I said, without knowing who I really was, felt…different.

“You ready?” she asked when I finally put my mug down.

“Yeah, I’m ready.” I offered to pay, but she waved my hand away.

“On the house.”

Outside, the air was slightly cool, and I noticed how Lily looked very Autumn-like in her orange floral dress. It cinched around the waist, but in the breeze, it clung to other parts of her too. Parts I noticed out of the corner of my eye but tried to keep my eyes forward.

Seducing her might be simple, but I didn’t want to get attached in any sort of way. That wouldn’t be logical.

“Here we are,” I said finally after a long minute of silence.

I opened the door for her, and she stepped inside, looking everywhere.

“Fancy,” she said at the dark linoleum floors and black marble tables.

“Yeah, we go for fancy,” I said stupidly as I pushed the button for the elevator.

“I thought coffeeshops were supposed to have an earthier feel, not this corporate vibe.” She scrunched up her nose as she turned to look at me, and I let out a grunt which I had intended to sound like a laugh.

The elevator doors opened, and we stepped inside. When the doors closed, I took a breath, thinking about how it was just the two of us alone. In a small space. I set my teeth when I smelled her perfume.

Lilies. Go figure.

“Well, this is the corporate building. I like to think our shops are a little more approachable,” I said.

The elevator buzzed, and we stepped out onto the hard dark linoleum of the office floor.

“Not really. I’ve been to your shops. They’re the same as this. Cold and uninviting.”

I felt a little flicker of annoyance. I turned to her.

“Clearly not everyone thinks so since we’ve been spreading our business all over the city and all over the country. Coffee on the Go is up and coming, making more money than any of our projections predicted, beating out mom-and-pop shops and smaller franchises,” I added with a quirk of my brow.

She crossed her arms, and there we were, standing outside the elevator, not even having gone into the office yet.

“It’s true that people want efficiency, but that’s only because of companies like you adding to this problem of society. People miss the old ways of doing things. Of having coffee with friends and taking time out of our day to be happy and enjoy one another’s company.” She pointed to me. “Of enjoying coffee that is actually good. Such as you did today. With a sort of smile on your face, I might add.”

Well, fuck. Lily Jones has more mettle than I gave her credit for.

I ignored the whole smile thing. Had I really been smiling?

“This is the way that society has moved. There’s no going back. We’re moving forward, making progress. We get people their coffee, and we do it well, and we do it efficiently. Then, they can move on with their day. Old ways of doing things imply expensive and long wait times. We don’t have either of those things. People like that.”

Hypocrite. You’re following tradition when it comes to Lenovia and doing your duty.

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