Page 4 of Falling for Mr. Bossy Pants

I look at the clock. The hour has flown by and I have exactly five minutes to be at this meeting. I close my eyes briefly, internally thanking the powers that be for sending Diane to my office as I realize I have no idea where this conference room is.

“Thanks so much Diane. That would be great.” I stand grabbing a notepad and pen and follow her out the door.

“So how’s the first day going?”

“Honestly great. Everyone is so nice here. And I appreciate that things are so well organized.”

Diane lets out a soft laugh. “Organization is Whitmore Tech’s strength. Mr. Whitmore is very particular. In a good way.”

I can’t help noticing she looks me in the eyes and smiles as she makes the statement. Within a minute or so we arrive at a medium-sized conference room with tall windows on one side and a large wall with a whiteboard and a projection screen. The conference room table is sleek wood with modern chairs tucked underneath.

“Wow this is a great conference room,” I say, somewhat embarrassed at how enthusiastic my words come out.

“You should see the board room,” Diane says as she looks at me with wide eyes clasping her hands in front of her. “Okay, well everyone will be piling in here in a minute. You enjoy your meeting.”

I turn to Diane feeling a sense of abandonment. “Oh, you’re not staying?”

“Oh, no dear. I have other things that need attending to. Mr. Whitmore will be here with your team though.” She glances over at the whiteboard and makes her way to the door smoothing her hand on the top of each chair as she goes. She pauses in front of me. “Just soak it all in. You’re going to be wonderful,” she says reaching out gently touching my arm.

“Thanks Diane.” I watch her leave appreciating her kindness. No one has ever been this nice to me at a job. I return my attention to the table and chairs. Should I just pick a chair? I notice other chairs neatly pressed up against the wall away from the table. I decide to sit in one of those not knowing how many people will be at the table.

I look out the door and see people walking towards the conference room. Two younger looking men and one woman come in and take a seat at the table. They glance in my direction. The younger woman makes eye contact with me.

“Hi. I’m Leah. Are you new?”

I smile. Leah looks like a fresh out of college type of girl. She’s dressed very professionally with a modern flair. I can see the edge of a tattoo peeking up on her neck from underneath her mock neck sweater. She's wearing large clear rimmed glasses. Her curly blonde hair is cut short into a perfect bob. I don’t recall ever looking that put together when I was in my twenties. I lived in sweatpants, hoodies and a pair of jeans I still have to this day.

“Hi. Yes. It’s my first day actually. I’m Lacey. The new senior financial analyst.”

“Oh cool. So I’m an intern on the team. So are Jonathan and Adam.” She nods acknowledging the two young men who are in conversation with each other. “We are seniors at the university. You should come sit at the table. There will only be a few more people. Our team is big, but only a small portion of us will be here today.”

“Right. Thanks.” I stand and make my way over to the table and sit next to Leah. I turn to see David and few other people I don’t know enter the room. David introduces me to them, but my focus is immediately drawn to the man who enters the room after them. He’s tall wearing a navy suit that looks like it was sewn just for his body. His face is clean shaven, eyes light in color, and I can’t tell if they’re blue or gray, but I can tell they’re intense. His jet-black hair is short but long enough to need a comb run through it. As he walks past me to the front of the room, I get a whiff of something intoxicating. Pine? Sage? I don’t know exactly what it is but it’s making my heart beat a little faster. I quickly become aware my mouth is dry. Water. Isn’t there water in here? I swallow hard. As he makes his way to sit at the head of the table, I realize this is Jared Whitmore. Pictures do not do this man justice. The pictures I saw didn’t capture the light in his eyes or his complexion. He seems taller than in the pictures. His body is perfectly proportioned. Handsome is an understatement. If there was a calendar for drop dead gorgeous CEOs he should be the picture for every month.

I catch my foot tapping uncontrollably under the table and rest my hand on my leg to settle myself down. I look down at my notepad then look up and take a quick glance at him. He’s looking down at his phone typing away. He stops and raises his head slightly, catching my eye. My heart starts to pound in my chest, and I can feel heat run up my neck. He gives me a gentle nod and says, “I don’t believe we have met?”

Mayday. Mayday. Sound the alarm! The CEO is talking to me.

I smile and make eye contact. “Hi. I’m Lacey. It’s my first day here…”, I stop my words as he stands and makes his way towards me. I’m pretty sure I look completely overwhelmed, but I manage to roll back my chair and stand hoping that’s what I’m supposed to be doing.

“Lacey. Nice to have you here,” he says as he reaches out his hand.

I reach out and shake his hand. His hands are like butter. They’re slightly warm and incredibly soft. He holds my hand for a few seconds when I can feel my body turning into a puddle. What is going on? I’ve worked with attractive men before and never reacted this way.Pull yourself together.

“Thank you. Nice to be here.” That’s it. Those are all the words I can muster. Thanks brain. I watch as he turns and goes back to his seat at the head of the table. I sit in my chair just as I feel goosebumps erupt on my arms. I rub my arms discreetly under the table, grateful I put on my cardigan before coming to this meeting. I inhale deeply to gather myself.

Mr. Whitmore stands and goes over to the windows then starts to pace. “David, do we have everyone here?”

David glances around the room. “Yes, I believe we can get started. The floor is all yours.”

I hold my breath preparing to hear this man’s voice. He gives off an air of authority but not in a condescending way. I can tell he’s well respected by the people in the room. He exudes confidence. I find myself completely engaged even though he hasn’t said a word. I slowly click my pen ready to take notes because I need to focus on something other than this man’s face. His chiseled jaw is making my stomach flutter.

Mr. Whitmore places his hands behind his back and heads to the whiteboard. Even his walk is attractive. How is that even possible?

“Alright everyone. Thanks for being here this afternoon. I called this meeting to discuss a new project. It’s an expansion project and I’m going to need all of you to be working on it.”

For the next hour I listen intently to every word coming out of his mouth. His delivery to the team is somewhat matter of fact. There are no smiles or jokes thrown our way. He’s all business.

The meeting ends and Mr. Whitmore exits the room. As I flip the pages of my notepad, I see Leah closing her laptop. I take a mental note to bring my laptop next time because apparently that’s the cool thing to do. I’m about to stand when Leah leans in and whispers, “He’s a bit intense but he knows what he’s doing.”

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