Page 19 of Falling for Mr. Bossy Pants

My heart starts to race. The thought of having a meeting alone with Mr. Whitmore is overwhelming. I know we won’t bealone aloneper se, but just being with him and meeting some potential investors is a big deal. I bite my bottom lip trying to contain my fear and excitement.

“Oh, of course. I’d love to.” That’s all I got. I can’t even think any more about this or I’ll throw up. Right here. Right on Mr. Whitmore’s shoes.

“Great. I’ll send you the invite. We can drive to their offices together.”

Oh good. Now I’m going to be alone with him in a car. I feel Beth gently squeeze my shoulder and it takes all I have not to stand up, hug her and squeal like a teenage girl. I don’t know what has gotten into me, but Mr. Whitmore is becoming my workplace crush.

“Lacey, thank you, and check your email for tomorrow. I’m going to head home and dive into one of these cookies.”

Mr. Whitmore stands and gives Shane a pat on the back and nods to both Beth and I as he walks out the door. I can barely breathe but I know I need to hold myself together with Shane still sitting at the table. It’s quiet for a minute when I realize I never thanked Shane for pushing for me to be a team leader. I feel very fortunate that he did and after tonight I am feeling even more grateful.

“Hey, Shane. You were busy talking to David the other day in our meeting, and I didn’t get the chance to thank you for advocating for me to be a team leader. Thank you for that.”

Shane tilts his head at me and furrows his brow. “Oh, well you’re welcome. But it wasn’t me that pushed it. Not that I don’t think you are going to make a great team leader, but it was Jared who really pushed it.”

I sit still. This night has become even more interesting.

Chapter ten

Jared

It’s almost nine a.m. and I’m about to head down to the lobby to meet Lacey. We have a big meeting with some potential investors and while that doesn’t make me nervous, I feel like my stomach is doing flips. It’s probably because I ate one of those amazing peanut butter deluxe cookies for breakfast. I make a mental note to have a smoothie tomorrow morning. I down my last gulp of coffee and grab my briefcase.

I can see Diane typing away and I do a quick check-in with her. “Diane, I’m meeting some potential investors this morning and probably won’t be back until after lunch.”

Diane smiles and then reaches under her desk. This can only mean one thing. She is going to feed me. I can’t say I’m not happy as my stomach churns with sugar and butter.

“Morning Mr. Whitmore. Here. I brought you some homemade banana bread.” Diane hands me a small loaf that feels heavier than a brick.

“Diane, what could possibly be in this that it weighs this much?” I ask, lifting it up and down in my hand.

“Well, I packed it with raisins, pecans and I used almond flour and unsweetened applesauce. So it really is much healthier than most banana breads. Just trying to keep you fueled. Maybe you want to take it with you and share it with Miss Lacey?”

I laugh and shake my head. I know Diane knows my schedule and meetings better than I do so it doesn’t surprise me she knows Lacey is a part of this meeting. Diane seems to smile longer than normal though, her eyes giving me a look of…something. It’s kind of like that look a friend would give you waiting for you to respond about what they just said.

“Good idea Diane. Thank you.” I grab the bread and retreat down the hallway to the elevator.

As I exit the elevator into the lobby, I see Lacey standing in my view with her bag on her shoulder. She’s in a black pant suit with heels. A red satin shirt peeks out from her blazer. Her hair is half pulled back with waves falling just over her shoulder. I don’t know if she wears makeup, but her face is glowing. She looks stunning and my mouth is starting to salivate. I swallow hard as I make eye contact.

“Good morning, Lacey. Ready to go?” I ask.

“Yes Mr. Whitmore. Um, I see you brought breakfast?” She asks staring at the loaf of banana bread in my hand which I completely forgot about.

“Oh, yes. Diane brought this for me. Well for us. She thought we might need a snack on the way to the meeting.”

I can tell Lacey is somewhat surprised at the gesture, so I add, “Diane likes to bring me food for some reason. She feeds me more often than I care to admit. I never pass it up though because she is a great cook.”

Lacey gives me a look of approval. “Oh, that was so nice of her. Can’t wait to try it,” she says smiling at me.

Her smile is killing me at the moment. It’s sweet and perfect. Her lips are shiny but not too shiny. I have to focus. This meeting is a big deal. Maybe asking Lacey to go with me was a really bad idea but it’s too late now. I can’t even remember the last time I felt anything close to this. Maybe Ihavebeen out of the dating game too long. I quickly regroup remembering we are about to meet a bunch of people I’m trying to convince to give Whitmore Tech money to fund the next expansion project and this is not a date.

“Okay, let’s head to my car. I’m right out front,” I say, realizing that was a dumb thing to point out seeing as there is a parking spot right on the street marked‘CEO.’

As we drive, I tell Lacey to unwrap the bread and take a piece. It’s a little messy, and without any utensils, crumbs are falling on the floor which normally would set me into a panic, but right now it’s like I don’t even notice. I see Lacey enjoying a nice chunk that she carefully broke off with her hands. There’s something about the way she’s enjoying it that makes me want a piece right this very second.

“Lacey, break me off a piece would you please?” I glance over and see her pause just for a second then she goes in and carefully breaks a piece. My brain is starting to compute things that I didn’t know it could, and before I can slow it down, I say, “just feed it to me so I can keep two hands on the wheel.” I start to sense beads of sweat forming on the back of my neck as my heart starts to race.

I glance at Lacey who looks like a deer in headlights. Who wouldn’t? I, her boss, who she barely knows, just asked her to feed me a piece of banana bread. I need to abort this mission. But I’m not even sure what I’m trying to abort. Before I know it, Lacey’s fingers are in front of my mouth with a piece of banana bread. I gently take the whole piece in one bite. I think I feel her fingers linger there a touch too long, but I’m not sure. I have no idea what’s going on right now. I swallow the bread taking a second before I look over at her.

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