Font Size:

Page 91 of All's Well that Friends Well

My heart pounds in my chest. “My assistant.”

She rolls her eyes, just like I knew she would. “What else?” she says.

“My—friend.” I stumble over the word, but it sounds normal enough.

It’s met with another eye roll, though, this time accompanied by a pout. “Fine,” she says, crossing her legs. “Whatelse?”

My breath whooshes out of me as something light andamused rises in my chest, almost giddy. “Trouble,” I finally say. “Goodtrouble.”

She sniffs and tucks a few locks of hair behind her ear. “Thank you,” she says primly. She smooths her hands down her skirt again and then hops off the desk. “Now, are you ready to see your new schedule?”

“Yes,” I say. Then, pausing as my gaze drops to her mouth, I add, “But you should fix your lipstick first.”

Because I won’t be able to concentrate until she does.

JULIET

“Oh, stop whining,”I say to Luca as he stands at the door to his office, frozen with his hand on the handle. “Come on. Open it. Go.” When he still doesn’t move, I poke him in the back. “Go.”

“I don’t?—”

“Everyone else is eating lunch in the break room,” I say patiently. “So you should go to the break room too. Let them see for themselves that you don’t just plug in to a port to recharge.” I step around him to look him in the eye.

“You need to eat anyway,” I say. “So get moving. Why did you hire me if you weren’t planning to listen to my ideas?”

“Rodney made me,” Luca mutters, and I stifle a laugh.

“Any other reason? Like maybe that I could be a helpful asset?”

He grunts, and I nod.

“Yep,” I say. “That’s the one.”

Luca lets out a long, shuddering sigh. “Fine,” he says. “Fine. But for the record, I’m against this.”

Big baby. “You’re acting like a man child. It’s a few changes to your normal routine,” I say. “Not that hard to adapt to. I have faith in you.”

He grumbles but opens the door anyway, and I follow him, walking a suitable distance behind.

I don’t know. Maybe I’m supposed to walk next to him. I have no idea.

One thing I do know for sure? Luca Slater likes me.

I don’t know howmuchhe likes me, or exactly what kind of feelings are going on in that broad, muscular chest of his, but he likes me.

A dopey smile has spread over my face as we walk to the break room, and I don’t bother trying to get rid of it. I’m too happy, too excited. All I need to know now is if he wants the same things I do. Whether he can move on from his past, and whether he sees the same future I do.

I startle as I bump into Luca, my face squishing into his back. We’ve reached the break room without me realizing it, and I didn’t realize Luca had stopped walking, either.

“Ow,” I say, wriggling my nose a little.

Luca looks over his shoulder at me, one brow raised. “That desperate to get closer?” he says in a low voice.

“Always,” I whisper back.

His lips twitch. “Trouble,” he says, and my happiness blooms further. Then he looks forward once more and strides into the break room.

The counters could use some wiping down; it’s the first thing I notice, probably because it’s what I’m used to looking at. But it doesn’t take long for my attention to fall on the shocked expressions of everyone present instead. Marianneand Josh are seated next to each other—totally dating, and despite what Luca says, they’re cute together—with a few more people at their table. Over by the counter, Prue watches the microwave as it hums. The hush that falls over the room causes Dell’s head to pop up from behind the refrigerator door, where he’s presumably hunting for something.