Page 28 of The Boss on the Brain

I burst out laughing. I had to give it to her. She was going to great ends to make sure nothing seemed suspicious about us meeting in my office.

I knew so much about this voice and the woman who spoke those words. I knew the needs and requirements of this woman. I even knew what she’d fake complain about next—I deserve better than this.

“We deserve to be treated better than this,” Ava said.

I was almost inclined to laugh again. Instead, I opened the door and leaned against the doorframe. There she was. A fired-up beauty, brandishing papers and her phone while trying to convince my assistant of her troubles.

She hadn’t noticed me yet.

“Zach,” I said, stepping away from the doorway and putting my hands in my pockets, “it’s okay. I can speak with her. Please clear my calendar for the next twenty minutes.”

Ava turned to me, and her mouth fell partly open. I remembered what it felt like, ages ago, to reach over and plant a kiss on them. Those full lips that were so busy giving my assistant an earful could also make a man feel heady and want to hear more.

“She’s Ava Hale,” Zach informed me, squinting at the computer, “an employee from one of our recent acquisitions, The Galle.”

“The Galley,” I corrected automatically just as Ava’s eyes met mine in surprise.

She looked away when I smiled at her, and she walked past Zach and into my office.

Zach looked dismayed, but I gave him a small smile anda nod to say it was okay before I stepped back inside and shut the door. I had a very welcome visitor in my office, and my day was getting better.

Ava stoodby my desk as I approached her. She put her folder down before turning to face me.

“There’s something I need to ask you,” she began.

I nodded. “Likewise. Could you please let me go first?” I asked, noticing her clothes once again. The blue summer dress seemed like it had belonged to someone else before her.

Her eyes widened in surprise, and she nodded hesitantly.

“I couldn’t help but notice you were shivering when you pulled the food cart into our meeting earlier.”

Her face cleared up, and she laughed. “Oh, yes, the pizza delivery was late,” she began. “Rita and I were waiting outside for a good ten minutes.”

“Rita had a thick wool coat on,” I pointed out.

She flushed.

“Do you have money problems, Ava?” I asked.

Her face hardened. “No,” she said. “And I don’t want to discuss this anymore.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but I knew there was a simpler way of dealing with a stubborn woman like her.

“All right,” I said, mentally making a note to get my personal shopper to pick out and deliver a few coats to her. Ava would hate me for it, but I couldn’t do nothing. Not after I’d seen her so vulnerable back in the elevator.

I raised my eyebrows. “You took the elevator again,” I stated simply.

She nodded. “I was nervous, but I remembered my then-confident words about not writing things off, and so I made myself do it.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to not let my mind wander. All I wanted was to hold her hand again, like I’d done back at the elevator, to feel her soft body beside me, to have her vulnerable eyes turn to me for guidance one more time.

Focus. “I’m impressed. Well, go on. You wanted to speak to me about something?”

“Did Ray Murphy ever talk to you about an embezzlement at our restaurant?”

I froze, all thoughts of holding Ava to me stalling for a minute. “He did not.”

She turned away, but not before I saw her lower lip tremble.