Page 14 of The Rebel

I rose to my feet, putting the iPad in my bag.

Anthony came over to me, and with every step closer he took, I felt my body temperature rise. Maybe this morning didn’t happen.

“Daisy.” His voice sounded a tad different than earlier. It was softer. I looked straight at him even though holding his gaze was almost too much. “About this morning…”

Oh crap.

“We’ll forget it happened,” he said, and I exhaled a breath of relief.

“That’s perfect. Yes. I mean, I typically don’t?—”

He shook his head. “We met for the first time when I stepped into this room.” His voice was once again borderline harsh.

“Right. Of course, Mr. LeBlanc.”

“Anthony,” he reminded me. After a few seconds’ hesitation, he added, “There are eight Mr. LeBlancs. I have five brothers, and my dad and one of my grandfathers are also Mr. LeBlanc. It can get confusing.”

Was this his way of explaining his insistence on me calling him by his first name? Or was he letting me know that the flirty guy I met earlier this morning was him? Yet his eyes were still completely serious and bordering on cold. I’d never been so confused in my life.

“Got it!” I told him a bit too enthusiastically, but I was ready for this conversation to be over.

“All right, then. Let’s go.”

“Where exactly are we going?” I asked him as we headed downstairs.

“To one of our venues on the outskirts of the city.”

“Is it one of the concert halls?” I asked, determined to show him I’d done my research.

He looked up. “No, it’s a huge property we use for festivals. We thought about building a concert venue on it, but it didn’t make sense. We have plenty of those anyway.”

I nodded, mentally reviewing the information I’d read about the festivals.

“September is when the All Music Festival takes place, right?”

It was the biggest music event after the renowned JazzFest.

He looked over his shoulder and flashed me a smile. It wasn’t quite the flirty one from the coffee shop, but my heart slipped back into its place again. At least he was being cordial.

“Yes, that’s the one.”

“I figured that was the reason you needed an assistant right away. Even one who isn’t a perfect fit.”

His smile fell.Oh, why didn’t I bring up something else?

“That’s right.”

“That means you’re still looking for an assistant, right?”

“Yes. Dorothy and the recruiter are on top of that.”

Once we stepped off the staircase, we went out through the employee entrance. He led me down a narrow street in the opposite direction from where I’d come in this morning.

The alleyway opened into a parking lot, and I blinked in surprise. “Is this your property?”

He nodded. “Yeah, we use it as an employee parking lot.”

Wow. I knew property prices in the French Quarter. They were sitting on a gold mine.