Chapter 8

Mandy ended the call and quickly turned the phone on silent. “Sorry about that,” she said to Gina. “My sister’s getting married and is freaking out.”

“Been there. Done that. Twice, actually.” Gina smiled. “But seriously, make sure Mr. Salvo doesn’t catch you taking personal calls. He’s very strict about following the rules and working with the utmost efficiency.”

Mandy nodded. She could understand that. The hard part would be trying to get her sister, who had never worked a day in her life, to understand that.

Gina took her around several floors of the building. Everyone she met was polite but distant. They all were very busy so Gina and Mandy did their best not to disturb them.

The last stop was at the base of the building. A workout gym took up the entire basement, lined with different equipment as well as two locker-rooms, a pool, and a sauna. It was the scariest thing yet. Mandy didn’t do gyms. She spent her life trying to hide away from working out in public. Now she had the excuse of being too busy to use it.

“Well, that’s about it.” Gina smiled. “Me and some of the others meet at the bar across the street for drinks on Wednesdays. It’s to get through hump day.” Gina laughed. “You’re welcome to join us.”

Mandy smiled. “Sounds like fun.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time. There were five missed calls from Claudia and two missed calls from Carl. Her heart skipped a beat as she realized how much trouble she could be in. “I have to get back to my office. Carl—Mr. Salvo’s been trying to get a hold of me.”

Gina nodded. “Let’s go. We can take the stairs, it’ll be quicker.”

Mandy bit her tongue from arguing that the elevator would be quicker for her.

Carl looked less than happy when Mandy came up, out of breath and her face flushed. “Why didn’t you answer my calls?” he asked.

“My phone was off so my sister couldn’t call me during work hours.”

“Why would she call you when she knows that you’re working?”

Mandy simply handed him the phone. He looked at the screen with the missed phone call notifications and swore quietly. He pulled out his wallet and handed her a credit card. “Get yourself a business phone at the end of the day. I need you to accompany me to my meeting this morning and to take notes.”

“Yes, sir,” Mandy said as she tried finger brushing the stray hairs that had escaped her bun away. “When’s the meeting?”

“Right now.” He frowned and checked his watch. “Grab your tablet.”

“Tablet?” She turned to find a brand-new tablet with detachable keyboard on her desk.

“They’re easier to travel with than a computer.” Carl handed her a folder. “Keep this available. When I ask for a paper, hand it to me.”

“Yes, sir.” She slipped the folder in the small Kate Spade tablet holder and followed Carl out the door.

***. ***. ***

Mandy DIDN’T HAVE ANOTHER moment to think for the rest of the day. Every time she finished a task, Carl had six more for her. When she wasn’t attending meetings, typing up reports or filling out paperwork, she had to consult with Gina about Carl’s schedule. Appointments came from Carl and also through Gina. It was clear that Carl was a much wanted man. Mandy couldn’t see how Carl kept up with it. She definitely didn’t see how she was going to keep up with it all.

She and Carl stayed later than everyone else. He wanted to go over the next day’s schedule with her. And give her clothes to drop off at the dry cleaners. By the time Mandy headed home, she was exhausted. And hungry. Even though Carl had bought takeout for himself and offered to get some for her, she declined. She had read somewhere that eating less at night and more in the morning would make you lose weight faster, and figured it would be for the best. She was beginning to regret it now, though. Food sounded damn good.

She stopped at a phone kiosk to pick up an Apple phone similar to the one she’d seen Carl using today. She ran his credit card to pay and wondered if the clerk would require her to have proof for it. If he did, she wouldn’t have the energy to argue with him. Luckily he didn’t. He even helped her add the contacts from the tablet to her phone. When he suggested adding her personal phone she shook her head. No way! She didn’t need her sister calling forty times a day. She didn’t have time for it.

She drove back to the large mansion house, still not sure what it fully looked like in the day and used the gate pass Carl had given her early in the day to open the gate. She pulled into the same spot she’d parked in last night and wondered if Carl and his girlfriend were somewhere in the house.

She opened her car door to find Carl rounding the corner of the house. He spotted her before she could hide. “Good evening, Ms. Connors,” he said, smiling.

“What’re you doing here?” she blurted out. Damn it, Mandy. Don’t be rude! It’s his bloody house!

Carl just looked amused, which made Mandy even more embarrassed. “I live here,” he said. He smirked. “I actually own the house here, too.”

She stood there, too embarrassed to respond. Of course he lived here.

Carl continued when he realized she didn’t know what to say. “You must be tired, Ms. Connors,” he said. “Let me walk you to your apartment.”

“No, I’m fine, really, Mr. Salvo,” she said. “You don’t have to walk me.”

“I insist,” he said. “You’re exhausted and besides, you only moved in yesterday. I assume the apartment is satisfactory for you?”

“It’s fine.” Fine? She crushed the heel of her hand against her forehead. “It’s fantastic. Sorry. I haven’t had much time to unpack.” She kept her eyes to the ground wishing Murray were there instead of Carl. She felt awkward and shy. This was his house and she was living on the main floor, overlooking the pool. That’s where he’d been. She realized his hair was wet and the t-shirt and shorts he wore were dripping. She licked her lips and shot a glance out of the corner of her eye. Dressed in a suit or casual, the man had an air about him. Hot, hot—Focus, Mandy, focus!

She never did like seeing her bosses out of work, even in meetings as innocent as this. She had read too many of Claudia’s collection of trashy romances growing up to ever feel comfortable with it.

Carl didn’t seem to notice though. “When’s your sister’s wedding?”

“Why?”

He smiled. “I have to make sure you have that week off.”

“The third week of June,” Mandy said. “I thought...”

“What? That I was invited? I may be friends with Stephen from college but I’m not that close to him.” Carl looked at her intently. “Trust me.”

Mandy swallowed and nodded. She wasn’t sure what to make of Carl’s expression. Unless he was mad at Stephen on her behalf or something. She wasn’t sure why he would be, but the thought was nice. Stop it. Whatever you’re thinking about, just stop it. She was definitely too tired to be near people right now. Her thoughts were going every which way.

“I have a gym in the house.”

“Pardon?”

“Gina mentioned she showed you the gym at the office.” He ran his tongue over his lower lip. “If you want to use a gym and don’t feel comfortable there, I have one here in the house. You are welcome to use it anytime.”

“Oh.” Great, now he was going to push her to lose weight?

“I don’t mean it in any way. You look okay. Fine.” His cheeks flushed red. “I just meant to offer the quietness here if you ever wanted it... before the wedding and stuff. It’s the room beside your apartment. The code to get in is one-four-nine-six. Top left, down, Right bottom up.”

Mandy wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. She nodded, unable to say anything, terrified she’d burst into tears. She gratefully stopped in front of her apartment door. “Well, this is me,” she said lamely. Of course he knows it’s your place. She took a deep breath in and let it out, hoping she didn’t embarrass herself again. Not in front of him. “Goodnight, Mr. Salvo.”

He smiled at her. “Goodnight, Ms. Connors.”

His smile made her stomach flip and before she completely humiliated herself, she

opened the door and quickly shut it in Carl’s face.

Yeah, that wasn’t humiliating at all.