13. Natasha
13
NATASHA
“ A re you going to keep hovering in the doorway or are you going to say something?” I said, twisting around in my office chair. I’d gotten here early to finish up my PowerPoint before this morning’s meeting with the CAD designers, but there’d been an awfully tempting distraction waiting for me when I’d arrived. I arched my brow, taking in Trent’s amused expression. “You’ve been standing there for five minutes now. Staring at me.”
“Am I not allowed to stare?” He tilted his head, obviously checking me out, and it made me shiver with delight. I’d hardly been able to stop thinking about him since the moment he kissed me in the U-Haul. Frankly, the only thing keeping me from launching myself into his arms for a repeat performance was the fact the rest of the design team was starting to arrive.
“I’m pretty sure it goes against some sort of company policy,” I said.
His lips twisted. “According to this company, we’re already dating.”
“Not everybody knows that,” I pointed out quietly, careful not to let the rest of the team overhear. I didn’t want to undermine the progress I’d made with everyone by revealing that I was Trent’s girlfriend, fake or otherwise. I wanted them to trust that I’d been placed in this position because of my talent, not my connection to the CEO. “The marketing department’s been surprisingly tight-lipped.”
“Because people here know how to mind their business,” Trent said. “But just so you know, there’s no company policy.”
“On staring?”
His brow arched. “On dating.”
My heart skipped in my chest. “Well, that’s good. At least we’re doing this fake dating thing by the books.”
“Not quite,” Trent pointed out. “Since I haven’t actually taken you out on any kind of date yet.”
Was Trent about to ask me out? While I wasn’t sure how much I wanted my coworkers to know about this fake-relationship arrangement I’d stumbled into, that didn’t mean I didn’t like the idea of spending some real time with him outside of work. “You mean like on a real date?” I said, being deliberately coy.
“Yes, Natasha,” he huffed, rolling his eyes. “Like on a real date.”
I leaned back in my chair, regarding him. My heart danced to a giddy beat, but I kept my expression as neutral as I could. “Why?”
“Because…I’d like to take you out. And I’d also like to thank you properly,” he said. “For the other night. For driving all the way to New Jersey and being so great with Jimmy. I really did appreciate all your help.”
“I know. And that’s okay.” Honestly, I’d had a surprisingly good time meeting Trent’s brother, seeing them together, getting to know Trent a little better, and letting Trent get to know me a little more too. Even though the thought of going out on a date with Trent made my pulse race, a small part of me was also hesitant to let him in any more than I already had—opening myself up to another person who might only let me down in the end. “You don’t have to take me out.”
“I know. I want to,” he said, crossing his arms as he leaned against the doorframe. He’d forgone his usual jacket, standing there in a probably-very-expensive dress shirt rolled at the sleeves to show off those squash-toned forearms.
They were very, very nice forearms, and I tried and failed not to notice his hands. Damn this man.
Damn those hands.
And damn me for thinking about what he could do with those hands.
It was only a kiss, girl. One measly little kiss. Get a hold of yourself! I needed to stop ogling my boss and get back to work. But with Trent standing there, rocking forward on the balls of his feet like he was barely holding himself back from pouncing on me, work was the last thing on my mind. He might very well let me down in the end, but what if he didn’t? And anyway, we weren’t at the end yet, and it looked like the ride to get there could be a damn good time.
In other words, I really wanted to say yes.
“We could do dinner,” he suggested.
Yes , I almost shouted, but I just couldn’t stop myself from toying with him. “I really don’t think I have any time in my calendar.”
He frowned. “You can’t find one free evening over the next week?”
I picked up my phone, pretending to scroll through my commitments. “Looks like I’m a very busy woman.”
“Busy doing what?”
“Stuff.”
“Stuff with who?” he growled.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” His expression shifted from curious to annoyed. Did the thought of me doing things with other people bother him? I sort of wanted to ask. But I also couldn’t help wondering what spending deliberate one-on-one time with Trent would mean. What had that kiss meant? Did he have the same heart-pounding rush of adrenaline I did every time he thought about it?
“I think you should check your calendar again,” he said, his dark eyes twinkling as they narrowed in my direction. “I insist.”
“You insist?”
“If dinner doesn’t work, fine. I’m sure you can make time for a drink.”
“Can I?”
“Check. Your calendar. Again,” he said in a tone that made me shiver.
Okay, I’d played enough hard to get. Besides, what was the harm in having a drink with him? I hummed, my resolve softening. Trent must have sensed it too, because a smirk tugged at his lips.
“I suppose I can be available Friday night.”
“Perfect. I’ll take you somewhere nice.”
“It doesn’t have to be anything fancy,” I said. God, where did a billionaire even go for drinks?
“Aiden and Cora will have some recommendations,” Trent said. “I’ll text you about a time.”
“Okay then.”
“Okay. Good.”
“Great.”
He backed away from my door. “I’ll pick you up.”
“As long as it’s not in a U-Haul.”
“Well now you’ve ruined the surprise,” he teased as he turned and walked away.
The nerves fluttering in my gut exploded into a million little butterflies. Trent Saunders, Mr. Coffeezilla and the best dang kiss I’d had in ages, just asked me out. And I’d said yes. A hot flush crept across both my cheeks. What the hell was I doing?
“Hey, boss!” Bonnie said, appearing in my doorway a moment later. She was huffing, her bicycle helmet, adorned with vinyl stickers of indie bands, wedged under her arm. I knew she often biked to work, but she usually beat me here. “Sorry I’m late. Didn’t mean to hold up the meeting.”
I hadn’t even thought about the meeting. I’d been too distracted by Trent’s early morning visit. “All good?”
She rubbed her eyes. “Alarm didn’t go off this morning. And some bird with a death-wish started dive-bombing me on the way here.”
I started laughing.
“It was not funny! I was fighting for my life.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, clapping my hand over my mouth. “I’m just trying to shake the image of you speeding down the road while some crow pecked at your helmet.”
“It wasn’t some little crow!” Bonnie insisted as I climbed to my feet, grabbing my USB stick and following her out to the conference room table. The CAD designers and I had a meeting every Monday to outline our goals for the week and review the design progress on the approved pieces. “It was one of those Canadian geese. I swear they’re territorial little shits.”
“What’s up?” Erik asked as Bonnie plopped down in the chair beside him.
“Bonnie was attacked by a goose,” I said, queuing up my PowerPoint presentation.
Erik sipped his coffee. “Again?”
“Again!” I burst into another fit of laughter. “This is a regular occurrence?”
“At least monthly,” Shay said, joining us. “I keep saying Bonnie must have been a bird in another life the way they’re attracted to her.”
I wiped tears from the corners of my eyes. I’d made progress with the whole team, but the CAD designers and I had gelled best of all, and outside of a certain very handsome CEO, they were part of the reason I was genuinely excited to come to work in the mornings.
The realization that I actually liked my job hit me hard. It had been a long time since that was the case. Come to think of it, though, was that ever the case? My part-time gigs over the past few years were all pretty miserable, so anything would’ve been a step up, but even the job before them, the one I’d thought was my dream job…well, it’d never been that great, had it? Especially not at the end. This job, though. This one felt different. Felt good .
Saunders Furniture might have started as another gig to get by, but it was quickly becoming a place I could imagine myself staying long term.
Bonnie huffed. “I have noted that none of you are at all concerned for my safety.”
Shay gave her a side hug. “Because we know you can outrun the little bastards.”
“On that note,” I said. “Let’s jump into things. Outside of bird-related incidents, I hope everyone had a good weekend.”
Erik yawned through his reply, the words completely distorted.
“Sounds like you had a great weekend,” I said.
He smirked. “I think I got in this morning, had like two hours sleep, then got up and stumbled out the door to the train.”
“What the hell were you doing that early on a Monday?” I asked.
Erik smirked. “Let’s just say it involved a girl.”
Shay groaned. “Here we go. You know this guy literally followed some girl to Paris one weekend?”
“It was a cheap flight,” Erik said, shrugging. “Why not?”
“Umm…because she ditched you the moment you landed.”
“How was I supposed to know that would happen?”
“People like that just have vibes, Erik. And she was a screaming red flag.”
“Maybe I’m not good at reading vibes.”
“Maybe it’s just a guy thing,” Bonnie said.
“Definitely not just a guy thing,” I said. “I was with my ex for years and missed some glaring red flags.”
“Ohhh, spill,” Shay said. “I want details.”
“She loves mess,” Erik said.
“Exactly, which is why I love you,” Shay told him, blowing him a kiss before turning her attention back to me. “Now tell us about this ex.”
I sighed. It wasn’t a very fun story—but Shay looked so eager to hear it I couldn’t refuse. “Before Saunders, my last furniture gig was with Echo.” It was a solidly successful, mid-priced furniture company with a horrible reputation for the way they treated their staff. I didn’t know that back then, though. I was just happy to have a job in the career I’d always dreamed about.
Bonnie wrinkled her nose. “I’ve heard some things.”
“Probably all true,” I said. “Anyway, I got a job there with my then-boyfriend, Fisher.”
Shay shook her head. “Fisher…just sounds like bad news.”
“Yeah,” I laughed humorlessly. “Wish I’d figured that out sooner. But I was fresh out of school, and I was stoked that we’d both managed to get jobs working for the same design team. I was even grateful to Fisher for it—his family had some connections that helped land us the jobs.”
“Right,” Shay said, elbows on the table, leaning toward me. “He didn’t get you fired, did he?”
I winced.
“Shut up! Really?”
“How?” Bonnie demanded.
“It was a real dog-eat-dog culture there, you know? When it came time for the annual review each year, if you hadn’t produced any high sellers, you’d be fired. And Fisher…turns out he didn’t perform well under that kind of pressure. None of his designs were panning out. Meanwhile, my designs were doing great. And we lived together, so he had access to my laptop, my sketchpads, everything.”
“He didn’t,” Bonnie said, eyes wide.
“He did,” I confirmed.
“Wait, how the hell did him stealing one of your designs mean that you got fired?” Shay asked.
I shrugged. “He was the one who had an in with management. When I told them what he’d done, they chose to believe him over me.”
“Even though he’d done nothing but make garbage all year while your designs were taking off?” Erik asked, frowning.
“That’s right. The design went on to be the year’s best seller for Echo,” I said. “And Fisher got a promotion out of it.” It still made my blood boil.
“What a major dick,” Shay said, her jaw hanging open. “I can’t believe he did that to you.”
I let out a little laugh, more resigned than amused. “I couldn’t believe it either, at the time. But looking back…there were so many red flags, like we were saying. We went to design school together. I saw him cut corners on assignments, take more credit than he deserved on team projects. He came from money, and he was used to coasting through life. He never had to take anything seriously because he never had real consequences when he screwed up. I knew he was a little spoiled, a little immature. But I put up with it because he was fun and charming—and I thought he’d grow up eventually. When all this went down, I finally opened my eyes and saw him for who he really was. Do you know, he didn’t even apologize for getting me fired? Just said that I should’ve known better than to go to management. That if I’d kept my mouth shut, we could’ve both kept our jobs.”
Bonnie looked dumbstruck. “Girl, I would have throttled him.”
“Oh, we broke up immediately. There was definitely no coming back from that.” Blew my whole life apart in the process. No job. No boyfriend. No home. And then I’d lost my parents shortly after. The one and only good thing about that period was meeting Stacy, who befriended me, helped me find work, and got her landlady to rent me the brownstone’s basement apartment.
“Good,” Bonnie said. “He didn’t deserve you.”
“I know that,” I said, smiling at her. I liked that it felt like we were becoming real friends. “ Now .”
“I guess compared to that, the Paris girl doesn’t sound all that bad,” Shay said, clapping Erik on the shoulder.
He laughed. “Yeah, she was a gem.”
“Back on topic,” I said. “How are the latest designs going? Bonnie, you got my email with the updated desk designs?”
She nodded. “Those have been finalized. There was a supply chain issue with the wood for the desks, but we’ve sourced a new supplier.”
“One that still meets our sustainability requirements?” I asked.
“Yep. All good on that front.”
“Perfect,” I said. “I talked to Javi last week, and he said we’re on track to have a couple of the new pieces set up in showrooms stateside. They should be ready before the show.” Saunders was preparing to present a few pieces from the new line at the High Point Market—the largest furnishings industry trade show in the world—in North Carolina at the end of the month. We were on a bit of a time crunch to have the pieces ready, but rushing now was better than waiting until the next trade show in April. And marketing wanted to build off the press for the launch before going overseas. “These are the latest designs I’m toying with,” I said, flipping through my slides. “What do we think?”
“I like that one,” Bonnie said as a bookshelf flashed across the screen.
Shay nodded. “Oh, me too!”
“What about…” Erik said, getting to his feet. He took the remote from me, flipping between two designs. “And just hear me out…We take the top of this shelf and combine it with the desk?”
“You’re still drunk from the weekend,” Bonnie said.
Erik laughed. “Yes. But maybe just enough for this to make sense.”
“Huh,” I said, watching as he flipped back and forth between the screens, the images blurring into one. I could totally see what he was getting at. “You know what? I kind of love it.”
Erik fist pumped. “Score.”
“Don’t encourage his hungover delusions,” Shay said.
“What can I say?” Erik smirked. “When you’ve got it, you’ve got it.”
I laughed as he strutted around the table, shaking my head at his antics. For the first time in forever, the ground finally felt stable under my feet. I loved my job, I was making good money, my living situation was stable, and I had what might be the start of something good with Trent. It might not be a safety net, but there was still a sense of security I’d been craving. Maybe it was okay to let go of the constant fear that everything was about to fall apart. This was a good place to be. A soft place to land. So maybe it was time to drop my guard and let myself enjoy it.