Chapter 6
Andi smoothed a hand over the black wool skirt of her suit.
Armani. She’d never considered wearing an Armani suit before, but she had a newfound appreciation for designer clothes.
Not that she could ever afford an Armani suit on her salary, even with the substantial raise she’d received with this new job.
But apparently, good wool doesn’t wrinkle! Who knew?
Andi glanced up, watching her new boss—Laith Al-Sintra—converse with one of their teammates. She had finally learned his name after fourteen suits and several pairs of shoes were delivered to her apartment Saturday morning, and now she was boarding a flight to Singapore with him.
She was just about to look away when the man glanced up, meeting her eyes.
She saw a flare of heat in his eyes. Andi’s body reacted immediately.
She tried to look away, but couldn’t pull her eyes from his.
She felt trapped, manacled by that look as her heart pounded against her ribs.
She shouldn’t be looking. She should pull her eyes away and… ignore the tingling sensation.
Thankfully, someone stepped up to Laith and he looked away, breaking the eye contact. Andi turned away, relieved to be released from the power of his gaze. She shifted again, then smoothed a hand down her hip…as a reminder of her role? Or as a self-soothing gesture?
“Don’t mess this up!” she whispered firmly to herself.
“Hey, Andi!” a man greeted her. Tom. She knew Tom because he worked in the marketing department with Carys.
Occasionally, Tom came to the Friday evening happy hours, but Andi hadn’t talked much with him.
He was a nice guy with an easy smile, about five feet, nine inches tall with sandy blond hair and an intelligent glint to his hazel eyes.
The man was in his mid-forties and generally wore a dark suit with a blue tie.
Bland. That was all she could say about him. Tom was bland.
“Hey, Tom,” Andi replied, smiling in greeting. Thankfully, no sparks shot through her body at his greeting as they joined the other team members.
Their team had four members: Andi as the financial analyst, Jennifer as an engineer, who would review factory equipment for efficiency, Tom as a marketing specialist, who analyzed products and developed initial marketing strategies, and Lawrence, a legal expert, who would review vendor contracts and any other legal issues that cropped up.
Jenny was a pretty woman with thick, dark glasses that covered her chocolate eyes.
She pulled her blond hair back into a tight bun and wore a similar outfit to Andi’s.
Immediately, Andi felt a spark of jealousy at the possibility that Laith had selected Jenny’s outfits as well.
But there was no way that Andi could ask the other woman how she’d obtained such a beautiful suit.
That would be an intensely awkward conversation!
And then there was Lawrence. The fourth member of the team came across as the stereotypical corporate lawyer. He wore the expensive suit with a silk tie and had soft brown hair with a side part. The only adjective that came to Andi’s mind when she looked at Lawrence was “ambitious”.
Andi recognized everyone on the team. She had seen them around the hallways of the headquarters occasionally, but she hadn’t actually officially met them before. It was interesting to be traveling across the globe with relative strangers.
Andi was the youngest in the group, but thankfully, none of them treated her as less-than. Since they’d be working together late into the evenings, it was a good idea to get to know them.
“Everyone ready?” a male voice asked.
Immediately, Andi recognized that voice.
It had echoed through her dreams over the weekend.
It had been in her every thought as she’d packed her new suits last night.
She pretended to be unconcerned as she turned to face her new boss, but as soon as she faced him, she felt it again.
The pull to gaze into his eyes was nearly overwhelming.
Lifting her gaze, she tried to focus on his chin.
But that wasn’t enough. Her traitorous body wanted to look into those dark eyes, to experience again the tremor that she’d felt last week.
Sure enough, as soon as his eyes landed on her, Andi felt it. The heat was intense. Did his eyes linger on hers a touch longer than the other team members?
Probably not, she warned herself. But Andi couldn’t pull her eyes away from his gaze. The sound of the plane’s engines faded away as she stared up at Laith Al-Sintra. It was…heart-poundingly intense.
And then it was over. An officious looking shorter man, who was almost bald…shoved a tablet into Laith’s hands. Apparently, there was a vitally important message on that tablet.
Andi looked around, taking a deep breath, only to realize that the other members of her new team were already heading for the stairs to the plane.
How long had she stood there, staring into Laith’s eyes?
Had the others noticed? Andi felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment.
“Don’t do that!” she whispered to herself. “You don’t even like the man!”
Andi hurried up the stairs and into the plane, trying to appear casual but interested in her new surroundings as everyone settled into huge, leather seats for takeoff.
Surreptitiously, Andi looked around, but Laith had disappeared through one of the doors leading to the back of the plane. Andi had no idea what was back there, but she imagined that it was just as decadent as this area.
Pastries and coffee were offered by a flight attendant. The others selected a pastry, but Andi declined, preferring just coffee. Laith returned and sat down, his sharp eyes taking in every detail. “Does anyone have questions about what we’ll be doing once we land?” he asked.
They all had questions and Laith patiently answered every one of them. Andi sat back, listening to the deep timbre of his voice. Did the man have any idea how attractive he was? Andi tried to concentrate on the conversation, reminding herself of her role.
After an hour, Laith retreated to the back of the plane again, only to return when lunch was served. Various salads and drinks were laid out, buffet style. Andi was hungry, since she’d been too nervous to eat earlier. So, she eagerly grabbed a plate and joined the line.
“Are you actually going to eat this time?” Laith asked her, coming up to stand beside her as they surveyed the lunch options.
“Excuse me?” she asked, startled by his unexpected question.
He looked down at her. “You didn’t eat breakfast,” he pointed out. “Do you just not like pastries?” His eyes moved over her face, as if he were trying to memorize her.
“I do…like pastries,” she replied, licking her lips. Did his eyes move lower?
“You didn’t have one this morning. Nor did you take one during the meeting last week.”
She blinked, her body trembling with her need to move closer to him. But that was bad. This was her boss! Holding the plate against her chest like a shield, she shrugged. “I guess I don’t like sugary stuff in the morning.”
He nodded slowly. “Blood sugar issues?”
“Yeah.” Was it though? Or was it because this man was so tall and so…intense?
“Protein,” he muttered and looked away. Moments later, the plate was plucked from her grip.
Then she watched him pile her plate high with seafood salad and some sort of chicken dish.
It looked cheesy and delicious, but Andi wasn’t sure she could eat all that.
Before she could protest, he handed the plate back to her.
“Eat,” he ordered, then took another plate and filled it with twice that amount. Before Andi could speak, he vanished into the back of the plane again.
Andi stood there, staring at the closed door, not sure what to think. Was the man actually trying to take care of her? Andi felt almost charmed by his efforts.
Then she snorted and turned away from the buffet. He was just being nice, she told herself and sat back down in her chair.
After a twenty-two hour flight, they checked into their rooms for the night. “Be ready in the morning,” Laith explained. “Take the rest of today to get acclimated. Drink lots of water. My assistant texted everyone the address to the Singapore offices.”
And then he disappeared again. But not before glancing in her direction.
Instantly, the exhaustion dissipated, replaced with that mysterious spark of something that made every inch of her body come to life.
When he was gone, Andi sighed…and the exhaustion came rushing back.
Chuckling, she mentally shook her head, wondering if she was going insane.
Even though they’d done nothing for the past twenty-two hours except sit on a plane, eat delicious foods provided by the flight attendants, talk with each other, brainstorming about how to proceed as a team, or read silently when the conversation tapered off, everyone agreed that they needed a break.
So, when Andi stepped into her hotel room, she barely paused to take her suit off before falling into bed.
By the following morning, Andi felt refreshed and eager to get started. Diving into the financial details of the Singapore office was initially a nightmare. But eventually, Andi and the others figured out the local contacts they needed to get the information for their analysis.
Unfortunately, the other three team members were usually out of the office. The team had taken over the largest conference room for their visit. But most of the time, Andi was there by herself.
However, every morning, Laith required a team meeting to discuss the business from the previous day, plus each persons’ plans for the current day.
There was always coffee, tea, pastries, and…
yogurt in a bowl of ice as well as protein bars.
The first morning, Andi had eyed the additional two options, a lump growing in her throat.
Just last Friday, she’d thought of Laith as a jerk.