Chapter Eleven
Hannah
On Monday, I felt like dancing my way through the front door of the building. For someone who swore to herself that she didn't want to go back to a corporate job, I was quite surprisingly looking forward to it. I wasn't sure if it was because of the job itself or because I might get a chance to get a peek at Chase, but potatoes, po-tah-toes. Who cared? Point was, I was here, I was in a great mood, and I was going to rock this job.
When I stepped inside, the lobby was full. I hurried to the receptionist, the same woman from my interview day.
“Good morning. Is something wrong with the elevators?” I asked.
She smiled. "Oh no, it's just a morning rush."
"This happens every morning? Eight thirty is the rush hour?”
“Yeah. There's a huge gaming company from floors four to ten, and they all come at the same time.” She straightened up, looking behind me.
"Good morning, Mr. Sterling." She gave whoever was behind me a dreamy smile. If I was honest, it could've been any of the Sterling brothers.
I turned around and mentally grinned. Of course it was mine.
Not yours, Hannah. Crap, he's not yours. He won't be yours, okay? One kiss was all you got.
"Good morning," I said, sounding completely neutral. I pointed at the line. "Seems like we've got to wait. Rush hour. I didn't know that was a thing in an office building."
"I know a shortcut," he said.
"We're climbing all those flights of stairs?" I asked, because I couldn't imagine what else he had in mind.
"No, not that.” He glanced at the receptionist. “Ms. Levine is coming with me today.”
“Certainly.”
He turned to me again, focusing those gorgeous green eyes on my face. “Come on. Let's go to the left."
"All right." I followed him, happy to be away from the crowd. By the looks of it, I’d be here about thirty minutes if I waited.
"I don't know why they all insist on coming in at the same time," he commented. "They could tell their employees to come in batches. It's driving everyone mad, this bottleneck at the elevators every morning." He led me through a narrow corridor. It was dimly lit, but I could still admire his perfect ass with every step.
Wow, what a great way to start my job. Instead of analyzing reports, I'm analyzing the CEO's perfect round ass. Way to go, Hannah.
He stopped in front of a small elevator and pushed a key into the place where there was usually a button.
My eyes widened. "Wait, you've got your own elevator?"
"Top management has access to it."
"You literally have your own elevator," I said in awe. “That’s a great perk.”
Turning to me, he gave me a half smile. For a brief second, I forgot what I was talking about. Oh yeah, I was teasing him about an elevator.
God, I couldn't tease my boss. What was wrong with me? I'd given him so much shit about not being able to keep his promise, so what was I doing?
"It sometimes takes a while for it to arrive because management of every company shares it. But it won't take as much time as the line out there would," he explained.
We fell into an awkward silence. The sound of our breaths echoed around the corridor.
"Are you excited about the job?" he asked eventually.
"Yes. And that's saying something, because when I decided to look for one, I was dreading it. Yet for some reason, I'm super excited."
He tilted his head. "Maybe I'm the reason."
My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth as I clasped and unclasped my hands on the strap of my bag. I couldn't even argue with him on it.
I opened my mouth, but just then, the doors of the elevators opened.
"The two people I was looking forward to seeing," a man said.
"Wyatt, what are you doing at the office this early?" Chase asked.
"I was at the gym. I’m still a bit jet-lagged." He turned to me as Chase and I stepped in. "Wyatt Sterling. Nice to meet you. Hannah, I presume?"
"Yes, how did you know?"
"Let's see. You've made quite a ruckus with your test score. And I've heard conflicting reports"—he looked from me to Chase—"about how you got to apply with us in the first place."
I bit the inside of my cheek. Wyatt’s appearance was a bit contradictory. He was wearing a suit, but his hair was slightly disheveled. And when he ran his hand through it, the sleeve of his shirt slipped a few inches down his wrist, revealing a tattoo. His eyes were identical to Chase's.
"I can't believe I'm the last one in the loop," he told Chase.
"About what?" I asked.
"Wyatt," Chase said. His voice sounded dangerous. "Don't make Hannah uncomfortable."
He turned to glance at me. "Am I doing that?"
"No. I'm confused right now," I said.
"Oh good, confused is better than uncomfortable. Anyway, nice to meet you. Now I can see what my brothers were talking about."
"Wyatt," Chase said again.
Wyatt held his hands up. "Fine. I'll see you around, Hannah," he said with a nod as the doors opened.
I stepped out, and so did Chase.
“What was that about?” I asked once the doors closed behind us. "That he can see what his brothers are talking about?"
Chase was completely silent.
I grimaced and whispered, "Your brothers know about everything?"
"Yes."
Holy shit, he just owned up to that.
"Oh, wow. Okay."
"Don't worry, they all know how to behave. Except Wyatt, it seems."
“On a scale from Knox to you, where does Wyatt fit?”
He burst out laughing. “Closer to Knox. But if he ever hears about your scale, he won’t be pleased.”
“Duly noted.”
Upon first meeting Chase’s brothers, I’d assigned them personality tags, so to speak. Even Chase didn’t realize what it all entailed.
Knox, Finn, and now Wyatt were the outgoing obnoxious guys, but probably in a fun-loving way. Duncan struck me as a stable, responsible man, probably because he had a son. Griffin seemed more like Wyatt than Duncan, though I could be wrong. And Chase was... a grump. Of that I was certain.
Magda walked up to us from her office. "Excellent. I like that you're such an early riser," she said, coming straight to me. "Chase, good morning."
"Good morning, Magda."
She glanced at me and then at Chase. "Good thinking on bringing her up in the private elevator. I forgot to tell you to avoid eight thirty at all costs, unless you want to brace the line. Come on, I'll show you to your place."
"Have a great day, Hannah," he said.
"Thank you." I walked quickly with Magda, hoping she couldn't tell there was something off between Chase and me.
With a final wave, he went back in the elevator.
Magda clapped her hands together. "All right, I've got everything prepared for you at your section."
"I get a permanent desk?" I asked.
"Yes."
I sighed in relief. "That's good. I'm not a fan of those office spaces where you have to bring in your things daily because you don't know where you’ll be sitting."
"We tried that once, and it was a nightmare. Everyone was wasting so much time in the morning searching for a free spot. It just wasn’t productive. And we all need a place to store our laptops anyway, so why not have specific seating?”
“That makes sense.”
"And you also should know we have a strict policy of people not taking their work home with them. I implemented it," she said proudly. “I sold it to the boss as a security issue, but what I was really hoping for was to bring a semblance of work/life balance in the investment world. The only ones who do not abide by this rule are the bosses. They're certified workaholics."
I really liked Magda.
She showed me to my seat, which was on the third row out of fifteen, square in the middle of everyone. I would've preferred to sit close to a wall or a window, somewhere that I only had a neighbor on one side, but I couldn't go around making any demands.
"All right, you've got everything you need here. You can email questions as you have them. I'll do my best to answer them right away. The work package will be in your email, so you can hit the ground running," she explained.
"Excellent. Thanks, Magda."
I was giddy as I started my computer and then dove into work. Two hours later, though, my enthusiasm receded a bit. Crap. What if I was looking forward to this just because of Chase? Well, that didn't mean I couldn't do a great job. I liked working with numbers and analyzing market data. I just liked running the inn more. But still, I knew I could do this for a while, and do it well.
The room filled with other brokers soon enough. I was impressed that I got noise-canceling headphones from the company, because they were a lifesaver with an open-plan office like this.
Around lunch, I took a break. We could all order from the canteen restaurant downstairs, and they would send it right up. There were several break rooms on each floor, and most people ate their lunch there. Some also ate at their desk, which was what I opted to do today.
I took off my noise-canceling headphones while I ate and realized my neighbors were talking about Chase.
"Why do you think he was in Magda's office so long this morning?" one of them asked.
Chase had been down here? I instinctively glanced through the window, but Magda seemed to be alone right now.
"No clue. Let's hope they're not preparing for a firing round."
"I don't think so," I pitched in. "I mean, they just hired me. They wouldn't be doing that if they were preparing to lay off people."
The two women smiled at me.
"I thought you looked new," the one closest to me said. "Sorry we didn't introduce ourselves, but you seemed in the zone."
"I was," I admitted.
"Besides," the other one said sheepishly, "with so many of us around here, we never know if someone is truly new or they just switched their seats. I'm Alexa."
"And I'm Hazel."
I smiled. "Nice to meet you. I'm Hannah."
My phone vibrated in my purse.
"Is that your phone?" Alexa said.
"Yes," I replied, taking it out. I should’ve put it on Airplane Mode. It was probably a message from my sister or Mom. To my astonishment, it was from Chase.
Chase: How's your first day? You look adorable all focused with your headphones.
I barely bit down a gasp.
Hannah: When did you even see me?
He replied immediately.
Chase: When I was in Magda's office. I spent an inordinate amount of time there.
Holy shit, did he go there specifically to watch me? I didn't even know what to think of it.
No, he couldn’t have, but just in case...
Hannah: Well, don't do it again, because people are getting scared that their big boss was spending time in the HR office.
Chase: I didn't think about that. Then again, you have a way of capturing my entire attention, wiping away every other thought.
I stared at my phone, munching on my apple.
Don't flirt back. Don't flirt back.
But I had butterflies in my stomach, and my fingers were itching.
Hannah: Out of sight, out of mind, remember?
Chase: I knew it wouldn't work from the start.
A hot current coiled through me.
Hannah: So why didn't you say so?
Chase: Would it have changed anything?
I rocked back and forth in my seat, taking another bite of my apple, trying to calm my pulse. After a few deep breaths, I finally typed back.
Hannah: Well, I have full confidence that it’ll work.
Chase: We're off to a great start, aren't we?