8. Daisy
DAISY
“You could use an extra drink, huh?”
“Hey, it’s been a rough week. I need to balance it out. Besides, it is Friday night!” He glanced at the wall. “In five minutes, you’re officially off the clock.”
It was almost nine. My contract flashed in front of my eyes. Indeed, even when I went to events, nine o’clock was the cutoff.
I turned to look at Anthony. “You know what? Let’s get another drink.” I needed to relax. My first week had flown by in a breeze. I liked the job. I liked my boss too. A bit too much, perhaps. Why not let my guard down a bit? “What are we having?”
“Your choice,” he said.
“Well, I do want that Sazerac, just so I have something to compare it to later.”
“You don’t believe me that the best one is at Julian’s bar?”
“How will I know it’s the best if I haven’t had any other?”
He narrowed his eyes.
I suddenly felt cheeky. “Is Julian afraid of competition?”
“No one in my family is afraid of competition. You know why?”
“Why? ”
He leaned in closer. “Because we win, Daisy, always. We work our asses off to be the best at what we do, and we win.”
I sucked in a breath as he straightened up.
“Two Sazeracs,” he told the bartender, who just stared at him, stunned.
“A Sazerac order from a LeBlanc? You’re known in the Quarter for only drinking them at one of your brother’s bars.”
“I’ll make an exception tonight,” Anthony said with a grin.
Wow. I hadn’t realized the LeBlanc family was that well-known in New Orleans. Sure, The Orleans Conglomerate was one of the biggest businesses in Louisiana, but I hadn’t expected this level of notoriety.
The bartender put two Sazeracs in front of us a few minutes later. As I took a sip, I noticed Anthony watching me intently. He brought his glass to his lips, his eyes still trained on me. Why did he do that? It both unnerved and excited me. It almost felt as if he was trying to read my thoughts.
“This is delicious,” I declared.
“It’s not bad,” he stated at almost the same time.
I laughed. “You seem very unimpressed.”
“What can I say? Julian knows what he’s doing, but this is good.”
“Was he at the family lunch today?”
“Yes.”
“How come you all met at the restaurant?”
“Well, a big group had canceled their reservation, and we were more than happy to use the tables.”
“Oh, that makes sense. Although, I would bet the restaurant could probably fill any last-minute cancellations.”
“Definitely. People are on a waiting list for months. But the staff informs us whenever a big table is free. If we don’t have time, they offer it to others.”
“You get together really often, then?” I asked wistfully. “I miss my mom and dad a lot right now.”
Anthony nodded. “We’ve always been very close—even more so after Chad had Bella and it became clear he’d be a single dad. We all rallied around them.”
“Oh, that’s right, there was a baby with you.”
He smiled. “That was Simone. Bella is ten and was at school. Chad’s remarried.
His wife is the chef—Scarlett. But for many years, it was just Chad and Bella—and all of us.
Our grandparents and parents immediately offered to babysit, but even us brothers were very involved, especially once Bella grew up and started liking spending time with us.
Of course, now we have Simone, and everyone’s fighting over time with her too. We’re a crazy bunch.”
Oh, this was so cute. His affection for his nieces was evident with every word.
“They’re lucky to have all of you.”
He nodded. “And my brother is lucky he met Scarlett. It was the best thing that could’ve happened to him.”
Anthony had his heart in the right place. Even though he didn’t believe in relationships, he wasn’t sarcastic about them.
Over the years, my friends had fallen into two camps: those who believed in romance, and skeptics who were almost repelled by all things romance—and had no qualms about making that known. But Anthony was like me. We were happy for those around us even if we weren’t chasing the same thing.
“And you’re still close to your nieces?”
“Yes, we all are. We take turns being their favorite, depending what mood each one is in. Obviously, now there’s less need for us to spend time with Bella, since she’s older.”
“Do I detect a bit of jealousy?”
His smile widened. “You caught me there. I wouldn’t say I’m jealous… but I wasn’t expecting that dynamic shift. Although, to be honest, she’s practically a teenager. Soon, she won’t want to spend any time with the family. I started rebelling at thirteen myself.”
“It was fourteen for me. Then once I turned eighteen, something switched in my brain again, and my parents became my best friends. Even now, we’re very close. They’re my biggest supporters, and I like to spoil them as often as possible.”
“Really?” Anthony asked.
I nodded. “Yeah. Currently, they only allow me to spoil them with one vacation a year. I’m trying to negotiate another one.
” He appeared genuinely interested in what I was saying.
I liked that about him. “And sometimes when I know Mom really wants to buy something for herself but doesn’t want to splurge, I’ll buy it and tell her that I already bought it for myself and don’t need it anymore.
Like a fancy sweater or some hair treatment. Stuff like that.”
His face was softer now, like he understood and appreciated what I did. It made me feel good somehow.
We both started to laugh, and then he leaned in. “I really like you, Daisy, on and off the clock. As my assistant and as…” His voice faded.
I sucked in a breath. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask what he wanted to say, but then I changed my mind.
He tilted even more my way. God, he was close. Was he going to kiss me?
I glanced at his lips, then back at his eyes. They flashed. I licked my lips and he groaned, then straightened up, pulling away.
I’d wanted him to kiss me and felt oddly disappointed that he didn’t.
“Right,” I said, gathering my bearings. “Since I’m off the clock, I think I should get going.”
Anthony exhaled sharply. “Is that what you want, Daisy?”
I nodded. It was definitely not what I wanted, but it was what I had to do. Truly, I’d had too much to drink, and neither Anthony nor I was very good at controlling ourselves.
“Yes. I’ll get an Uber.”
“Expense it to the company,” he immediately replied.
I grinned. “Even if I’m off the clock?”
“Always. The most important thing is for you to be safe. ”
That was oddly endearing.
I took out my phone, holding it close to my face, trying to see the app, but the image was swimming in front of my eyes a bit.
“I’ll order one outside. I can’t put in a pickup location from inside.”
“I’ll walk out with you.”
I snapped my head up. “What? No! Stay and enjoy. You just arrived.”
He winked. “No, it’s already been an hour.”
“Oh! I didn’t realize…”
“Told you time flies when you’re in good company. Anyway, I’m leaving too. I did what I came to do.”
I wondered what that was. Make me melt into a puddle? Buy me drinks?
Oh, he’d meant talk to Gregory.
“All right, then I’ll accept your very gallant offer,” I said with a grin.
He grinned right back as we got up from the bar stools.
He kept a hand on my back as he led me through the guests.
The bar was even more crowded than when I first came in, as was the perimeter of the festival.
Music resounded from one of the stages. A cacophony of voices surrounded us. The smell of food was thick in the air.
“This is a success,” I declared.
“Judging by ticket sales, yes, it is.”
“And people are truly enjoying themselves.”
We stopped as I glanced around.
“Music has its way of bringing people together.”
“You ever play an instrument?” I asked.
“Guitar. And I wasn’t bad at it.”
“Did you think about pursuing a music career professionally?”
He shook his head. “Never. I was too eager to take over the family business to even contemplate doing anything else. ”
I smiled at him. “But now I’m having this vivid image of you playing the guitar.” His long fingers would?—
Oh no. I couldn’t go there. I truly couldn’t understand what was happening to me around Anthony. I wasn’t usually this silly.
He shook his head again. “I still play from time to time, but just for myself.”
That was something I couldn’t even imagine. He always seemed the kind of person who was outgoing and didn’t spend time by himself.
“Let’s order an Uber. It’s going to take a while.”
Turned out, it didn’t. My Uber was arriving in two minutes. Once my ride was on the way, he ordered one for himself too. Such a gentleman.
“All right, that’s your Uber.” He was standing behind me, pointing at a black Ford. “Thanks a lot for coming tonight, Daisy.”
“Well, I wasn’t much use, was I?”
“I disagree,” Anthony said, stepping to one side to look at me. The nearby lamppost didn’t cast much light, but it was enough for me to clearly see his eyes. “I had a great time.”
“So did I.”
When the car stopped, I immediately moved to open the door. Anthony reached forward at the same time, and we collided.
“Did I hurt you?”
I chuckled, massaging my arm. “No, not at all.”
Then I became acutely aware of his chest pressing against my back. The contact was almost too much to bear. That was ridiculous, but my body was working on another frequency tonight.
“I forgot about you and your gentlemanly manners.”
“That’s how we do it in the LeBlanc-Broussard family.”
“So, it’s not a Southern thing?” I said with a grin.
“Nah, I wouldn’t say that. See you on Monday.”
I nodded. Thankfully, I had two whole days to get my bearings before I returned to the office.
Last week, we’d managed to behave, keeping our distance.
I was certain that once we were in the confines of the office, we’d do the very same thing next week too.
This was just a blip for both of us, that was all.
“Good night, Daisy.” His tone was lower than before, his gaze even more intense.
Suddenly, I wasn’t quite so sure tonight was a blip, after all.