Chapter 9—Willow
“What are the plans, ladies?” Bobby asks as we settle into the car once more after our sixth stop at after-school programs. They were all extremely impressive and reputable. It’s hard to choose.
“I want to do gymnastics,” Lily says, bouncing in her seat, and I think that might be good for her. She needs to get some energy out.
“But I want to do STEM.” Ivy pouts with her arms crossed. She’s been saying the same thing since the second stop. She fell in love with all the possible learning opportunities, but for Lily, that just seemed like more school. School after school? Not fun for a five-year-old at all.
“Well, you can’t do both. We need to pick one.” I’m not pushing my luck by getting Bobby to agree to more than one after-school program. He’s already being overgenerous.
He came inside each one with us, letting me lead the questions and only asking the ones I missed.
He made it very clear to the administration that I was the one making the final decision, and I absolutely adored that.
My ex always made it a point to prove he was in charge in one way or another when we were together.
I barely got a glance half the time when things were discussed about our future or our girls.
God, I still can’t believe he showed up to start a fight.
If he were truly concerned about the girls’ being tardy, he would have called and demanded answers about their well-being.
Instead, he made a point to show up at pickup time and draw a crowd as he tried to belittle me in front of the girls and prove to those around us that I’m an unfit single mom.
I had his tantrums handled well before today, but having Bobby and Marco to back me up?
That felt amazing. I’m sure Trevor thinks I’m screwing Bobby.
He couldn’t possibly believe a man like him would only want a friendship with someone like me—a woman Trevor sees as used up, who brings no value to the table.
He likes fancy, flashy things. Like his new wife, who’s just four years younger than me, seven years younger than Trevor, but comes with wealth and a last name to make him appear better than he is.
I’m not sure when he’ll learn that a name doesn’t make the man.
“I think the cooking classes sounded fun,” I say.
Both girls grimace. “You just want someone else to do the cooking.”
I chuckle. “True. I guess we’ll just have to keep thinking about it.”
“Actually, I meant dinner,” Bobby cuts in. “What do you all want to eat?”
“I want spaghetti!” Lily screeches.
Ivy is no better, shouting out her answer. “Pizza!”
I try to shush them as I say, “Oh, ahh, I’m sure you have other things to do than have dinner with us. I wasn’t planning on making anything fancy tonight.”
Not that ramen the other night was fancy, but I hope he didn’t expect some hidden talent in the kitchen. I can cook well enough for my kids to like it and a few specialties, but nothing truly magnificent.
He chuckles softly with a shake of his head.
“When are you going to learn?” he mumbles just loud enough for me to hear him before he clears his throat and speaks up.
“Marco, please take us to Da Nonna Leone.” He looks back at me.
“It’s Italian and has a little of everything, including what the girls want. ”
“Yay,” they say simultaneously before talking to each other and completely ignoring Bobby and me.
“You really don’t have to—” I start, but he covers my hand before I can finish.
“Something you should start learning is if I don’t want to do something, I won’t. And when I do, I offer it up. I want to take your family out to dinner. If you would prefer to part ways, though, I can drop you off instead.”
He leaves it open. No strings attached, just a simple friendly gesture. But I’m not sure if it’s coming from my boss or from Bobby. They feel like two very different people.
“I don’t know what to do,” I whisper.
He squeezes my hand a second before moving it away, and I miss the warmth instantly. “Come to dinner with me. Not as your boss, but as friends. We are friends, after all—right, Willow?”
My lips tip up as I nod. “Yes Bobby, we’re friends.”
That’s what I’ll do from now on. Friends outside the office, boss and employee inside.
I doubt it will be hard to differentiate between the two after today.
How often are we even going to see each other now that things are lined up and I have emails alerting me of my new job location in the building?
The only thing missing is who my immediate contact will be, but I bet I’ll learn that tomorrow.
Tonight, we’re friends. Tomorrow, coworkers. It’s as simple as that.
He gives me a small smile, unaware of what it does to my insides, before turning back to the girls. “And afterward, we can stop by a craft store to get Ivy some fresh supplies for her jerboa.”
Okay, where the hell did this friend come from? And how do I get a second? Because this man is not only taking care of me and my needs but my girls too.
I’m never going to survive another friendship with a man who isn’t half as decent as the one sitting next to me.
“I’m sorry, what?” I must have blacked out—misheard him. That’s the only thing that makes sense.
“I said you will be reporting to me directly.”
Okay, that’s what I thought he said.
“But… why?” I look around his office as if that would explain any of this.
He tilts his head and gives me a disappointed look. “Did you not read the contract like I advised you to?”
“Of course I did.”
“Then what part of leading the team was made unclear?”
“The part where I met with you on a regular basis.”
He raises a brow. “Am I that awful?”
“Of course not. I just meant I expected there to be a go-between. You’re a busy man.” I take a breath, but he shakes his head with enough force that I close my mouth.
“I might be a busy man, but I’d be a man without a job if I let this go.
This is my company, and I refuse to not be on the ground floor working on it.
I might not have the time to do the detailed level of work that you do, but I will be looped in through the findings.
This is important to me, and I’m not about to just pass it over because I think myself too high and mighty. ”
“Forgive me,” I say, eyes downcast. His dedication and passion for the company is commendable. “I didn’t mean to insinuate that you don’t care.”
He gives a soft sigh. “I know. I also trust you with this.” He stands and walks around his desk to get close to me.
When I came in this morning, I went straight to my new office.
I was the only one there, as the car service had me at the girls’ school earlier than I expected.
Since I’m not one to waste time, I just came to the office.
The first thing I saw was the note on my desk, directing me to come to Bobby’s office first thing.
I lasted about ten minutes after putting all my stuff away before coming up to his office from the twentieth floor.
I wasn’t surprised he was here early—he’s known around the office for working just as hard as he expects everyone else to.
Alfonso, his secretary, told me to go right in this time. I stood because I thought this would be, I don’t know, just a friendly visit. Not a boss-to-employee one.
But the second I walked in, he started going on and on about how often he wanted updates from me and his expectations.
Thank God he said he’ll be sending me his notes on the matter, because I don’t think I can recall anything he’s said.
Especially after I asked him why he was telling me all this, and he said it’s because I’m going to be the one reporting it to him weekly.
Me.
He reaches out and rubs my arm reassuringly.
“You’ve got this. Don’t let my title or anyone else’s make you doubt your ability to run this team and report your findings to me.
I know I just gave you some deadlines for when I expect findings, and while I would like us to keep close to those, I’m willing to move things around if you find you need more time.
I’ve been told, mostly by my brothers, that I can be a bear in the workforce.
I want results quickly and don’t account for how long something takes.
Which leads to people cutting corners to get me what I want, which is probably how this all started.
A mistake to get something done leads to a profit for someone who saw an opportunity to keep going. ”
I find myself nodding in agreement. “I think boar is a better term.”
He snorts with a smile, and I giggle at my random thought that just slipped out.
“I’ll let you be the one to debate that with my brothers sometime.
As for now, settle in. I expect most of the team to arrive today and the rest tomorrow.
I’ll get something on the calendar tomorrow morning to go over everything with expectations.
Today, I want you to show everyone how to identify the issues.
They’ve all been briefed on the job, so today is just about showing them what we’re looking for.
Tomorrow, we’ll break down which files will go to whom and get the team to generate ideas on areas to focus on next once we look over the initial investment group.
I expect this goes further than just one area of my company.
” He pauses, his expression hardening. “For now, Spencer's departure stays between us and those with a need to know. Until we’re sure how far this reaches, I'd rather everyone think it’s business as usual. I don’t want to spook anyone else involved in this too early. ”
I nod in agreement. “Yeah, we’d be lucky if only one section was touched, but it’s not a good approach to assume luck is on our side.”
“Exactly.” He has both hands on my arms now. Not sure how it happened, but it’s almost as if we’re embracing.
We hold this position for longer than is proper.
Him with his hands on me, even if respectably, and me just staring into his eyes.
Until my gaze dips, and I look at his lips.
They’re almost lush against the dark stubble of his chin and top lip.
Not for the first time do I imagine what they would feel like against mine.
I thought about them a lot last night, which was wrong on many levels.
Not only because he’s my boss, but because I was with my girls and was practically drooling over him at dinner.
But can you blame me? The place he took us to only had Italian-speaking employees, and Bobby spoke to each person with ease.
He told us he’d been going there for years, as it was his grandmother’s dream to open an authentic restaurant in New York when she was a child.
She died before she could see the dream come true, but the place was named after her, and his family has kept it as authentic as they could for the past thirty years.
The food was amazing, and so was the company.
Bobby didn’t even have to entertain us, as most of the people there seemed to be family friends, and they all came over to greet him and speak to the girls.
And they loved it. They felt like royalty, eating up every “bella” compliment they got and devouring their food, including the gelato and cannoli.
I couldn’t decide for myself and let Bobby order for me. We shared not only some amazing seafood pasta but this chicken that had some kind of red sauce that was better than any marinara sauce I’ve ever had.
And the way he licked his lips to get every bit of the delicious flavors into his mouth had my eyes drifting to him more and more.
Just like now.
“Sir, your brother is on line two.” Alfonso’s voice comes over the intercom on Bobby’s desk, and I jolt just enough to step out of his hold.
“Duty calls.” He pushes his glasses up his nose and walks back to his desk.
“Right. Well, have a good call and, um, day. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” I turn and make quick work of getting to the door.
“Willow?”
I turn at his request.
“Yes?”
“Thanks for joining me for dinner last night.”
The way he holds my eyes, dark and sensual in that one look, has me thinking we were more than just friends sitting at that table last night.
But I can’t get any fantasy ideas about him.
I’m just getting my head out of the water, and I’m almost able to feel like I’m on top of anything.
I can’t let a man, even one as alluring as Bobby, get in my way.
It’s just me and the girls, taking on the world one day at a time. We can’t possibly have room in our lives to bring in someone as large in life as him.
Can we?
I break the spell he has over me and leave, nodding at Alfonso, who only rolls his eyes, and Marco.
He ate at the restaurant, choosing to sit at the bar top instead of with us.
He was close enough to hear our conversation, but also able to block people from coming to our table once the food arrived, so we could focus on eating and not being entertained by Bobby’s associates.
Just like leaving his office, dinner last night was mostly me smiling and nodding.
I only took high school French and don’t remember a thing—not that it would have helped—but I could assume what the Italian men’s gestures meant by the way they looked at me and spoke to Bobby.
I had zero worries about what was being said, though.
I was perfectly content to sit back and just enjoy the atmosphere.
And as I get into the elevator, I let that calm I felt last night—the same calm I felt in his arms—wash over me. I bask in it until the elevator opens onto my new floor and I walk out.
The area that’s been set up for the new team is behind a secure wall that requires a badge to enter, and then it’s an open floor plan with no cubicles in sight.
Right now, there are only ten desks, but there’s room for more if Bobby decides to add to the team.
I smile at the people I see, who’ve already made their area their own.
Each one has a name on it, which I was grateful for.
Office politics can be ruthless when it comes to who sits by whom.
I like that I don’t have to play the game.
“Oh, goodie, we’re work buddies again.” Missy squeals when she sees me sitting down at the desk in front of hers. Each desk is paired in a buddy system, facing each other to share in what I presume will be our work.
“Yep. Looks like you’re stuck with me.”
She matches my grin. “What a lucky girl I am.”
I can’t help but feel the same.