Chapter 6
Daniel
Why the fuck was I texting her?
Getting her number from her file was inappropriate, but after seeing her with my sister… I just wanted to tell her something.
I’d been avoiding Becca the entire week because I was too swamped.
I hadn’t been able to relax last weekend with that compromised document, and the entire week was hectic with meetings and deals that needed my attention.
I wanted the day to end and spend the weekend riding my bike or passed out on my bed.
Still, I felt guilty—my sister and I were close, and she needed to talk, so I agreed to meet her before work at a quiet place in front of my company’s building.
“Oh, isn’t that your receptionist?” Becca pointed with her mug.
I turned around and saw Lydia sitting at a table in the far corner of the coffee shop, sipping from a to-go cup and staring out the window.
She looked so different. I was starting to understand why she didn’t want the promotion.
Madelyne had talked to me about it the day before, again, apparently frustrated.
Lydia looked extremely professional and put together at the front desk, but watching her look so serene outside of work was a huge contrast. She was a different person. Was this what she was like on the sixth floor without all of the noise and people badgering her?
“Danny?”
I turned to my sister and smiled. Rebecca was two years older than me and we were very close, which meant she was unlikely to miss anything if she saw me looking at Lydia a certain way. And I was definitely looking.
“Yeah, sorry. That’s Lydia.”
“I met her yesterday. She’s very nice. Might steal her from you and hire her as my PA.” Becca snorted and wiggled her eyebrows.
“We agreed—no stealing employees! Besides, I thought you were happy with Brad.”
“I had lipstick on my teeth, Danny. I mean, sure he can schedule meetings and take notes, but I need someone who would fucking tell me I don’t look like an idiot before meetings.”
“She’s mine, no stealing.”
Becca lifted a brow and smiled in the devilish way that only sisters can.
“I don’t mean mine mine,” I corrected. “I mean Mason Corp’s.”
“Mhmm.”
“You going to tell me what you want or can I go to work and get this day over with?” I said, kicking her gently under the table.
She rolled her eyes. “I’ve started negotiations with an automotive company.”
“Does this company have a name?”
“I don’t want to jinx it, but it’s one of the big ones. They want our chips!”
I put my hand on hers, feeling my smile trying to grow wider than my face allowed. Becca had worked her ass off to get her company off the ground without using our family’s resources—I was proud of her.
“That’s great, you deserve this. When do we celebrate?”
“When I close it. I just wanted your advice on the lawyers. One in particular who’s been giving me a hard time. Don Richards. I think you worked with his firm before.” She rolled her eyes again when she said his name. I knew the guy enough to know the eye-roll was justified.
“Yeah, I know him. He’s a dick. Honestly, I think he has issues with women like you.”
“Hot and rich?”
I snorted. “Smart, engineers, educated, and I’m not going to say hot because gross, but you don’t dress like a guy and hide the fact that you’re a woman.”
“I’m not one of the guys, I get it. So, I’m fucked? Do I need to drink beer and watch a game with him?”
“No, but…” I hesitated.
“Spit it out.”
“It’s just something I heard. I think he’s into women who are not so nice to him.” I winced, and she laughed.
“You mean he wants me to tell him what to do and call him a good boy?”
I shrugged. “Just don’t give me the details.”
“Lydia!” My sister called out to Lydia, who was just about to leave the café. She walked up to our table and smiled.
“Hi, Mr. Mason.” She turned to my sister with a genuine smile on her face that made me jealous of Becca for the first time in my life. “It’s nice to see you again.”
Becca’s gleamed with mischief. “We were just talking about how I wanted to steal you to work for me at Vale.”
“I’m flattered, and also happy where I am.” She smiled at Becca and nodded in my direction before leaving.
“Ooooh she’s cold. Now I really want her as my PA. Fuck Brad.”
“Becca, you’re not stealing my employees.”
“Oh come on, you can find another receptionist.”
“Wait, are you serious? I thought you were just joking.”
She shrugged. “I like her.”
So do I.
“You don’t know anything about her,” I scoffed.
“Do you?”
* * *
When I walked into the building, she was already busy at the front desk. Rick stood a few feet away, monitoring everyone going through the key-card scanners on the way to the elevators. I walked up to her and gave her my warmest smile.
“Sorry about Becca again, she was just messing with me.”
Lydia looked up at me and nodded with the same polite, impersonal smile she showed every other person who walked up to her desk. “I like her.”
“Did she really have lipstick on her teeth?”
“Of course, and I would have told her anyway.”
“What if she didn’t? How would you have stalled her?”
She shrugged. “Probably complimented something on her, like her outfit or nails.”
I chuckled. “She would have loved you even more. Especially on the outfit—she’s obsessed.”
Lydia nodded and smiled again, but didn’t say anything else.
You’re making her uncomfortable again.
“See you around, Lydia.”
I took the elevator to my office and started to play around with an idea I needed to run by Madelyne.