Read Boudreaux 01 Easy Love for Free Online Page B

flowers on my desk, waits for my signature, and then leaves.
    “Wow, sugar, those are impressive.”
    I nod and pull the small envelope out of the plastic holder in the center of the bouquet and open it, facing away from Hilary, so she can’t read over my shoulder.
    Kate-
    Welcome. Have a good first day.
    Best Wishes,
    Eli
    “Who are they from?” Hilary asks.
    The sexiest man I’ve ever seen in my life, but I have no idea why he sent them because nothing good can come of it.
    “My parents,” I lie easily, and shove the card in my pocket. Eli said he doesn’t play games, yet he kisses me like he’d like to devour me, says it’s a bad idea, and then sends me flowers?
    “Oh, how lovely.” Hilary begins to chat about her own family while she sets me up with new passwords on the several software programs we use and shows me her routine, and all the while my mind wanders exactly where it shouldn’t: to Eli.
    Does he think he can sweet talk me with a few pretty blooms?
    Okay, maybe the flowers are sweet, but I don’t get it. I was up long after I turned off the lights and climbed into bed last night. I could still feel him against me, hear his low, rumbly voice. My body was on fire, and the man had really barely touched me. Sure, that kiss was combustible, and just the casual way he laid his hand on my back, or linked our fingers, sent my body into a tailspin unlike any I’ve ever felt.
    Even with my ex-husband, and I don’t know for sure what that says about me.
    By lunch time, I’ve been shown Hilary’s complete routine from start to finish, I’ve been given a tour of the building and introduced to everyone in the department, and Hilary was kind enough to show me exactly how Mr. Rudolph likes to have his coffee made.
    Oh, and it must be on his desk by 8:05 every morning. Sharp.
    Because, apparently, this is 1956, and it’s important to bring the boss man his coffee.
    Hilary and two other assistants from our department, Suzanne and Taylor, invite me to join them for lunch, and I eagerly accept, hoping against hope that one of them lets something slip and I can wrap this case up early.
    Of course, I’m not that lucky.
    “So, where are you from, Kate?” Taylor asks, as she munches on her sandwich, careful not to get her perfectly manicured hands dirty. She’s short and lusciously curvy with dark hair that is styled in a short bob and has big brown eyes.
    “Yes, tell us about you,” Suzanne, Taylor’s exact opposite with blonde hair, tall, statuesque figure, and bright blue eyes agrees, while Hilary nods expectantly and pops a chip in her mouth.
    “Well, I grew up in the Denver area,” I reply, easily keeping the details vague. “Are you all from here?”
    “Hilary and I are,” Suzanne replies, “but Taylor just moved here from Florida last year.”
    “What part of Florida?” I ask.
    “Orlando,” she replies with a wrinkle of the nose. “I left one hot, humid city for another.”
    “What were you thinkin’?” Suzanne asks with a laugh. “I think we’re going to try to take the kids to Disney World next year.”
    And just like that, the subject is redirected from me, and I sit in silence and listen while I nibble my sandwich and chips and sip my diet soda.
    ***
    My phone is vibrating in my handbag as I push my way into my loft after a long day in the office. I drop my keys and briefcase on the kitchen table and dig out the phone, grinning when I see Van’s name on the caller ID.
    “Hey, boss lady.”
    “How was your first day, dear?” I can hear the smile in her voice.
    “Pretty much the usual. Choose forty-five different passwords, each with a different number, symbol, and the blood of a virgin, then gossip about the boss, not my boss, mind you, and the two assistants having an affair three offices over, learn how to make the boss his coffee, and walk home in the sweltering heat in a suit jacket.”
    “So, it wasn’t boring then,” she replies dryly, as I eye the boxes that were