Chapter Five

Trixie forgot herself enough to tease.

“What, hearing about assets and liabilities and debits and credits doesn’t fire you up?”

He laughed out loud.

“Lord, no. I look at the profit and loss statement, and I glance, occasionally, at the balance sheet. That’s about all I can handle of that stuff. That’s why I have people who do know it.”

He shifted forward even further, looking intently into her brown eyes.

“Like you.”

Trixie held his gaze, seeing admiration, respect, and to her surprise a spark of lust, perhaps?

You’re reading too much into this, stop it. You’ve got a crush on him so you’re seeing signs that aren’t even there.

She cleared her throat, then got to her feet.

He caught her completely off guard by doing the same, which ended with them standing face to face, mere inches apart.

She watched his eyes break contact with hers and focus on her mouth for a long moment before he said, “Yes, well, I have another meeting in about ten minutes that I need to prepare for.”

“And I’ve got vendor payments to approve, in addition to getting with the CPA and lining out that entry,” she replied softly.

Drew pursed his lips slightly, and Trixie would have given anything to know his thoughts at that moment, but she dared not ask.

Instead, she retreated to safe ground, both emotionally and physically, by taking a step backward and saying, “Okay, so, I will have that presentation done and emailed to you by ten a.m. Thursday. Is there anything else you need me to do? Anything else the lawyers or CPA group said that I need to be aware of regarding my duties here?”

“Probably,” he told her. “But until the board meeting happens, I’m not ready to divulge anything. Let’s see how that piece goes, then I’ll fill you in.”

An awkward silence ensued as he continued to look at her intently.

“Over dinner Saturday night,” he added.

Her eyes went wide.

“I can’t do that.”

“Strictly business, I swear. We’ll even expense it,” he remarked, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes that made her pulse race.

Did he just ask me on a date? was followed immediately by Trixie don’t be stupid, of course not, you’re imagining things.

“Lunch. Onsite. That, I can do,” she countered, and his eyebrow raised.

“Don’t you trust me?”

“It’s not about trust. It’s about perception. You’re the CEO. I am an employee. Being out together after hours without other employees present would not be -”

“Would not be proper,” he finished. “I agree, and I apologize. It was wrong of me to even ask that of you.”

Given that he looked genuinely chastened, Trixie said, “Apology accepted.”

See? Not a date. Hah.

He walked her to his office door, opened it for her, and asked, “When is Marjorie due back in the office, exactly?”

Trixie’s brow furrowed as she tried to remember what specifics the comptroller’s conversation about her trip to Italy contained.

“Tomorrow morning, I believe. I seem to recall her telling me the flight back from Milan would be coming in late this afternoon. I do know she logged it on the departmental calendar, so I’ll double check that and let you know.”

“Thanks. I need to get her up to speed on what’s happened. Miss Benning, one more thing. Please keep what we’ve discovered about the theft to yourself, at least for now. We may have some delicate steps coming up because of this, but as I said, I won’t be able to go into detail until after I meet with the Board of Directors.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, and watched him grimace again.

And because she liked his laugh so much, she tacked on, “Drew,” at the end, just so he would laugh again, before she walked away to the elevator.

***

Drew sighed as he shut his office door again. He did not have another meeting to prepare for, like he’d said. He’d needed to get Trixie out of his office.

When he’d teased her about calling him by his first name and she’d immediately looked at the floor, he’d found himself grinning.

I need to behave, I’m making her uncomfortable, he’d realized, and steered the conversation back onto proper grounds despite the rush he got from making her cheeks tinge a faint pink.

Proper. Whatever.

Being there, sitting in such proximity to her, he’d been sorely tempted to say to hell with workplace rules and kiss her.

But his gut had warned him the results would have been disastrous. Possibly for him, but more likely for her.

As badly as he wanted to pursue something with her, he knew how she felt about such things – she’d made it abundantly clear. Absolutely no fraternization outside of work unless other employees were present. He was intrigued by her, no question, but the last thing he wanted was to cross any line she wasn’t comfortable with.

Not to mention, he hadn’t seen any signs at all that the attraction was mutual. The look in her eyes when he’d foolishly tested the waters and asked her to dinner was surprise and confusion, not excitement.

He couldn’t quite understand what he was feeling for Trixie Benning. He’d been attracted to women before, but not like this.

This was different.

Deeper.

Something about just being around her caused a strange duality to well up within him – attraction, yes, but paired with a soothing feeling of calm in his soul.

It’s unsettling, is what it is. I haven’t experienced this in a long, long time…

Drew frowned.

Because he knew at some point, he’d have to cross that line she’d drawn to find out what was really going on, and they both could face serious repercussions if he did.

***

Trixie confirmed that Marjorie Evans was indeed scheduled to return to the office the following day. She fired off an email to Drew letting him know, then got to work on her regular Tuesday tasks, among them reviewing and approving the day’s batch of vendor payments to be sent out. She went through four batches, one for each region, then moved to the theft-related task Drew had described, making sure to include the recommendations she’d previously lined out.

Before she knew it, lunchtime had come and gone. She grabbed her purse and rushed to her car.

Hang in there, Joshua, I’m on my way.

Her little beagle wasn’t quite two years old yet and tended toward accidents when he was cooped up all day.

She could hear him baying as she worked to open the front door.

“Okay Joshie, sorry I’m late buddy, let’s go,” she called out.

He raced her to the back door, whining, while she removed the hard cover over the doggie door that led into the yard. Trixie barely got out of the way as he wriggled through.

That disaster averted, she pulled lunchmeat and cheese out of the refrigerator and began to make herself a sandwich. As she did, she thought about Drew.

And sighed.

God am I attracted to that man. But I just can’t go there. My career’s all I’ve got. The last thing I need is to screw that up by getting involved with someone at work. And he’s not just someone. He’s the freaking CEO. Even more reason I can’t do this.

A whimper at her feet broke her train of thought.

“Damn, Josh,” Trixie commented as she gave him a slice of turkey, “I know you just want food, but it sure seems like you knew what I was thinking. I know I have you too, buddy.”

His whole body wriggled in thanks for the slice of lunchmeat, and he trotted away.

“Now,” Trixie said. “Back to the topic at hand.”

Which at its core was straightforward once she set her attraction aside and focused on it using logic rather than emotion. The inescapable fact was she needed to steer clear of Drew Alexander as much as she possibly could if she wanted to keep her career intact.