Page 34 of Help Wanted

Zane was nervous about this trip. Over the last week he’d been talking to her on the phone instead of texting. A few times he was sure they were flirting. Not blatant flirting, but flirting nonetheless. The chanting wasn’t working, so he’d switched to imagining how screwed he’d be if she quit. He tried to picture the lady who didn’t like to fly, or the teenage text queen sitting in the office instead of Kenley. He didn’t think they would care about keeping his job folders organized or cutting expenses like Kenley did.

Kenley had stopped in his office three times that morning, but it wasn’t enough. He went out to find her. He had a question about something he already knew the answer to.

She was in the front office talking to someone. Thinking his eleven-thirty appointment was early, he went out to meet the person, but stopped in the hall when he heard Kenley whisper his name.

“Zane’s in the office today,” she told someone. Was that excitement in her voice?

“Who?” the other woman asked.

“Zane Jackson, my boss.”

“What’s he like?”

“Nice.”

Nice? That didn’t sound promising. Of course, it was better than hearing her tell her friend the truth, which was that he was a moody asshole.

“He draws the most amazing plans for boats.”

“That’s it?” He could see the other person’s reflection in the glass as she frowned. “Nice? I see.”

“No. You don’t see. He’s a really nice boss.”

“Nice means ugly,” the other person said. Before Kenley had time to respond, Zane took a few louder steps and coughed before he walked into the lobby.

“Hi, Zane. This is my sister-in-law, Vanessa.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Vanessa cleared her throat and said, “Nice to meet you too.” She was blatantly checking him out. Unfortunately, it wasn’t this woman’s attention he wanted. Not that he should want Kenley’s attention.

Thanks to the physical requirements of his job, and the gym, he was in relatively good shape. Maybe Kenley preferred her men bulky like Brady. Not that it mattered, because Brady had backed off after Zane claimed her. He wondered how long Brady would hold off if Zane didn’t make a move. He couldn’t make a move. He was her boss. He squared his shoulders and prepared to do just that. Be the boss.

“Have you heard anything about the Oliver boat?” Zane got to the point of his interruption.

“No. I just checked on it again today. They said they would know soon.” Zane had a buyer for that boat and a new motor waiting to be installed before he could flip it to his customer who demanded it be in the water for summer. It was already the middle of April. Time was getting tight. He frowned at her answer, but shook it off quickly and moved on to the next topic.

“So the show we talked about is in two weeks, would you be able to leave that Friday morning? he asked, seeing her face light up in surprise. “We’ll be back on Sunday.”

“Sure. No problem.”

“Thanks.” He nodded and gave her a smile. “Nice meeting you, Vanessa.”

“Yeah. You too,” she said, still staring. As he walked away, he heard her say. “Holy shit, he’s hot.”

“It doesn’t matter. He’s my boss. I can’t lose this job.” Was she having as much trouble keeping things professional as he was? He shook his head as he went into his office.

A few minutes later Kenley came in with a big smile on her face.

“So I really get to go to the boat show?”

“You seem to have a boat show confused with backstage passes to a premium rock concert, but yeah, I’d like you to come along to check it out.”

“Will we be buying a boat?”

“We’ll be looking for a thirty-foot cuddy for my roommate from college. The show actually starts on Saturday, but on Friday there’s happy hour in the afternoon and a lot of deals are made then.” He watched her as he mentioned the overnight stay again and was happy to see an extra flair of excitement. Or maybe he imagined it.

“It sounds so much better than being here alone for days on end driving myself crazy.” She put her index finger up. “Which reminds me. Can I see your phone?”