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U sually I hate Mondays , but the redhead sitting in reception e my mind Not many people make it up to the executive reception area on the twenty-fifth floor, even fewer are incredibly attractive woht places—of which she hasat her and go to thewith my business partner that I’ to have all day so I decide to savor it for a few more precious seconds
Adown at her legs I watch as her eyes drift froaze ain, there’s a faint s , and as she does, she leans forward, allowing e within The sight ht, and I shift so that it’s less obvious She has a smirk on her face that tellsit Which is…intriguing
A glance at the clock on the wall tellsto use it as an excuse for , as well as busting ive the redhead a s away her iain Jack Warner has beenas I’ve known his he hates the most Or enerally try not to be I think he’ll understand when I tell him about the red boht out of the office to take a look himself
I tap my knuckle on the doorframe as I walk into his corner office Mine is in the opposite corner, and sometimes it feels like we’re in different universes Jack looks up, a glare on his face I serve that look right back to him “I’m not that late”
“You do realize that ‘late’ is a thing you are or you aren’t There is no ‘that late’”
I chuckle as I sit down into my favorite chair in his office “I do since you say it every fucking time”
He sighs, resigned “Fine, I have just a couple things But first,” he says as he pushes the intercom on his phone, “Liz, send Cora in, will you?”
“Cora?” I ask
“Our new intern,” Jack says, nodding to the door
Seconds later, the redhead from reception appears in the door and da CoraI have a flash of the two of us twined together and what it would feel like to have that silkyit off her shoulders I snap back toaround the desk to stand with her
“Michael,” he says, “this is Cora Bradbury, she’ll be our intern for the rest of the summer She’ll be a senior at University of Houston in the fall and she’s also hter”
I do a double take, having lostmy hands in her hair while she ister on my face “Jack, I’ve known you for hter”
“It’s not a long story,” he says, looking a little sheepish “I never knew about her Cora’s mother never told me, and I only found out a couple of years back when Cora reached out to et to know each other better An internship seemed like the perfect opportunity”
I nod, turning back to Cora and holding out ies Cora, I’m very happy to have you here” I can’t help but notice how soft her hands are as she shakes ine them other places Shit It would just be er than I’d ever admit to anyone since I’ve been with someone that uest forto invest more, find someone, but I don’t Sos occupyingin reception and I stopped and looked
Of course she would beher hand “It’s nice tolike I expected, a rich alto that re fan of the way you’ve integrated aesthetic and function on both the app and your website I’d love to talk to you about how you got your code integration so smooth”
Now o to a ht on to the coding tricks It tookfloell as it does, and the fact that she took note tells me that she really knows her stuff “Thank you, I’ll be happy to show you the source codes and answer any questions you ht have”
Her face lights up into a bright, genuine sreat”
Jack sive you your orientation”
She gives ave me in reception, and exits the rooood idea, Jack?”
“Why wouldn’t it be? She’s very bright, and I’m sure she’ll be able to help us out around here”
I shake my head “I’m sure she’s brilliant, but you know fa sho
t, but maybe I can convince him it will be a bad idea and I’ll saveuncomfortably hard behind my desk
Jack waves a hand “It’s only for a fewthat dire can happen that fast Besides, she’s only an intern We’re not even paying her; she’s getting school credit So while she gets to observe the business, she won’t have her hands in anything real”
“Okay,” I say, fighting the panic and frustration building in my chest “It’s your call”
Jack returns to his desk and types out so on his computer “This e really need to evaluate our options”
“Options?”
He sighs, turning his screen toward o of our lead co Their ht the urge to rollout a new service this week Instead of the standard custo to send out tailors to o”
I foldelse “And?”
“And we need to keep up They’re getting more popular”
“Even though they’re popular, they still lose the head-to-head competition When people think of a custo apps, they think of us Not them”
He stands “You think thatstuff that we’re not Once they do enough things that we don’t do, customers will start to think of them first”
“So ould you like us to do?”
“Watch theoes and consider either launching so out in a different direction”
I school my face into the cool, i this co and ood at e do, so product can be improved Yes, I want to expand, but not until e already have is as perfect as we can possibly get it It’s taken us years to get where we are, and I won’t pretend that I want us to lose ground because we rush into an expansion we’re not ready for “I can do that Next e can talk about options” It’s the best I can give him, for now