Page 8 of Once Upon a Prince

“I think she’s trying to dodge the question,” Layla said and took a sip of her wine.

“Good point,” Ara said and drank her rum and Coke.

I lifted my vodka tonic and tried to hide my blush but I wasn’t quick enough. Ara saw it and pointed her glass at me. “I knew it! You think he’s hot.”

“No. I never said that.”

“You never said he wasn’t either. Come on, dish,” Ara prodded.

“I didn’t see him until the end of the day. Between having to deal with HR and the lovely women who worked there—”

“Were they mean to you?” Layla immediately asked.

I hadn’t meant to let the annoyance of how Tanya and Diana had treated me show. I should have known that Layla would pick up on it immediately.

“They weren’t mean but they weren’t the most welcoming either. I got the impression that Tanya wanted my job and didn’t like the idea that a country bumpkin had taken it from her.”

“You are not a country bumpkin. Who are these women? I’m going to kick their asses,” Ara said. She sat up as if she expected to see them in the bar and was going to confront them then and there. I wouldn’t put it past her.

Reaching out, I put my hand on Ara’s arm. “It was fine. I probably looked like a fish out of water to them and not right for the job. They were just concerned for the company and their boss. They wanted to make sure the right decision had been made for all parties considered.”

“They wanted to chastise you and say you weren’t good enough for them. What the fuck?” Ara said.

“I take it you handled them?” Layla asked.

“As best I could. I might have let it slip that I was a good friend with Mr. Moore, not Dax, his father, and implied they shouldn’t mess with me.”

Layla smiled and Ara slapped the table with her hands. “That’s our girl. Good on you.”

“I learned from the best,” I said and smiled at my friends.

“You didn’t learn anything from us. You did all that on your own. I’m glad you stood up to them, but you’re getting off the subject of how sexy your new boss is,” Ara said.

“If she doesn’t want to talk about her new crush and her feelings for her boss, then she doesn’t have to,” Layla said, but she smiled as she did, letting me know she was teasing me.

I took a sip of my drink and then put it down before saying, “There’s nothing to tell. As I said, I was on my own most of the day. I don’t think I will see him much. By the look of his schedule, he stays out of the office more than in it.”

“But you did see him. What did you think? How much had he changed since you last saw him? What was your impression of him?” Ara asked.

“More importantly, what was his impression of you?” Layla added.

I had tried to hold off my friends long enough and I knew I wasn’t going to get out of having the conversation. I downed the last of my drink, which caused Ara to raise her eyebrows, and I said, “Yes. He is still very good looking. You weren’t wrong about that. But he knows it too. There’s an arrogance when he stands and looks at a woman, as if he thinks they should feel privileged they are in his presence.”

Ara laughed. “Dang, he certainly did that to the wrong woman.”

“So, I take it you weren’t impressed with the man or his looks?” Layla asked.

“No, she didn’t say that. She said he is good looking,” Ara said for me.

“He is, and arrogant, but considering when he first saw me, I was on my phone and he was not impressed, but he didn’t fire me; he can be compassionate.”

“Oops. He was okay with it?” Layla asked.

“I didn’t give him a chance to say anything before I told him everything I had done while he was gone.”

Ara laughed. “I’m sure you had his schedule better organized than it had ever been, reorganized the entire office so it was more efficient, and even come up with a five-year plan on how to make him and his office run even better.”

“I plan on doing that next week,” I teased Ara. They both knew not only how good I was at organizing things but how much I loved it.