Page 3 of Boss's Baby Surprise

“I like this one,” she said as I swiped, and a new design displayed.

For a sketch, the lines were clean and precise. The idea was clear and creative. “It’s good. Who did it?”

I lifted my eyes to her. She oversaw the interns and their projects. I was in and out of the office too much to know too much more than the personalities I had mentally assigned them—the Frat Boys, the Party Girls, Sick Steve, and Clarissa.

“That’s Clarissa’s,” Alayna said.

“Clarissa? She’s the… quiet one?” I had to stop myself from saying something else, like the curvy one. Clarissa was quiet, but she was also perfectly lovely. She had beautiful curves and lips that inspired dirty thoughts. And I didn’t think she even realized it.

I took a deep breath and girded my unintentional thoughts. My first thoughts regarding Clarissa had no place in an office setting. A bedroom? Yes, but not here. Not here.

“Are all her sketches like this?”

“Yeah, she’s got raw talent. Keep going. Check out the next one.”

Another well thought out and executed sketch appeared.

“Clarissa again?” I asked.

Alayna shook her head. “Steve did this one.”

“Steve? Which one?”

“Steve from University of Illinois, Chicago,” she answered.

“Sick Steve?” I asked.

“You did not just call him that.” Alayna laughed.

I shook my head, suppressing a chuckle. “You don’t want to know what I call the other Steve in my head.”

“You’re right, I don’t. And for the record, I don’t want to know your internal monologue about me.”

“I don’t have an internal monologue about you. I know your name. The nicknames are so I remember,” I said.

“Do I even want to know how you remember our clients?” she teased.

“Clients are easy. Their names are on the checks.” I returned my attention to the drawings. “Okay, I know who I want. The Party Kids can be in one team, and I want Clarissa and Sick Steve working together with me.”

Alayna picked up the tablet and stood. “Got it. ‘The Party Kids’ is an accurate description, but you’re going to have to stop calling him ‘Sick Steve’. Who do you want to meet with first?”

“Set up a lunch with the kids, and then I want lunch and a full afternoon blocked off for Clarissa and Steve.”

“Lunch with kids before you leave so I can get them assigned, and an afternoon with the other interns when you get back?”

“Sounds good.”

Within a few minutes, I had a calendar confirmation for the first lunch on Thursday. I didn’t put any more thought into the interns for the rest of the day, and halfway through the next day, until I overheard a conversation I shouldn’t have.

“Did you notice Kyle didn’t invite Clarissa or Steve?” It was one of the party girls.

“I feel so bad for them. They are trying so hard. It’s clear they just aren’t cut out for this. Do you see how she dresses? She needs to do something about her weight if she wants to be taken seriously.”

“This is gonna be lit. Steve and Conner are so cute, and we’re going to be working in a special group with them,” the other one said. I think it was Kendall.

“Shut up, here comes Clarissa.”

They were quiet for a moment and then they were talking again.