Page 6 of Boss's Baby Surprise

“Steve?”

“Kyle!” I went to throw a couch pillow at her but stopped because she had so thoroughly gotten me riled up. I hugged it to my chest and giggled.

“You want to look cute for the boss. How much money did you say you had?”

We spent the weekend going through my closet. With Marci’s help, I ended up with twelve outfits I didn’t even realize were hiding in the mess of clothes that I already owned. I spent the money I had on buying her dinner as a thank you. It wasn’t nearly enough to show my gratitude, but I now had clothes I could wear for the rest of my internship. I didn’t need to be super fashionable. I just needed to know that if Kyle looked at me, he wouldn’t necessarily think I looked like a potato wearing clothes.

By the time Kyle returned from abroad, my stomach was tied up in knots. I was so nervous. When I walked into the conference room where our meeting was scheduled, I no longer knew if I was anxious because I was going to be one of Kyle Love’s interns—an absolute major accomplishment—or because it had been almost a whole week since I had seen him last. Somehow in the past few days, my feelings seemed to have exploded from thinking the boss was hot to having a full-blown crush on the man.

Steve was already sitting staring at the spread of catered sandwiches when I stepped in. Neither Kyle nor Alayna was there yet.

“Are you okay?” Steve asked.

I shook my head with tight movements.

He laughed. “Relax, you’ll be fine.”

“But we’re shadowing Kyle fucking Love,” I said. My nerves added a little extra spice to my language. I didn’t like cursing at work.

“I practically puked on the guy our first day here, and look at me now. Trust me, Kyle is a good guy.”

I slid into a chair. I reached for a napkin and grabbed a bagel. I wasn’t hungry, but picking at it gave me something to do. And maybe the bread would soothe my stomach.

“Steve, Clarissa,” Kyle exclaimed as he practically burst into the conference room.

I looked for Alayna before letting my gaze land on Kyle. I don’t know why I sought out the other woman first as some sort of safe haven for my nerves. She wasn’t there, and as soon as my eyes locked with Kyle’s, I felt a chill wash over me. A shiver started in my toes and ended at the back of my neck.

He paused before sitting and asked, “Are you all right?”

I nodded frantically. “Excited.”

“Excited is good.” Kyle turned to Steve. “Are you okay? Not going to be sick?”

Steve laughed. “Not going to be sick. But I’m not nearly as nervous as Clarissa.”

Of course he wasn’t. He didn’t have a crush on the boss like I did.

Kyle eyed the spread of food hungrily and grabbed a plate full of deli sandwich sections and chips. “Well, relax and eat up. I promise there won’t be a test at the end of this.”

“What are we doing, exactly?” Steve asked.

“Everything.” Kyle laughed.

By the end of the hour, we had eaten. Kyle regaled us with tales of architect faux pas, and we ate some more. After a while, we moved the food to a sideboard and Kyle had someone bring in some D-size paper and mechanical pencils.

He rolled the large sheet of paper out on the table and began telling us his ideas. As he spoke, he drew and doodled.

Steve pointed to a part of the drawing. “May I?”

Kyle gave him the go ahead, and Steve began sketching the details as he understood what Kyle was describing.

“That’s it! That’s exactly why you’re here. You took the concept and ran with it,” Kyle said, a huge smile on his face.

I got over my nerves once we started drawing. I turned my chair around and kneeled in it so I could reach across the table, having shorter arms than either Kyle or Steve. The building Kyle described developed before our eyes as we communicated through lines and shapes as well as conversation.

The collaborative effort between the three of us was for lack of a better word, fun. I loved being able to talk and joke with people who seemed to really understand how my brain worked. I didn’thave to explain simple ideas. I could draw them out, and both of the men knew exactly what I was thinking.

Steve stepped away from the drawing and took a long drink from his cup. All of our drinks were set on the sideboard away from the drawings. He excused himself and stepped out of the room.