Sincerely, Your Inconvenient Wife: A Marriage of Convenience Office Romance (The Harder They Fall)

TODAY WAS THE FIRST day in a long line of first days. I never tired of the anticipation of walking into a new office where anything could happen.

I flattened the V neckline of my cream silk blouse and smoothed down my leather pencil skirt, turning to the side to examine my reflection. Elise pushed into my room while I was in the middle of considering my outfit.

“Is leather office appropriate?” I asked her.

She stood behind me in one of her cute tops with a bow tied at the throat and a pair of smart trousers. I almost burst out laughing at how different our workwear was. Elise had honed her style years ago, and she rocked her librarian chic look. It helped that she was all curves and made pretty much anything look hot.

She tapped her chin, taking my question seriously. “What kind of company is this job at again?”

I turned to face her, my dearest best friend since we were randomly assigned as roommates our freshman year at CU Boulder. She’d moved back to Denver from Chicago a few months ago, and we’d joined forces once again, sharing an apartment like old times.

Except her boyfriend, Weston, occupied the penthouse, and she spent a considerable amount of time up there. But Elise was Elise, and she made sure we shared at least one meal a day together so I wouldn’t feel abandoned, which I never did.

I was a West-and-Elise fangirl. I didn’t begrudge even a minute they spent together. It didn’t hurt that when he sent Elise flowers, he also sent a small bouquet for me because Elise had once told him how much I liked them.

“Didn’t I tell you?” I shoved an earring through my lobe. “I’m in the marketing department of Rossi Motors. Maybe I’ll finally get to meet the elusive Luca.”

Her hands shot to her hips. “Um, no. I think I’d remember if you told me you were going to be working at Rossi.”

I shoved the second earring through my other lobe, wincing at how painful it was. Note to self: wear earrings more often so I don’t have to draw blood to get them in.

“I only got the call last week, and I was finishing up my last job. One of their marketing assistants had her baby early, so they needed me to start right away.” I twisted back to my reflection. “You never told me if leather is okay. I thought yes since they make motorcycles, but now I’m worried this is a little too on the nose.”

She stood next to me, eyeing the mirror. “You look hot, yet professional. I’m a big fan of the skirt. You know how I feel about your legs.”

I grinned. “The same way I feel about your tits. Too bad we can’t donate a couple inches to each other.”

We’d had this conversation many, many times, and I loved that about us. My life was a constant whirlwind of changes, but my friendship with Elise had remained constant for nearly a decade.

“I’ll have to text Luca to look out for you.” Her mouth twisted. “You probably won’t see him, though. He’s pretty much buried with taking over his new position.”

“I didn’t figure I’d be chilling with the CEO, but maybe I’ll spot him exiting his limo.”

Elise laughed. “Luca doesn’t ride in a limo.” Then she grabbed her phone. “I’ll text him anyway, just to let him know you’ll be in the building. If he has time, maybe he’ll introduce himself so you both can finally put a face to the name.”

Luca Rossi was good friends with Weston and Elliot, Elise’s older brother. Stars had never aligned for us, and our paths had yet to cross. Mostly, I was curious about the third member of the “Hot Boss Musketeers.” I’d heard Luca’s name in passing for several years, and I’d always wondered if he lived up to his charm-the-pants-off-anyone reputation.

“Sure. If it happens, it happens. I’ll be there at least a month.” I smoothed my skirt again and nodded, decision made. “This will do.”

My first week at Rossi was everything I wanted in a temp job. Loads of interesting work, good snacks in the break room, friendly coworkers. Since my positions were always temporary, sometimes I found no one could be bothered to get to know me, but that wasn’t the case at this job.

I’d even been invited out for happy hour on Friday.

There were ten of us crammed around a small table on the patio of a bar near the office, seven women, three guys. Someone had shoved me toward Charlie, the single guy of the group.

Not very subtle.

Charlie leaned closer to me, his beer resting on his knee. “Where did you work before this?”

Charlie smelled good, even after a long day. He had a full head of thick, floppy hair and tattooed forearms I imagined stretched into full sleeves beneath his clothes. Thin and rangy, he was perhaps an inch or two shorter than me, which wasn’t a deal breaker in terms of attraction. Charlie was good-looking, for sure, but I didn’t feel any kind of spark of interest. These days, I listened to my initial gut feeling. Charlie was a coworker and a potential friend, but no more.

“A marketing firm, actually.” I sipped my cocktail. “That’s what I went to college for.”

“And you haven’t been able to find a permanent job?”

“No, I have. I’ve found I’m more of a temporary girl.”

He raised a brow. “In all things?”

“So far.”

“Are you looking for something?”

“That’s a good question, Charlie. I don’t really know, but moving on almost always feels right. For instance, I enjoyed my last job, but I like this one more. If I’d settled there, I wouldn’t have gotten to work at Rossi.”

“So, you’re a rolling stone?”

I winked at him, feeling loose from half a drink and a long, happy week. “I gather no moss.”

From my other side, Amelia, one of the leads of the department, asked, “Is that the same with boyfriends? Never settling?”

I turned to her. “Well, I hope when I find the right guy, it won’t feel like settling.”

Not that I had much hope for that, nor was I actively looking for anything.

The woman on her other side, Niddhi, guffawed. “Good luck with that. It’s all rainbows and moonbeams in the beginning—and then you realize those rainbows were an illusion and the moonbeams were actually the phone he was using while you were sleeping to sext girls on Only Fans…”

Amelia patted her knee and steered the conversation in another direction. I turned to Charlie, a little slack-jawed.

“What was that?” I whispered.

“She’s going through a bad breakup.”

I nodded. “Uh, yeah. I gathered that. Wowza, poor thing.”

“Her ex spent twenty grand on cam girls before she caught him.”

I slapped my forehead. “What an idiot. Why do men throw away real relationships for a minute or two of gratification? I’ll never understand it.”

“Not every guy is deceitful.” The eye contact he kept with me was steeped in meaning, and I got the drift. Charlie wasn’t like other men. But in my experience, if a man had to say that, he probably was just like other men.

I placed my empty glass on the tiny table and hopped up. “I’m going to the restroom. Be back.”

“I’ll save your seat,” Charlie called to my retreating back.

There were perks to being tall, one being catching bartenders’ attention easily. I waved my hand at the pretty woman behind the bar. She started toward me, her steps stuttering as a long arm reached out in front of me to flag her down. When she regained her composure, she walked right past me to wait on the person who’d squeezed in behind me.

She propped her elbows on the bar and leaned forward, putting her tits on display. “Hello, handsome.”

“Good evening, bella. It seems our waiter has gone missing. Is that something you can rectify?”

I recognized that smooth, silky timbre. The slight edge of impatience had been absent last weekend, but there was no mistaking who’d stolen my bartender.

She ran her finger along the line of her cleavage. “I think I can take care of you, handsome. Give it to me.”

“I’d be more than happy to give it to you.”

Oh, wow. This guy was a smooth-as-shit flirt, wasn’t he? No wonder he’d gotten me into bed with barely any effort.

Luke recited his order, and the bartender jumped into action. I swiveled around to express my displeasure.

“I know we discussed your rudeness when you wouldn’t share your pizza, but I thought we’d conquered that bad habit.”

A flash of recognition lightened Luke’s dark eyes. Momentary disbelief gave way to a sexy smirk. “Are you still talking about that?”

“I would have let it go if you hadn’t cut in front of me. That bartender was mine.”

He cocked his head. “If she was yours, why did she serve me first?”

I gestured to his face then the rest of him. “You’re hot.”

“And?”

“Hotness tends to strike some people stupid.”

“Not you though?”

I tucked my hair behind my ear, playing coy, but, man, I actually felt somewhat bashful in front of him. He was more attractive than I even remembered, which seemed impossible since I remembered him being devastating to look at.

“I’m not so shallow.” I tugged on his tie, which was snug at the collar, despite being in a bar during after-work hours. “You look serious.”

His gaze drifted over me, and I’d never been more grateful for my small collection of leather. My leather shift dress did wonders for my figure, giving me the illusion of being far curvier than I was.

“You look gorgeous.” He gave me those bedroom eyes and bit down on his bottom lip.

Belying his words and the heat behind his gaze, he kept a respectful distance between us.

“Thank you. You do too. Serious, but still gorgeous.”

His slow, easy grin made my stomach flip and drop. I had to stop myself from reaching for the bar for support.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“Having a drink with some of my coworkers.”

He glanced around. “Where are they?”

“Outside on the patio.”

His eyes narrowed. “Likely story. Are you sure you aren’t stalking me?”

I let out a surprised laugh. “If I was, I would never admit it. You’re probably wearing a wire. Anyway, you weren’t that good—not enough to go psycho-stalker over at least.”

He gave me that grin again and ran his hand down the front of his shirt. “That isn’t true, and I have the sheets to prove it.”

Heat shot to my cheeks and throat. “Did you really have to bring that up?”

“I can’t believe you’re actually embarrassed over that, pretty girl. You don’t strike me as someone who gets embarrassed easily.”

“I’m not.” I pressed a hand to my flushed cheek. “I wasn’t prepared for you to talk about the sheets, which I really hope you’ve washed.”

He cocked his head. “They’re safely tucked away in an evidence bag.”

My nose wrinkled. “Gross.”

“Excuse me.” We both turned to find the bartender propping her boobs up again. “Your order is being taken to your table, handsome. Is there any other way I can help you?”

Luke ran his hand through the side of his hair, mussing it up deliciously. “What do you want to drink?”

I tried to meet the bartender’s eyes, but she was stuck on Luke. “I’ll have a margarita on the rocks, please.” I flicked my attention back to Luke as she started on my drink. “Are you here with friends?”

He shook his head. “No. Business associates. Work isn’t over for me, unfortunately. I should get back to them.”

“Right. Well, it was good seeing you. Maybe we’ll run into each other again.”

“If you are stalking me, I’d work on your subterfuge. Hanging out in the bar closest to my office is less than subtle.”

I rolled my eyes. “I got what I wanted from you. Why would I need to stalk you?”

He dipped closer to me, bringing his mouth near my ear. “Because you recognized there was so much more you missed out on.” His cheek brushed mine, then he pulled away, taking a step back. “Until next time, pretty girl.”

He tucked his hands in his pockets and strolled away.

I really doubted there would be a next time, but it had been fun while it lasted.