Lost and Found (5 page)

Christian stood there in a pair of
running shorts and a sleeveless T-shirt. His hair was wet and so
was the front of his shirt. His iPhone was latched to his arm with
a Velcro band and ear buds dangled around his neck.

“
You’ve already been
running?” Darcy asked as she looked him over.

“
That was the first run of
the day.”

“
First?”

“
Gotta keep in
shape.”

She laughed. “Would you like to come
in? I was just getting ready for work.”

“
No, no. I just wanted to
see if it was okay if I opened the door between here and the house
so John could bring over some furniture for you.”

“
He really doesn’t
have…”

“
You can’t tell him that.
He’ll do it anyway. He’s like that.”

She smiled. “That would be fine. I’ll
unlock my side.”

He nodded and turned to run back up
the stairs. “What time do you have to be to work?”

“
Eight. I have to catch the
bus by seven.”

“
Let me get a quick shower,
and I’ll drive you into town. Then you don’t have to leave so
early.”

He gave her a smile and a nod and ran
back up the steps.

Darcy shut the door and went to the
kitchen to unlock the door that led into the house.

With Christian driving her to work,
she’d save bus fare. She could splurge on a cup of coffee.
Yesterday that proved to be an amazing experience. What could
happen today, she wondered.

She looked around the kitchen and saw
a box of granola bars that Arianna had left for her with the
groceries. She opened the box and tasted her first breakfast in her
new home.

The day already had started in amazing
form. She’d had a good night’s rest. She had a job which she was
looking forward to. And a handsome man was driving her to
work—where an equally handsome man waited. Yes, things were looking
up.

Christian’s BMW was lavish, and he was
skilled at maneuvering it between cars with ease as he sped toward
town.

“
I’m not going to be late,”
she said as she gripped the door.

“
Sorry. Am I making you
nervous?”

She just grinned, and he eased the
speed of the car.

“
I’m usually running late,”
he said as he shifted lanes again.

“
I grew up in a tiny town.
One stoplight. All these cars make me nervous anyway.”

“
I think you’ll adjust to
city life quick enough. Besides, this city is a lot of fun. It’s
built on entertainment. Have you checked out any of the bands
yet?”

“
No. I haven’t gotten out
much.”

He nodded as he exited the highway.
“Maybe we can head downtown one of these nights, and I’ll introduce
you to the sights and sounds of Nashville. My friend, Randy Sayner,
is playing next weekend. Talk about an SOB with talent.”

“
That would be
nice.”

Christian pulled into the parking
garage at the Riverside Building and collected his parking stub
from the machine. He found a space near the elevators and
parked.

“
I really appreciate you
driving me to work, and trust me, I don’t expect you to do that
every day.”

“
It was no problem.” He
opened his door and climbed out of the car.

She opened her door and stepped out of
the car. “I’ll give you some money for parking.”

He waved his hand. “Don’t be
ridiculous. Ed better validate this, or I’ll kick his
ass.”

She laughed. “You wouldn’t really do
that, would you?”

“
I’ve been trying for my
thirty-three years. I’m in the most fantastic shape. I make a
living out of fast objects flying at me, but I’ll be damned if I’ve
ever been able to stop a fist to the chest from him. He’s just that
quick.”

“
He hits you?”

Christian laughed. “That’s the fun of
having a brother. Clara flicks your ear. Ya know, that hurts
worse.” He pushed the button to the elevator and stepped in when
the door opened.

She had a lot to learn about family
dynamics. That would prove to be as big an adventure as moving to a
new city.

Darcy had forgotten about treating
herself to a coffee until the doors opened to the floor where
Benson, Benson, and Hart had their offices.

She’d do that tomorrow. There was a
good chance she’d need it by then. Something told her that she was
going to be very overwhelmed.

As Christian turned the corner to
Eduardo’s office, Darcy had her confirmation.

Eduardo Keller had a very loud voice.
At eight in the morning, he could certainly use a very colorful
array of words.

Christian’s mouth turned up at the
corners when he looked back at Darcy, but he didn’t stop. He
continued to Eduardo’s office and pushed open the door.

Darcy followed, but she stopped at the
threshold. There was no way she was going into that
office.

Eduardo held his cell phone to his ear
and paced behind his desk, where stacks of papers were spread all
over.

His hair had already been tunneled
through with his fingers, numerous times, and his shirt sleeves
were pushed up his arms.

Darcy thought she’d shown up to work
plenty early. What time did this man get here?

“
Are you kidding me? That
load was due three days ago. I gave you a little bit of leeway, and
you’re screwing me over.” His voice was steady, but loud. “I have
made your company, and you know that. BBH put you in business, and
don’t think I won’t take you out of business. All I have to do is
make one call and your mill is gone.”

Darcy could see him pace from her safe
place in the hallway. Christian, on the other hand, had made
himself comfortable on the couch in Eduardo’s office. Eduardo
didn’t seem to mind.

Eduardo nodded and gave a few more
grunts. “Valerie, that load had better be on site by two o’clock or
I cancel.” He nodded again. “Great—now how about
dinner?”

Darcy couldn’t help but wonder if her
jaw literally hit the ground. Had the man been talking to a woman
with that mouth? And furthermore, had he just asked her out? Who
had she agreed to work for? Well, he’d better never talk to her
like that. Her father didn’t raise a woman to take crap from
anyone—especially some good looking man in a suit who happened to
have a great deal of power over her.

The granola bar flipped in her
stomach.

Eduardo turned off his phone and
looked toward the door.

“
Are you going to stay out
there all day?”

Darcy stepped in. “I didn’t want to
interrupt.”

“
You’re going to have to
learn. This,” he motioned to the phone, “was just another
morning.”

She wasn’t reassured by
that.

Eduardo looked at his brother sitting
on the couch. “What are you doing here? Come to apply for a real
job?”

“
You’re some kind of funny,
huh?” He stood. “I brought your employee to work. I was being
neighborly.”

She saw him lift his brows playfully,
but she was sure she wasn’t supposed to.

Very quietly, Eduardo spoke, “Don’t
start.”

Christian laughed and pulled the
parking stub from his chest pocket. “Validate this before I
go.”

Eduardo snatched it from his hand.
“I’m sure your mother taught you to say please.”

“
Pleeeease,” Christian
mimicked, and Eduardo shook his head as he signed the
ticket.

Then at the same time, both men turned
to look at her.

Darcy was already nervous enough, but
when both sets of dark eyes were staring into her, she didn’t know
what to think. She was simply mesmerized.

Eduardo was professional, even in his
dismantled business suit and mussed up hair. Christian was nearly a
spitting image of his brother, only a bit shorter, more defined,
laid back, and sporting a goatee. There was something to this duo.
A girl could certainly get caught up in those eyes. And to run her
fingers through…

What was she doing?

She worked for Eduardo Keller. To even
have a momentary lapse of judgment and think thoughts like that was
certainly unprofessional. And Christian? She dropped her shoulders.
Aside from the fact that they lived in the same house—perhaps he
was fair game.

Again, this wasn’t why she was
here!

Eduardo walked back around his desk
and shuffled a few papers together. “Chris, will you take her down
to personnel?”

“
I got her to work and now
you want me to get her all
hired
?”

Eduardo huffed out a breath and sat
down in his chair. “I’m busy. Will you help me out?”

Darcy could feel that same anger
creeping into her veins as she had when she’d met Eduardo
Keller.

“
I could find personnel
myself,” she said, lifting her chin in defiance.

Eduardo only nodded. “He’ll take you.
And when you’re done, get back up here as soon as possible. I’ll
have Charlie start training you.”

Christian started toward her. “Well,
if Charlie is going to train…”

Eduardo’s head shot up. “Do not come
back here, Chris. I’m warning you.”

Christian laughed. “Chill out, bro.”
He took Darcy by the arm and led her down the hall.

“
Is he really this
temperamental?”

“
Ed?” Christian shrugged
his shoulders. “Yes.”

“
Great.”

Christian laughed again. “He’s about
doing business right. He’s always been that way. But I think he has
a soft spot for you, so don’t get too panicked over what you
saw.”

“
Soft spot?”

“
Yeah.” Christian pushed
the button on the elevator. “He’s been interviewing for an
assistant for a long time. It’s a bit too much of a commitment for
him to actually hire one. If he has a temp, he can call and fire
them through the agency and never have to deal with them. You on
the other hand…” The door opened and they stepped into the
elevator. When the doors closed, Christian pushed the button. “You
got the job after he just met you. He set you up in Arianna’s
basement. And…” The door opened and he continued, “He didn’t kick
you out when he started giving Valerie a hard time.”

She wasn’t sure all of that lead to
him having a soft spot for her.

Christian led her to an office that
had a much different feel than the offices upstairs. This one
reminded her more of a government office, perhaps even the
DMV.

“
See that man over there?”
He pointed to a corner office. “He’ll get you squared
away.”

Darcy nodded.

Christian pulled a card out of his
pocket and handed it to her. “This is my cell phone number. Call me
if you need anything.”

“
Okay. Thank
you.”

He turned and gave her a small wave.
“Oh, and when you see Charlie, say hi for me.”

Darcy nodded again and headed toward
the office Christian had pointed her to.

An hour later, Darcy was back
upstairs. An official BBH badge was dangled from her neck with her
picture on it. And again, she’d forgotten to go down and get a cup
of coffee.

Eduardo’s office door was closed when
she arrived. The desk outside his office was no doubt hers, so she
sat down, opened a drawer, and set her purse in it.

Just as she closed the drawer, the
door behind her opened, and Eduardo was escorting a very sexy
blonde out of his office. His hand was placed on the small of her
back, the woman was laughing seductively, and the sight made Darcy
nauseous.

This must be Valerie. No wonder he
wanted to take her to lunch. She wondered what else they would do
on their lunch break.

The very thought infuriated her. This
man was disgusting. What was she doing in this job?

However, as the woman walked right
past her and down the hall, Eduardo leaned against the doorjamb and
scrubbed his hands over his face.

“
Do you have any
Tylenol?”

Darcy clenched her jaw, opened the
drawer with her purse in it, and found him a bottle of Tylenol. She
poured out two into her hand and handed them to him.

“
Thank you.” He put them in
his mouth and swallowed them dry. “That woman makes my skin
crawl.”

Darcy looked down the hall where the
woman still sauntered past all the offices and then looked back at
him.

“
Wasn’t that Valerie?
Aren’t you having lunch?”

Eduardo laughed. “That? Valerie?” He
leaned against the jamb again and crossed his arms over his chest.
“No, that was Charlie.”

“
Oh,” her voice
cracked.

“
I decided I’d train you. I
like you too much to force you to spend time with that
woman.”